? China's Spring Festival custom?
1. Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures || Express people's wishes and add festive atmosphere?
Both Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures originated from the ancient custom of exorcising ghosts. During the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, every household stood in front of the door to draw a peach blossom man, draw a sacred tea, relax and exorcise ghosts every Spring Festival. Later, it developed into a door god New Year picture. Woodblock New Year pictures became popular in Song Dynasty, and the content of New Year pictures also expanded. Simitu, which is still preserved today, is the New Year picture at that time.
Spring Festival couplets appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Writing Spring Festival couplets was more popular in the Song Dynasty. Spring Festival couplets posted in the Ming Dynasty have spread all over the country. Spring Festival couplets are a unique language art form and calligraphy art form in China, and spread to South Korea and other places. Spring Festival couplets not only express people's wishes, but also add a festive atmosphere.
Second, a prosperous life || symbolizes the prosperity of the whole family and expresses good hopes?
When the New Year comes, a torch, brazier or charcoal basin is lit in the yard, which was called "Tingliao", "Burning brazier" and "Wangxiang" in ancient times and "Huowanghuo" or "Dianfa Baochai" in modern folks. The ancient court meteors were used to exorcise evil spirits or to worship gods and ancestors. Later, Wanghuo has developed into a symbol of family prosperity and an expression of good hope.
1738, Lang Shining painted a picture of Li Hong's Snow Scene, showing the scene of Emperor Qianlong and his children celebrating the New Year. There was a brazier in front of Emperor Qianlong, and a little prince was in the brazier, which was called "burning pine basin" at that time.
Modern folk fires are often lit woodpiles or charcoal piles. The brighter the fire, the better, which symbolizes the prosperity of the whole family in the new year. It is also useful to burn pine, cypress, peach and apricot branches in the brazier. The family will cross the fire to symbolize the old disaster and usher in a new atmosphere.
3. Firecrackers || What is the most representative custom symbol of the New Year?
The original purpose of firecrackers is to exorcise ghosts or welcome gods. Later, it developed into a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and became a customary symbol that best represents the arrival time of the new year.
The earliest reliable record of firecrackers can be found in the Chronicle of Jingchu written by Zongba in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty: "The first day of the first month, which is also the third day, is called the end of the month. When the cock crows, set off firecrackers in front of the court to avoid evil spirits. " At that time, firecrackers burned bamboo in the fire, making a crackling sound. The first thing to get up in the New Year is to set off firecrackers.
Gunpowder firecrackers appeared in the Song Dynasty, that is, modern firecrackers, firecrackers and firecrackers. With gunpowder and firecrackers, firecrackers can be set off in areas without bamboo. Firecrackers later became a national custom.
Later, the festive color of firecrackers made people have a further understanding of the symbolic significance of firecrackers: greeting God with festive firecrackers. The sound of firecrackers itself is also a cultural symbol of "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new". It can make people experience the difference between the old and the new more deeply and make life more artistic.
Four, rice cakes and jiaozi || Hope to live happily in the future?
Rice cakes, also known as sticky cakes, are homophonic "high every year" and contain people's hopes for a happy life in the future. Rice cakes are usually made of sticky particles. There are rice cakes in the north, rice cakes in the south of the Yangtze River, and glutinous rice Baba in the southwest.
The most popular New Year food in northern China is jiaozi, also known as jiaozi, trough and flat food. In the 5th century, jiaozi, which is shaped like a crescent moon, has become a popular food for the Spring Festival. Before the Song Dynasty, jiaozi was called "the horn" or "the water horn". The name of "flat food" began in the Yuan Dynasty. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the word "jiaozi" has been widely used.
Generally speaking, the cultural symbolism of jiaozi is a homonym of "jiaozi" and "jiaozi", and "jiaozi" means jiaozi. It is a symbol of the arrival of the Spring Festival. Therefore, people start cooking jiaozi immediately after midnight, which becomes the first meal of the New Year. A deeper explanation, jiaozi also contains the meaning of food. There was a lack of meat in ancient times, so jiaozi with meat stuffing was naturally a good food. This is what the folk proverb "Is jiaozi delicious?" means. Eating jiaozi in the Spring Festival, of course, is to hope that there will be more delicious food next year.
V. The DPRK and the New Year || Strengthen social relations and family relations?
It is an important activity to strengthen social relations and family relations during the New Year to worship, worship collectively and pay New Year greetings with ancient national etiquette.
Zheng Chao, also known as "Zheng Zheng" and "Hui Yuan", refers to the minister's greeting to the emperor in the New Year. Every year in the Zhou Dynasty, during the Spring Festival, the governors had to "face the right" to the Zhou Emperor, that is, pay a New Year call. Ancient literati also used famous cards to replace the custom of visiting New Year in person, which is generally believed to be the origin of China New Year cards. Modern greeting cards are widely used in all walks of life.
At home, the younger generation kowtows to their elders when they get up in the morning, wishing them health and longevity. Then go to relatives and friends' homes in turn to pay New Year greetings to their elders. The elders give New Year's money to wish him a healthy growth. Friends will also visit each other to express their New Year wishes. If there are many relatives and friends, New Year greetings will last for many days.
The activities of the Spring Festival are from within the family, gradually extended to relatives, and even the whole society. Keep old on New Year's Eve, pay New Year's greetings to parents on the first day, and then go out to pay New Year's greetings to relatives.
Sixth, lucky money || This "money" is not money?
In the old days, after offering sacrifices to ancestors and holding a ceremony to welcome the gods, the whole family would "bid farewell to the old and welcome the new" together. The younger generation would kowtow to their elders and wish them a long life, happiness and prosperity. The elders would give them red envelopes, which means "lucky money".
In ancient times, lucky money was called "lucky money" and "beating money", which first appeared in the Han Dynasty. Betting money is not a coin circulating in the market, but an ornamental object cast in the shape of a coin, which has the meaning of avoiding evil and suppressing evil. The lucky money was originally made of four square holes woven with red velvet rope, and the money was made into a "Fang Sheng" with drooping tassels (one of the auspicious patterns of eight treasures). At that time, on some lucky money, many auspicious characters such as "long life", "evil spirits" and "long live for thousands of years" were cast on the front, while on the back were auspicious patterns such as dragons, phoenixes, tortoise snakes and Pisces.
Lucky money is a custom of the New Year and a good wish. Although the currency has changed now, the custom of the elders giving lucky money to the younger generation has been handed down during the Chinese New Year, and they have placed their good wishes on their children's growth and wished them healthy growth.
7. Worship ancestors || Pray for ancestors to bless peace in the coming year?
Sacrificing ancestors in the New Year is not only a mourning for ancestors, but also a prayer for ancestors to bless the peace in the coming year. Sacrificing ancestors is one of the oldest customs in the Spring Festival. "History? Shundian records: "On the first day of the month, Shunge was in Wen Zu. On the first day of the first month, Shun Di went to the ancestral temple to worship his ancestors. "。
Ancestor worship is usually on the 30th of a year. After sweeping the house, cleaning the courtyard, changing Fu Tao and posting Spring Festival couplets, ordinary people will pay homage to their ancestors, or hang their portraits on the main wall of nave, place sacrifices and light incense sticks for the younger generation to worship. Although the forms of ancestor worship vary from place to place, the meaning of "ancestor worship and blessing" is roughly the same.
The custom of the Spring Festival is like a boat, carrying us to the harbor of our home. They remind us to greet the New Year in the most enthusiastic way, and let us not forget the traditions and warm culture of our hometown. The custom of the Spring Festival has witnessed the development and inheritance of our endless Chinese civilization, and it is a precious wealth left by our ancestors. I hope that every generation of China people can't forget the tradition and join hands again to wish a better Spring Festival in the future. New year, new hope! I wish you all a happy Spring Festival!