New Year's custom in Fujian

On New Year's Eve in Fuzhou, people in Fuzhou began to be busy for the New Year, with horseshoes to worship their ancestors and eat too flat

Heng Chong said that as early as December 24 of the lunar calendar, people in Fuzhou began to be busy for the New Year. According to Fuzhou people's tradition, there is no killing after December 24th of the lunar calendar, so the meat to be eaten in the first month has to be prepared before that. At home, women hang the killed chickens and pigs from the ceiling, dry them, stew them, and put them in an urn for pickling with wine and various ingredients.

Hou Hengchong said that such a jar of food is not only a delicacy on the reunion dinner table, but can often be eaten until the end of the month.

On New Year's Eve, before having a reunion dinner, people in Fuzhou should worship their ancestors first. Among many sacrifices, Hou Hengchong was most impressed by horseshoes and rice cakes. Horseshoe grows in the field and has a strong vitality. It is hoped that the ancestors will bless the meaning of the successors of the families concerned.

Fuzhou people's rice cakes are different from those common in the local market. They are as big as a tray and have different tastes. Therefore, every year, Fuzhou Guild Hall will order rice cakes for its members, so that villagers can taste the rice cakes with unique Fuzhou flavor.

When offering sacrifices to ancestors, the rice cake should be sliced and fried, and then put on a plate for offering. Fuzhou people attach great importance to rice cakes. Apart from offering sacrifices to ancestors, rice cakes are also a dessert on the reunion dinner table. Even if they don't eat them, they will be indispensable on the dinner table. In addition, red fermented chicken, Fuzhou fish balls and meat swallows are also delicious foods on the dinner table of Fuzhou people.

Fuzhou people also have an interesting annual custom. After the family reunion dinner, parents should use toilet paper to wipe their mouths for their children, which means that children talk nonsense. If the children say something wrong, I hope the gods will not blame him.

On the first day of New Year's Day, Fuzhou people must make sacrifices to heaven before going out to pay a New Year's call, and bamboo rice is a necessary sacrifice. The rice is served in a bamboo-woven container with a paper red flower inserted in it and chopsticks inserted around it, which means praying to heaven.

According to tradition, people in Fuzhou have to eat a bowl that is too flat. That's noodles soaked in red fermented chicken soup, and two eggs are added to the noodles. Now some people have replaced them with quail eggs. As the name implies, a flat surface is safe to eat.

Hou Hengchong remembers that the Lantern Festival in Fuzhou is also very lively. Visiting the gods is a big festival, and the festive atmosphere is pushed to the climax by the sound of drums, crowds and firecrackers.

Hou Hengchong returned to Singapore at the age of 2 in 1959. Over the past decades, due to various factors, the traditional customs of Fuzhou people have been unable to be completely preserved.

Hou Hengchong said, for example, many Fuzhou families have joined non-Fuzhou members. In order to adapt to the eating habits and preferences of members from different places of origin, these families have to add some non-Fuzhou foods, so that the food on the reunion dinner table is no longer just Fuzhou food.

He said: "This is the result of the change of the times. Older Fuzhou people should not stick to their own opinions. Under the principle of harmony, we should make appropriate adjustments in line with the times."

New Year's Eve and Spring Festival couplets with white forehead

Putian and Xianyou, two counties under the jurisdiction of Putian City, belonged to Xinghua, the army, road and government in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, so they were customarily called Xinghua only. Xinghua people's custom, from the first day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends visit each other, which is called "Happy New Year" and say something auspicious. This custom is the same in China. However, in Xinghua, we still follow the custom of "getting older" and posting "Spring Festival couplets with white forehead" ...

"Getting older"

In November of Ming Jiajing's 41st year, the Japanese invaders invaded Xinghua, killing and plundering, and didn't retreat until the end of the following year. The remains in the city were everywhere, which was terrible.

On the second day of the second lunar month, people who went out to take refuge came back one after another, with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, both for the survivors and for the dead. At this time, relatives and friends are anxious to visit each other first, then dry their tears, celebrate the Spring Festival, make up for their old age, and celebrate the recovery.

Since no family has celebrated the New Year's Day, they decided to make up for it on the fourth night of the fourth day. In the future, in order to commemorate that painful history, people meet on New Year's Eve, and the fourth day of the first month is called "New Year's Eve", also known as "Big Year's Eve" (Xianyou is "Big Year's Eve" on the fifth day). And take the second day of the first month as the "death day", which is a day when people don't visit each other to show their condolences to their dead relatives.

Later, because I felt that it was inconvenient for each other not to visit each other during the Spring Festival, I changed to the first day when I had visited my relatives and friends, so I didn't have to be taboo on the second day.

"White Spring Festival couplets"

Spring Festival couplets all over the country are full of red, but Xinghua Spring Festival couplets have a two-inch long white couplet, which is particularly eye-catching.

It is said that after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they carried out a high-handed policy and killed innocent people, and many people posted white couplets for the funeral. It was the Spring Festival, and the Qing court forced every household to paste red couplets to decorate "the country is peaceful and the people are safe". When someone posted the red couplets, they deliberately exposed a small piece of the white couplets on the door to show their sorrow. The custom of "White-fronted Spring Festival couplets" has come into being since it came into effect.

the custom of celebrating the New Year in Quanzhou

The first day of the first month is often called "celebrating the New Year" and "celebrating the New Year", which shows that "Nian" is not only a time unit, but also a festival name, and it is a big festival between years. Nian is the oldest and most grand folk festival in China. Yao and Shun called it "Zai", Xia called it "Sui", Shang called it "Sacrifice" and Zhou called it "Nian", which is still in use today (only Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Tang Suzong once called it "Zai"). The time for the Chinese New Year was determined from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, the first day of the first month was taken as the New Year, also known as "January Day"; Therefore, the day began in Dan, also known as "New Year's Day". After the Revolution of 1911, it changed to the Gregorian calendar, with January 1st as New Year's Day, so the first day of the first lunar month, which was originally called New Year's Day, was renamed Spring Festival, but it is still called Nian.

Chinese New Year

Quanzhou is called "Chinese New Year" from the first day to the fifteenth day of the first month, and it will be fifteen days before the "Year" passes. As the folk song goes:

"The first day, the second day, and the third day, there is no posture girl (posture girl means women, and women don't go to the streets today); On the fourth day, the gods landed (the kitchen god reported back from heaven); Scoop fertilizer on the fifth day (dig out feces and start farming); Six-day separator (finishing loom, separating warp and weft, women start weaving); The first 77 yuan (person-day, take seven kinds of vegetables, fruits and so on to make' seven treasures soup'); The eighth day is complete (the rice cake is finished); The ninth day of' Tiangongsheng'; It's a good day to eat on the tenth day of the lunar month (referring to drinking at home in cold weather); Eleven please son-in-law; Twelve times (women go back to their parents' homes to visit again); Thirteen eat minced meat with mustard (minced meat is porridge, and I am tired of eating wine and meat for days, so I change my taste); Fourteen-knot lamp shed; Fifteen shangyuan pills; Sixteen' mother' students; Seventeen' How can it be born' (the festival has passed like this). "

When it is the right time to pay homage to God

As soon as firecrackers are heard everywhere, people set up a case in the hall at home, offering offerings such as three sacrifices, fruits, green tea and golden cups, burning three pots of fragrance, lighting candles, worshiping God and worshiping their ancestors. This kind of sacrifice lasted until the fourth day.

Kaizheng

On New Year's Eve, the bell rang until midnight, which ushered in the new year's dawn. At the same time of "respecting the weather", every household set off firecrackers and opened the door to welcome the spring, commonly known as Kaizheng.

He Zheng

In the early morning, men, women and children get up to wash their hands and put on new clothes that have already been prepared. For breakfast, the family eats noodles and eggs, and the eggs are shelled, which is intended to get rid of mildew and welcome good luck. The noodles symbolize a long life. After breakfast, I went out to visit my neighbors and relatives, and greeted them with smiles. When I first met, I had to say "Congratulations" to each other, commonly known as "He Zheng", which also meant to pay a New Year call until the Lantern Festival. When a guest comes to the door, he should offer candy, candied fruit, or drink sweet tea and coffee to make the guest "sweet" to show a sweet start.

group worship

Qing Ganlong's "Records of Quanzhou Prefecture and Customs" quoted the cloud in the county records of Song Dynasty: "Yuan Zheng congratulates, and the villagers meet and worship, saving the trouble of going back and forth. The county chief and the county magistrate led the subordinates to meet. Old in Gongwei, later in Chengtian Temple, to Chunyou (1241-1252) is the Pan Palace. Neighborhood is close to the temple, will gather teeth long, push one person at the age of one, with wine and fruit as a gift. This ceremony is abolished today. " After liberation, it resumed.

lucky money

The younger generation gives the older generation a New Year greeting, and the older generation gives a "red envelope" as a lucky money.

Taboos

On the first day of the first month, at the beginning of the new year, Najib is the guideline for everything. There are many taboos:

Avoid drinking tea and eating porridge, so as to avoid going out in the rain.

dry rice for breakfast, supplemented by whole-leaf cooked vegetables, is commonly known as "long-lived vegetables".

don't beat and scold children, don't quarrel with others, don't say unlucky things, and don't ask for money to force debts.

don't cut things with knives as a sign of abstinence. If all the food needs to be cut, it will be well prepared on New Year's Eve.

don't use a broom to sweep the floor, which means to welcome the good fortune in the new year, lest it be swept away.

Don't wear old clothes, wear new clothes, saying "Go to the old and welcome the new"; Avoid barefoot, it is unlucky to be stabbed in the foot when walking.

don't break utensils, dishes and the like, otherwise the whole year's good fortune will be destroyed; If it is accidentally broken, throw the debris into the well to suppress it.

The lights are not turned off on New Year's Eve, the first night, the fifth night and the midnight snack, and the auspicious light stays forever.

"Planting Flowers and Sending Flowers to He Xinchun" Zhangzhou New Year custom

Before the Spring Festival, Zhangzhou people had the custom of giving each other daffodils and He Xinchun. Its moral is to send new year's greetings to relatives and friends, wishing the new year good luck and everything is like daffodils in full bloom.

Speaking of this custom, there is a beautiful legend. According to legend, during the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty (145-1456), there was a girl in Caiban Village, Jiuhu, Longhai, who suddenly appeared in front of the clear water lake in Ganli Nao Jiasu, Jixian County, Henan Province, when she was fighting for a nettle D and was desperate to rescue her pancreas. Two fairies dressed in white, golden yellow and plain white light yellow came out of the magnificent palace and flew to them. When Zhang Guanghui's family saw this beautiful scenery, they could not help rubbing their eyes at the same time, wondering whether they had spent their eyes. When you look closely, the fairyland has vanished, and there are two flowers floating on the lake in front. Zhang Guanghui hurriedly let the boatman catch up and fished up these two beautiful flowers from the water. Put it on the boat, fragrant and plain. Look closely, like a graceful fairy, beautiful, dignified and lovely!

Zhang Guanghui's family returned to their hometown-Pipaban Village (now Caiban Village) at the foot of the round mountain in the southern suburbs of Zhangzhou. On New Year's Eve, when the family was reunited to "surround the stove", the two bulbs pulled out new flower arrows and blossomed brightly.

In the coming year, Zhang Guanghui planted these two bulbs in his garden, so small bulbs sprouted, and the more they planted, the more they grew. From now on, before the Spring Festival every year, the Zhang family will distribute these flower balls to relatives and friends, and attach a flower-giving poem saying, "The turtle peak in Yuanshan Cave, Zhangjun County, is fragrant with fairy dew and water. Yupan Jinzhanxian made a toast and gave it to the Junshou Fushoutang ". People ask, "What kind of flower is this?" The Zhang family replied, "This is called' water flower'". Because it has been passed down from generation to generation for a long time, "water flowers" have been called "daffodils".

In the future, the relatives and friends of the Zhang family and their neighbors also imitated the Zhang family to plant flowers and send them to He Xinchun, thus forming a custom that was handed down.

The Chinese New Year custom in rural areas in southern Fujian is quite different from that in cities. In rural farmhouses, there are many houses and doors. In addition to posting Spring Festival couplets, two sugarcane plants with red paper are put aside on both sides of the door, which are called "door sugarcane". The dialect "sugarcane" is similar to "Jia", which means entering a good place. In the hall, there are new year's meals, long-term vegetables and cakes on the desk, and "spring branches" tied with red and yellow paper are inserted, which means that the food is abundant all the year round and lucky and rich. Every family should stack the sweet potatoes, vines and sticks outside the gate and light them until the smoke is around the fire. Men jump over this pile of flames according to their generations, thinking while jumping: "Jump in and make a big fortune every year; Jump out, carefree * * * carefree; Skip the east, and the grains will not be empty; Skip the west and money will roll in. " This is called "fire group", which symbolizes burning the evil spirits of the old year, eliminating disasters and ushering in a clean and prosperous New Year. After the "jumping fire group", we must clean the hall with a new broom. After the sweeping, the broom cupboards are put together, and the garbage is piled up by the door, hoping to get out of the broom again and help make a fortune. At the same time, it is necessary to collect some ashes from the fire-jumping group and add them to the charcoal stove, which is called "Tim Wang", which symbolizes more prosperity. Parents lead their children to sit around the stove, which is called "guarding the old age around the stove". It is best to stay up all night. It is said that this is to add longevity to parents. At this time, the elders give the younger generation lucky money, which is called "dividing the circle". With the progress of society and the accelerated pace of life, some complicated customs in rural areas of southern Fujian have been gradually abolished, but the customs of farmers looking forward to a good year still remain. Especially in the cold winter of the twelfth month, the whole family gathered around the warm little stove and talked about how warm and happy it was to look forward to the future in the old year.

Spring Festival customs in Xiamen

There are many folk customs in Xiamen, which have changed greatly in recent years with the progress of the times. In order to do as the Romans do, the special introduction is as follows:

On the first day of the first month, the door opens at dawn, and the Brahma incense explodes, which means "opening right". Sacrificing ancestors in the morning is a day, and the manure does not pour outdoors.

on the third day of the first month, it is a day of mourning and fresh sorrow (that is, burning a new bed). Anyone who has not been to a friend's house on the first or second day of junior high school should not visit on this day, and visiting is disrespectful. There is a saying that "the first day is early, the second day is early, and the third day is full of food and clothing", which means that there are no guests coming to the door on the third day, and it is okay to get up late. So how did this custom come from? According to legend, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the pirates occupied Wuyu, an outer island of Xiamen. On New Year's Eve one year, officers and men were busy with the Chinese New Year and neglected their defense. A large number of Japanese pirates seized the opportunity to attack the city, and the soldiers and civilians rose up to resist the enemy. After two days and three nights of fierce fighting, the Japanese defeated, but the soldiers and civilians in the city suffered heavy casualties. On the third day, the people buried their relatives and friends, mourned the dead, and cried loudly, so they didn't have time to visit other homes to pay New Year's greetings. On the third day of the second year, Xiamen residents took this day as a death day, and over time, it became a routine.

on the fourth day of the first month, the Buddha worshippers will burn paper and silk with horses to receive the gods, which is to welcome the gods on December 24th.

on the ninth day of the first month, the Jade Emperor was born, and the incense table was dedicated to God. However, if you lose your family, you will stop offering sacrifices for two years.

on the tenth day of the first month, the earth is born. We will not cut wood or dig soil every day. And offer sacrifices to ordinary objects.

On the 13th day of the first month, on the birthday of Emperor Guan Sheng, merchants all offered sacrifices.

On the 15th day of the first month, Lantern Festival, the birthday of Emperor Sanguan, is celebrated.

On New Year's Eve, eating New Year's Eve is called "eating twenty-nine meals". Most people like to eat hot pot (warm pot) and "surround the stove" for family fun. Hot pot includes "one-pin pot" (the whole pot has one grid), "Yuanyang pot" (two grids) and "four-color pot" (four grids). From the "one-pin pot", the famous dish "one-pin wealth" is formed. The soup is pork or chicken and duck soup, the main course is gold ingot (eggs) and silver ingot (pigeon eggs), and the whole hoof is called "harmony". The black thorn participates in cuttlefish and is tied together with kelp, which is called "Wujin Moyu", the wings of chicken and duck are called "Pengcheng Wan Li" and the winter bamboo shoots are called "Rising". Because the hot pot is steaming, the food is tumbling, and the soup is continuously continued and good ingredients are added, which is called "the more you eat, the more you burn." Xiamen people pay special attention to seafood, such as silver carp, oyster, red shrimp, pearl clam, snail, kelp and Nostoc flagelliforme tofu. In recent years, there are beer hotpot, tofu hotpot, meatball hotpot and assorted hotpot.

rice cakes

After eating rice cakes, everything goes well year after year, rising year after year and being happy year after year! I also wish my elders a long life. New Year's cake is also called "New Year's cake", which evolved from "sticky cake". Xiamen people call rice cakes "rice fruits", which are various in variety, including sweet and salty, sweet rice fruits with white sugar and black (red) sugar, and melon, red dates, peanuts, etc. Salty melon (pumpkin) rice fruit.