There is a saying: "After Laba, it will be the New Year." Indeed, after drinking Laba porridge, the New Year is approaching. After the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the atmosphere of the New Year is getting stronger day by day. At this time, the land of China is full of exciting "New Year" flavor.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve refers to the night of the last day of the twelfth lunar month every year. It is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month). The word "Chu" in "New Year's Eve" means "to go; to change; to change". New Year's Eve means "the end of the month and the end of the year". People have to get rid of the old and replace the old with the new in the coming year. means, it is the last night of the whole year in the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around eliminating the old and bringing in the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.

At the end of each year during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, the "Da Nuo" ceremony would be held in the palace to beat the drums to drive away the ghosts of plague and disaster, which was called "Zhuchu". Later it was also called the day before New Year's Eve. It is the Little New Year's Eve, that is, the Little New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve is the Great New Year's Eve, that is, the New Year's Eve.

New Year’s Eve is the most nostalgic night of the year. New Year's Eve is the most lively and noisy night. As soon as it gets dark, children or young men have already taken incense and set off firecrackers in the east and west. They boldly set off the firecrackers, with one hand of the young Covering their ears and leaning forward from a distance, other children covered their ears with their hands, waiting nervously and anxiously... This feeling and scene can still be remembered even when one grows old.

There are three main activities on New Year’s Eve: having a reunion dinner, offering sacrifices, and staying up late.

Sacrifice to the stove

It originated very early in China. Legend has it that people were afraid that the Kitchen God would say something unfavorable to their family after he ascended to heaven, so they bribed him with food and wine. However, the days for worshiping stoves vary from region to region. Giving away a stove is also a time when there is an endless stream of debt collectors and collectors. However, debt collection will only last until New Year's Eve at most. After the New Year's Eve dinner, even if no debt has been received, the host and guest still have to raise their hands to congratulate each other when they meet.

Cleaning the New Year

After offering sacrifices to the stove, before the end of the year, we still have to choose a good day to do general cleaning, commonly known as "Sweeping the New Year". The custom of sweeping the New Year also has a long history. Before cleaning every year, conservative families would read the imperial calendar in advance and choose an auspicious day to do it. Sweep away the accumulated dust and welcome the new year cleanly.

New Year's Eve

Getting ready to buy New Year's goods is one of the most important things to do during the New Year. People often take advantage of the days from the 25th to the 30th of the twelfth lunar month to go to the market to buy new year's goods. There are countless items to buy, from daily necessities for food, clothing, and daily use to firecrackers and Spring Festival couplets for the New Year. It is always good to come back with a full load.

Money tree

In order to ignite the joy of the New Year, placing a pot of flowers in the hall is also an essential decoration. Therefore, as the New Year approaches, the transactions in the flower market are particularly lively. The most common flowers for the occasion include peaches, plums, plums, peonies, peonies, narcissus, etc. Some people also like to bring back a kumquat potted plant during the Chinese New Year. Fast-thinking businessmen will tie red firecrackers and shiny ingots on the trunk of the tree, calling it a "money tree."

Posting Spring Couplets

Spring couplets are couplets on red paper with auspicious couplets written in ink. During the New Year, they are posted on doors, walls, doors, warehouses, and kitchens. Waiting places. The content of Spring Festival couplets must be neat and neat, with auspicious meanings. It can be regarded as a special style of Chinese literature.

New Year paintings

It is printmaking related to New Year customs and is also a unique folk craft during the New Year period. The characteristics of New Year pictures vary from place to place, but their lively and bold colors and auspicious meanings are the same. "Paper-cutting" involves using a knife to carve patterns on paper, and the design of the picture is very ingenious. The contents of "paper-painted" New Year pictures are mainly statues of gods. Zhong Kui, the God of Wealth, blessings from the Heavenly Palace, etc. are all very popular themes.

Receive the God of Wealth

According to folklore, New Year's Eve is also the day when the God of Wealth descends, so "receiving the God" is also an important task on this day. Among the gods, the most popular is the God of Wealth. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, "giving the God of Wealth a gift" has become the most popular temporary business among young boys. They bought a stack of paintings of the God of Wealth at a low price, and then went around the streets shouting "Send the God of Wealth" or "Send the God of Wealth". Usually when the person bringing the God of Wealth comes to the door of the house, the owner of the house will definitely spend a few coins to "invite" the God of Wealth to come in. Even if you already have one at home, you still have to say "please" and never say "no" to avoid cutting off your financial path.

New Year’s Eve Dinner

The climax of the New Year is the New Year’s Eve dinner.

New Year's Eve dinner, also known as the New Year's Eve dinner, has the most important meaning of family reunion. No matter where they are struggling for life on weekdays, on New Year's Eve, wanderers scattered all over the country will definitely return home after a long journey to reunite. Members at home must also wait until the whole family is here before they can use chopsticks. It is a custom in some places that even if a family member cannot make it home for the reunion dinner, a pair of bowls and chopsticks should be placed on the table for him or her and some dishes should be placed in the bowl to show that the family is waiting for him to come home for reunion. It is customary to eat the New Year's Eve dinner as long as possible, and some people eat it until late at night.

New Year's money

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the moment that the children are most looking forward to is coming. Usually at this time, the elders will sit in the hall and accept the blessings of the younger generations. When they say goodbye, children will say auspicious words to bless their elders, and the elders will take out red envelopes prepared in advance and reward their children and grandchildren. This red envelope is "lucky money".

Staying New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, most people don't sleep and stay up until dawn. This custom was first seen in "Feng Tu Ji": "The custom in Shu is to stay awake until the end of New Year's Eve, which is called staying up late." According to legend, staying up late can make you or your parents live longer. Therefore, on New Year’s Eve, every house is usually brightly lit and people stay up all night. When the time comes, the sound of firecrackers rises and falls, and the new year is coming.

Giving oranges to each other during the New Year

In the Guangdong region of my country, there is a popular custom of giving oranges to each other during the New Year. This custom is closely connected with the culture of the Chinese nation. Among the people, it is customary to write the word orange as orange, and the word orange is very similar to the word auspicious. During the New Year, people use oranges as gifts to each other for good luck, hoping for good luck in the new year. Small oranges are also Became people's talisman.

Usually, when women visit the homes of relatives and friends to pay New Year greetings, they prepare some red tangerines and carry them in baskets as New Year gifts, and the gifts they receive in return are also these.

In Haifeng, Guangdong, when the younger generation pays New Year greetings to their elders, they kowtow and the elders wrap money in red paper or give oranges to the younger generation. As is the custom across China, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to their elders in order to pay tribute to them. The elders naturally want to reward the younger generation. As for what kind of food to give to the younger generation, it is natural to choose something that the child likes to eat and has auspicious meanings, so oranges were chosen. For this kind of food with special meaning. As for giving red envelopes, the children are allowed to buy things they like to eat and play with. This was later changed to simplify the procedures. Although the meaning is the same, it is still not as meaningful as the traditional gift of an orange.

In Chaozhou, people call tangerines big oranges, and its homophone is "big auspiciousness". Therefore, when visiting relatives' homes to celebrate the New Year, they have to bring tangerines. The host will use his own big oranges and those brought by greeting guests. Exchange in order to do good to each other and get good luck to each other. If a child of Family A hits or scolds a child of Family B during the Chinese New Year, Family A must send a pair of big oranges to apologize, and the parents of Family A do not blame their children; Family B accepts the big oranges , and forgave the children of Family A. This means that the B family has suffered an unlucky fight, and if the A family apologizes and offers auspicious gifts to the B family, then there will be no unlucky things happening to the B family and the children of the B family this year.

Spring Festival custom - window grilles

During the Spring Festival, people in many areas like to put various paper-cuts - window grilles - on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also bring people beautiful enjoyment, integrating decoration, appreciation and practicality.

Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art that has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly pasted on windows, people generally call it "window flower".

Window grilles are rich in content and have a wide range of themes. Since most of the buyers of window grilles are farmers, window grilles contain considerable content that expresses farmers’ lives, such as farming, weaving, fishing, herding sheep, feeding pigs, raising chickens, etc. In addition, window grilles also have themes such as myths and legends, opera stories, etc. In addition, images of flowers, birds, insects, fish and the twelve zodiac signs are also very common.

With its unique summary and exaggeration techniques, window grilles vividly express auspicious symbols and good wishes, decorating the festival with prosperity and joy.

Spring Festival Customs - New Year's greetings

New Year's greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and to express their best wishes to each other.

In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "bainian" was to congratulate the elders on the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders, giving blessings, wishing them a happy new year, and greeting them with well-being. When you meet relatives and friends of the same generation, you should also give congratulations.

New Year greetings usually start at home. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders, wishing them good health, longevity and all the best. After the elders are worshiped, they should distribute the "New Year's money" prepared in advance to the younger generations. After paying New Year's greetings to the elders at home, people should also congratulate each other with a smile on their faces when they go out to congratulate each other on the New Year. They should also say auspicious words such as "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "Blessed Seasons", "Happy New Year", etc. Neighbors, relatives and friends also visit each other's homes. New Year greetings or invitations for drinking and entertainment.

Meng Yuanlao, a native of the Song Dynasty, described the time in Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty in Volume 6 of "Tokyo Menghua Lu": "On October 1, the New Year's Day, Kaifeng Mansion was closed for three days, and the scholars and common people celebrated each other early in the morning. In the middle period, Lu Rong said in Volume 5 of Shuyuan Miscellaneous Notes, "On New Year's Day in the capital, people from the imperial court to the common people cross the roads for several days, which is called New Year's greetings." However, scholars and common people worship their relatives and friends more sincerely. When dealing with court officials, they tend to be general in love but not specialized...". Gu Tieqing, a native of the Qing Dynasty, described in "Qing Jia Lu", "Men and women pay homage to their parents in order of precedence. Children send congratulations and call them "New Year's greetings". Even if there are those who do not meet each other for the whole year, they will also go to each other's door to worship... "

In ancient times, it was the custom for upper-class literati and officials to congratulate each other with name cards. Zhou Hui of the Song Dynasty said in "Qingbo Magazine": "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to celebrate the New Year with name cards." At that time, the scholar-bureaucrats had many friends, and it would take time and energy to visit people from all over the world. Therefore, some friends who were not close to each other did not go there in person, but sent servants to bring them a two-inch wide paper cut from plum blossom paper. A three-inch-long card with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it was used to pay New Year greetings instead of paying New Year greetings. The outstanding painter and poet Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty described it in his poem "New Year Greetings": "No need to meet." Only when visiting, famous papers come and fill the house; I also throw in a few papers with others, because the world hates simplicity but not too empty." The "famous assassins" and "famous visits" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year's cards. New Year's cards It is used to communicate feelings and exchange greetings, which is both convenient and practical, and is still popular today.

Since the Qing Dynasty, New Year greetings have also included the form of "group worship". It is said in "Si Mao Yu Tan" that "at the beginning of the year, the capital has a routine of group worship to bond with the new year and strengthen the nostalgia of the country." "Every year, guests are booked by the New Year Book Red, and there are meals and banquets to celebrate the day."

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings has continued to add new content and forms. In addition to following the previous methods of New Year greetings, people have also developed ritual telegrams and telephone New Year greetings.

Spring Festival custom - setting off firecrackers

There is a saying among Chinese people that "firecrackers open the door". That is, when every household opens the door, they set off firecrackers with a beeping sound. The sound of firecrackers brings out the old and welcomes the new.

Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". They have a long history and have a history of more than 2,000 years. p>

Nowadays, most of us think that setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere and is an entertainment activity during the festival. It can bring joy and good luck to people. However, if we trace the origin of firecrackers, we will. Understand the original intention of ancient people setting off firecrackers and the history of its evolution.

"Jingchu Suishiji" records: "On the first day of the first lunar month, when the rooster crows, firecrackers are fired in front of the court to avoid the evil of the mountain. ghost. "This record shows that firecrackers were an acoustic tool to drive away plague and evil spirits in ancient times. This made the custom of setting off firecrackers a certain superstitious color from the beginning. In fact, this was entirely caused by the misunderstanding of the ancients. According to The "Shen Yi Sutra" says that in ancient times, people slept in the mountains while traveling and lit bonfires at night, both to cook and keep warm, and to prevent wild beasts from attacking. However, there was an animal in the mountains that was neither afraid of people nor fire, and often stole food when people were not prepared. .

In order to deal with this kind of animal, people think of burning firecrackers in the fire and using the popping sound of bamboo to make it escape. The ancients said that the animal mentioned here is called "Mountain Smell". It can make people suffer from cold and fever. It is a ghost that can make people suffer from cold and fever diseases. It can scare away the evil spirit of the mountain, that is, it can drive away the evil spirits and bring good luck and peace.

In the early Tang Dynasty, plague was everywhere, and there was a man named Li Tian. People put saltpeter in bamboo tubes and ignited it to make a louder sound and thicker smoke. As a result, the mountain miasma was dissipated and the epidemic was stopped. This was the earliest prototype of gunpowder filled with saltpeter. People filled bamboo tubes with saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal and burned them, creating "firecrackers."

Regarding the evolution of firecrackers, "Popular Choreography" records: "Firecrackers in ancient times were all fired with real bamboo, so the Tang Dynasty poems also called firecrackers. Later generations rolled paper for them. They were called "firecrackers."

With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers has become more and more widespread, and the varieties and colors have become increasingly diverse. Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, and Wenzhou in Zhejiang are famous "firecrackers" in my country. "Hometown", the firecrackers it produces not only sell well all over the country, but also are exported to other countries and regions in the world.

Set off firecrackers has become a recreational activity with national characteristics. In addition to setting off firecrackers during the Spring Festival to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, , every major festival and happy event celebration, such as the Lantern Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, weddings, house construction, openings, etc., also have to set off firecrackers to celebrate the Spring Festival

Eating rice cakes

During the Spring Festival, many regions in my country pay special attention to eating rice cakes. Rice cakes are also called "nian rice cakes", which are homophonic with "every year high", which means that people's work and life are improving year by year.

As a kind of food, rice cake has a long history in China. In 1974, archaeologists discovered rice seeds at the Hemudu matriarchal society site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, which shows that our ancestors had started eating it as early as 7,000 years ago. Planting rice. People in the Han Dynasty had many names for rice cakes, such as "rice cake", "bait", and "獍". The production of rice cakes by the ancients also had a development process from rice cakes to powder cakes. The recipe "Shici" contains the method of making rice cake "white cocoon sugar", "Cook the cooked rice and rice, and heat it in a pestle and mortar, then pound it into rice cakes. It must be very cooked and there should be no rice grains..." "After steaming the glutinous rice, pound it into rice while it's hot, then cut it into peach core sizes, dry it, fry it, roll it in sugar and eat it.

The method of grinding rice powder to make cakes is also very simple. Early. This can be proved from the "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The preparation method is to sift the glutinous rice flour with silk, add water and honey to make a harder dough, and stick the dates and chestnuts on it. The dough is wrapped in Ruo leaves and steamed. This kind of glutinous rice cake is very characteristic of the Central Plains.

The rice cake is mostly made from glutinous rice flour, and glutinous rice is a specialty of Jiangnan. It is as sticky as glutinous rice in the north. Among the cereals, sticky millet (commonly known as small yellow rice) has been the most popular since ancient times. This kind of millet is shelled and ground into powder, and after being steamed with water, it becomes yellow, sticky and sweet. It was a delicacy for people in the Yellow River Basin to celebrate the harvest during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty. The published article "Scenery of the Imperial Capital" records that Beijingers at that time ate millet cakes on New Year's Day every "New Year's Day". It is not difficult to see that "Nian Nian Gao" is a homophonic pronunciation of the "sticky cake" in the north.

There are many types of rice cakes. Representative ones include white cakes from the north, yellow rice cakes from farmers in Saibei, and rice cakes from Jiangnan water towns. 缥TON?稹?

Northern rice cakes can be steamed or fried, both of which are sweet. In addition to steaming and frying, southern rice cakes can also be fried in slices and boiled in soup, with both sweet and salty flavors.

It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used to worship gods and ancestors on New Year's Eve, and later became a Spring Festival food.

New year cake is not only a holiday delicacy, but also brings new hope to people every year. As a poem from the late Qing Dynasty puts it: "People's hearts are so high that they make food with the same sound, meaning that the year is better than the year, and they are used to pray for good years."

Spring Festival Customs - Eating Dumplings

Dumplings are a folk food with a long history and are very popular among the people. There is a saying among the people that "dumplings are not as delicious as dumplings". During the Spring Festival, dumplings have become an indispensable delicacy.

According to "Guang Ya" written by Zhang Yi, a native of the Three Kingdoms Wei Dynasty, there was a food called "wonton" shaped like a crescent moon at that time, which was basically similar in shape to today's dumplings. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wontons were "shaped like a crescent moon and eaten all over the world". It is speculated that after the dumplings were cooked at that time, they were not taken out and eaten separately, but mixed with the soup in a bowl and eaten, so people at that time called the dumplings "wontons". This way of eating is still popular in some areas of my country. For example, when people in Henan, Shaanxi and other places eat dumplings, they put some coriander, chopped green onion, dried shrimps, leeks and other small ingredients in the soup. Around the Tang Dynasty, dumplings had become exactly the same as today's dumplings, and they were taken out and eaten separately on a plate.

In the Song Dynasty, dumplings were called "Jiaoer", which is the etymology of the word "dumplings" in later generations. This writing method can still be seen in the Yuan, Ming, Qing and the Republic of China.

In the Yuan Dynasty, dumplings were called "Bianshi". "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes" published during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty records: "New Year's Day greetings...make a plaque."

Liu Ruoyu's "Ziuzhongzhi" records: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year's Day... we eat fruit snacks, that is, plaque food." The "bian" in "bianshi" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly known as "bian". The name "Bianshi" may come from Mongolian.

During the Qing Dynasty, new names for dumplings appeared, such as "dumplings", "water dim sum" and "boiled dumplings". The increase in the names of dumplings shows that the area where they are spread continues to expand.

The folk custom of eating dumplings during the Spring Festival was quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Dumplings are usually made before 12 o'clock in the evening on New Year's Eve and eaten at midnight. This is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating dumplings means "Gengsui Jiaozi", and "子" means "子". "Shi" is homophonic with "dumpling", which means "happy reunion" and "good luck".

There are many legends about eating dumplings during the New Year. One is to commemorate the creation of the world by Pangu and the end of chaos; the other is that it is homophonic with "hundun", which means "full of food". In addition, there is also a folk saying that eating dumplings is related to Nuwa's creation of human beings. When Nuwa kneaded earth to create a human being, the loess people's ears were easily frozen due to the cold weather. In order to keep the ears in place, Nuwa pierced a small eye in the human ear and tied the ear with a thin thread. , put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess and bite it to complete the ears. In order to commemorate Nuwa's achievements, the common people made dumplings, shaped into the shape of human ears with dough, filled with stuffing (thread), and eaten with their mouths.

Dumplings have become an indispensable program food during the Spring Festival for the following reasons: First, dumplings are shaped like ingots. People eat dumplings during the Spring Festival to "bring in wealth". Secondly, the dumplings are stuffed, which makes it easy for people to wrap various auspicious things in the stuffing to express people's wishes for the new year.

When making dumplings, people often put Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into the fillings. Those who eat as they wish and eat sweets will have sweeter days in the coming year; those who eat peanuts will be healthy and live longer; those who eat dates and chestnuts will have children early.

In some areas, when eating dumplings, they also eat some non-staple food to show good luck. For example, eating tofu symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; eating persimmons symbolizes everything going well; and eating three fresh vegetables. It symbolizes the prosperity of the three Yangs. Taiwanese people eat fish balls, meat balls, and cabbage to symbolize reunion and prosperity. There are many types of dumplings depending on their fillings and preparation methods. Even though they are the same kind of dumplings, they have different ways of eating them: the Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang cook the dumplings in vermicelli broth. Then eat it with soup and dumplings; in some areas of Henan, dumplings and noodles are boiled together, which is known as "gold thread threading ingots".

Dumplings, a special delicacy, not only bring joy to people during the New Year, they have also become an important part of Chinese food culture.