The annual reunion dinner fully shows the mutual respect and care among family members in China, which makes the relationship between families closer. Family reunion often comforts and satisfies the "head of the family" in spirit. How happy old people are to look after their children and grandchildren and live a happy family life. Their efforts in caring for and raising children in the past have not been in vain.

The younger generation can also take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for their parenting. In fact, with the progress of the times, this ancient tradition is also facing severe challenges. Many people have to choose not to go home for the New Year because of the pressure of life, which also makes the New Year's Eve dinner an empty talk.

2. Off-year and Kitchen God

Many places in Hunan have had the custom of having a small year, but the specific time and grand degree are different. The New Year is the "opening ceremony" of the "New Year". From this day on, the festive atmosphere continued until the Lantern Festival. Most areas such as Zhuzhou regard the 24th of the twelfth lunar month as the "off-year", Yiyang and other places regard the 23rd as the "off-year", and Shaoyang and Loudi regard the 15th of the first month as the "off-year". Hengyang and northern Hunan pay more attention to off-year, while Zhuzhou and other places pay less attention to off-year.

In most parts of Hunan, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to kitchen gods on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. It is said that on 23rd, Kitchen God will tell people about good and evil, so on this day of offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, every household should clean the kitchen stove, several boxes, pots and pans, put couplets next to the statue of Kitchen God: "Heaven says yes, lower bound is safe", and offer sweets in front of the kitchen stove. The whole family should salute and make a wish, hoping that the kitchen god will not speak ill of others after eating it. This is called "sending the kitchen god".

3. Spring Festival and Spring Festival couplets

The spr festival is that most solemn traditional festival in China. Originally on the second day of the twelfth lunar month (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month), the Northern and Southern Dynasties changed to the end of the year. Spring Festival couplets have a long history. Couplets originated from ancient peach symbols. According to Huainanzi, peach symbols are made of mahogany, that is, the names of "Shencha" and "Lei Yu" Er Shen are written on the mahogany blackboard or painted on the door, and couplets are written on the mahogany board in the Five Dynasties. It is said that China's first couplet was inscribed by Meng Yun in Shu of the Five Dynasties: "In the New Year, the Chinese New Year is long.".

Spring Festival couplets, also known as "Spring Signs", "Door Pairs" and "Couplets", are one of the folk Spring Festival customs in China. It depicts beautiful images and expresses good wishes with neat, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Sticking Spring Festival couplets is an important symbol for China people to celebrate the Spring Festival. When people put up couplets at home, it means the official start of the Spring Festival.

4. New Year greetings and lucky money

People usually call their relatives and friends "Happy New Year" during the Spring Festival. According to legend, in the middle of winter in ancient times, the "Nian" monster invaded people's lives. Nian monster has three fears: one is afraid of sound, the other is afraid of red, and the third is afraid of fire. In this way, every household will set off firecrackers, write Spring Festival couplets on red paper, light a bonfire and say "Happy New Year" and "Happy New Year" to each other after the fierce beast runs away. These legends gradually evolved into today's customs.

Shaoyang and other places, "go to the first village, go to grandma's house on the second day, and pick up my mother on the fifteenth." Loudi and other places think that it is a delicious performance for the elders to visit the younger generation. During the New Year greetings, firecrackers are set off to celebrate. Hengyang and other places mainly set off firecrackers to receive guests, while guests in Shaoyang and other places brought firecrackers to the front of the host's house to set off firecrackers.

During the Spring Festival, a mass activity called "Playing Dong Year" (also called Lushenghui) prevailed among Dong compatriots in Hunan and Guizhou. This activity is similar to the "group worship" of the Han nationality, but it is more joyful and enthusiastic than the "group worship". This kind of activity is usually held in two villages, and the two teams formally hold a Lusheng dance competition in the square. At this time, the audience of the two villages danced with the music and enjoyed themselves.

Step 5 paste new year pictures

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. These all have folk functions of praying and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's customs and beliefs and places their hopes for the future.

6, shou sui

China people had the habit of New Year's Eve, commonly known as "endure the New Year". Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night.

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".

Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.

Like Spring Festival couplets, it originated from the "door god". 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.

Extended data

Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. In the course of thousands of years of historical development and inheritance, some relatively fixed customs and habits have been formed, many of which have been passed down to this day, such as sweeping dust, posting Spring Festival couplets, offering sacrifices to ancestors, setting off firecrackers and paying New Year greetings. There is a folk proverb in China that every household will set off firecrackers when the New Year comes. ?

Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month, also called Lunar New Year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year", which is the most grand and lively traditional festival among the people in China. ? The history of the Spring Festival is very long. According to "Pangu Wang Biao", "the Emperor of Heaven began to make the main branch name to determine the age". In ancient times, sacrifices to gods and ancestors were held at the end of this year.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia spring festival