In ancient times, offering sacrifices to stoves was the most popular folk custom, and almost every kitchen had a "kitchen god" shrine. According to the "Haining Fu Zhi Draft", "the furnace is sacrificed on the 24th of each month, and the cake bait is used according to the price during the long summer and winter solstice. On1February 24 or 23, every household cooks with millet and red beans ... the so-called' sending stoves'. "
It can be seen that in Haining's "New Year" custom, the lunar calendar worships the stove on the 24th of each month. On February 24th, the lunar calendar/KLOC-0, there is a saying of "sending stoves", because it is said that on that day, "Kitchen God" will report the good and evil of this family to the Jade Emperor for a year. Therefore, every household sent him off with a grand ceremony, offering candied rice cakes, shoulder pads and other foods and articles, hoping that the "Kitchen God" would speak well, and that "God speaks well and the world is auspicious".
The sacrificial form of "sending stoves" is also described in the manuscript of Haining Fuzhi: "Taking boiled sugar and rice cakes as offerings, after the sacrifice, the old stoves and brands are placed in China and incinerated in the furnace, which is called" sending stoves "." Hook lamp system is to change the old lampshade into a shoulder, put the old things in, and then burn them to Kitchen God.
The food used in "sending stoves", such as sugar rice cakes, red beans and glutinous rice, and fermented grains, are all local delicacies. Red bean glutinous rice is made by many families in Haining, while fermented rice is made of glutinous rice, which is very sweet.
There is pressure to play rice cakes in the new year.
From the 25th to 28th of February, Lunar New Year/KLOC-0, preparations are basically made for the "New Year" these days, such as brewing wine, killing pigs, curing meat, making rice cakes, making bamboo shoots and baking fish. Playing rice cakes is one of the more important customs. The custom of playing rice cakes in Haining is not consistent. East and west rice cakes are all made of stone mortar, which has a firm and smooth taste and can be stored in Qingming. The rice cakes in Central Xieqiao and other places are generally handmade, and the taste is more idyllic. Playing rice cakes requires a series of processes such as rice washing, rice soaking, rice milling, rice steaming, rice kneading, printing, air drying and rice soaking, many of which are very interesting. For example, on the day of playing rice cakes, the whole family went into battle together, and the children at home watched while playing, expecting adults to give a fragrant and hot "cake head" to eat. Of course, the "cake head" can be made into various small animals.
The first piece of rice cake must be an ingot-shaped "Nianbao" to show good luck. The paved rice cake stand is placed in the silkworm plaque, and the red flowers are printed with marks made of leaves, which is also the happiest thing for children at home. You must have technical experience in drying rice cakes, and the silkworm plaque for laying rice cakes should be covered with straw and sheets. It is necessary to keep circulating ventilation in the body, and prevent dryness without ventilation. The drying time of rice cakes is also particular. If it is too long, it will be moldy, and if it is too short, it will peel off when immersed in the tank. Most of the rice cakes made by stone mortar are in the shape of big rice cakes, which are cut into several pieces after cooling, and the image is slightly inferior to that of handmade rice cakes.
New Year's Day was originally called New Year's Day.
Spring Festival, also known as New Year's Day, January Festival, Xinzheng, New Year's Day and so on. In the Qing Dynasty, Haining was commonly known as "New Year's Day". "Haining City Records" contains: "From early morning to early morning, setting off firecrackers means opening the door loudly. In case it is a single tone or a squib, you must add an auspicious sentence: a single tone means' promotion in one fell swoop'. The squib said,' Keep quiet and make a fortune'. Someone added one, called' in pairs'. Men bow to each other and say "congratulations on getting rich" and other auspicious words; Women congratulate each other and say "contentment is always a pleasure". There are many taboos on this day: no sweeping the floor, no lighting at night, no soup and rice, no abuse of children, no knife, no emptying of toilets, no cooking (only overnight meals), no dumping of sewage and so on. In the old fashion, there were customs such as "burning incense on the head", "burning incense in ten halls", "fasting Buddha" and "eating green fruit tea", which are now out of date. "
Paying New Year greetings is an important activity during the Spring Festival. Like the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, it is the Spring Festival custom that best reflects the "taste of the year". In the past, the family's New Year greetings were in this order: first, worship heaven and earth, second, worship ancestors, and third, worship Gaotang.
On the first day of New Year's Day, the younger generation will pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them happiness and a long life. After the New Year, it is customary to visit relatives' homes on New Year's Day, parents-in-law homes on New Year's Day and relatives' homes on New Year's Day. In addition, classmates, colleagues, friends, collaborators and neighbors should also pay New Year greetings to each other.
The most elegant custom of "Chinese New Year"
Writing and posting Spring Festival couplets are the most elegant "New Year" customs. Spring Festival couplets are commonly known as "door-to-door" or "spring post". Its earliest form is Fu Tao, which began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago. In the Song Dynasty, couplets were written on mahogany boards and became popular. Since then, every New Year, every family has the custom of posting Spring Festival couplets. Over the years, the cultural department has organized calligraphers to write Spring Festival couplets, which has become a new custom. The so-called "writing Spring Festival couplets and sticking to the wall" in the sequel to Xia Chuan highlights the word "writing". In fact, there is no need to care too much about the quality of handwriting. As long as we buy red paper, brush and ink for the New Year's Eve dinner, the whole family will take turns to write it when they are old, which truly reflects the peaceful and festive atmosphere and significance.
In addition, there are customs such as sticking the door gods, sticking the New Year pictures and sticking the blessing characters. In recent years, the word "fu" has become popular again, regardless of the occasion, pursuing novelty. Although there is a custom of putting the word "Fu" upside down in Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is just like avoiding breaking bowls and cups during festivals. Once it is broken on the ground, you must immediately say "Peace for all the years", which is a kind of wisdom remedy (psychological comfort) for the people afterwards, not the original intention. Because it can be said that "broken (broken) is safe", the word "fu" is reversed. This is a truth. It is not a joke to break the cup on purpose. "Fu" and "Dao Fu" are similar in pronunciation, but different in semantics.