holiday process
as the saying goes, twenty-seven roosters are killed, twenty-eight handfuls of flour are made, twenty-nine steamed buns are steamed, and they stay up all night for thirty nights, with a twist on New Year's Day. There are two folk songs circulating in southeastern Shanxi. One is "Twenty-three, sending my master to heaven;" Twenty-four, sweep the house; Twenty-five, steamed dumplings; Twenty-six, cut the meat; Twenty-seven, tin cleaner; Twenty-eight, sloppy; Twenty-nine, wash your feet; On the 31 th, the door gods and couplets were posted together. " It reflects the tight time and the tight preparation. The second is a nursery rhyme: "Twenty-three, sacrifice the stove, children clap their hands and laugh." In five or six days, the New Year will come. Evil box, playing with walnuts, dropping two cannons. Wuzi's ping-pong sounded and the fire rose higher than the sky. " It reflects children's exultation in looking forward to the New Year.
23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month
The 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, also known as "off-year", is a day for people to worship stoves. The folk song "Twenty-three, Sweet Melon Sticks" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, the government held a sacrifice on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the general people held it on the 24th, and house boat held it on the 25th. Off-year is the beginning and foreshadowing of the whole Spring Festival celebration, and there are two main activities: sweeping the New Year and offering sacrifices to stoves. In addition, there is the custom of eating stove candy. In some places, we also eat fire, sugar cakes, oil cakes and tofu soup.
As early as the Song Dynasty, it was recorded that the 24th lunar month passed the off-year holiday, but at that time the off-year holiday was divided into two days, so the custom history of off-year holiday on the 24th lunar month was even longer. So when did it change? This is going to the Qing dynasty. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty began to worship the gods in Kunning Palace on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In order to save money, the emperor also worshipped the Kitchen God. Later, the royal family and Baylor followed suit and offered sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. Since then, there has been a division between officials and people to spend their off-year lives on different days.
offering sacrifices to the stove
offering sacrifices to the stove at the kitchen king's shrine is a very popular custom in China. In the old days, almost every kitchen had a "kitchen god" god. People call this god "the Bodhisattva who commands the life" or "the kitchen master commands the life". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef who commands the kitchen palace" sealed by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the protector of a family. Kitchen God niches are mostly located in the north or east of the kitchen, with the gods of Kitchen God in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the kitchen king also paste the gods directly on the wall. Some gods only draw one kitchen god, while others have two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Kitchen King".
The sacrificial stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the Chinese New Year. Because, a week later, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God came to the world with the good and bad fortune that the family should get, together with other gods. The Kitchen God is considered to guide the gods in the sky. Other gods ascended to heaven again after the new year, and only the kitchen god will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony to greet the gods is called "receiving the gods", which is called "receiving the stove" for the kitchen god. It is usually on New Year's Eve to pick up the stove, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, just put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.
As the saying goes, "Men don't Yue Bai, and women don't sacrifice stoves". In some places, women don't sacrifice stoves. It is said that the kitchen god looks like a small white face, afraid of women's sacrifice stoves, and has "suspicion of men and women."
People pay attention to eating jiaozi on the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, which means "seeing off the windward side of jiaozi". Eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles in mountainous areas. In southeastern Shanxi, the custom of eating fried corn is popular. There is a saying in the folk proverb that "Twenty-three, don't eat fried corn, pour it in one pot at the beginning of the New Year". People like to bond fried corn with maltose, freeze it into chunks, and it tastes crisp and sweet.
steaming steamed buns
After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household should steam steamed buns. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two types: worshipping God and visiting relatives. The former is solemn, while the latter is flowery. In particular, it is necessary to make a jujube mountain to be dedicated to the kitchen god. "A steamed bun, neighbors come to help". This is often a great opportunity for folk women to show their dexterity. A steamed bun is a handicraft.
Write Spring Festival couplets
After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household must write Spring Festival couplets. Folks pay attention to the fact that God must post it, every door must post it, and everything must post it, so the Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete content. The couplets in front of the gods are particularly particular, and most of them are words of admiration and blessing. The common gods are the gods of heaven and earth. "Heaven's grace is as deep as the sea, and earth's virtue is as heavy as a mountain"; Land gods "white jade is born in the soil, and gold is born in the ground"; God of Wealth "God of Wealth in Heaven, God of Wealth on Earth"; Jingshenlian "the well can reach the four seas, and the home can reach the three rivers". The Spring Festival couplets in granaries and barns all express warm congratulations and hopes, such as "five grains are abundant and six animals are prosperous"; "The rice surface is as thick as a mountain and the oil and salt are as deep as the sea"; "Cows are like tigers in the South Mountain and horses are like dragons in the North Sea"; "Big sheep are flourishing every year, and little lambs are increasing every month" and so on. There are also some single couplets, such as "Looking up to see happiness" in every room, "Going out to see happiness" on the opposite side of the door, "Prosperous spirit soaring to the sky" on the fire, "Full courtyard is full of gold" on the tree, "Deep roots and lush foliage" on the stone mill and so on. The couplets on the gate are the facade of a family, which are paid special attention to, or lyrical, or writing scenery, with rich content and witty remarks.
eating stove candy
stove candy is a kind of maltose, which is very sticky. It is called "Guandong candy" when it is drawn into a long candy bar, and it is called "candied melon" when it is drawn into a flat shape. Put it outside the house in winter, because the weather is cold, the candied melon solidifies firmly and there are some tiny bubbles inside, which tastes crisp, sweet and crisp and has a special flavor. True Guandong sugar is so hard that it can't be broken when it falls. It must be split with a kitchen knife when eating, and the material is very heavy and fine. The taste is slightly sour, there is no honeycomb in the middle, each piece weighs one or two, two or four, and the price is more expensive. There are two kinds of sugar, sesame and sesame-free. On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the house is dusted and made into melon or melon shape with sugar. The center is empty, and the skin thickness is less than five points. Although the size is different, the transaction is still calculated by weight. The big candied melon weighs one or two kilograms, but it is used as a cover, and few people buy it.
Dust-sweeping
After the kitchen festival was held, preparations for the Chinese New Year were officially started. Sweeping the dust is the year-end cleaning, which is called "sweeping the house" in the north and "dusting" in the south. It is a traditional habit of China people to clean up before the Spring Festival. Outside the house, in front of the house and behind the house, clean thoroughly to welcome the Spring Festival. The custom of "sweeping the house with dust on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", China had the custom of sweeping the dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "except Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep away all "poor luck" and "bad luck". This custom is entrusted with people's desire to break through the old and establish the new and their prayer to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
the 29th and 31th day of the twelfth lunar month (New Year's Eve)
Every year, the night on the last day of the twelfth lunar month and the last day of the lunar year (the month is 31 days long and the month is 29 days small) is called "New Year's Eve". It is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month), which is the day when people bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Because there are 31 days in the big moon and only 29 days in the small moon, the date of New Year's Eve is different. But this day, whether it is twenty-nine or thirty, is customarily called "New Year's Eve". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together to have a New Year's Eve dinner (the last meal of the lunar year). After the New Year's Eve, there are customs of giving lucky money and staying up for the New Year's Eve, which means keeping it from the last day of the lunar year to the first day of the next year.
At the end of each year in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, a ceremony of "exorcising" was held in the palace to beat drums to drive away the ghosts of plague, which was called "exorcising", and later called "exorcising" the day before New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve. New year's eve is the big one, that is, New Year's Eve.
Set the table of heaven and earth
It is said that this night is the time when the gods in heaven go down, so there is a folk custom of receiving gods. The Heaven and Earth Table is a temporary offering table, which is specially designed for New Year's Eve, mainly for receiving gods. Generally, there is no big Buddhist temple house that pays special attention to it, because there are few sacrifices to the Buddha at ordinary times, and it is necessary to pay a big reward to the Buddha at the end of the year. The content of the Heaven-Earth Table is different from that of the perennial Buddhist temple. Except for some hanging money, incense sticks, five offerings and big offerings, most of the idols worshipped are temporary, such as "percentage", which is a woodcut version of the idol album; "Eighteen Buddhas and Gods in the Three Realms of Heaven and Earth", a complete code of color printing with large yellow fringed paper wood engraving; Fu Lushou's Samsung portrait, etc. Some of the above images will be incinerated after receiving the gods, such as "percentage", while others will not be incinerated until the fifth or even the Lantern Festival. The location of the table is not uniform. For example, if the room is spacious, it can be placed in the house. If there is no land in the house, put it in the courtyard.
Eating New Year's Eve
When the children are playing and setting off firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for housewives in the kitchen. The New Year's Eve dishes are all cooked a few days ago, and the New Year's Eve is always cooked by the chef on the 31th. In the north, jiaozi on the first day of the Lunar New Year will also be packed out on the 31th night. At this time, everyone's chopping boards are busy chopping meat and vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards from every household, firecrackers from streets and alleys, abacus and accounting from small shops, and laughter everywhere, one after another, resounding, interwoven into a cheerful movement on New Year's Eve.
Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable time for every household in the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a table was filled with rich new year's dishes, and the whole family was reunited, sitting around the table and having a family reunion dinner. The sense of fulfillment in my heart was really unspeakable. People not only enjoy the delicious food on the table, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold dishes, hot fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot, and the other is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "Fish" and "Yu" are homophonic, which symbolizes "more than good luck and celebration" and also means "more than every year". There are also radishes, commonly known as vegetable heads, wishing you good luck; Lobster, fried fish and other fried foods, I wish my family prosperity, such as "cooking oil with fire." Finally, it is a dessert, wishing the future sweet. Even if you can't drink on this day, you can drink a little.
There are many kinds of New Year's Eve dinners, which are different in north and south, including jiaozi, wonton, long noodles, Yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during Chinese New Year (the custom of eating jiaozi was handed down from the Han Dynasty), which means "making friends at a younger age". And because the white-flour jiaozi is shaped like a silver ingot, a pot of pots on the table symbolizes the meaning of "making a fortune in the New Year, and the ingot rolls in". Some wrapped jiaozi, but also wrapped a few coins sterilized by boiling water, saying that whoever ate first would make more money. Eating wonton in the new year is based on its original meaning. Legend has it that the world was in a chaotic state before it was created, and Pangu began to create the universe. Long noodles, also known as longevity noodles, eat noodles in the New Year to wish you a long life.
Watching the Spring Festival Gala
Although this is not an ancient custom, since the 1981s, the Spring Festival Gala has become an indispensable cultural "feast" for China people! Every year, more than one billion people around the world watch the Spring Festival Gala on TV or the Internet!
observing the new year
since the Han dynasty, the time when the old year and the new year alternate is generally at midnight, and observing the new year's eve is one of the most important annual customs activities. The custom of observing the old age has a long history, and it was first recorded in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties presented gifts, which were called "giving back the old age"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "don't be old"; It is called "dividing the age" when the young and the old gather to drink and wish a complete song; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the morning, which is called "keeping the old age".
"One night is even two years old, and the evening shift is divided into two days". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and looking forward to good luck and good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shounian": "Cold resigns from winter snow, and warmth brings spring breeze". To this day, people are used to keeping the new year's eve and welcoming the new year.
In ancient times, observing the old age had two meanings: the old people's observing the old age means "resigning from the old age", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age to prolong the life of their parents.
receiving god
receiving god is to divide the old and new years, but the time of receiving god is not uniform. Some people begin to hold ceremonies as soon as the child arrives, some begin to pick up the gods at midnight when the child is "right", and some do so after the child is "right". After the sacrifice, all the gods returned to the Heavenly Palace, ignoring worldly affairs, and after the New Year's Eve, that is, when the new year came, they came to the human Council. The ceremony of receiving the gods was held at the table of heaven and earth, presided over by the oldest person in the family. Because the gods live in different directions in the celestial world, the lower bound naturally comes in different directions. As for who to meet and where to come from, it is necessary to check the "constitutional book" in advance and lead the whole family to hold incense in the courtyard to meet the gods according to their directions. For example, Xin Weinian's "Constitution Book" indicates that "the God of Wealth is due east, the God of Fortune is due south, the northeast of your God, the southwest of XiShen, and the southwest of Tai Sui God". After kowtowing according to the position, stand still until the incense is exhausted, then kowtow. Finally, take down the fragrant roots, statues and ingots, put them into the money-grain basin already prepared in the courtyard, and burn them with pine branches and sesame stalks. When receiving the gods, firecrackers exploded and the atmosphere was extremely strong.
after stepping on the fetish
, spread sesame stalks from the street gate to the door of the house, and people walk on it, making a noise, which is called "stepping on the old age" or "stepping on the fetish". Because "broken" and "precious" are homonyms, it means that the new year begins to drive away evil spirits.
Receiving the God of Wealth
In the old days, since the opening of the financial door at midnight during the Spring Festival, there were people who sent the God of Wealth. The God of Wealth with a piece of paper in his hand shouted outside the door, "Here comes the one who sent the God of Wealth!" At this time, the owner of the house welcomed the arrival of the god of wealth and gave the reward to the bearer. Say something auspicious when you send the God of Wealth, such as "Gold and silver treasures are rolling in!" "There is a pair of golden lions on the left and a pair of golden phoenix on the right".
In addition, some people dressed in red robes, wore gauze hats, hung beards on their mouths, wore yellow cloth bags on their backs, dressed up as the God of Wealth, followed by several drummers, and handed out statues of the God of Wealth from door to door for money. Every time I go to someone's door, I sing a bunch of auspicious words, such as "the left compartment is full of gold and silver, and the right side is full of treasures", until the owner happily takes over the statue of the God of Wealth and gives them some money. These talents thank each other and beat it harder for a while. In the sound of gongs and drums, go to other households.
the first day of the first month
The first day of the first month was originally called "New Year's Day", and the original meaning of "Yuan" was "Head" and later it was extended to "Start". This day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring and the first day of the first month, so it is called "three yuan"; Because this day is still the year-old dynasty, the moon dynasty and the day dynasty, it is also called the "three dynasties"; Because it is the first Shuori, it is also called "Yuanshuo". On the first day of the first month, there are other nicknames such as Shangri, Zhengchao, Sanshuo and Sanshi, which means the beginning of the year, month and day.
open firecrackers
in the morning of the spring festival, when the doors are open, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "open firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground is full of broken red, which is called "full house red" At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy.
Happy New Year
On the first day of the New Year, men get up early, put on their most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other a happy New Year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same clan leader to pay New Year's greetings door to door. Some colleagues invite several people to pay New Year greetings; There are also people who get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay a New Year call at home, later some elites and literati used famous stickers to congratulate each other, thus