What is the flavor of the New Year? The taste of the New Year is the joyful atmosphere of family reunion; it is the glass of wine that the younger generation pays filial piety to the elders sitting around the table; it is the fragrance of the fireworks shining outside the house; it is the New Year's Eve dinner that my mother prepares after busy work. the dumplings; it’s the enjoyment of going to the temple fair, watching the dragon dance and eating candy balls, and it’s like returning to childhood; it’s the friendly feeling of saying happy new year to everyone no matter whether they know each other; it’s the streets filled with red lanterns that are full of joy The atmosphere with blessing words... This is called the flavor of the year.

Writer Feng Jicai. There were many insights in the interview, here are some excerpts to share: "The flavor of the year" is not about material abundance, but about cultural abundance. The strong flavor of the New Year is actually dispelled by our own ignorance. It results from our ignorance of our own culture and its values, as well as our ignorance of people's spiritual life needs. What we lack is not the feelings for "Nian", but the new way and new carrier of "Nian". We must try to turn "nian" from a necessity in life to a necessity in culture. The "year" of life that has been passed down for thousands of years can be perfectly transformed into the "year" of future culture. People have a great enthusiasm for the New Year. During the Chinese New Year, you must try to eat well and dress well, because this is not only a temporary thing, but a symbol of happiness in the coming year. Because "Nian" is a special moment to bid farewell to the past and face the future. Therefore, all ideals of life are revealed at this moment. During the Chinese New Year, life is idealized and ideals are transformed into daily life. Year, in fact, is an ideal that strives to live, a life that strives to idealize. And when life and ideals are mixed together, it has the meaning of New Year. What is the connotation of New Year culture? I can sum it up in four words - exorcise evil and bring blessings. Joy, auspiciousness, peace, reunion, prosperity, longevity, wealth... these are the meanings of the year, and they embody people's best wishes for life and life. Nowadays, it is difficult to create the annual peak of life enjoyment during the New Year. The meaning and energy of the year then slipped away, and a large blank appeared in the meaning of the year.

Is the year spiritual or material? I think the New Year is first of all spiritual. It is by no means a national annual clothing festival and food festival. It is the annual explosion of life emotions of our nation, the great reunion of the family unit, and the great manifestation of the realization of dreams. For thousands of years, the biggest folk custom left by our ancestors is the New Year. It expresses people's wishes, emotions, ideals and pursuits of life through various traditional methods and forms. Whether it is pasting Spring Festival couplets, eating New Year's Eve dinner, worshiping ancestors, staying up late on New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers, paying New Year greetings, etc., these cultural methods have been continued from generation to generation, which is actually a kind of cultural inheritance. It embodies the cultural psychology of a nation, that is, reunion, family affection, and harmony, which contains extremely powerful national cohesion and affinity. Every time the Chinese celebrate a new year, they deepen the affinity and cohesion of our nation, which means strengthening the vitality of the nation. This is the most profound part of Chinese culture and the greatest treasure of our nation. Spirit is intangible and seems dispensable; matter is tangible and naturally indispensable. The spiritual connotation is often expressed through cultural means. By despising the meaning of spirit, we will also ignore the relevant culture, and even pay no attention to the national spirit and emotions that folk customs bear. This is the underlying reason why the Spring Festival and even various festivals have gradually become embarrassing, empty and helpless. The strong flavor of the New Year is actually dispelled by our own ignorance. It results from our ignorance of our own culture and its values, as well as our ignorance of people's spiritual life and needs. I think that although the taste of the New Year has faded, it has not damaged the vitality, and it is unlikely to disappear. Give two phenomena. You see, half a month before the Spring Festival every year, you can see thousands of people crowded at train stations and long-distance bus stations in various places, trying to get home before New Year's Eve. Reunion with the whole family. Without the government spending a penny or any organization, hundreds of millions of people across the country were desperately rushing home at the same time. Such spectacular scenes are rarely seen in other countries in the world. We have such a strong attachment to our home and our hometown. This is the deep-rooted emotion of the Chinese nation towards home that comes from the very core. The second phenomenon is people's complaints - "The flavor of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker now." I love hearing complaints like this. It's not because of the fact that the flavor of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker, but because people complain about the flavor of the New Year. They must be thinking about the New Year very much but can't find the flavor of the New Year. This complaint shows from another aspect that people's needs and emotions for Nian exist, but they can't find a carrier or a way to express their inner emotions. At present, the Spring Festival and its customs have gradually transformed into a culture. However, we have not enjoyed tradition from a cultural perspective, enjoyed the precious spiritual wealth left to us by our ancestors, nor have we created attractive new customs that are generally recognized by the public. Therefore, what we have in front of us is the construction of "New Year Culture", a cultural project that cannot be ignored. We must make new choices and promote the "Nian" culturally, turn the New Year from a necessity in life to a necessity in culture, and try to make the Nian, which has been passed down for thousands of years, perfectly transformed into the future. of culture. At a time of rapid economic development, we need more cultural support to avoid losing ourselves. At a time when the economy is becoming increasingly globalized, we need to highlight our cultural identity, otherwise we will lose the root of our self-confidence and sense of glory.

Under the impact of foreign culture, if we are not clear-headed, unconscious, and ineffective in protecting our cultural traditions and their carriers, our traditional, local, and subjective spiritual emotions will have nothing to rely on and will gradually fade away. The weft is broken, and it falls into the void. If this continues, the sense of loss we feel during the Chinese New Year will definitely appear in more moments and in more places in the future. People at that time may have been rich, but they must have felt poor. And these material wealth and spiritual poverty are exactly what we have left to them today.

Rays of morning light cut through the night sky; lanterns flew up to the eaves; couplets were posted on the walls; new clothes rushed out of the closet; firecrackers resounded throughout the sky; pieces of colorful clouds danced in the sky ; Bursts of cheers welcome the red sun; every word of blessing is passed down by word of mouth