The preparation before Chinese New Year is not much different from that in Zhuji. Nothing more than cleaning and slaughtering. By noon on the 30th, all the pots, pans, chairs and stools were completely clean, and pigs, ducks, chickens and geese were "lying" in the kitchen, and everything was ready. That's different from Zhuji. The custom of family collective sacrifice still exists in most rural areas of Pujiang. The husband's family is a large family named Chen in the village. Up to now, it still retains three large houses of the original large family, which can accommodate dozens of families. The nave is shared by everyone and is specially used for sacrificial activities or weddings. During the Chinese New Year, as usual, red lanterns will be hung here, many Spring Festival couplets will be posted, incense tables will be placed in front of the door, and a long table will be placed in front of the door to display the sacrifices of various families. At 12 noon, the designated clan knocked gongs outside to inform housewives that they could prepare sacrificial items. So housewives began to make a fire and boil water to cook. At this time, housewives usually cook a pig's head (if there is no pig's head, use a hard rib of an ingot instead), a chicken, a piece of chicken blood, steamed bread made by some Pujiang specialties and red bayberry fruit made of glutinous rice. At this time, the whole village is full of meat. After cooking, put these things in a special wooden basket for sacrifice, stick red paper on it, and insert a knife in the pork, which is probably used by bodhisattvas or ancestors to cut meat and eat. It takes about two or three hours to prepare these things. Every other hour, there will be a gong to urge housewives to prepare quickly, so as not to delay the blessing event. While the host is busy pasting red paper and hanging lanterns. Pujiang people pay attention to the prosperity of the new year. On the afternoon of the 30th, every family hung lanterns and pasted red paper on doors, windows, beds, stoves and pigsty. There are all kinds of greetings written on red paper, and this red eye alone makes people feel festive and auspicious. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the quick-acting housewife brought out a basket of rich sacrifices. My mother-in-law moves very fast, so our sacrifices are often the first to come out. This kind of sacrifice is also exquisite, men must do it, and women can't get out. My father-in-law usually looks after my house. At this time, the old man should wash his face and feet first, then put on a new suit, and then respectfully carry things out. After three o'clock, gongs and drums were loud, urging families to take out their sacrificial supplies quickly. At this time, men, women and children should put on new clothes. Now that the living standard is high, it is not unusual to put on new clothes. In the past, this should be one of the most exciting moments for children. At about 3: 30, men and women, large and small, gathered in the main hall. The candles on the incense table have been lit, the sacrificial supplies offered by various families on the long table have been filled, and the grain drying field of thousands of square meters in front of the house is densely filled with firecrackers, just like a red ocean. Pujiang people have a good tradition of managing the family diligently, but setting off firecrackers in the New Year is also unambiguous. I bought them all in a whole box and saved them for the Spring Festival on February 2nd. Just the blessing ceremony, every household will put at least one box. Everything is ready, and the blessing begins. The whole collective sacrifice activity is divided into three steps. The first step is to bow down to heaven and earth, thank heaven and earth for their blessing, and pray for good weather and abundant crops in the coming year, and then worship our ancestors and pray for their blessing for everyone's happiness and well-being. Step two, set off firecrackers. At this time, it was the time when all Pujiang people prayed, and the whole Pujiang was submerged in deafening firecrackers. It takes about half an hour to set off these firecrackers. The third step is to bow down again and then burn yellow paper. We Zhuji people burn gold ingots and paper money, while Pujiang people burn a lot of yellow paper, which is probably paper money. After burning the yellow paper, the public sacrifice activity was completed.
Next, each family took their own sacrifices home and began their own sacrifices. Sacrifice the kitchen god first, then the ancestor, and finally the pigsty bodhisattva. This process is still completed by men, and the female host generally does not participate. My father-in-law is honest and can't say a few words all the year round. I don't think he would object to my participation in family sacrifice activities, so he took part privately, and the old man never objected. So I take part in this session every year. When the man carries out sacrificial activities, the hostess will take the time to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. When the sacrificial activities were completed, the hostess's New Year's Eve dinner was almost ready. Then enter the reunion dinner. After the New Year's Eve, it will be lucky money. Pujiang people call it a dividend paper bag, which is the happiest moment for children. Grandpa, grandma, uncle and aunt will give it. Husband is the only child in the family, but children can still get a lot of red envelopes from uncles and aunts. Of course, I also give them to the children and two to the old people as a sign of filial piety. After handing out red envelopes, men, women and children gather in the lobby and patio for entertainment. Busy for a year, this is the most relaxing and generous time. Piles of people get together to play mahjong, throw dice, double buckle, etc. Some men are gambling in front, and female guests (wives) are still in charge of money in the back. Children are busy playing small guns or late games. The Spring Festival Gala is not attractive to them at all. You don't have to wait for your husband and children to come back to bed before two o'clock tonight. As a foreigner, I can't speak the language and can't bear to take money to "smash" it, so I stayed at home and watched the Spring Festival Gala quietly. At zero, everyone put down "live" and set off firecrackers for the second time. After setting off firecrackers, we will continue to "fight" from the gambling table, basically after midnight.
On the first day of New Year's Day, the first thing after breakfast is to go to the grave to worship the ancestors, and those who believe in Buddhism go to the temple to worship the bodhisattva. On the second day of New Year's Day, Pujiang people pay special attention to New Year's greetings. All the elders and relatives should take turns to visit. Except for those whose relationship has deteriorated, they go every year, usually on the same day, such as going back to their parents' house the next day, grandma's uncle's house the third day and aunt's house the fourth day. Therefore, it is customary to go to other people's homes to pay New Year's greetings or who will pay New Year's greetings. You don't have to guess and wait. You should go where you belong, and you will come naturally. The rest who don't pay New Year's greetings are still gambling in the courtyard in front of the hall. I've never heard of my husband losing money on the desktop and my wife angrily denouncing behind his back. Everything is so lively and harmonious! Play like this until the Lantern Festival.
Lantern Festival and Chinese New Year will enter the second climax. Almost every village prepares dragon lanterns or makes lanterns, and then several villages form an association. Generally, from the tenth day, they will take turns to show in villages every night. Some lanterns are made into animal shapes, some are made into characters in plays, and some children sit on shelves and dress up as various roles. Honey, what they do there is a bench dragon, which consists of bench-shaped links. Each bench has a dragon body component, which is lit inside. After arriving in the village, six or seven "dragons" lined up first to accept some people's gifts, some with red cloth and some with bride price. After the ceremony, the dragon lantern began to dance. Six or seven dragon lanterns slowly wound together, then the speed gradually increased, and finally they quickly crossed in the flashing lights, which was really dazzling. Dragon lantern dance is a high-tech, difficult and risky activity, and the route is very complicated, so it must have a certain speed, otherwise it will not reflect the wonderful dance of the Raptors, and there must be no mistakes in the whole process, otherwise it may twist together and even endanger life. So the feeling of watching the dragon lantern is both wonderful and tense. After the dragon lantern dance, if there are newlyweds, they will ask for colored balls on the faucet and hang them on the newlyweds' beds, praying for the dragon god to bless the birth of a big fat boy. If there are really many men under the protection of the Dragon God, we will give steamed buns to all the lantern dancers when we welcome the Dragon Lantern next year. During those days, my parents-in-law shared it very happily. I have seen dragon lanterns in Zhuji City Square, because it is always in the daytime. Although there are many people, there is no light, and the effect is much worse, which is not as wonderful as Pujiang.
On the second day of the second lunar month, the Chinese New Year enters the third climax-off-year. In villages with good conditions, there will be lively performances in the evening. Before the performance, they must carry the bodhisattva worshipped in their village to the stage for worship, and then some devout families will worship it alone. Of course, there will still be sacrifices and a lot of firecrackers. Coupled with the lively scenes, it is more lively than the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival. However, in recent years, off-year seems to be gradually ignored. For work reasons, I have only been to such grand occasions as Lantern Festival and New Year's Eve once or twice.
At this point, even if the whole Chinese New Year is over, everyone will do what they want to do next year and have fun together.