The origin of traditional festivals is related to ancient primitive beliefs, sacrifices, astronomical phenomena, calendars and other humanistic and natural cultural contents. Most of the traditional festivals in ancient times were formed in the activities of the ancients who chose auspicious day sacrifices to thank the gods of heaven and earth and the ancestors for their kindness.
The early festival culture embodies the ancient people's humanistic spirit of advocating nature, the unity of man and nature, cautiously pursuing the future, and firmly thinking about the source; A series of sacrificial activities contain profound cultural connotations of etiquette, music and civilization.
The concept of "Nian" comes from the ancient calendar, and both "Pangu Wang Biao" and "San Tong Ming Hui" have the following words: "The Emperor of Heaven began to assign names to determine the position of the year". The ancients determined the starting point and ending point of the four-season cycle according to the operation law of heaven and earth, and "year" became the floorboard of the four seasons in a year. The earth goes around the sun once, which is called a year in the calendar, and it goes on and on forever.
People set the beginning of a year according to the different seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. In its original meaning, the beginning of the year refers to the "beginning of spring" in the calendars of cadres and branches. On that day, as "bucket handle points to Yin", everything is dreamy, and spring scenery on earth. So there was the Spring Festival.
2. Culture and customs of the Spring Festival
Sacrifice to the kitchen god
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen stove should be cleaned after dark, and the old kitchen stove should be removed and burned. In addition to posting a new picture in the morning and evening, wine, meat, sugar, sugar cane, rice fruit, etc. Burn incense, light candles and set off paper cannons.
The folk sacrifice of stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshipping fire, which has a history of thousands of years in China. Belief in the Kitchen God is a reflection of China people's dream of "adequate food and clothing". ?
sweep the dust
The custom of sweeping the house on New Year's Eve is "the 24th of the twelfth lunar month". According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck.
Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
Family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve, also known as the reunion dinner, is very important to China people. The whole family respected and loved each other, and sat around the dining table happily. People attach great importance to the "reunion dinner" on New Year's Eve. In addition to family reunion and family happiness, they also pray for the safety of the whole family, and all those who work outside will come back for the New Year.
The reunion dinner is the highlight of the Spring Festival, which is not only colorful, but also very meaningful. Worship ancestors or gods before eating the reunion dinner, and burn incense before eating. Generally, there are chicken (planned), fish (more than one year), oyster sauce (good market), lettuce (rich) and yuba (rich) for good luck.
Extended data
Special activities during the Spring Festival:
1, off-year
The 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month is also called "off-year". Off-year does not refer to a single festival. Due to local customs, festivals called off-year are different. During the off-year period, the main folk activities include posting Spring Festival couplets, sweeping dust and offering sacrifices to stoves. ? [46] The folk song "Twenty-three, cantaloupe stick" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year.
2. The 28th year
In 2008, people were sloppy. There is a saying in Guangdong called "28-year-old, sloppy", which means that on February 28th of the Lunar New Year/KLOC-0, the whole family should stay at home and clean up to welcome the New Year.
3. New Year's Eve
The night on the last day of the twelfth lunar month, that is, the last day of the lunar year (30 days old and 29 days old) is called "New Year's Eve". It is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month), which is the day when people bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Because the big moon has 30 days and the small moon has only 29 days, the date of New Year's Eve is different.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Spring Festival