The origin of New Year's Eve
"New Year's Eve" existed in China as early as the pre-Qin period. On the last day of every year, every household should knock on utensils to make them make a sound, so as to drive away the "ghost of disease" and ensure that people are safe in the new year. "New Year's Eve" is the last night of every year, and the first day of the new year is coming. It is time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, so "New Year's Eve" means to abandon the old and welcome the new.
"Reunion dinner" and "New Year's Eve" have different meanings.
"Reunion dinner" means family reunion. "Go home for the New Year if you have money". "Food is the most important thing for the people", which is more reasonable in the traditional festival Spring Festival in China. Eating has become the main activity of most people during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, respect and love each other, raise a glass and toast, and get together. Family members from other places who can go home usually go home for dinner before New Year's Eve, so this meal is called "reunion dinner".
According to folklore, Nian is a fierce monster. It will eat a big living person in a crowded place after dark every 365 days, which makes people talk about "Nian". People eat "New Year's Eve" on this terrible night and pray for the gods to bless them to spend the night safely. New Year's Eve is the most abundant meal of the year. The family sat around and got together to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
Different meal times and members
The "reunion dinner" is usually between 1 pm and 5: 00 pm. On the morning of New Year's Eve, Qi Xin's family got up, cleaned it thoroughly again, then hung the door cage and put up Spring Festival couplets, blessings and New Year pictures to welcome the last very rich reunion dinner of the year. The whole family should be complete. Family members who can go home and work in other places must get home before New Year's Eve. If they really can't go home, the family should leave them a seat and a pair of bowls and chopsticks to show their reunion with him. Therefore, this kind of "reunion dinner" is also called "family happiness", which is a family banquet that people attach great importance to.
"New Year's Eve" usually starts from 23: 00 to 24: 00 on New Year's Eve. The main purpose of this meal is to get the whole family to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. The whole family offered sacrifices to the ancestors of the genealogy first, and then the housewife cooked jiaozi. After jiaozi cooked, the host shouted out, and then the boys at home lit firecrackers. When firecrackers crackled, the boy came into the house with a bundle of firewood, which meant that the new year's money was rolling in. At this time, the whole family should say auspicious wishes, so the theme of this meal is family happiness, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
Different formulas and meanings
The menu of "reunion dinner" is auspicious and rich, and the hot dishes such as stir-fry are different in every household, but the only thing that is the same is that every family must have chicken and fish, because "chicken" is homophonic with "auspicious", which means auspiciousness; "Fish" and "fish" are homophonic, meaning more than money, more than every year. Therefore, the "reunion dinner" must eat all the chickens, which means eating good luck, eating famine or paying off debts; You can't eat all the fish, but you must leave some, which means that you have more food and money every year, a rich life and a bright future. But in any case, the food of the "reunion dinner" is the most abundant and of the best quality in a year, which indicates that there will be plenty of food and clothing in the coming year.
The dishes of the "New Year's Eve" are basically leftovers from the "reunion dinner", but there must be fish, which means "wealth is more than enough". Add a few stir-fried dishes or small cold dishes if possible. The theme of this meal is family happiness, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Everyone should say auspicious wishes, and the younger generation should kowtow to their elders to pay New Year's greetings. Usually elders will give lucky money to underage children, and middle-aged owners will also give lucky money to the elderly.
Different staple foods
The staple food of the "reunion dinner" is rice. Some people mix some non-staple foods such as dates, dried persimmons and almonds in rice, mainly to get a lucky taste. Jujube represents early spring, persimmon represents all the best, and almond represents happiness. Peanuts mean immortality. Some people eat the prepared "reunion dinner" once more, and call it "next year's meal", which means that there are leftovers every year, which can't be eaten all year round, and this year they still eat the grain of the previous year.
The staple food of "New Year's Eve" is eating jiaozi, which means "making friends at a young age". Some people put a coin in the jiaozi. Whoever gets a coin will be very lucky this year. When eating jiaozi, every household should close the door. You can't talk loudly or knock chopsticks. After dinner, clean up the chopsticks on the table before opening the door. This is called closing the door to make money and opening the door to make money.