Since ancient times, the Spring Festival has been the most solemn and lively traditional festival of the Chinese nation. Although the Spring Festival starts from the first day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, the Chinese folk Spring Festival often lasts from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the Lantern Festival. The cultural symbols and historical memories contained in the Spring Festival have become the most inseparable part of the hearts of Chinese people. However, the Chinese are not the only ones who celebrate the Spring Festival. Japan and South Korea, which are just across the border from China, also celebrate the Spring Festival. So, in what form and content will these two countries celebrate this "China's First Festival"?

The Spring Festival is here

Japan, like China, has always attached great importance to the lunar New Year. Although Japan later switched to the solar calendar, compared with the Spring Festival, the Spring Festival is still the most solemn on New Year's Day. Therefore, This traditional lunar new year is the most lively festival in Japan. Since Japan had close exchanges with China during the Tang Dynasty, some of Japan’s Spring Festival customs were passed down from China. For example, when the Spring Festival is approaching, Japanese people have the custom of building pine trees in front of their homes. This is because in the Tang Dynasty of China, pine trees were regarded as auspicious sacred trees. Building pine trees has the meaning of welcoming gods. This custom was passed down from the Tang Dynasty. After entering Japan, it gradually became a Japanese Spring Festival custom.

In addition, on the occasion of the Spring Festival, on the lintels of ordinary Japanese homes, you can also see woven fabrics composed of many different objects. Most of these objects are made of pine, bamboo, oranges, and straw ropes. , white paper strings, etc., each item has an auspicious meaning.

Japanese door pine

For example, the Japanese take pine and bamboo to mean evergreen, and the homophone of orange is "generation to generation", which symbolizes the prosperity of the family from generation to generation; the straw rope is the Japanese symbol A common mascot, you can often see straw ropes hanging on the lintels of temples and shrines in Japan. The Japanese believe that this straw rope has the meaning of attracting wealth and worshiping gods; this kind of braid contains a Plant white plant leaves and white paper strings, both of which can purify and ward off evil spirits. Just from these woven fabrics with many meanings, we can see that the Japanese attach great importance to the Spring Festival.

Japanese New Year Straw Rope

There is another important thing during the Spring Festival, and that is to enjoy the New Year’s specific delicacies. Japan is also a nation that is very particular about food, so when the New Year comes, people will inevitably prepare some New Year’s food with Japanese characteristics to share with family and friends. Among these foods, the most important food is rice cake. In the minds of Japanese people, rice cake is a food that symbolizes luck and good luck, so when Japanese people make rice cake, they will choose a specific good day.

For example, December 30th is recognized by the Japanese as "Old Day". Most families will choose to make rice cakes on this day. If people are not free on this day, they will make rice cakes on December 28th in advance. Good rice cakes, but people will never make rice cakes on December 29th. Because in Japanese pronunciation, "九" has the same pronunciation as "ku", so the Japanese have formed the concept that the rice cakes made on the 29th are "bitter cakes" that bring pain to people, rather than auspicious cakes.

Japanese temples during the New Year

Chinese people have the custom of staying up late and visiting relatives and friends during the Spring Festival. So, do Japanese people also have these customs during the Spring Festival? Every New Year's Eve, in Japan, like China, every family will sit together to have a reunion dinner, and then sit around to watch the New Year's Eve. At 12 o'clock on New Year's Eve, the 108 bells of a famous Japanese temple will be broadcast on TV. It is said that these 108 bells in the temple can drive away 108 devils. At this time, the whole family sat together listening to Zhong Mingsheng, and the head of the family delivered a New Year's greeting. Then people exchanged New Year's wishes, and then they shared rice cakes and drank Tusu wine to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.

Go to temples to pray for blessings

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Japanese people have another New Year event that they must do, which is to visit shrines and temples to pray for blessings.

Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year every year, the Japanese, like the Chinese, need to pay New Year greetings to relatives, friends, bosses, neighbors and colleagues. They are also very busy during this time, which is even worse than the Chinese New Year greetings. Nothing less. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, the Japanese New Year comes to an end, because on this day every year, government offices, companies and enterprises begin to work, and the festive atmosphere of celebration gradually dissipates.

Korean New Year Food

So, what are the Spring Festival customs in South Korea that are different from those in China and Japan? In South Korea, the Spring Festival is called "Sheer". This word means "beginning" in Korean, which means the beginning of a new year. The first thing I want to introduce is Korean specialties. After all, Korean food culture has become popular all over the world in recent years. Koreans call the food enjoyed on the Spring Festival day "Sui meal", and the wine enjoyed on this day is called "Sui wine".

Among Korean New Year meals, rice cake is the most distinctive Spring Festival delicacy. People not only enjoy rice cake on New Year’s Eve. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Koreans will make the leftover white rice cakes into delicious "Tian Sui Soup" to eat. This bowl of soup means that everyone is one year older and also prays for the safety of their families. It has a healthy meaning, so rice cake soup is very popular in Korea.

Korean Fences

As mentioned in the previous article, the Japanese have the habit of hanging woven fabrics on the lintels during the Spring Festival, while the Chinese like to post couplets, Paste the word "Fu", so what kind of decorations will Koreans use to decorate their rooms during the Spring Festival? On New Year's Eve, Korean people will prepare rice fences woven with bamboo strips in advance and hang them on the wall. It is said that this fence can help them drive away bad luck and leave good luck. So when the Spring Festival is over, some Korean people will choose to give this kind of "Fu Yanli" filled with good luck to their closest friends, and some will keep this Yanli in their own homes for their own good fortune. Family prayers.

Korean people fly kites during the New Year

When Koreans celebrate the Spring Festival, they also have a very interesting activity, which starts from the 30th of the twelfth lunar month every year and continues to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year. Korean people will choose to fly kites with their families during their free time. The reason why we fly kites during the Spring Festival is because there is a saying among Korean people that during this period, the higher and better the kites are flown, the better they can take away people's bad luck, so people will eventually Cutting the string of the kite and letting the sky take away the bad luck is called "sending bad luck" by Koreans, and the kite flown is called "bad luck kite".

Obviously, nowadays, the Spring Festival is not just a grand festival for the Chinese nation. Over the past thousands of years, Chinese civilization has been leading the world, and Chinese culture, including the Spring Festival, has therefore radiated outward. It was under this circumstance that South Korea and Japan were gradually influenced by Chinese culture and began to celebrate the Spring Festival. Nowadays, with the rejuvenation and rise of China, Chinese culture has once again swept the world. This is in line with the saying: What belongs to China belongs to the world.

Reference materials:

"Comparison of Chinese and Korean Spring Festival Customs"

"World Folk Customs"