"No fish, no seat". New Year's Eve New Year's dinner is even more inseparable from the fish. "Fish" and "Yu" homophonic, but also a symbol of good luck, such as carp, allegory "profit have more"; silver carp, allegory "even years of surplus "

The Chinese Mandarin fish is a symbol of good fortune.

In the New Year's Eve dinner, the fish, in addition to symbolizing the auspicious significance of the annual melancholy, there is also a hidden evil meaning. As early as the Han Dynasty painters painted on the door of the buckle, more fish 餙 for the town of evil. The Tang Dynasty, the door of the house, cabinet door, box door, etc., are prevalent fish-shaped handles, to show the function of suppressing evil. This influenced the later generations of New Year's Eve New Year's dinner fish custom.

The custom of eating fish on New Year's Eve seems to have an unspoken rule in many regions south of the Yangtze River. Fish is the last dish at the banquet, on the table is basically not eaten to leave it, as a good-luck charm, meaning that "year after year". In some places, the annual meal when eating fish, to leave the head and tail to the next year (i.e., the beginning of the year), to express the new year "head and tail" prayers. Fish also have to pay attention to: fish head to the VIP or elders, reflecting respect; guests are literati, the fish belly to him, praised him for his belly ink, full of articles; guests are military generals, speak fish spine to him, he just martial arts bold, can be used as a backbone. There are also fish on the table when placed, fish head to who, tail to who, set down after the end can not be moved. The person to whom the head of the fish is placed "cuts the ribbon", and the person to whom the tail of the fish is placed "sponsors"; the two of them drink a glass of wine to each other first, and then the person to whom the head of the fish is placed first moves the chopsticks to eat the fish (the so-called "cutting the ribbon"), and then we can all The first two people to drink a glass of wine, and then the head of the fish will be the first to eat the fish (the so-called "ribbon cutting"), and then everyone can move the chopsticks, the atmosphere is lively and cheerful.

These customs do not require the type of fish, and there are no taboos. So you can eat yellow croaker, white croaker, and sea bass without fear.