New Year's custom in old Jinan

New Year's Day: New Year's greetings

In the early morning of the first day of the new year, family members, colleagues and neighbors began to visit each other and pay New Year's greetings. Walking in the street, acquaintances should greet the Spring Festival with smiles on their faces. Old Jinan people pay New Year greetings, and the greetings are generally "Meet and make a fortune" and "Have a good New Year". At that time, some naughty children often asked each other "How was the New Year?", and then slipped a sentence "Don't let the mouse bite you" and ran away with laughter.

The Spring Festival is the most lively and taboo. For example, a married girl can't go back to her parents' house on the first day. Don't break the tableware. In case of breaking it, say "Peace at the age of (broken)" quickly. Don't drink noodles on the first day, otherwise trouble will continue all year round; Women should not do housework on this day, or they will be involved for a year; Also, you can't take out the garbage and sweep the floor from the door of the house, so as not to pour out the "wealth" and sweep it out ... On the first day of the first day, from morning till night, people in the streets are bustling and laughing everywhere, and the whole city of Jinan is immersed in a peaceful and happy atmosphere.

Grade 2: Going back to the door

In Jinan dialect, the son-in-law is called "uncle". On the second day of the lunar new year, it is one of the customs in Jinan during the Spring Festival that married daughters bring their husbands back to their parents' homes one after another. According to the old custom, a married daughter can't go back to her mother's house on the first day, otherwise she will eat her mother's house poor. When the daughter goes back to her mother's house to pay a New Year call, her parents-in-law will host a wine feast to entertain her "grandfather". "Uncle" is the "distinguished guest" of in-laws on this day. When eating and drinking, he should sit on a chair and be accompanied by his brother-in-law or his peers. Father-in-law will propose a toast to "children" during the dinner, but he usually doesn't accompany the banquet. The married daughter will spend more time with her long-lost mother and talk about her confidence. The accompanying children were happily playing in the courtyard and the street with firecrackers and fireworks prepared by their grandmothers and grandfathers. As night fell, the slightly drunk son-in-law said goodbye to his parents-in-law and went home with his wife and children. In the old days, many families lived under the same roof for several generations. In case of older grandfathers and daughters, their unmarried daughters, sons or grandsons would take the place of their maternal grandparents to pay New Year greetings and send farewell gifts to grandfathers and grandmothers. The custom of returning to her parents' home on the second day of the second day is still popular in Jinan.

third day: digging the moon buds

In the old days, there was a custom of "digging the moon buds" on the third day of the new year in old Jinan, but it is no longer passed down. At night on the third day, when a crescent moon hangs in the cold air, some women take their children to the courtyard, kneel on the Pu Tuanzi facing the crescent moon, hold a spoon for rice in hand, dig a few times for the moon, and then draw a few times around the jaw under the chin. I still murmured in my mouth: "I dug the moon buds on the third day of the first month, and the teeth of the wind went with the wind, and I never sent them again." Then kowtow and salute. It is said that there will be no toothache in such a year. At that time, children suffered from dental caries, so the custom spread widely. This custom uses the homophonic sound of the moon bud to compare teeth, and uses a rice spoon to compare the Big Dipper (because the Big Dipper is arranged like a spoon, Jinan folks call it "spoon star") to pray for tooth disease.

The third day is still the old custom "well-opening day". In the early morning, people offered incense and vegetarian dishes to the well platform, removed the red paper that sealed the well on New Year's Eve, and began to draw water, commonly known as "opening the well".

Fourth day: Setting off firecrackers

During the old Spring Festival, firecrackers were heard one after another. All kinds of fireworks, especially the fire tree and silver flowers, are dazzling. Firecrackers and fireworks originated from the ancient "Tingliao". "Poetry, Ting Liao" says: "How can the night be night is still young? The light of the court, the gentleman will stop, and the sound will be heard. " The so-called "court fire" is what later generations call "firecrackers". In the Song Dynasty, people invented "firecrackers" wrapped in gunpowder, and connected them in series with medicine thread to fix their shape, which was called "whip". Later, there was a connection between big and small firecrackers, which was called "whip" for the small one and "cannon" for the big one, and they were collectively called "firecrackers". In the past, children in Jinan rarely set off firecrackers (that is, set them off as firecrackers). Most of them were set off individually. When they met a silent one, they were reluctant to throw it away. Instead, they broke it and directly ignited the gunpowder with incense, which was called "thorn flower". Some children still put a firecracker at the broken place, so that it sparks first and then explodes, which is called "piercing flowers and ringing". There are many kinds of firecrackers and fireworks. People in Jinan often play with small colored cannons, big Lei Zi, kicking a kick, field mouse, and monkey jumping into the sky. From "New Year's Eve" to the 15th day of the first month, firecrackers and fireworks are full of eyes and ears, colorful lights are bursting, and medicinal incense is filled, adding infinite fun.

fifth day: breaking the fifth day

On the fifth day of the first month, Jinan had the custom of breaking the fifth day. On this day, every family will pack jiaozi, which is called "pinching five"; The whole family drinks and has a reunion dinner, talks about the age, and avoids saying unlucky things; Children set off firecrackers, commonly known as "send the year"; This day is generally no longer a visit to relatives. Earlier, on the fifth day in Jinan, it was still popular to "beat the five poor officials" (also known as "collapse the five poor"): beggars were painted with scarlet, dressed in costumes, wearing broken straw hats without tops, dressed as "five poor officials", holding big brooms and sweeping the ground outside the gate from door to door, saying "send the poor". When people saw this, they gave money, rice and food, and pretended to chase them with sticks, thinking that this would drive away poverty. In the old custom, knives and scissors are not allowed to be used before the fifth day. All the dishes eaten before the "Breaking Five" were cooked years ago and heated when eating. On the evening of the fifth day, every household will "send home": offering dumplings, burning incense and kowtowing, getting back the "gate stopper" ... sending away the ancestors means that the year is over. According to legend, the fifth day is the birthday of cattle, which is a sign of whether the weather is good or not. This statement originated from the Q&A Custom in Jin Dynasty: on the first day of the first month, a chicken, a dog, a pig, a sheep, a cow, a horse and a man.

sixth day: opening a banquet

in the old days, many shops began to open one after another after the "Breaking Five" in Jinan. When the guys come back from home after the "New Year", they are about to start a year of hard work, and the shopkeeper prepares a richer wine feast for the employees on this day. Some businessmen who have economic contacts have also started to entertain each other in order to further contact feelings, close relationships and broaden their business. Ordinary people's families also invite New Year's wine to each other with their relatives and friends in the relatively leisurely first month: today you are the host, tomorrow he will treat you, and you will come and go, which is very lively. At this time, there is no red tape before the fifth day of the fifth day. When people meet, they just bow with their fists and say "goodbye to their old age". Every night from the sixth day to the fifteenth day, the sound of guessing boxing can be heard almost everywhere. Pedestrians on the road are also mostly drinking Nianjiu, all of whom are red-faced and hot, with a proud tipsy. The streets and alleys are filled with joyful atmosphere. The custom of celebrating New Year's Day wine has been passed down to this day.

seventh day: people win the festival

the seventh day of the first month is a traditional "people win the festival", which is also called "seven days of people" in Jinan. Its origin is earlier than Mid-Autumn Festival and Chongyang Festival, and it originated from the divination activities of the ancients. Han Dong Fangshuo's "Zhan Shu" contains: "After the age of eight, a chicken, a dog, a tapir, a sheep, a cow, a horse, a man and a valley. When the sun is sunny, the main thing is fertile, and the yin is a disaster. " It can be seen that the ancients attached importance to the prosperity of six livestock and the longevity of people. Celebrations and entertainment activities were held on this day. Seven pieces of pentagonal silk or paper were cut and pasted on the screen or screen wall, and some were carved into human shapes with thin metal sheets and worn at the temples. People use seven kinds of vegetables to make cakes or eat "all-in-one dishes" and give gifts to each other to congratulate them. Others hold climbing activities to avoid disasters and get lucky, symbolizing prosperity and peace in a year.

There is another saying in Jinan that the first month has three seven days, which are for the old, middle-aged and young people to win the day respectively.

reminiscing about the Chinese New Year custom in old Jinan

I have returned to my hometown for seven days in a blink of an eye. Tomorrow is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. The common people are so busy every day, preparing all kinds of things for the Chinese New Year. It is much more complicated to have an old man at home than to spend the Chinese New Year in their own small home in Beijing. Buying new year's goods, visiting relatives and giving gifts, cleaning the house and washing ..... Looking at the busy young people in supermarkets all over the street, the scene of the Spring Festival in old Jinan as a child is presented in front of us. Old Jinan's New Year custom with its own regional characteristics is gradually unfolding like a colorful folk custom painting. The unique festive atmosphere during the Chinese New Year fills the streets and alleys of old Jinan, and it also permeates thousands of households.

buying new year's goods

buying new year's goods is the most important thing for every household before the Spring Festival. As soon as we entered the twelfth lunar month, businesses began to get busy. In 195s and 196s, there were places where the sales of new year's goods were relatively concentrated, such as Guiyishi Street, Guanyi Street, Plymen, Jingerweisi Road, etc. These streets were almost filled with stalls. I remember that at that time, rows of shiny semi-spherical brass spikes were set up on the roads around Xiangyun Shou and Shanghai Food Store on Erwei No.4 Road during the New Year, which probably played the role of a crosswalk or slowed down vehicles. It goes without saying that the bustling streets and Wanzi Lane in the city are bustling, and the scene of the Chinese New Year in Guanyi Street alone is unforgettable. At that time, there were many businesses in Guanyi Street, including meat shops, dim sum shops, steamed stuffed bun shops, rice noodle shops, tea shops, pickles shops, grocery shops, bamboo shops, department stores, silk shops, local products shops, feeder shops and kerosene shops ..... All kinds of groceries were available. On both sides of Wanxin Street, which leads to Jinger Road, there are stalls selling aquatic products, gluten, chickens, ducks and eggs, and a trip to Guanyi Street can basically complete the new year's goods. In the 195s and 196s, the consumption level was generally not high. People who had been retrenched for one year would have to buy a few kilograms of meat, weigh a few kilograms of pimple skin and buy some lotus roots. People in Jinan have a special liking for hairtail, and almost every household will buy some fried food during the Chinese New Year. Families with a large population will also buy a pig's head and weigh a few pounds of beef and mutton to give their children a treat. Vermicelli, vermicelli, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar are even more essential. People in Jinan have the custom of "adding chopsticks and bowls" during the Spring Festival. In addition to food, they should also buy some bowls and chopsticks, hoping that the population will prosper in the coming year. Some also want to buy some incense candle paper and other memorial supplies. According to the old man, at that time, there was a shop named "Fuxianglou" in the south of Ximenqiaoli Road, which specialized in selling candles, candlesticks, incense sticks, incense burners and toiletries. The facade was small but the business was booming. Every new year's festival often makes businesses overwhelmed.

"New Year comes, New Year comes, wear new clothes and hats. The little girl wants flowers, the little boy wants guns, and the old man wants a new felt hat. " During the Spring Festival, the Grand View Garden, People's Shopping Mall, New Market, Western Market, Chinese Shopping Mall and silk shops in major department stores are also busy. Some people need to use the cloth tickets they usually save to make new shoes, new clothes or change sheets, some want to buy daily necessities for the New Year, some want to choose toys for their children for the New Year, and at least buy them a new hat. Bookstores buying great men are as crowded as people buying New Year pictures and new year card. At that time, I remember that when people met, the most common question was "How's the New Year?" It shows the position of buying new year's goods in people's minds.

Ci Zao

The 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is the day when "Kitchen God" ascended to heaven, which is also called "off-year" just like the whole country. In the old days, single-family families in Jinan generally had a "god's seat" in the dining room, responsible for the kitchen fire at home, and were worshipped as the head of the family. Some have niches, in front of which there are shelves for incense burners and offerings. Those without niches are directly attached to the wall near the stove. Some kitchen gods only draw one person, while others take photos with grandma kitchen king. There is a calendar printed on it, and there are couplets on both sides that say "God speaks good things, and the lower bound is safe" or "God speaks good things, and returns to the house for good luck". The word "head of the family" or "peace in the four seasons" is crossed. Generally speaking, the ceremony is held in the evening. First, offerings such as incense and candied melon dumplings are offered, and then the host bows down and prostrates himself. Words are nothing more than flattery and prayer. Then burn the kitchen god, together with the unburned incense and yellow paper, and paste the "invited" kitchen god on New Year's Eve. There is no complicated ceremony.

Sweep the house and take a bath

"After twenty-three, every day is getting faster." Enter the "busy year" stage after the off-year. Cleaning activities such as cleaning the house, washing clothes, having a haircut and taking a bath are the first things that every household should do. When sweeping the house, cover the things that can be moved out with newspapers and sheets, remove the old New Year pictures, and take a new broom or feather duster to sweep away all the dust and cobwebs accumulated over the past year, even the corners. The room with New Year pictures is full of New Year's atmosphere. After sweeping the house, wash the sheets and clothes at home together. In addition, wash all the pots and pans. When the cleaning and washing are ready, the family will have a personal "cleaning". Years ago, bathhouses and barbershops were crowded every day. For the convenience of customers, bathhouses are open all night a few days before New Year's Eve, and barbershops don't close until late. Even so, people waiting in line for numbers in bathhouses like Mingxinchi Hot Spring Pool often fill two or three long benches and have to wait for more than an hour to wash them. Sitting on the bench, you will hear the waiter inside constantly shouting: "Many people make the room narrow (read zhei Yinping) and let the former guests (read kei Yinping) let the latter guests!" "Wash cool and put on clothes!" In the barber shop, either the number plate is issued or the barber calls the number according to the serial number written by the customer on the blackboard. Because there is a saying in old Jinan that "my uncle died in the first month", men should shave their heads and get a haircut before the Spring Festival.

Steaming steamed buns, frying new year's goods and making crispy pots

The year of 27-28 is the busiest and tiring time for the whole family, among which steaming steamed buns is the most time-consuming and tiring. Besides steaming big round steamed buns, some jujube rolls, bean bags, yellow-faced rice cakes and big steamed buns are also steamed. At that time, most of these things had to be steamed in a vat for fear that they would not be enough to eat during the New Year. The fancy pasta made in those days is still fresh in my memory: the sharp corners are cut obliquely on the oval dough with scissors, a small mouth is cut out, and two mung beans are pressed on the head as eyes. After steaming, it is a little hedgehog that is only alive. The top of the big steamed bun should be dotted with red paint. If someone's steamed bread blooms, it will be even more proud, symbolizing that the whole year is full of happiness and smiles!

frying new year's goods is the same thing as steaming steamed buns. The new year's goods fried by Jinan people are mainly lotus root boxes The white lotus root in the North Garden is the best raw material for frying lotus root boxes. The fried lotus root boxes are golden in color, tender, crisp and delicious in the outside, which is the favorite of Jinan people. Besides fried lotus root boxes, we should also fry mung bean balls, fried hemp leaves, fried loose meat and finally fried hairtail. After frying hairtail, put the tofu cut into small pieces in the oil pan to absorb the fishy smell. The fried tofu is called bean curd bubble, which will be put in the stew in the future.

Stewing pickles with spiced pimples is a delicacy for Jinan people, old and young, and Xian Yi. Cut the radish with a pimple skin and the lotus root handle left when frying the lotus root box into small dices, stir-fry and add the soaked peanuts, soybeans and aniseed to stew together. The fragrance emitted when stewing pickles can drift far away. At that time, pickles made of soaked green soybeans, peanuts and almonds were also used. These two kinds of popular pickles can be served with meals or as side dishes.

Beating the crispy pot and stewing the pig's head meat were common holiday delicacies at that time. The crispy pot has a wide range of raw materials, such as Chinese cabbage, scallops, kelp, peanuts, chicken, duck and fish, and the vegetarian dishes can be rich and frugal at will, and the proportion of sweet and sour soy sauce can be adjusted according to preferences to bring out different tastes.

The most troublesome and hard work in stewing pig's head meat is to burn the pig's hair with a red-hot hook. The eye socket, ears and nose wrinkles are the most difficult to remove. The red hook burns on the pig's head and gives off a suffocating smell of coking protein. If you are not careful, it will burn the other hand that presses the pig's head. But the tempting smell of stewed pig's head meat is irresistible.

On New Year's Eve or when guests come to our home, we will fry the goods in oil, scoop up a bowl (dishes were rarely used at that time in old Jinan), and have a bowl of pickled vegetables and all kinds of crisp vegetables, cut a pig's ear, cut a mouth, and fry a few vegetables. A table full of vegetables is enough for people to feast on.

lanterns, fireworks and firecrackers

nothing makes children happier than playing with lanterns, watching fireworks and setting off firecrackers (Jinan people call it firecrackers or firecrackers). Chinese New Year's lanterns (called Denglou in Jinan) are both decorations and toys in children's hands. At that time, condolences to the families of the martyrs should be in their