In the lunar new year, we will welcome the Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation. On this day, people often get together as a family to enjoy the festival. However, there are some differences in the customs of the Spring Festival in different regions and cultures, and it is these differences that interweave the rich connotation of Chinese culture. Today, I will explore the local Spring Festival customs from the perspective of Changchun culture.
The Spring Festival is the most solemn festival in China, and there are many customs handed down from ancient times. For Changchun, there are many exquisite ones. In the old days, almost all the celebrations to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and to pray for good fortune were held on New Year's Eve. The whole family should put on new clothes. First of all, the whole family offered sacrifices to their ancestors, burned incense and candles, and made offerings widely. In accordance with the seniority, they bowed their heads to the three generations of God, indicating their resignation.
afterwards, a family dinner was held, in which the elders sat first and the younger generations sat in groups, meaning "the first reunion". The food and fruit must be rich, which makes people feel full, indicating that they will have plenty of food and clothing and a prosperous career in the coming year. This meal is the first time to taste the new year's food, so you can serve both meat and vegetables. Usually it is necessary to have braised pork, stewed mutton, rice flour meat, braised elbow strips, Yuanbao meat, South fried meatballs, Four Joy Meetballs, frozen chicken, frozen fish, frozen pork, Doo sauce, fermented bean curd, mustard mound, spicy mustard, fried pickles and other New Year's eve dishes.
During the dinner, the young and the old wish each other, and the brothers push cups for a change, so as to enjoy their family happiness. After dinner, the children spread sesame stalks all over the courtyard and walked on them, which was called "stepping on the old age"; Then the spring lanterns hanging indoors and outdoors are lit together, shining the New Year pictures and spring strips on the four walls, and the indoor and outdoor lights are brilliant.
On the "Heaven and Earth Table", there are "Eighteen Buddhas in Three Places and Three Boundaries" or "111 copies" (an album of gods of heaven and earth) with large yellow paper color printing. There are cakes, honey, fresh noodles, fruits, vegetarian dishes, rice cakes and rice meals as offerings, and gold-lettered red candles and meridian incense are raised to show that the gods are welcome and blessed in the lower world.
In order to cherish the lost years, men, women and children should stay up all night and engage in different recreational activities, which is called "guarding the old age". Children have always played at will, shaking diabolo, spinning the top, twisting the promotion map, throwing dice, playing cow cards, playing the glass trumpet, harmonica, playing shadow actors, lighting the lantern, playing "Didi Jiner", "mouse excrement" and "yellow smoke with guns" ... Old ladies sit together to fight cards, play mahjong and play ten hoops.
In the entertainment, fresh fruits, candies, dried fruits mixed, warm and simple, fried red fruits, candied begonia, etc. are added, and you can enjoy yourself while eating, until you "catch up". At midnight, firecrackers sounded one after another, shaking the sky all night. "Silver flowers rust all over the sky, and the smoke in the street is thick." Every family gathered at the table of heaven and earth to burn incense and worship, offering vegetarian dumplings to welcome the gods to the lower world.
after the ceremony, it is announced that the old year has passed and the new year is coming, which is the solemn moment of "five shifts divided into two years". The whole family says "New Year's Eve" to each other, and the younger generation will kowtow to the elders in class, and the elders will introduce "lucky money" to the underage children one by one.
Finally, the whole family had a vegetarian meal of jiaozi, which was called "jiaozi in the Five Watches" and "Reunion of jiaozi". Out of hundreds of jiaozi, only one has coins, which means that he who eats this jiaozi will have a good year. Nowadays, Changchun people still retain many ancient traditional customs during the Spring Festival.