Spring Festival is traditionally called New Year, New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve, but it is also called "Celebrating the New Year" and "Celebrating the New Year" verbally. In ancient times, the Spring Festival used to refer to beginning of spring in solar terms, which was also regarded as the beginning of a year. Later, it was changed to the first day of the first lunar month as the New Year.

The Spring Festival is coming, which means that spring is coming, Vientiane is reviving, and the new sowing and harvesting season is about to start. People have just passed the long winter when the plants and trees are dying in the world of ice and snow, and have long been looking forward to the day when spring is blooming and full of vitality. When the new year comes, it is natural to greet this festival with joy and singing and dancing. The Spring Festival is also called Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year and Lunar New Year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year and Chinese New Year". The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. In ancient times, the Spring Festival used to refer to beginning of spring in the twenty-four solar terms, and later it was changed to the first day of the first lunar month (that is, the first day of the first lunar month), which was regarded as the beginning of the lunar year, that is, the beginning of the year. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the first month is called Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo and New Year's Day, commonly known as the first day of the first month. This is the most grand and lively traditional festival among Chinese people. In the traditional sense, the Spring Festival starts from the La Worship on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, or on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month, until the end of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month (some are the 19th day of the first lunar month). In some places, it even reaches the whole first lunar month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax.

Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival of the Han nationality. During the Spring Festival, a traditional festival, people hold various celebration activities, most of which focus on offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, getting rid of the old and spreading the new, welcoming the new and welcoming the good, and praying for a good harvest. More than a dozen ethnic minorities such as Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong, Li, Man, Mongolia, etc. have also had the custom of Spring Festival, but the forms of festivals have their own national characteristics. The Spring Festival is the main festival to celebrate the New Year in many countries and regions in East Asia. Vietnamese is called "Tt Nguyên án" (New Year's Day) and Japanese is called "the first month" (Note: the Japanese festival "the first month" is similar to China's New Year's Day, that is, January 1st. After the Meiji Restoration, it was renamed the old first month. Now Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in Mongolia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other places besides China, Korean Peninsula, Viet Nam and Japan. Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are also called the four traditional festivals of the Han nationality in China. The word "Spring Festival" has been selected as the largest festival in China, world record association, China, ranking first among the four traditional festivals in China. On May 2th, 26, the folk custom of "Spring Festival" was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Legend

The Spring Festival has a long history. It is said that there was a custom of "Spring Festival" as early as the Neolithic Yao and Shun dynasties. About the origin of the Spring Festival, there is a legend that there was a beast named Nian in ancient China. "Nian", the head has long tentacles and is fierce and abnormal. Nian lived at the bottom of the sea for many years, and only climbed ashore on a specific day (that is, New Year's Eve now) to devour livestock and hurt people's lives. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of Nian. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The village was in a hurry and panic, and no one paid attention to him. Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian. The old man lifted his beard and smiled: "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian away." The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. At midnight, Nian broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from that in previous years: the old woman's house in the east of the village had red paper posted on the door, and the candles in the house were brightly lit. "Year" was shaking and gave a long cry. Near the door, there was a sudden "scratching" explosion in the hospital, and Nian trembled and dared not go forward again. It turns out that Nian is most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, my mother-in-law's door opened and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers about the promise of begging the old man. This story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away Nian. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household is brightly lit by candlelight, and it is better to wait for the new year. In the early morning of the first day, I have to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom is widely spread and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China. It is said that the "Spring Festival" originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Shang Dynasty in China (La Worship). In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an annual custom of celebrating harvest and offering sacrifices to ancestors at the turn of the new year, which can be regarded as the embryonic form of the Year. However, the name of "Nian" appeared late, and the name of Nian began in the Zhou Dynasty. In order to show the authority of the "son of heaven", the ancient emperors succeeded to the throne, often relying on their own calendars (in different dynasties in history, the time of the year was different. In the Xia dynasty, January was the first year; December is the beginning of the Shang Dynasty, November is the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, and October is the beginning of the Qin Dynasty. In the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued a letter to promote taichu calendar, and it was clearly stipulated that the first day of January was the beginning of the year, which was called the Summer New Year). It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that the year of 2 was officially fixed, and it has continued to this day. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (14 BC-87 BC) succeeded to the throne, and decided to rebuild the calendar to unify it. Sima Qian suggested the establishment of the taichu calendar and set the Spring Festival in the first month of Meng Chun. Today, the calendar we adopted was revised by many dynasties after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but the annual festival of "New Year's Day" on the first day of the first lunar month, as the most solemn festival of the Chinese nation, was inherited as a fixed day.

Origin

The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, also known as the lunar calendar year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". This is an ancient traditional festival with the oldest, grandest and most lively folk history in China, and it is also the same festival for the Han nationality and more than a dozen ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuangbai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li. The Han people celebrate the Spring Festival for a long time, usually from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. The Spring Festival has a history of about three or four thousand years. It was originally New Year's Day of the lunar calendar, which is what people usually call Chinese New Year. It originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. There are also many legends about the year. The ancient Spring Festival was called "January Day", "New Year", "Zhengdan", "Year of the Year", "Sanyuan" and so on. After the Revolution of 1911, in order to comply with the farming season and facilitate statistics, the Nanjing Provisional Government stipulated that the summer calendar should be used among the people, and the Gregorian calendar should be implemented in government agencies, factories, mines, schools and organizations, with the first day of January of the Gregorian calendar as "New Year's Day" and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar as "Spring Festival". According to research, the Spring Festival became the official title after the Revolution of 1911. Wuchang Uprising in October, 1911, and the revolutionary Hubei military government issued the Circular of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Conversion of the Republic of China to the Gregorian Calendar on December 31, which explicitly called the annual festival "Spring Festival". On September 27th, 1949, the New China was formally established. At the first plenary session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference, it was adopted to use the Gregorian calendar era in the world, and the first day of January of the Gregorian calendar was designated as New Year's Day, commonly known as the Gregorian calendar year. The first day of the first lunar month is usually around beginning of spring, so the first day of the first lunar month is designated as the "Spring Festival", commonly known as the lunar year, which further clarifies that the first day of the first lunar month is called the "Spring Festival", and the name of the "Spring Festival" is officially included in the festival code of China, which has really been widely popular so far. The long historical years have made the content of annual customs activities extremely rich and colorful. Among them, the superstitious contents of worshipping heaven and offering sacrifices to gods have been gradually eliminated, while those rich in life interest, such as posting Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures, pasting the word "Fu", cutting window grilles, steaming rice cakes and wrapping jiaozi, have been handed down.

festive significance

Since ancient times, people have emphasized the significance of the Spring Festival as the beginning of a year. The Great Biography of Shangshu in the Han Dynasty said: "The first day of the first month is the year of the year, the month of the year, and the day of the year, so it is called' Three Dynasties', which is also called' Three Beginnings'." It means: the first day of the first month is the beginning of a year, the beginning of January and the beginning of a day. Du Taiqing's "Jade Candle Collection" in Sui Dynasty said: "The first day of the first month is the Yuan day, which also means' three yuan': the yuan of the year, the yuan of the time and the yuan of the month." This day is the beginning of a new year, a new season and a new month. However, this is only the first day of the year determined by our traditional calendar. The date of the Spring Festival is not fixed on the Gregorian calendar, not because our traditional calendar is unscientific, but because our ancestors' philosophical concepts are different from those of westerners. Western philosophy emphasizes opposition, so Christianity can only choose monotheism, and its calendar is based on the sun. China's philosophy emphasizes harmony, harmony between Yin and Yang, so we can live endlessly, so our calendar pays equal attention to the sun and the moon. The difference between Chinese and western calendars reflects the difference between Chinese and western philosophies. This is a question of cultural choice and values, and there is no question of which is more scientific. Due to the dominant position of western culture, their calendars are widely used all over the world. For convenience, it is appropriate for our government to adopt the Gregorian calendar in its official activities. However, the Gregorian calendar can't reflect our philosophy, and our traditional festivals can't be reflected in the Gregorian calendar at all. Therefore, the government also issued a summer calendar to arrange daily life. Not only in China, but also in South Korea, which is adjacent to the east, both calendars are implemented at the same time.

Festival customs

The Spring Festival customs of the Han nationality are generally based on eating rice cakes, jiaozi, Ciba, glutinous rice balls, poached eggs, big meatballs, whole fish, wine, tangerines, apples, peanuts, melon seeds, sweets, fragrant teas and Yaozhuan; Accompanied by dusting dust, washing bedding, preparing new year's goods, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year's pictures (the door god Zhong Kui), wrapping jiaozi's paper-cutting, stick grilles, pasting blessings, lighting candles, lighting a fire, setting off firecrackers, celebrating the New Year, giving lucky money, visiting relatives, sending New Year's gifts, visiting ancestral graves, visiting flower markets, making social fires, and dancing Zhong Kui, etc. People in China still have the habit of hanging Chinese knots during the Spring Festival. Before the Lunar New Year's Eve, Tianjin people had the custom of inviting Chinese knots at Qiaoxiangge, an ancient cultural street, to take Qiao Xiang's blessing. Wenzhou people have to go to their religion and pray sincerely, hoping to get happiness with their families in the new year. Most of them are Buddhism. For thousands of years, people have made the annual custom celebrations extremely colorful. Every year, from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the New Year's Eve, people call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust-cleaning Day", which is a traditional habit of our people. Then, every household prepares new year's goods. About ten days before the festival, people are busy shopping. The new year's goods include chicken, duck, fish, tea, wine, oil sauce, roasted seeds and nuts in the north and south, and fruit with sugar bait. They should also prepare some gifts when visiting relatives and friends during the New Year. Children should buy new clothes and hats to wear during the New Year. Before the festival, a New Year message with red paper and yellow characters should be pasted on the door of the house, that is, Spring Festival couplets written in red paper. Colorful New Year pictures with auspicious meanings are posted in the house, beautiful window grilles are cut out by ingenious girls and pasted on the windows, red lanterns are hung in front of the door, or images of the god of wealth and door gods (Zhong Kui, Qin Qiong and Jingde) are pasted upside down, and passers-by are blessed when they think about it. All these activities are to add enough festive atmosphere to the festival. Another name for the Spring Festival is Chinese New Year. In past legends, Nian was an imaginary animal that brought bad luck to people. New year's eve. Trees are withered, and grass is not born; After the new year, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How can the year pass? It is necessary to use firecrackers, so there is the custom of burning firecrackers, which is actually another way to set off the lively scene. The Spring Festival is a joyful and peaceful festival, and it is also a day for family reunion. Children who leave home should go home to get together during the Spring Festival. The night before the Chinese New Year is the 3th night of the twelfth lunar month, which is also called New Year's Eve and reunion night. At the turn of the old and the new, observing the new year is one of the most important activities. On New Year's Eve, the whole family stays up all the time, gets together and drinks, and enjoys family happiness. In the northern region, it is customary to eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve. jiaozi's practice is to mix noodles first, and the word harmony is the combination. Jiaozi's dumplings are homophonic, which means to get together, and also means to make friends at a younger age. In the south, there is the habit of eating New Year's cakes, and the sweet sticky rice cakes symbolize the sweetness of life in the new year and step by step. When the first cock crow rings, or when the New Year bell strikes, firecrackers are ringing in the streets, and the noise is one after another. Everyone is beaming. The new year begins. Men, women and children are dressed in festive costumes. First, the elders in the family are given New Year's greetings. During the festival, children are given lucky money and have a reunion dinner. On the second and third days of the New Year, they begin to visit their relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, and congratulate them. The warm atmosphere of the festival not only permeates every household, but also fills the streets and alleys everywhere. In some markets, there are also customs such as Nuo dancing and Zhong Kui dancing, lion dancing, playing dragon lanterns, performing social fires, visiting flower markets and visiting temple fairs. During this period, lanterns were all over the city and tourists were all over the street. It was very lively and unprecedented, and the Spring Festival didn't really end until after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. During the Spring Festival, setting off firecrackers, posting calligraphy and paintings on doors and windows to pray for blessings and decorating homes are the most common customs of this festival. Setting off firecrackers There is a folk saying in China that "open the door to firecrackers". That is, at the arrival of the new year, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to eliminate the old and welcome the new with the sound of firecrackers. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" says: The sound of firecrackers makes one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su. Thousands of households are dying. Always change new peaches for old ones. It depicts the grand festive scene of China people celebrating the Spring Festival. The sound of firecrackers is a sign to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and an expression of festive mood. In ancient times, chickens were painted on doors and windows to drive away ghosts and evil spirits during the Spring Festival. In the book "Xuan Zhong Ji" written by Jin people, the pheasant on Dushuo Mountain mentioned above was mentioned, saying that when the sun just rose and the first sunlight shone on this big tree, the pheasant crowed. As soon as it crows, the chickens all over the world crow with it. The chicken cut during the Spring Festival actually symbolizes the pheasant. In ancient mythology, there is also a saying that chicken is a deformed bird. It is said that during Emperor Yao's reign, friends in the past paid tribute to a kind of Chongming bird, which can ward off evil spirits. Everyone welcomed the arrival of Chongming bird every year, but the envoys did not come every year. People carve wooden birds, or cast them in bronze and put them on the portal, or draw them on the doors and windows to scare off monsters and make them afraid to come again. Because the bird looks like a chicken, it is gradually changed to draw a chicken or cut window flowers and stick them on the doors and windows, which has become the source of paper-cutting art in later generations. China paid special attention to chicken in ancient times, calling it a "bird with five virtues". "Biography of Han Poetry" said that it has a crown on its head and is a literary virtue; There is a distance behind the foot to fight, which is a martial virtue; It is brave for the enemy to dare to fight before; It is benevolence to have food to greet the same kind; It is faith to keep vigil and dawn. Therefore, people not only cut and paste chickens during the Chinese New Year, but also set the first day of the New Year as Chicken Day. The door-keeper Zhuxian Town's new year's woodcut picture "Whip the door-keeper in the face immediately"

There is a custom of door-keeper in all parts of China during the New Year. At first, the doorkeeper carved mahogany into a human figure and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a doorkeeper and posted on the door. The legendary shentu and Yu Lei brothers specialize in ghosts, and they guard the portal, so evil spirits dare not enter the portal to do harm.