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Customs of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in the whole year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them have been passed down to this day.

1. Sweep the dust

"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house". According to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals", China had the custom of sweeping the dust in the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "except Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck.

2. Sticking Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are also called door-to-door couplets, spring couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should select a red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideology and artistry of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph "Poems on Spring Festival couplets" discussed the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.

3. stick grilles and the word "Fu" upside down

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly stuck on the window, it is also called "window flower". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate the festival with splendor.

4. Posting New Year pictures

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting people's simple customs and beliefs and pinning their hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. In some New Year pictures workshops, classic color New Year pictures such as Three Stars of Fu Lushou, heavenly god blesses the people, Harvest of Five Grains, Prosperity of Six Livestock, and Greeting the Spring with Happiness have been produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of New Year pictures in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of Chinese New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

5. observing the new year's eve

observing the new year's eve is one of the most important annual customs, and the custom of observing the new year's eve has a long history. The earliest record was found in the "Local Records" in the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties gave gifts, which was called "giving the year back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "don't be old"; It is called "dividing the age" when the young and the old gather to drink and wish a complete song; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the morning, which is called "keeping the old age".

6. Eat jiaozi

. The folk custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival has been quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Jiaozi is usually wrapped before 12 o'clock in the evening of New Year's Eve and eaten at midnight. At this time, it is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating jiaozi means "making friends at a younger age", and "zi" is homophonic with "dumpling", which means "happy reunion" and "good luck".

7. Set off firecrackers

There is a saying in China that "open the door to set off 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. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers has become more and more extensive, and the varieties and colors have become more and more numerous. Every major festival and happy event celebration, as well as marriage, building a house, opening a business, etc., firecrackers should be set off to celebrate and make a good luck. At present, Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Wenzhou in Zhejiang and other regions are famous hometown of fireworks in China. The firecrackers produced are of many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well in the whole country, but also exported to the world.

8 .. Happy New Year

On the first day of the New Year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other a happy New Year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same clan leader to pay New Year's greetings door to door. Some colleagues invite several people to pay New Year greetings; There are also people who get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship". Because it took time and effort to pay a New Year call at home, some elites and scholars later used stickers to congratulate each other, thus developing the later "new year card".

9 .. Eating customs during the Spring Festival

In the ancient agricultural society, after the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, housewives were busy preparing food for the Spring Festival. Because it takes a long time to marinate preserved meat, it must be prepared as soon as possible. Many provinces in China have the custom of marinating preserved meat, among which Guangdong Province is the most famous preserved meat.

steamed rice cakes, which are homophonic and have varied tastes, have almost become a necessary food for every family. The styles of rice cakes are square yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver and express the meaning of making a fortune in the New Year.

the taste of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like to eat red date rice cakes, hundred fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes made of glutinous rice or yellow rice. Hebei people like to add jujube, red bean and mung bean to the rice cake and steam it together. In northern Shanxi, in Inner Mongolia and other places, it is customary to eat fried rice cakes with yellow rice flour during the New Year, and some of them are stuffed with bean paste and jujube paste, while Shandong people steam rice cakes with yellow rice and red dates. The rice cakes in the north are mainly sweet, steamed or fried, and some people simply eat them with sugar. The rice cakes in the south are both sweet and salty, such as those in Suzhou and Ningbo, which are made of japonica rice and have a light taste. In addition to steaming and frying, you can also slice and fry or cook soup. Sweet rice cakes are made of glutinous rice flour with white sugar, lard, rose, sweet-scented osmanthus, mint, vegetable paste and other ingredients. They are fine in workmanship and can be steamed directly or fried with egg white.

The night before the real Chinese New Year is called reunion night. Wanderers who are away from home have to come home from Wan Li for thousands of miles. The whole family has to sit around and wrap jiaozi for the Chinese New Year. jiaozi's practice is to make dumpling skins with flour first, and then use leather bags to stuff them. The contents of the stuffing are varied, and all kinds of meat, eggs, seafood and seasonal vegetables can be stuffed. The orthodox jiaozi is cooked in clear water and mixed with vinegar after being fished up. There are also ways to fry jiaozi and bake jiaozi (fried dumpling). Because the word "He" in dough mixing means "He"; Jiaozi's "Jiao" and "Jiao" are homophonic, and "He" and "Jiao" have the meaning of reunion, so jiaozi is used to symbolize reunion of acacia; It is very auspicious to take the meaning of making friends at an older age; In addition, jiaozi, shaped like an ingot, eats jiaozi during the Chinese New Year, which also has the auspicious meaning of "making a fortune". All the families get together to make a package for jiaozi, so it's fun to celebrate the Spring Festival.

1 .. Poems of the Spring Festival

Tian Jia Yuan Ri

(Tang) Meng Haoran

Last night, he fought back to the north and started from the east this year;

I'm strong now, and I'm worried about farming without money.

Mulberry field cultivates the father, while lotus hoe follows the shepherd boy;

Tian's family accounts for the climate, and * * * said that this year was abundant.

"Selling Dementia Words"

(Tang) Fan Chengda

On New Year's Eve, people don't sleep, and they are tired of being sluggish and forcing the new year;

children call to take the long street, and the cloud has dementia to call people to sell.

In addition to the Night

(Tang) Coming to the mandarin fish

It's about the loss of solidarity, and Wan Li's lovesickness overnight.

I'm so worried that I'll see the spring breeze again after the crow dies.

January

(Song) Wang Anshi

The sound of firecrackers is one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su;

every family always changes new peaches for old ones.

Jade Louchun in the Yuan Dynasty

(Song Dynasty) Carpet

Every year, the lotus leaks, and Bijing Tu Su sinks the frozen wine.

Han Xiao is still deceiving others, and she is slim in spring, so she comes to Liu first.

A beautiful woman urges Qian to live a long life, and a cypress leaf and pepper are covered with finery sleeves.

I seldom know each other in the depths of drunkenness, but I am partial to the old with Dongjun.

Except at night

(Southern Song Dynasty) Wen Tianxiang

Gankun is empty, and the years go to the hall;

the last road is full of wind and rain, and the poor side is full of snow and frost.

I am dying with the years, and I have forgotten all about the world;

There is no dream of killing the Soviet Union again, so take the lamp to night is still young.

Happy New Year

(Ming) Wen Zhiming

I don't want to meet each other, but I just want to talk, and the famous papers are full of us.

I also throw a few papers with others, and the world is too simple and not too empty.

It's new and correct

(Ming) Ye Qing

The wind and frost in heaven and earth are exhausted, and the weather in Gankun is harmonious;

New years add to the calendar, and spring fills the old mountains and rivers.

Mei Liufang is full of pride, loose and old;

Tu Su-cheng is drunk, laughing in the clouds.

It's New Year's Eve now and then.

(Qing) Huang Jingren

A thousand people laugh late, but their worries are hidden from the outside.

People who stand quietly in the city bridge don't know, and they watch for a long time like a moon.

Fengcheng New Year's Speech

(Qing) Cha Shenxing

Cleverly cut a victory and tried Silla, painting colorful gold as a moth;

since then, scissors have been idle for a month, and there are more needles and thread in the boudoir before the age of 2.

New Year's Day in Sino-Japanese War

(Qing) Kong Shangren

Xiao Shu's white hair is not full of ups and downs, but he sleeps around the stove when he keeps watch.

Cut the candles to dry night snack wine, and spend all your money on spring money.

Listen to the child's heart burning firecrackers, and watch the peach characters change.

add a plum blossom to the drum horn, and even laugh and worship the New Year.

New Year's Day takes up the charm of Liu Yazi

Dong Biwu

*** celebrates the New Year with laughter, and Hongyan ladies give plum blossoms;

propose a toast to Tu Su wine, and share victory tea after a banquet.

Only loyalty can serve the country, and there is no paradise for home;

Accompanying the capital in singing and dancing to welcome the festive season, watching Yan 'an scenery from a distance.

See the flower market in the Spring Festival

Lin Boqu

Meet in Maijie to see the flower market, but lean against the arcade like a gallery;

bunched potted plants are lined up, and the grass plants are woody and fragrant.

The lights were on all night, and the singing was ecstatic.

It was this year that the scenery was beautiful and colorful.

Spring Festival customs of all ethnic groups in different places

1. Tibetans

Each ethnic group has its own unique culture and living habits. Tibetans are an ancient and enthusiastic ethnic group, and in the long history, they have also formed their own living habits and taboos in life.

1. When two friends meet after a long separation greet each other or chat, you can't put your hand on each other's shoulders.

2. You can't step over or step on other people's clothes, or put your own clothes on other people's clothes, let alone cross people.

3. Women should not hang clothes, especially pants and underwear where everyone passes by.

4. Don't whistle or cry loudly in the house.

5. When the family is away from home and the guests have just left, you can't sweep the floor or take out the garbage at noon, after sunset and on the first day of the Tibetan New Year.

6. Outsiders are not allowed to mention the name of the deceased in front of his relatives.

7. Work that should be done this year can't be done next year, such as twisting wool, knitting sweaters, carpets, etc.

8. At dusk, you can't go to people's homes casually, especially when people will have pregnant women who have given birth, newly-born women or seriously ill patients, and strangers can't go.

9. After noon, you can't take out any property at home.

1. A stranger can't talk loudly when he goes to mountains and cliffs and canyons that you have never been to.

11. Do not cross or step on eating utensils, pots, pans, etc.

12. There are two people at home who go out at the same time and go in opposite directions. They can't go out at the same time. They must go out back and forth and the time of going out should be separated.

13. Women can't comb and wash their hair at night, and they can't go out with their hair covered.

14. When using a broom and dustpan, you can't pass them directly by hand. You must put them on the ground first, and then another person will pick them up from the ground.

15. Whenever relatives and friends visit your home or visit you, they will give you some buttered tea or highland barley wine as gifts. When guests leave, they can't leave everything empty, so they must leave some in it or put something of their own.

16. A chipped or cracked bowl cannot be used for eating or pouring tea for guests.

II .. Yi Nationality

Yi Torch Festival, that is, the Year of the Yi Nationality. In the eyes of Yi people, fire symbolizes light, justice and prosperity, and symbolizes a powerful force that can destroy all evil. Torch Festival is a festival of joy, love and happiness for Yi people. 3. Hong Kong customs

The Lunar New Year is a traditional grand festival in China, and I believe everyone in China knows it. However, celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is totally different from the traditional ones in terms of customs and atmosphere.

In recent years, few Hong Kong people have traditionally posted Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures at home during the Lunar New Year. Instead, they have posted "prosperous business" and "safe entry and exit" in some shops or homes. Even so, the original intention of posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures is the same as that of posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures. I hope everything will be smooth and safe in the coming year.

In addition, lion dances and dragon lanterns will also appear in some villages and villages in the New Territories, and it is difficult to see large-scale lion dances and dragon lanterns on the streets of urban areas in the New Year. As for setting off firecrackers and firecrackers, it is forbidden in Hong Kong. However, since 1982, a grand fireworks show has been held in Victoria Harbour every year on the second night of the Lunar New Year, which has been a program to welcome the Spring Festival for more than ten years.

Hong Kong is known as a "gourmet paradise", and there are many customs about eating during the Spring Festival. Most families will also have a "reunion dinner" during the Spring Festival, which is usually held at home, and the whole family will get together and enjoy dinner on New Year's Eve. The first choice for a big program after dinner is believed to be visiting the flower market. During the Lunar New Year, there are many fairs in Hong Kong and Kowloon, among which the flower market in Victoria Park is the largest and most lively. Hong Kong people are used to visiting the flower market after dinner, and on New Year's Eve, people are crowded with each other, and everyone will celebrate the festival together.

The happiest thing about spending the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is to collect "profit" children. During the Spring Festival, laughter can be heard everywhere. "Li" was originally a "good thing", which was based on good luck and good intentions, and it also became an indispensable custom with relatives during the Spring Festival.

iv. Macao customs

Macao customs are unique. "Xie Zao" is one of the most traditional China customs preserved in Macau. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, people in Macao called it "Xie Zao". According to the tradition of China, Macao people also use candy for the kitchen god, saying that it is to paste the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, so as not to speak ill of him before the Jade Emperor. I saw a picture of Santa Claus on the stove of a Macao family in Flower Street, Macau. Strangely, the picture of Santa Claus was affixed with a couplet saying "Heaven speaks good things, and it is good luck to return home".

The Chinese New Year in Macau begins on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, when the word "easy to send" is pronounced in Cantonese. Most business owners treat their employees to a "reunion dinner" at the end of this year to show their prosperity and good luck. The annual flavor of Macao can be truly felt from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.

On New Year's Eve, observing the new year and visiting the flower market are two important events for Macao people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. Shousui is playing mahjong, watching TV, catching up and chatting, and enjoying family happiness; Probably influenced by Christmas and Valentine's Day in the West, Macau people are still scrambling to buy it.