The first day of the first lunar month is the first day of the lunar calendar (lunar calendar, lunar calendar), commonly known as the "New Year".

Customs include opening the door to firecrackers, paying New Year greetings, fortune-telling, painting chickens, gathering wealth, etc.

The Spring Festival is commonly known as "Chinese New Year", formerly known as "New Year's Day". Du Taiqing of the Sui Dynasty said in "Five Candles": "The first month is the Dragon Boat Festival, and its first day is the Yuan Day, which is also the Zhengchao and Yuan Shuo." "Yuan"

The original meaning of "head" was later extended to "beginning", because this day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring, the first day of the first month, so it is called "Sanyuan"; because this day is also the dynasty of the year,

The moon is in the dynasty and the sun is in the dynasty, so it is also called the "Three Dynasties"; and because it is the first lunar day, it is also called the "Yuan Shuo".

The first day of the first lunar month is also known as Shangri, Zhengchao, Sanshuo, and Sanshi, which means that the first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the year, month, and day.

1. Open the door and firecrackers. On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door and firecrackers."

After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with broken red, shining like clouds and brocade, which was called "Man Tang Hong".

At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.

2. New Year's greetings An important activity during the Spring Festival is to go to new friends' homes and neighbors to wish them a happy New Year, which was formerly known as New Year's greetings.

The custom of paying New Year greetings among the Han people has been around since the Han Dynasty.

It became very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties. Some people who do not need to go there in person can send congratulations with name cards.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was called "thorn", so the business card was also called "name thorn".

After the Ming Dynasty, many families put a red paper bag on their door to collect name cards, called a "door book".

3. In the old days, people used the cloudy and sunny weather in the first few days of the New Year to predict the success of the current year.

The theory begins with "Sui Zhan" written by Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty, which states that eight days after the end of the year, one day is the chicken day, the second day is the dog day, the third day is the pig day, the fourth day is the sheep day, the fifth day is the cow day, the sixth day is the horse day, and the seventh day is the horse day.

One day is a great man, eight days is a valley.

If the day is sunny, the object will flourish; if the day is cloudy, the object will not prosper.

Later generations followed this custom and believed that the weather from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month was auspicious with clear weather, no wind and no snow.

Later generations developed from accounting for age into a series of sacrifices and celebrations.

There is a custom of no killing of chickens on the first day of the lunar month, no killing of dogs on the second day of the lunar month, no killing of pigs on the third day of the lunar month, and no execution on the seventh day of the lunar month.

4. Sticking Chickens In ancient times, chickens were painted on doors and windows during the Spring Festival to drive away ghosts and evil spirits.

The "Xuanzhong Ji" written by the Jin Dynasty talks about the aforementioned rooster on Dushuo Mountain. It is said that when the sun just rose and the first ray of sunlight shone on this big tree, the rooster appeared.

It cried.

As soon as it crows, all the chickens in the world will crow.

Therefore, the chicken cut during the Spring Festival actually symbolizes the rooster.

However, in ancient mythology, there is also a saying that the chicken is the transformation of the Chongming bird.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, the friendly countries that passed over paid tribute to a Chongming bird that could ward off evil spirits. Everyone welcomed the arrival of the Chongming bird. However, the tribute envoys did not come every year, so people carved a wooden Chongming bird or cast a Chongming bird.

Place the bird on the door, or draw the Chongming bird on the doors and windows to scare away monsters and ghosts so that they do not dare to come again.

Because the Chongming birds resemble chickens, people gradually changed to painting chickens or cutting window grilles and pasting them on doors and windows, which became the source of paper-cut art in later generations.

In ancient my country, chickens were particularly valued and were called “the bird of five virtues”.

"Han Shi Wai Zhuan" says that it has a crown on its head, which is a virtue; it has a distance behind its feet and can fight, it is a martial virtue; it dares to fight in front of the enemy, it is a brave virtue; it has food to greet its kind, it is a benevolent virtue; it keeps vigil at night without losing sight of it.

At this time, the dawn announces the dawn, which is faith.

Therefore, people not only cut chickens during the Chinese New Year, but also designate the first day of the New Year as Rooster Day.

5. According to the custom of gathering wealth, the first day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the broom. You cannot use a broom on this day, otherwise you will sweep away luck, lose money, and attract the "broom star", which will bring bad luck.

If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside.

It is also not allowed to throw water or rubbish outside on this day, for fear of losing money.

Today, many places still have a custom of cleaning up on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day, no brooms are taken out, no garbage is taken out, and a large bucket is prepared to hold wastewater, and no spilling is allowed on that day.