Spring Festival customs in the Chaoshan area:
The Chaoshan area has many customary activities that are both similar to and different from the Central Plains area.
1. Pasting the Door God and Spring Festival Couplets
At the beginning of the new year, the first thing to do is to post the Door God and Spring Festival couplets. Every New Year's Eve (or the 29th), every household goes to the streets to buy Spring Festival couplets, and those who are in the mood also spread paper and ink to celebrate the Spring Festival, and decorate the doors inside and outside their houses.
The door gods are said to be the gods Tu and Yu Lei who can catch ghosts. Yingxuan's "Customs" of the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted the "Book of the Yellow Emperor" and said: In ancient times, there were two brothers Shen Tu and Yu Lei who lived on Dushuo Mountain. There was a peach tree on the mountain with a canopy of shade. Every morning, they would pick up hundreds of ghosts under this tree. If an evil spirit harms the world, it is tied up and fed to tigers. Later, people used two peach boards to draw portraits of Shen Tu and Yu Lei, and hung them on both sides of the door to drive away ghosts and ward off evil spirits. The Southern Dynasty Liang Zongmao's "Jingchu Years of Ages" records: On the first day of the first month, "make a peach board for the door, which is called fairy wood, and draw two gods on the left and right sides of the door, the god tea on the left, and the green barrier on the right, commonly known as the door god." "However, the door gods recorded in the real history books are not Shen Tu or Yu Lei, but an ancient warrior named Cheng Qing. In Ban Gu's "Han Shu." "The Biography of King Guangchuan" records: On the door of the palace of King Guangchuan (Quji) there was a portrait of the ancient warrior Cheng Qing, wearing short clothes, large trousers and a long sword. In the Tang Dynasty, the position of goalkeeper was replaced by Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde.
The narrative in "Journey to the West" is even more detailed: The Dragon King of Jinghe broke the rules of heaven in order to make a bet with a fortune teller, and he should be punished for his crime. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zheng as the supervisor and beheading officer. In order to survive, the Dragon King of Jinghe begged Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty for mercy. Taizong agreed, and when it was time to slay the dragon, he summoned Wei Zheng to play chess with him. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng took a nap, then his soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the Dragon King. The Dragon King complained that Taizong did not keep his word and shouted for his life outside the palace day and night. Taizong informed the ministers that General Qin Shubao said: "I would like to stand outside the gate with Yuchi Jingde in uniform." Taizong agreed. That night turned out to be uneventful. Taizong couldn't bear the hard work of the two generals, so he ordered a skilled painter to paint the true faces of the two generals and paste them on the door. Later generations passed down the tradition, so these two generals became the gatekeepers of thousands of households. On the two gates of some old-style gatehouses in Chaoshan today, we can still see Shen Tu and Yu Lei or two heroic warriors. The images seem to be the same, but if we look closely, one of them is holding a steel whip, and the other is holding a steel whip. Holding the mace. The person holding the whip is Yuchi Jingde, and the person holding the mace is Qin Qiong.
The door couplets are also developed from Taofu. It turns out that people used peach boards to draw portraits of Shen Tu and Yu Lei and hung them on the two doors. Later, the portrait was changed to a "menmu" with only words written on it. However, two words were written on each side of the door. The expression content was limited. People felt that it was not satisfying, so they hung two more peach boards (later switched to paper) on both sides of the door; pair. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty: Shu Family": Meng Xu, the empress of Shu, ordered the bachelor to inscribe a peach charm. Since he was not a craftsman, he wrote the inscription in his Mingbi: "New Year's greetings are celebrated, and the festival is called Changchun." It is said that this is the earliest peach charm in our country. A pair of Spring Festival couplets. After Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, he ordered every household to post couplets and renamed the door couplets to Spring Festival couplets, all of which were written on red paper. Legend has it that once, Zhu Yuanzhang personally visited the people and found that only one household did not post Spring Festival couplets. After asking, it turned out that this person was a castrate and was illiterate, so he wrote a couplet for him personally: "Cleave the road of life and death with both hands, and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife." Due to the vigorous promotion of the Spring Festival couplets in the past dynasties, the Spring Festival couplets have become a special kind of Spring Festival couplets in our country. The form of folk literature and art has everlasting prosperity. Chaoshan people attach great importance to Spring Festival couplets, and it often takes a long time to think about buying a pair of Spring Festival couplets.
Looking at the Spring Festival couplets posted by each household, it can reflect different aesthetic tastes and values. Many of them reflect the hardworking, progressive, united and harmonious characteristics of Chaoshan people, such as "A harmonious family brings blessings, and peace is worth a thousand pieces of gold", "Diligence in production and good harvests, good management of the family and the prosperity of livestock" and so on. The most famous Chaoshan couplet is the one written by Lin Daqin, a Chaozhou talent in the Ming Dynasty, "As time goes by, people live longer, and spring fills the world with happiness." Legend has it that Lin Daqin once worked as a private school teacher in his early years. One year, on the first day of the first lunar month, the boss's wife celebrated her birthday, so she invited her husband to write Spring Festival couplets and birthday couplets. I saw Lin Daqin holding the pen and ink, and wrote this couplet without thinking.
In Chaoshan Spring Festival couplets, you can often see the word "spring" written in Douda on a single door or on a grain mat or a blessing niche. The word "spring" here has two meanings: one means that spring returns to the earth and everything is renewed; the other means that the harmony of the tide sounds of "spring" and "cun" is used to express the good wishes of having more than enough every year. This is similar to the way northerners like to eat fish at their feasts, which sounds similar to the word "yu".
2. Have a New Year's Eve dinner
After every household's house is decorated with a new look, New Year's Eve is approaching. Therefore, housewives are busy preparing for the most sumptuous and meaningful reunion dinner of the year.
Reunion dinner, as the name suggests, is when families get together to have a meal during the Chinese New Year, and even the deceased ancestors are not forgotten. Therefore, after every family has prepared a reunion dinner, they must first "worship their husbands" (sacrifice ancestors). When worshiping ancestors, you should remove the incense burner representing the ancestors from the shrine and place it on the altar table, then burn incense, pray, and invite the ancestors to have a meal. Then the elders and the younger ones kneel down and worship in sequence, which fully demonstrates the traditional virtues of the fashionable people: to be prudent and pursue filial piety first.
After the sacrifice, the food used for ancestor worship is reheated, a big table is set up in the hall, and the whole family sits together. This is a beautiful moment for every family to reunite. No matter how far apart the family is or how many knots they usually have, this There should also be laughter and laughter at all times, not sad things or making noise.
After dinner, the housewife was busy clearing the table, so a big cleaning activity began. There is no need to be particular about the cleaning this time, it is purely for cleanliness and sanitation, unlike the one at the end of the year where pine branches and smilax were used for sweeping. Then they lighted the stove and started preparing the offerings to the gods tomorrow - vegetarian dishes.
There are many types of vegetarian dishes, some are made from taro, some are made from sweet potatoes, some are made from dates, and some are made from peanuts, taro and sweet potatoes. All ingredients for vegetarian dishes should be prepared in the afternoon and allowed to dry. When frying vegetarian vegetables, when the fire is lit, put an iron pot and pour a large amount of peanut oil. When the oil boils, mix these ingredients into the slurry and put it into the pot. It will bubble in the oil pot. When ripe, the yellow color and fragrant aroma are particularly attractive. At this time, if there are guests at home, the hostess will offer you a plate of fresh fried vegetarian dishes, and then brew them with fragrant Gongfu tea, allowing you to taste the deliciousness of the famous Chaoshan snacks.
3. Welcome the God of Wealth and set off firecrackers
A folk activity that has emerged in recent years is to worship the God of Wealth at midnight. It is said that on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, all the gods go to heaven, and all the gods and immortals in the world go to heaven to "report their work". But people would rather believe that the God of Wealth still does not forget to benefit the world and will send wealth to the world when the New Year is approaching, so every household should worship at this time. So, the midnight bell rang, the firecrackers roared, the smoke curled up, like clouds of auspiciousness, and the shouts of "The God of Wealth has arrived" added a lot of excitement to this midnight. Regarding firecrackers, many books have introduced them in detail. They were originally used by people to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters. "The Records of the Years of Jingchu" contains: "The first day of the first lunar month is the day of the Three Yuan Dynasties. It is called the Dragon Boat Festival in the Spring and Autumn Period. The roosters rise up and firecrackers are fired in front of the court to ward off the evil mandrills." According to Zong Mao, It seems to be based on what Dongfang Shuo of the Western Han Dynasty said in the "Shenyi Jing·Xihuang Jing": There is a person in the deep mountains of the West. He is more than a foot long, naked, fishing for shrimps and crabs, and is not afraid of people. When you see people staying overnight, rely on their fire at dusk to burn shrimps and crabs. When the servant is away, he steals salt to eat shrimps and crabs. It's called Mountain Smell, and its sound is self-proclaimed. When people try to put bamboo on fire and it explodes, they are all frightened. It causes chills and heat. Although these figures change in human form, they are also like ghosts and ghosts, which can be found in the mountains where they are now. What Dongfang Shuo mentioned, even if there is such a thing, is probably just an animal. Later generations will spread rumors, so firecrackers have the function of avoiding evil and fearing disasters. However, as the backward consciousness gradually fades away, the custom of setting off firecrackers among Chaoshan people rarely contains the element of exorcising ghosts, but only adds a happy atmosphere to the festival. With the advent of modern civilization, many large, medium and small cities have begun to ban the burning of firecrackers during festivals.
4. Sending New Year's money
Sending New Year's money is an important custom in Chaoshan Spring Festival. Elders should give money to their younger generations, and younger generations who can make money should also give money to their elders. The money should not be given away in a blank manner, but should be carefully packed in a profit bag or wrapped in a piece of red paper. This is commonly known as "pressing the belly and waist", which means that from beginning to end of the year, the pockets will be full and rich. What is particularly interesting is that before a child goes to bed, parents will put a large-denomination banknote in the child's belly pocket and take the banknote back after waking up.
5. Pay New Year greetings and send "good luck"
Pay New Year greetings, also known as "Worship the Righteousness". On the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after people get up and put on new clothes, the first thing they do is worship at home. It is often the younger generation who first bless their elders, and then the elders give their younger generations their wishes. After breakfast, everyone would like to send New Year greetings to their relatives and friends. A Chaoshan proverb says: "If you are interested in greeting the first and second day of the new year, you have no intention of greeting the third or fourth day of the new year." It means that the earlier the New Year greetings are, the more sincerity they show. Therefore, some people go to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends immediately after getting up, and only eat after returning.
No matter how many gifts you bring for New Year greetings, big oranges (Teochew oranges) are indispensable. The homophony of big orange is "big luck". It doesn't matter if there are more or less characters, but it cannot be an odd number. When New Year greeters enter the door of relatives and friends, they should say different greetings to different people. If you say "good luck in the new year" and "longevity to the south" to the elderly, the old people will grin with toothless smiles; if you say "good luck in the work" and "progress in the new year" to those who have jobs, the listeners will find it very pleasant; For business people, nothing is more popular than "making big profits in the New Year" and "making a fortune and benefiting the market." If they are children who are studying, what they want most is to make progress in their studies and achieve outstanding results in the New Year. Send them this kind of message and they will be very kind to you. After sitting down, the host will serve the famous Chaoshan Gongfu tea to entertain the guests. Before leaving, the host will leave two large oranges from the visitor's gift, and then take out his own oranges to exchange, with the intention of giving each other good luck. Some people who are good at humor often only put two big oranges in their trouser pockets when they go out to pay New Year greetings. After paying New Year's greetings one by one, they still have two big oranges in their trouser pockets. Therefore, knowledgeable people among the people call the custom of New Year greetings at the beginning of the year the "Orange Changing Movement."
6. Pu Chun Sheng (picking gift boxes)
During the Spring Festival, another distinctive folk activity in Chaoshan is "Puu Chun Sheng" (spring, a kind of festival divided into three or four) Layered, covered bamboo gift baskets are usually used in pairs, so they are also called "Dan Chunsheng").
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the mother’s family wants to give gifts to their married daughter. In the past, these gifts were always packed in a pair of big spring bags and carried by the brothers of the married woman. When the brother-in-law comes, the in-laws will kill chickens and geese and treat him warmly. This is what the folk saying goes, "When the uncle comes, he plunders the chicken stand." Among the gifts sent by the brother-in-law, in addition to the indispensable big oranges, there must also be dozens of sugar cane, probably secretly wishing his daughter a happy life. The frugality of gifts is determined by the financial situation of the mother's family, but generally speaking: a newly married daughter should prepare more generous gifts, otherwise she will be looked down upon by her in-laws; while a daughter who has been married for a long time, or even a mother-in-law, is not so particular. When the daughter's family received these things, they distributed them to relatives and neighbors. This formed a major feature of Chaoshan Spring Festival customs. During the Spring Festival, the sound of whipping is crackling. In addition to the rush of New Year greeters, there are also many old women, carrying flower baskets and red plates, going from door to door shouting:
"xx "Auntie, here are some snacks." Because every family has a daughter-in-law, every family must be dispatched. From this custom, we can see the custom of Chaoshan people living in harmony with their neighbors. In addition, if there are brothers in the family who are separated, the person who gives the gift will give it to each household.
However, married daughters cannot return to their parents’ homes on this day. Returning to your natal family on the first day of the new year is considered to be detrimental to your natal family.
7. Family Gambling
There are many entertainment activities during the Spring Festival, such as wandering gods, playing gongs and drums, marking flags and guessing riddles, etc. It is worth talking about the custom of "gambling" during the Spring Festival.
During the Spring Festival, everyone has a rest and has money in their pockets. On the streets and alleys, you can see groups of people gambling around. More often than not, a "family casino" is a place where the whole family gathers around a table, with the head of the family being the banker, and others placing bets. The gambling is all over the place, but in the end "the money does not flow to other families' fields", so there is plenty of joy, but no gambling. The nervousness and worry that comes with actually gambling. Especially housewives who have been working hard for a year and have rare opportunities to have fun are more willing to take this opportunity to have fun. Most families only gamble for one night and then stop gambling, but the old custom remains. But some people may also become interested in gambling. If they continue to gamble, "some people will be happy and some will be sad."
Today, gambling is against the law and you cannot have fun with it. This bad habit must be completely changed.
8. Return to your natal home (eclipse day and day)
On the second and third day of the first lunar month, married daughters take their husbands and children back to their natal home to pay New Year greetings. .
When a daughter returns to her parents’ home, she must bring a large bag of cookies and candies, which her mother distributes to the neighbors and villagers, just like during the Chinese New Year. If there are multiple daughters in the family, and these daughters do not come back on the same day, then they have to come one at a time, and the gift is quite thin, just four biscuits. However, the affection it reflects is very strong. The true meaning is "little etiquette but heavy affection". It expresses the girl's deep longing for her fellow villagers. When the girl returns home, if there is a nephew at home, the aunt will have to dig into her pocket again. Although the money was given to her on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the meaning this time is different. This custom is called "eating the sun and the day" by Chaoshan people. As the name suggests, it is just for lunch, and the daughter must rush back to her husband's house before dinner.
9. Welcome Gods and Receive Blessings
The fourth day of the first lunar month is the day to "welcome gods" or "welcome gods". It turns out that the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month of the previous year was the "gods-off" day. On this day, all the gods in the lower world ascended to heaven to congratulate the Jade Emperor and report on the good and evil of human behavior in the lower world in the past year. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, he returned to the lower realm to continue to supervise people, so every household welcomed God's visit on the fourth day of the first lunar month. When welcoming the gods, wealthy families are required to offer three animals - chickens, fish, and pig heads. If finances do not permit, this can be omitted, but a plate of rice and a plate of brown sugar are indispensable. Because offering a thousand plates of white rice means a bumper harvest in the new year; a plate of brown sugar implies the sweetness of life. After burning incense and offering sacrifices, firecrackers were set off, and then all the gods took their places.
What’s interesting is that during these days when gods and goddesses ascend to heaven, the temples in each village cannot forget to offer offerings. Why do we still need to make offerings to the gods after they have ascended to heaven? Because God only provides the "leadership" of various gods, and their subordinates are still "sticking to their posts"! Whoever is diligent in worshiping and whoever is lazy will be registered one by one.
10. Taboo
Because the first month is the beginning of the year, Chaoshan people often regard it as a sign of good or bad luck in the new year. Therefore, there are many "taboos" during the Chinese New Year. In terms of language, any unlucky words such as "break", "bad", "dead", "death", "light", "ghost", "kill", "disease", "pain", "lose", "poor" etc. Words are forbidden to be uttered. It is also taboo for babies to cry, because crying means "no luck" and indicates illness and misfortune. Therefore, even if a child gets into trouble on this day, you cannot hit him or scold him, lest he cry endlessly. In terms of behavior, be extra careful when handling cups, plates, bowls, and saucers so as not to break them. If it is accidentally broken, the people present must immediately say a few auspicious jingles (such as "Open the mouth of Fou (porcelain), great wealth", etc.) to make up for it. The rice vat cannot be left empty on this day to avoid the risk of running out of food during the year. Avoid sprinkling water, sweeping the floor, or taking out garbage. This is called "accumulating wealth." Because on this day, Chaoshan people often regard water and people as "wealth", and garbage and feces as "fertile water". They sweep and dump garbage for fear of sweeping away and dumping the "wealth".
At the same time, Chaoshan people hold well sealing ceremonies after filling up large and small water tanks on New Year's Eve. That is, cover the well surface with a large dustpan, and then worship the well god. The dustpan cannot be opened on the first day of the Lunar New Year because people often regard water as wealth. Once the dustpan is opened and water is used, doesn't it mean that wealth will flow out? In recent years, due to the use of tap water, wells are often closed to worship gods here, while faucets are turned on and water flows freely there. Therefore, the custom of covering wells and prohibiting drinking water has become just a formality. The custom of sweeping the floor is also slowly being phased out, because during the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off, people come and go, and there are a lot of paper scraps and garbage on the ground. It is really unethical to not clean the floor. Therefore, in order to pay attention to hygiene, many young people do not pay much attention to these traditional taboo customs.
On this day, creditors are not allowed to come to collect debts. People believe that collecting debts on this day is unlucky for both borrowers and lenders. It is also taboo to take things out of other people's pockets. People believe that if someone picks out the pockets on the first day of the first lunar month, it may lead to The danger of being “hollowed out” all year long. Avoid death, and avoid holding funerals, as this will bring bad consequences to the family. At the same time, avoid getting a haircut on this day, because people always like to associate haircuts with funerals on this day. Even killing is forbidden on this day. Killing animals is considered to lead to disasters such as knife disasters, military disasters, and blood disasters. However, now that people's living standards have improved, and they eat fresh and fast, they have no worries.
In terms of diet, it is strictly forbidden to take medicine on this day. Otherwise, it is considered that it will lead to illness and constant medication for a year. There are several sayings about not eating meat for breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year: one is that if you eat this meal, its function is equal to one year; the other is a metaphor that means you should be diligent and frugal in running your home, and you should not be extravagant and wasteful.