Steaming "Bowl Cake"

In Jinjiang, it is necessary to steam "Bowl Cake" for a good Spring Festival, which is also called "Fat Cake". In Minnan language, the more "fat" the rice cake is, the better, because "fat" means getting rich and developed. Steaming "bowl cake" must be "fermented" first, so "bowl cake" means being able to develop and make a fortune.

According to the sticky picture, when the flour is fermented, it will be steamed with strong fire, and the top of the cake will crack, which means "smile is always open", symbolizing the happiness and happiness of the whole family. "Bowl cakes" are mostly steamed with sugar and are sweet, which means that life is sweet and auspicious.

dusting:

23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the "dusting day of dusting (the third sound of xian)" in southern Fujian. The ancient book "Dream Liang Lu" contains: "December is the end ... no matter how big or small, everyone sweeps the door, removes dust and filth, and cleans the family ... to pray for the safety of the new year." In other words, the main purpose of "dusting" is to be clean, so that we can spend the next year fresh and refreshing, and at the same time, it is also to drive away the epidemic, sweep away the plague and pray for peace in the coming year. In the past, there were many stresses on "dusting".

people usually use tender bamboo branches and leaves, banyan branches and leaves, or long dusters tied with straw and sugarcane leaves to clean the dust cobwebs on the corner beams, and also use "tablecloths" to clean various farm tools and articles. After sweeping the dust, the tender bamboo branches and leaves, straw and sugarcane leaves on the broom are generally not discarded, but are collected and taken out for fuel on New Year's Eve, so as to "jump the fire".

There is another legend about "dusting": Every year, the Jade Emperor sends a "three-corpse god" to inspect the world. The "three-corpse god" writes down the crimes of each family on a piece of paper, and sticks the paper on the spider web in front of the door for the Jade Emperor to inspect during his inspection. Later, when people knew about it, they thought of a good way. They tied a long broom with tender bamboo branches and leaves and quietly swept away the note stuck on the spider's web, so that the Jade Emperor could not see what he had written during his inspection. Since then, the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month has become a "dusting day".

Posting Spring Festival couplets:

Spring Festival couplets are also called "door couplets", and all Spring Festival couplets are red (except for families with funerals who post green Spring Festival couplets in the first year, red Spring Festival couplets in the second year and red Spring Festival couplets in the third year). Posting Spring Festival couplets means that the coming year is full of spring and prosperous.

Surrounding the stove and observing the New Year's Eve:

On New Year's Eve, families get together for a family reunion dinner, which is a tradition of China people. In southern Fujian, it is called "around the stove" for the whole family to gather together to eat New Year's Eve. Early on, because there were many people who went out to earn a living in Jinjiang's hometown of overseas Chinese, it was the happiest thing for the whole family to go home for a family reunion dinner and enjoy family happiness.

"Around the stove" is very distinctive and exquisite. When eating New Year's Eve, you should "add bowls and chopsticks". That is to say, the bowls and chopsticks on the table must be in pairs, and more bowls and pairs of chopsticks should be placed for the relatives who have not returned yet. Some relatives who go out to do business or work can't come back for the New Year, so they add more bowls and chopsticks to show their family's love for them.

After "around the stove", everyone likes to sit together and chat, waiting for the arrival of the New Year. This process is commonly known as "guarding the old age".

Fire-jumping group:

After the "fire-surrounding" on New Year's Eve, there is an important activity that people in Jinjiang are indispensable to, and that is "Fire-jumping group". The folk believe that "adults jump in and make a fortune every year." Children jump out, happy and worry-free ... "It not only means that life will be prosperous in the coming year, but also means to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, people will prepare "spring grass", which is usually rice straw and sweet potato vine, in the courtyard to light the fire. After the fire is ignited, the male with the highest seniority in the family takes the lead to jump over the fire first, and others jump in the order of seniority. Jump over the fire, climb the stairs, enter the "CuO" from the main entrance, and go straight to the "God Light" in the hall of God to complete a trip. Then go back to the starting point of the courtyard along the original road and jump. It doesn't matter if you jump a few times. When the fire gradually dies down, the women at home are holding tongs and tiles (there are fewer tiles, so other containers can be used instead), and some unburned sweet potato vines with sparks are taken out of the fire, put them on the tiles and put them under the "room" and "bed". Sticky figure emphasizes that only the "room" where husband and wife live needs to put these.

"Jumping the fire group" is not just jumping over a bunch of burning "fire groups", sometimes people even recite "Four sentences in southern Fujian" while jumping. For example, jump in and make a fortune; Jump out, good fortune; Skip the east and eat (not) empty (end); Skip the west and the money will go back to the house (the house is full of money).