2. When the New Year's Eve is near noon, put up couplets, and then prepare the New Year's Eve. Basically, at the beginning of the Spring Festival Gala, the dinner was almost finished. Accompanied by the Spring Festival Evening, everyone wrapped jiaozi to symbolize reunion, and then waited for Zhao Benshan's sketch and the New Year's bell; (Don't forget to send New Year greetings in groups)
3. When the first morning approaches 12 o'clock, prepare to hang a whip and light it at 12 o'clock, symbolizing the farewell of the old and the welcome of the new. The Spring Festival Gala is over, and I basically have to rest, so I have a good spirit to pay New Year greetings during the day. After getting up in the morning, the children put on new clothes and go to jiaozi to eat (jiaozi worships for a while before eating). After New Year's greetings, one person is usually left at home, then others go to their neighbors' homes to pay New Year's greetings, and then drive to their relatives and elders' homes. This is usually the homework of grade one.
The custom of sunshine on the second day of the second day is that the daughter-in-law goes back to her mother's house, that is, my uncle goes to her mother's house to pay New Year greetings.
Most of the time from the third day to the sixth day before the holiday is to visit relatives and friends and get together with classmates.
6. On the sixth day, if there are elderly people aged 66 or 80, the whole family will choose to get together and set off firecrackers on this day to celebrate. On the sixth night, I picked up the kitchen god, burned paper and set off firecrackers (on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, I sent him a gift, and God said yes, and the lower bound was safe).
On the fifteenth day of the first month of the Lantern Festival, we get up in the morning to eat Yuanxiao and eat jiaozi at night, which symbolizes reunion. In the evening, we usually go to see lanterns and set off fireworks.
Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them have been passed down to this day.
sweep the dust
"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". According to Lv Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping 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 means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
lucky money
When visiting the New Year during the Spring Festival, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be put under the child's pillow by parents when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve.
Folks believe that giving children lucky money, when evil spirits or "Nian" hurt children, children can use the money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. A Qing Wu Manyun's poem "Lucky Money" said: "One hundred yuan long colored thread, and then take it from the pillow. On the price of firecrackers, Joule was busy all night." From this point of view, lucky money is tied in children's hearts, and children's lucky money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candy and other things needed for holidays.
At present, the custom of elders giving lucky money to younger generations is still prevalent, and the amount ranges from tens to hundreds. Most of these lucky money are used by children to buy books and school supplies, and the new fashion has given new content to the lucky money.
paste up Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.
There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.
Stick the window grilles and the word "fu" upside down.
In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors.
While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.
New Year picture
Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.
The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.
stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve
Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".
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 bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting 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 "Shou Sui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze". To this day, people are used to celebrating the New Year's Eve.
In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.
firecracker
There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.
Pay new year's call
On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".
When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders and wish them health and longevity. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still very popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.
An important activity of the Spring Festival is to congratulate the New Year at new friends and friends' homes and neighbors, which used to be called New Year greetings. The wind of the Han people's New Year greetings began in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who don't have to go in person can use famous cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people put up a red paper bag at the door to collect famous posts, which was called "Menben".
According to their social relations, the forms of folk New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:
One is to visit relatives. On the first day, you must go to your father-in-law's house and bring gifts. After entering the door, first bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow down to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and play.
The second is a courtesy visit. If you want to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha statue three times when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you just need to bow down. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow your head. The host should get down from his seat to help you, or even say that he is not polite to show his humility. This situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so leave after a few pleasantries. After the host worships, he should pay a return visit another day.
The third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes money to others (such as lawyers and doctors) in the past year will buy some gifts and send them to express their gratitude by taking the opportunity to pay a New Year call.
The fourth is a series of visits. For neighbors, we didn't have much contact in the past, but we can get along well when we meet. On New Year's Eve, we just went to the yard and said "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Shun Shun Bai Shun" when we met. We just sit in the house for a while, without much etiquette.
In ancient times, there was a difference between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to knock on elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".
New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.
In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. It's called "flying mail", and let the servant take the business card to pay a New Year call. There is a red paper bag with the word "Fu Jie" written on it in front of each house, which is the purpose of posting flying cards. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the Yantai Moon Order described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. A large family has a special "door book" to record the guests' contacts and flying photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door: one is a centenarian living in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.
Scholars in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.
From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".
With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.
However, from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, which is called "taboo". It's just that men want to go out to pay New Year greetings, and women can't go out to visit until after the sixth day of the first month. New Year greetings will last for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. Visiting relatives and friends in the evening is called "Night Worship Festival", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after October of the lunar calendar, so there is a joke that it is not too late to have a cold meal.
If, for some reason, the routine ceremony is not followed, and it will be made up later, it will be called "Commemorating the Old Age" comment (4)|9 Report | 2011-03-0817: 32 rdg4212 | Second Spring Festival.
On the first day of the first lunar month, there were more than 30 names in ancient times, such as Yuanri, New Year's Day, Jacky, Chen Yuan, Yuanshuo, Sanyuan, Tri-city, Zheng Dan and Zhengshuo. After the Revolution of 1911, it was changed to the Gregorian calendar, and this day was designated as the Spring Festival, which was different from the New Year's Day of the Gregorian calendar. But people are still used to treating it as an annual festival, commonly known as "New Year's Day", "New Year's Day", "Old Calendar Year" and "Lunar Year". New Year's Day was first seen in Shangshu Shundian. In the Han dynasty, there were quite a lot of folk customs, and it is still the most grand festival of the year. Public officials have a three-day holiday and folk celebrations last for half a month.
Old customs of the Spring Festival
According to the old custom, the Spring Festival begins at 0: 00 on the first day of the first lunar month. In all parts of Shandong, parents usually get up first to "hand out paper" and put a fire whip before opening the door before speaking. Men worship the god of heaven and earth under the guidance of their parents. The first meal of the Spring Festival is jiaozi. When cooking jiaozi, set off firecrackers. In order to drive away evil and seek good luck, jiaozi is cooked with sesame stalks in some areas, which means that the new year is like sesame blossoms and the days are getting better and better. Jiaozi wants to cook more than enough, and steamed bread should be put in the pot after dinner, which is intended to be more than enough. Jiaozi cooked, first hold a bowl of respect for heaven and earth, and then hold a bowl of respect for the kitchen god. When eating, in addition to one bowl per person, one or two bowls should be served in order to prosper the population. Eating jiaozi is full of festive atmosphere. During the Spring Festival, jiaozi is full of money, dates, chestnuts and so on. Eating red dates means getting up early in the new year and trying to get rich; Eating chestnuts means that you can make great efforts and sweat in the new year; Eating peanuts can prolong life; If you eat money, you can get rich. No matter who eats one of them, everyone sincerely congratulates. If the child gets the money, the parents will be happier. They think the child has a bright future. In addition to encouragement, they should also be rewarded with money to show their congratulations. Many places eat vegetarian stuffing in jiaozi on the first day of the first month, which means "a quiet year". In Linqing, we eat all kinds of buns, jujube cakes, sticky nests and so on. Breakfast on the first day of junior high school, supplemented by various balls, vermicelli and Chinese cabbage, is called "eating all the year round".
Pay new year's call
The custom of greeting the New Year during the Spring Festival has a long history and is still enduring. First, the family pays New Year greetings. In a family, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to the elders and the peers pay New Year greetings to each other. Later, the New Year greetings were for elders who did not take five clothes. Finally, I paid a long visit to Five Blessingg's elders and relatives to pay New Year greetings. In the past, I had to kowtow to pay a New Year call, but now I usually just say hello. Businessmen should not only say hello, but also congratulate each other on their wealth. The younger generation pays New Year greetings to the elders, and the elders give them lucky money. On the first day of Linqing, men and married women took part in New Year's greetings. Men and women are separated, and they worship their elders first, and then all the elders in the family. This is called "New Year greetings for the whole family". Later, the patriarch led them to worship in temples and ancestral halls with different surnames. This year was called "New Year greetings in villages". Finally, the village head commanded the whole village to worship each other at the crossroads in the village to solve the disputes and grievances in previous years. This year is called "Happy New Year and Year of Unity", and Yuncheng and other places have the custom of "begging for a long time during the Spring Festival". After getting up, the children silently embraced Ailanthus altissima and sang "King Ailanthus altissima, you grow thick and I grow long, you grow thick and make materials, and I grow clothes". Zoucheng, on the other hand, has a special custom of tamping rat holes. The first morning, he pounded the mouse hole with a flour stick and said, "Poke, poke, poke, nine of the ten mice are blind, and one is not blind, so I will poke" to ensure food security.
Regional customs
According to the custom of southwest Shandong, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. I couldn't let it out the first morning. Some people go around for a day, at least for half a day, afraid of disturbing the Chinese New Year (because firecrackers are everywhere, poultry will be scared to fly around). Other domestic animals, such as cattle, horses, dogs, cats, etc. Are preferential treatment, some eat jiaozi, some eat meat and bones. Some people feed their animals with whole grains. When the animals are full, they sweep their heads with a broom, indicating a bumper harvest of this kind of food. On the morning of the first day of Jimo, chickens are fed every other year. It is said that a chicken can lay an egg by eating a grain of rice, and all kinds of food are for dogs. It is said that what dogs eat first is bound to have a bumper harvest.
On the first morning, there were some special activities in Longkou and Penglai in Jiaodong. First, taking pictures is a waste. As soon as she got up, the hostess held a red candle, opened the kang mat to take pictures, and then took pictures of all corners, meaning to drive away darkness and all evil spirits with light. The second is to press the windowsill, and put all kinds of flour noodles on the windowsill on the morning of New Year's Day, which is very beautiful. The third is "swinging". As soon as the child got up, he climbed the latch and played three swings according to the instructions of his parents years ago. It is said that this can grow fast. The fourth is to put money in a jar and throw some coins into the jar. It is said that if you put money in a jar, there will be no drought for a year, and there will be more money when you harvest. The fifth is to throw insects (dragons). On the first morning, the hostess must first put the worms steamed with flour years ago into the grain depot and noodle jar. Sheng is the homonym of surplus, and throwing sheng bug means "surplus". In Nanyang Town, Weishan County, which is located in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, on the first day of New Year's Day, children took to the streets with lanterns, jumping and cheering and singing auspicious songs, commonly known as "receiving and sending". There are many auspicious songs sung by children: "Get rich! Fat! Buy land! Build a house! " , "This year is a good year! Row a big boat next year! Pack red dates, go down to Jiangnan, pack one, unload 10 thousand, sweep the warehouse and sweep 800 loads! " , "From! Come here. Yuanbao is going home! "
Laiwu and other places have the custom of sending their families home on the first day. People go to graves, burn paper, shoot guns, kowtow and send their ancestors back to their graves. After returning home, I put away my genealogy, and the ancestor worship ceremony of the Spring Festival was over. However, some areas are the second day of school, and some areas are the third day, which is different from place to place.
Taboo on the first day
There were many taboos on the first day, and the location was similar. In Junan, it is forbidden to push the mill (it was closed years ago, and it was only allowed to be used on the fifth day of the fifth year), to carry water, to sweep the floor, and to hit people and swear. Linyi, on the other hand, avoids spending money, including jiaozi, eating meat and mashing garlic. Yiyuan Garden doesn't light on the first night. It is said that if you light a lamp, rats will be overrun. Breaking things on the first day is the most taboo in Jiaodong. In case you break something, you should take the chess piece, don't look back, don't talk, go straight to the well and throw the chess piece into the well, otherwise you will be the "main murderer". In some places, after breaking utensils, read the auspicious words of "Peace through the years" to crack them. On the first day of cooking jiaozi, you can't say "broken" when it is broken, but "earned". This restaurant eats jiaozi and garlic at the same time during the Spring Festival, and it was renamed "Yihe Cuisine" because of its homonym with "garlic".
celebrate
The celebration of the Spring Festival begins on the first day of the first month and lasts until the fourteenth day of the first month. Jiaodong sends New Year greetings after the second day of the first lunar month. Pay tribute, burn incense and paper, and set off firecrackers when visiting the New Year. Some people set up sacrificial platforms in the street and set off firecrackers one after another, which was very lively. Zou Ping sends the New Year in the afternoon of the third day, commonly known as "sending a hundred gods", also known as "round year". Linqing has the custom of offering sacrifices to the God of Wealth on the second day of the second lunar month. Merchants have tablets of the God of Wealth at home, and there are "Qianlong" and "jujube hill" on the table. People burn incense and kowtow when offering sacrifices. Neighbors will also bring incense paper to merchants' homes to offer sacrifices to the God of Wealth to congratulate them on their prosperous business, and the host will also treat them with wine and vegetables to express their gratitude.
Visit relatives
Visiting relatives is an important activity in the Spring Festival. The order of visiting relatives varies from place to place. Linqing is: the second day, my aunt's house, my newly married sister's house, and my grandson's home; On the third day, I worshipped my father-in-law, commonly known as "leaving my husband's family"; The fourth day, menstruation and distant relatives. In eastern Jiaodong and Laiwu, the second day of junior high school, unmarried young men and women can visit their grandparents instead of their parents. During the Spring Festival, family members should bring some gifts. The gift given by the newly-married son-in-law to his father-in-law is very particular. Laiwu is generally four-color, six-color, and some even eight-color and ten-color. The four colors are wine, meat, cakes and steamed bread. Chicken, fish, sausage, canned food, dried noodles and fried dough sticks are all the same color. In addition, cigarettes and candy bars are essential, but they are not the same color. Bring two chickens, two fish, and all kinds of gifts, all in even numbers, and avoid being singular. Jimo pays New Year greetings to his parents-in-law on the third or fourth day, but he can't go to the fifth day. As the saying goes, "worship four, not five, and worship five to death." The order of Lacey's relatives is "seeing her aunt first, then her uncle, and her parents-in-law later". The Yue family should be enthusiastic about their children, especially the newly-married children. At banquets in Laiwu and other places, besides chicken, fish, meat and eggs, there are generally "four tops and four", that is, four fruit plates, four fried plates, four small bowls, four large bowls and four large plates. Accompanying guests should take turns toasting the children. Yue's family gave his uncle a big steamed bun and a big cake of about 10 Jin in return. In the first year, the new wife in Jiaodong will visit her husband's grandparents' house, which is called "taking root". It is said that when she arrives at her grandparents' house, she can take root, and there will be no divorce and early widowhood. When taking root, grandpa, uncle, menstruation, etc. Give the bride lucky money. Newly-married couples in southwest Shandong usually string relatives on two days, indicating that they are in pairs and are lucky. In the old days, Linqing generally did not string relatives before the fifteenth day of the first month, but could string relatives after the fifteenth.
recreational activities
Entertainment activities during the Spring Festival are extremely common among Shandong people. Yangko, dragon lantern, lion dance, dry boat, martial arts performance, ball games and other forms are diverse. From the second day to the sixteenth day of the first month, there is a Drum Tower Gate Meeting in Qufu City, and the Confucius Temple is open. There were local opera performances such as Huagu and Blind Tune, folk art performances and vendors selling toys, fireworks, flowers and fried cakes. 14 is the peak of this meeting, and many people in rural areas go to the city to catch the meeting, commonly known as "rushing to visit the meeting". In order to watch the lively scene at the meeting, the wives of Confucius built a platform and a shed by the wall inside the gate of Confucius, hung lanterns and decorated lanterns, and hung bamboo curtains on the street side of the platform for sightseeing.