Spring Festival generally refers to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month. However, among the people, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial rites from La Worship on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax. During the Spring Festival, the Han nationality and many ethnic minorities in our country will hold various activities to celebrate. The main contents of these activities are offering sacrifices to the gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, getting rid of the old and spreading the new, welcoming the new year, and praying for a good harvest. The activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics.
? The beginning of the lunar year in China is called the Spring Festival. It is the most solemn traditional festival for the people of China, and it also symbolizes unity, prosperity and new hope for the future. According to records, the people of China have celebrated the Spring Festival for more than 4,111 years, which was initiated by Yu Shun. One day more than two thousand years BC, Shun was the emperor, leading his subordinates to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the beginning of the year, which is the first day of the first month. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival used to be called New Year's Day. The month in which the Spring Festival is held is called January.
the origin of the spring festival
the spring festival is the first year of the lunar calendar, and another name of the spring festival is Chinese new year, which is the grandest, most lively and most important ancient traditional festival in China and a unique festival for China people. It is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization.
Since the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of the Spring Festival has continued to this day. Spring Festival generally refers to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month. However, among the people, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial rites from La Worship on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax.
How to celebrate this festival? During thousands of years of historical development, some relatively fixed customs and habits have been formed, and many of them have been passed down to this day. During the Spring Festival, a traditional festival, the Han nationality and most ethnic minorities in our country have to hold various celebration activities. Most of these activities are mainly about offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, getting rid of the old and spreading the new, welcoming the new year and praying for a good harvest. The forms of activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics.
On May 21th, 2116, the folk custom of "Spring Festival" was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
There is a legend about the origin of the Spring Festival. In ancient China, there was a monster called Nian, which had long tentacles and was fierce and unusual. Nian lived at the bottom of the sea for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and hurting people's lives. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The villagers were in a hurry and panic. Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain quickly to avoid the Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive the Nian beast away." The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from that in previous years: the old woman's house in the east of the village had red paper posted on the door, and the candles in the house were brightly lit.
The beast Nian shook all over and gave a strange cry. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the courtyard, and Nian trembled and dared not go forward again. It turns out that Nian is most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers about the promise of begging the old man. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. (Hakka legend)
Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers; Every household is brightly lit by candlelight, and it is better to wait for the new year. In the early morning of the first day, I have to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom spread more and more widely and became the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
custom of the spring festival
sweeping dust
"On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dusting dust and sweeping the house". According to the records in Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals, there was a custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in Yao and Shun Dynasties in China. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "except Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom is entrusted with people's desire to break through the old and establish the new and their prayer to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of appliances, tear down and wash bedding curtains, sweep the six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge open channels and culverts. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of engaging in sanitation and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
posting Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should select a red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideology and artistry of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph "Poems on Spring Festival couplets" discussed the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.
There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door hearts, frame pairs, horizontal stripes, spring strips and square fights according to their usage places. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is attached to the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also called "door leaf", is a square diamond, which is often attached to furniture and screen walls.
stick grilles and the word "Fu" upside down
In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly stuck on the window, it is also called "window flower". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate the festival with splendor.
New Year pictures
Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting people's simple customs and beliefs and pinning their hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. In some New Year pictures workshops, classic color New Year pictures such as Three Stars of Fu Lushou, heavenly god blesses the people, Harvest of Five Grains, Prosperity of Six Livestock, and Greeting the Spring with Happiness have been produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of New Year pictures in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of Chinese New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.
observing new year's eve
observing new year's eve is one of the most important annual customs, and the custom of observing new year's eve has a long history. The earliest record was found in the "Local Records" in the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties gave gifts, which was called "giving the year back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "don't be old"; It is called "dividing the age" when the young and the old gather to drink and wish a complete song; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the morning, which is called "keeping the old age".
In ancient times, observing the old age had two meanings: the old people's observing the old age means "resigning from the old age", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han dynasty, the time when the old and the new years alternate is generally at midnight.
Firecrackers
There is a folk saying in China that "open the door to firecrackers". That is, at the arrival of the new year, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to eliminate the old and welcome the new with the sound of firecrackers. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers has become more and more extensive, and the varieties and colors have become more and more numerous. Every major festival and happy event celebration, as well as marriage, building a house, opening a business, etc., firecrackers should be set off to celebrate and make a good luck. At present, Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Wenzhou in Zhejiang and other regions are famous hometown of fireworks in China. The firecrackers produced are of many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well in the whole country, but also exported to the world.
New Year greetings
During the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can suppress evil spirits, because "old" and "precious" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend their first year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to thread colored rope into a dragon shape and put it at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in Yanjing Year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. The lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still popular for elders to distribute lucky money to younger generations.
Summary
There are many festivals in China, and the Spring Festival is the most grand festival in China. On the Spring Festival, all kinds of celebrations will be held in our country in various forms. The Spring Festival is not only a festival, but also an important carrier for China people to release their emotions and satisfy their psychological demands. It is also the annual carnival and eternal spiritual pillar of the Chinese nation. On the Spring Festival, people try their best to go home and reunite with their loved ones, expressing their ardent expectations for the coming year and their good wishes for life in the new year. So, what are the traditional customs of Chinese New Year? Let's take a look together.