New Year Customs 1. Eating moxa (Zhen) on the Zhengqiong Festival. The last day of the first lunar month is the "Zhengqiong Festival", which means the end of the first month. The "Zhengqiong Festival" in Maoming has another meaning. Because the local words "Zheng" and "Zheng" have the same pronunciation as "Zhengqiong", "Zhengqiong" means "Zhengqiong", which means "evaporating" poor patients from the world. On this day, every household in the countryside drinks mugwort tea, arranges mugwort flowers, and eats mugwort (zhin). People go to the fields to pick mugwort, take it home, wash it, dry it in the sun, rub it into a velvety shape, cook it in a pot, rub it dry, mix it with rice flour and brown sugar, and make mugwort (moxa). Because mugwort has the function of removing dust and accumulation, suppressing disasters and exorcising evil spirits; therefore mugwort (Zhen) is also called "Zhengqiong". Eating "Zhengqiong" can make the body healthy, free from illness and pain, and people like to eat it very much. 2. Year Every year on the 26th or 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, people in our country have the habit of cooking and eating. According to legend, Maoming used to be a barren land with no grains. A group of people were fleeing the war. Seeing that there were continuous hills and no smoke from the war, they took down roots to cultivate crops and thrive. At first, people could only grow potatoes and other cereals to satisfy their hunger. In order to make full use of the food, they planted cereals. Pound it into powder with a mallet, add water and stir it into a paste and cook it to increase its volume several times to become food such as cassava paste and corn paste. Later, people successfully planted rice on this land and made it into a paste. In order to celebrate the good harvest and change the taste, people pounded the rice into powder according to the previous method and mixed it with simple fillings such as vegetables to make food with a certain shape and taste. This is "(籺)". At first, people only used glutinous rice flour (commonly known as "sticky rice"). Later, they found that glutinous rice flour was more sticky, easier to shape, and tasted better, so they specially used glutinous rice flour ( Year after year, it has gradually become a custom. There are many styles of Maoming glutinous rice (籺), including boiled soup (籺), vegetable buns (籺), longevity peach (籺), water (籺), sugar-filled glutinous rice (籺), and sugar plate (籺). Zhen), Chuo Tart (Zhen), Huishui Zong, Ai (Zhen), Nuomi Ci, Fa (Zhen), etc. All kinds of (Zhen) have different ways of making them, different shapes, different ways of eating them, and different tastes. . Every year, a few days before the New Year, that is, on the 26th and 7th of the twelfth lunar month, the people of our country start the custom of making (Zhen), not only to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, but also to prepare something to "celebrate the new year" (coming soon). Zhen) are placed at home across the two years of the new year to pray for a good harvest and a better life in the coming year. 3. Post Spring Festival couplets to keep the New Year's Eve money. The last day of the twelfth lunar month is New Year's Eve, which is called New Year's Eve or New Year's Eve in Maoming. One day, the production activities in the countryside basically stopped, and every household began to put up Spring Festival couplets, door gods, and red chips on their foreheads. Stoves, water tanks, pig pens, cattle pens, grain barrels, etc. also started to put up a small red paper to show good luck. There are also some sacrificial activities, such as preparing chicken, pork, fish and other food and wine, and burning paper and incense to offer sacrifices to ancestral halls, temples, ancestors, kitchen gods, etc. The family sits together for a reunion dinner basically every year. People who go out usually go home to celebrate the New Year's Eve and have a New Year's dinner with their families. If someone in the family does not return home, a seat and a bowl should be left for the person who is going out. Chopsticks are used to express feelings of longing, and there should be some leftovers for the reunion dinner until the next day (i.e. the second year). There are various dishes for the reunion dinner, but fish must be included, which means that every family has more than enough for the reunion dinner. After that, the ancestors must be worshiped first. After the sacrifice, the meals used for worshiping the ancestors are reheated and set up in the hall. The whole family gathers around. This is a beautiful moment for every family to have a reunion that night. To receive the New Year's money, you should also put some raw garlic, mushrooms, sugar cane, glutinous rice, fried dumplings, fruits, steamed sugar baskets, etc. at home. This is called "New Year's Eve", which means blessings, longevity, sweetness, peace and happiness in the coming year. meaning. In addition, every room in the house must be lit with lamps, and the whole family sits together to watch the New Year. Until the new year comes, every family sets off fireworks and firecrackers to see off the old and welcome the new. 4. On the 23rd day of the lunar year, the Kitchen God is sent to sweep away the dust. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Maoming area is commonly known as the "Little New Year's Eve", also known as the "Zao Sacrifice Festival". Every household prepares tea, wine, vegetarian dishes, fruits, desserts, and burns paper in the kitchen to pay tribute. Sacrifice to the Kitchen King and send him to heaven, and then clean and dust him from the inside out. Sacrificing stoves is a custom that has a great influence among our people and is widely spread. In the old days, almost every kitchen had a "Kitchen Lord" statue in the kitchen. People call this god "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Zao Lord Siming". Legend has it that he is the "Jiutian East Chef Siming Zao Wangfu Lord" conferred by the Jade Emperor. He is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of each family and is regarded as the protector of the family. worship. Most of the Kitchen King's niches are located on the north or east side of the kitchen room, with the statue of the Kitchen King in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the Kitchen King stick the statue of the god directly on the wall. Some statues only depict the Kitchen God alone, while others include two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Kitchen God". Most of the statues of the Kitchen God are also printed with this year's calendar, with words such as "Master of the East Chef", "Supervisor of the World", "Head of the Family" and other words to indicate the status of the Kitchen God. The couplet "God speaks good things, and the lower world ensures peace" is posted on both sides. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, people prepare tea, wine, fruits, etc., burn paper to offer sacrifices to the Stove, and send the Stove Lord to the West to express their respect for the Stove Lord. my country's Spring Festival, commonly known as "New Year" and "Lunar New Year", is the most prosperous festival for the Han people in my country. It is understood that in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the first day of each year began in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, while in the Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty, it began in the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the "Taichu Calendar" in the first year of Taichu, which stipulated that the first month of Mengchun should be the beginning of the year.

In 1911 AD, after the Revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar was adopted, with the first day of the first lunar month as the beginning of the year, and the first day of the first lunar month was renamed the Spring Festival, which is still used today. In Maoming, western Guangdong, the Chinese New Year generally refers to the period from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the first lunar month. The main local customs include offering sacrifices to stoves, sweeping dust, making (Zhen), posting Spring Festival couplets, posting door gods, eating New Year's Eve dinner, and setting off fireworks. Bamboo, dividing new year's money, staying up late on New Year's Eve, paying New Year greetings, distributing profit money, making annual calendar, singing opera, eating mugwort (Zhin), etc.