Introduction to the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month, also known as the lunar year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". This is the most grand and lively traditional festival among Chinese people. The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the first month was called Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo, New Year's Day, etc., commonly known as the first day of the first month. In the Republic of China, it was changed to the Gregorian calendar. The first day of the Gregorian calendar was called New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was called the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival is coming, which means that spring is coming, Vientiane is reviving, and the new sowing and harvesting season is about to start. People have just passed the long winter when the plants and trees are dying in the ice and snow, and they have long been looking forward to the day when spring blooms. When the new year comes, it is natural to welcome this festival with joy and singing.

For thousands of years, people have made the celebration of the New Year's custom extremely colorful. Every year, from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the 31th, people call this period "Spring Festival Day", also known as "Dust-cleaning Day", which is a traditional habit of our people before the Spring Festival.

Then, every household prepares the New Year's goods. About ten days before the festival, people are busy shopping, including chicken, duck, fish, tea, wine, oil sauce, roasted seeds and nuts in the north and south, and fruit with sugar bait. They should also prepare some gifts for visiting relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, and children should buy new clothes and hats to wear during the Chinese New Year.

Before the festival, a New Year message in red paper and yellow letters should be pasted on the front door of the house, that is, Spring Festival couplets written in red paper. Colorful New Year pictures with auspicious meanings are posted in the house, beautiful window grilles are cut out by ingenious girls and pasted on the windows, red lanterns are hung in front of the door, and the characters of fortune, door gods and so on can be pasted upside down, and passers-by are blessed when they think of it. All these activities are to add enough festive atmosphere to the festival.

Another name for the Spring Festival is Chinese New Year. In past legends, Nian was an imaginary animal that brought bad luck to people. New year's eve. Trees are withered, and grass is not born; After the new year, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How can the year pass? It is necessary to use firecrackers, so there is the custom of burning firecrackers, which is actually another way to set off the lively scene.

The Spring Festival is a joyful and peaceful festival, and it is also a day for family reunion. Children who leave home should go home to get together during the Spring Festival. The night before the Chinese New Year is the 31th night of the twelfth lunar month, which is also called New Year's Eve and reunion night. At the turn of the old and the new, observing the new year is one of the most important activities. On New Year's Eve, the whole family stays up all the time, gets together and drinks, and enjoys family happiness. In the northern region, it is customary to eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve. jiaozi's practice is to mix noodles first, and the word harmony is the combination. Jiaozi's dumplings are homophonic, which means to get together, and also means to make friends at a younger age. In the south, there is the habit of eating New Year's cakes, which are sweet and sticky, symbolizing the sweet life and step by step in the new year.

When the first cock crow rings, or the New Year bell strikes, firecrackers are ringing in the streets, and the noise keeps coming and going, and the new year begins. Men, women and children all wear festive costumes. First, the elders in the family are given New Year greetings, and children are given lucky money, having a reunion dinner. On the second and third days of the second year, they begin to visit their relatives and friends, pay new year greetings to each other, and say some congratulations and new happiness.

The warm atmosphere of the festival not only permeates every household, but also fills the streets and alleys of various places. In some places, there are customs such as lion dancing, playing dragon lanterns, performing social fires, visiting flower markets and visiting temple fairs. During this period, lanterns were all over the city and tourists were all over the street. It was very lively and unprecedented, and the Spring Festival didn't really end until after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han nationality, but more than a dozen ethnic minorities, such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li, have also had the custom of the Spring Festival, but the form of the festival has its own national characteristics and is more meaningful.

The origin of festivals

There is another legend:

In ancient China, there was a beast called Nian, which had long tentacles and was ferocious. Nian lived at the bottom of the sea for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and hurting people's lives. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The villagers were in a hurry and panic. Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain quickly to avoid the Nian beast. The old man lifted his beard and smiled: "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive the Nian beast away. "The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to smile without a word.

At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from that in previous years: the old woman's house in the east of the village had red paper posted on the door, and the candles in the house were brightly lit. "Nian" beast was shaking and gave a long cry. Near the door, there was a sudden explosion in the courtyard, and Nian trembled and dared not go forward again. It turns out that Nian is most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers about the promise of begging the old man. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household is brightly lit by candlelight, and it is better to wait for the new year. In the early morning of the first day, I have to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom spread more and more widely and became the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.

There is another saying:

In ancient times, there was a beast called Nian, which was several times bigger than the current elephant and dozens of times more fierce than the tiger. It eats people, and it eats dozens of people, and the number of people eaten by it is countless. The people have suffered. One day, "Nian" came again, and a young man hated it very much. He said, "It's better to fight with it than to let it eat it. Anyway, it's all death." He rushed up with a chopping axe, and many young people followed him. But they are no match for Nian, and all the young people are eaten by Nian. Since then, "Nian" has become more vicious, and all the people are angry and hate.

The soaring resentment alarmed the Taibai Venus in the sky, and the hatred of the earthquake shocked the underground Diwang Bodhisattva. As soon as Taibai Venus and Diwang Bodhisattva discussed it, they sent the ancestor Shennong to the land to collect the Year. Shennong holds a whip, aiming at Nian's ass is a whip. Fierce "Nian" actually fell flat. Shennong ran a few steps, with one foot on Nian's head, and roared, "Bastard, you have eaten countless people and done terrible things. Today is your end." Say, take two pieces of melon bowls from the waist, aim at the "year" and it will be closed. "Nian", which is bigger than an elephant, suddenly fell into a melon bowl. Shennong buried the bowl containing Nian in the ground. When he left, he repeatedly told him, "If this bowl is buried in the ground, it will grow a melon in the future. This melon can't be broken, so it must be said that it is not broken." Later, melons really grew in the place where the bowl was buried, and the people called it "North Melon" according to Shennong's "no" voice. The day when Shennong got rid of "Nian" happened to be December 31th of the lunar calendar, so the people called this day "New Year", which means avoiding "Nian" and getting rid of its meaning. On this day, the North Melon was offered in the class to show the suppression of evil, and gongs and drums, bamboo and lanterns were played to commemorate the merits of Shennong's ancestors. It was probably attached by later generations according to the tradition of old customs. It is unlikely to be the origin of "Year".

In ancient times, the Spring Festival once specifically referred to beginning of spring among the 24 solar terms, and was also regarded as the beginning of a year. Later, it was changed to the first day of the first month of the summer calendar (the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar). Since the Ming Dynasty, the New Year's Festival generally didn't end until after the 15th day of the first month (Lantern Festival), and in some places, the New Year celebrations even ended until the whole first month. Spring Festival has been selected as the biggest festival in China, world record association, China. It ranks first among the three traditional festivals in China: Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.

after the founding of the Republic of China, the government of the Republic of China abolished the traditional lunar calendar (actually the lunar calendar) and adopted the European gregory calendar (the solar calendar). It tried to prohibit people from celebrating the Lunar New Year, but it failed because of the insistence of the people. During Yuan Shikai's administration, October 1 of the gregory calendar was designated as New Year's Day, and the first day of the first lunar month was designated as the Spring Festival. However, the people still celebrated the New Year, and the writers still called the Lunar New Year.

Spring Festival custom

The Spring Festival custom of the Han nationality: Generally speaking, eating rice cakes, jiaozi, Ciba, glutinous rice balls, poached eggs, big meatballs, whole fish, wine, tangerines, apples, peanuts, melon seeds, sweets, fragrant teas and Yaozhuan are the main ones; Accompanied by many activities, such as dusting dust, washing bedding, preparing new year's goods, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year's pictures, pasting paper-cuts, pasting blessings, lighting candles, lighting fires, setting off firecrackers, observing the New Year, giving lucky money, visiting relatives, visiting ancestral graves, visiting flower markets, and making social fires, it is extremely enjoyable. For example, New Year's Eve is especially important: First, the whole family must get together, and those who fail to return for some reason must leave a seat and a set of tableware to show the meaning of reunion; Second, rich meals, attention to "Koucai", call rice cakes "Bubugao", jiaozi "Wanshun", drinks "flowing water", eggs "big gold ingot" and goldfish "more than a year"; This fish is not allowed to eat, and it is called "Kanyu" and must be reserved for the first day of school. In areas without fish in the north, it is mostly replaced by carved wooden fish; Third, the seats are orderly, and most of them are ancestors. The grandchildren are in the middle, and the fathers are in the lower position. Men, women and children should drink alcohol. Close the door when eating, and the excitement will stop.

During the Spring Festival in Tianjin, there is also the custom of hanging Chinese knots. Before the Lunar New Year's Eve, Tianjin people had the custom of inviting Chinese knots at Qiaoxiangge, an ancient cultural street in Tianjin, to take Qiao Xiang as a blessing.

Family dinner dishes on New Year's Eve have their own characteristics everywhere. In the old days, in Beijing and Tianjin, people usually cooked rice, stewed pork, beef and mutton, stewed chicken, and cooked a few dishes. Shaanxi family banquets are generally four and eight bowls. Four bowls are stir-fried dishes and cold dishes, and eight bowls are mainly braised dishes and cooked dishes. Only meat dishes in southern Anhui include braised pork, tiger skin, meatballs, moo Shu pork, steamed pork, stewed pork, pork liver, pork heart and pork belly products, as well as various fried pork slices and shredded pork. The eastern part of Hubei is "three steamed", "three cakes" and "three pills". "Three steaming" means steaming whole fish, whole duck and whole chicken; "Three cakes" are fish cakes, meat cakes and sheep cakes;

"Three Pills" are fish balls, meatballs and lotus root balls. Generally, people in Harbin fry 8, 11 or 12, 16 dishes, and their main ingredients are nothing more than chicken, duck, fish and vegetables. Gannan's New Year's Eve dinner is usually 12 courses. Some places in Zhejiang are generally the "Top Ten Bowls", seeking for the color of "perfect happiness", with chicken, duck, fish and various vegetables as the mainstay. There are generally more than ten dishes in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, paying attention to four cold dishes, four hot dishes, eight big dishes and two soups.

There are one or several necessary dishes at family dinners on New Year's Eve everywhere, and these dishes often have some auspicious meanings. For example, in Suzhou, there must be green vegetables (then happy dishes), bean sprouts (Italian dishes) and celery (diligent) on the table. There must be a carp weighing about 1 kg in central and southern Hunan, called "Tuannian fish", and a pig elbow weighing about 3 kg, called "Tuannian elbow". There are two fish on the dining table in central and southern Anhui. One is a complete carp, which can only be seen but not eaten. It shows respect for ancestors and means that there is more than one year. The other is silver carp, which can be eaten, symbolizing the prosperity of children and grandchildren. The first bowl of Lai in Qimen family banquet is "Zhonghe", which is made of tofu, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, dried shrimps and fresh meat, meaning "harmony makes money".

eat jiaozi

jiaozi is popular in northern areas during the Spring Festival, which means reunion, good luck and farewell to the old and welcome in the new. In order to increase the atmosphere and fun of the festival, people in the past dynasties have put a lot of effort into dumpling stuffing. People wrap money in jiaozi, and whoever eats it will make a fortune in the coming year. Wrap honey in jiaozi, and whoever eats it means that life will be sweet in the coming year and so on.

Door-keeper

There is a custom of sticking to the door-keeper all over China during the Spring Festival. At first, the doorkeeper carved mahogany into a human figure and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a doorkeeper and posted on the door. The legendary shentu and Yu Lei brothers specialize in ghosts, and they guard the portal, so evil spirits dare not enter the portal to do harm.

The Journey to the West's narrative is even more detailed. "The King of Jinghe, in order to make a bet with a Mr. Bubu, was guilty of making a mistake. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zhi as the supervisor. In order to survive, the King of Jinghe pleaded with Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong agreed, and when it was time to kill the dragon, he summoned Wei Zhi to play against him. Unexpectedly, Wei Zhi took a nap under the rain, and his soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the Dragon King. The Dragon King complained that Taizong had broken his word and cried for his life outside the palace day and night. Emperor Taizong told his ministers that Qin Shubao, the general, said, "I am willing to stand outside with Wei Chijingde in uniform.". Taizong agreed. That night was really nothing. Emperor Taizong couldn't bear the hardships of the two generals, so he ordered Dan Qing, a skillful hand, to draw the true face of the two generals and stick it on the door. "

There are also people who draw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. There is one door god for each household, and later generations often paint a pair of door gods as a martial art. Door gods are divided into three categories: the first category is "door gods", which are mostly attached to the door or the whole door, about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second category is the "door gods of street doors", which are attached to small street doors, about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two deities with a black face and a white face. White left and black right, white good and easy, black and evil, each holding a slap in the face. The third category is the "Door-keeper", which is a little smaller and limited than the Street-keeper. It is also a black-and-white Er Shen, but there are also black-and-white Er Shen sitting like a statue. At most, there is a picture of "Kirin sending a child" on the door, and two dolls with rich powder and fat comb crown, each riding Kirin. This kind of door god should have been posted on the newly married door for good luck, and later it was also used as a New Year ornament for ordinary street doors.

Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are derived from peach characters. "Taofu" is a rectangular mahogany board hanging on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the History of Etiquette in the Later Han Dynasty, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "shentu" and "Yu Lei" and "Er Shen" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, a peach symbol was made for the household, and it was called immortal wood, which was feared by all ghosts." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Taofu also."

in the five dynasties, in the court of western Shu, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to "Song Shi Shu Family", Meng Chang, the master of the later Shu Dynasty, asked Zhang Xun, a bachelor, to write a poem on the mahogany board, "Because of his non-work, he pretended to write a poem:' Qing Yu in the New Year, and the number of the Jiajie Festival is Changchun'", which was China's first Spring Festival couplets. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Taofu". In Wang Anshi's poems, there is a saying that "every family is the narrowest day, and the new peaches are always replaced with the old ones". In the Song Dynasty, peach symbols were changed from mahogany boards to paper, which was called "spring stickers".

In the Ming Dynasty, Taofu was renamed "Spring Festival couplets". In the Ming Dynasty, Chen Yunzhan's Zahua in Maoyunlou wrote: "The establishment of Spring Festival couplets began in Ming Taizu. "Before New Year's Eve, Jinling, the imperial capital, suddenly issued a decree that a Spring Festival couplets should be added at the door of the house of officials and scholars, and the emperor would appear when he walked. Zhu Yuanzhang not only went out of the city incognito and watched the laughter in person, but also personally wrote the Spring Festival couplets. He passed by a family and saw that the Spring Festival couplets had not been posted on the door. He went to ask, knowing that this was a castrated pig, and had not asked someone to write it for him. Zhu Yuanzhang specially wrote Spring Festival couplets for the castrated pig man, which read "Split the road of life and death with both hands and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife". Relevance and humor. After Ming Taizu's advocacy, Spring Festival couplets have become a custom since then, and have been passed down to this day.

"More than a year" stickers such as New Year pictures, stick grilles, New Year pictures, and thousands of pictures

All these have the folk functions of blessing and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. They reflect the customs and beliefs of the people and place their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets by shentu, Yu Lei