Sacrificial stove
In China, the Spring Festival usually begins with offering sacrifices to stoves. The folk song "Twenty-three, Sweet Melon Sticks" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, the government holds the sacrificial stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the ordinary people hold it on the 24th, and house boat holds it on the 25th.
Sacrificing a stove is a custom that has great influence and spread widely among the people in our country. In the old days, almost every kitchen had a "kitchen god" shrine. People call this deity "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Si Ming of the Kitchen Master". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef Si Ming Wang Fu Jun" sealed by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the protector of a family. Kitchen God niches are mostly located in the north or east of the kitchen, with the gods of Kitchen God in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the kitchen king also paste the gods directly on the wall. Some gods only draw one kitchen god, while others have two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Kitchen God". This is probably an imitation of the image of a human couple. Most of the statues of the Kitchen God are also printed with the calendar of this year, in which the words "the chef in the East is in charge of life", "the god of human supervision" and "the head of the family" are written to show the status of the Kitchen God. On both sides, there are couplets of "Heaven says good things, and the lower world keeps peace" to bless the safety of the whole family.
Kitchen God has been staying at home since last year's New Year's Eve to protect and supervise the family. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will go to heaven to report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The ceremony of sending the Kitchen God is called "sending the kitchen" or "resigning the kitchen". According to the report of the Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor entrusted the family with the fate of good fortune and bad fortune in the new year. Therefore, for a family, the report of the kitchen god is really of great interest.
Sending stoves is usually held at dusk. The family first went to the kitchen, set the table, offered incense to the kitchen god in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and offered candied melons made of caramel and flour. Then the bamboo sticks are tied into paper horses and fodder for animals. Sacrificing the kitchen god with caramel is to make his old man's mouth sweet. In some places, sugar is also coated around the mouth of the kitchen god, saying, "Say more good things, but don't say bad things." This is to gag the kitchen god with sugar and tell him not to speak ill. In the Tang Dynasty's book "The Chronicle of the Old Age", there is an occasional record that "Si Ming (Kitchen God) was drunk by applying distiller's grains on the stove". After people painted the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, they took off the idol and went to heaven with paper and smoke. In some places, sesame stalks and pine branches are piled up in the yard at night, and then the statue of the kitchen king, which has been offered for one year, is taken out of the shrine, together with paper horses and fodder, and set on fire. The courtyard was brightly lit by the fire, and at this time, the family kowtowed around the fire, burning and praying: It is the 23rd this year, and I would like to send the kitchen ruler to the Western Heaven. There are strong horses and forage, and you will arrive safely. The candied melons are sweet and sweet. Please speak kindly to the Jade Emperor.
When sending the Kitchen God, there were still several beggars in some places, dressed in disguise, singing songs and dancing to send the Kitchen God from house to house, named "Send the Kitchen God", in exchange for food.
The custom of sending stoves is very common in all parts of China. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "A Gengzi sends a stove as a matter of fact": only chicken gum is sweet, and the clothes are fragrant. If there is nothing at home, there are only a few antelope.
He said in the article "On the Day of Sending Kitchen Stove": "On the day when Kitchen Jun went to heaven, there was still a kind of sugar on the street, the size of a citrus, and we also had it there, but it was flat, like a thick pancake. That's the so-called' gum tooth'. "The intention was to invite Kitchen Jun to eat it and stick his teeth so that he could not talk ill of the Jade Emperor." The allusion to "Antelope" in Lu Xun's poems comes from "The Biography of Yin Shi in the Later Han Dynasty": "When Emperor Xuandi was proclaimed, the Yin Zi Fang was the most filial and kind. Cooking in the morning on the twelfth day, and seeing the kitchen god, the child will worship and be celebrated again; There is an antelope in the family, so it is worshipped. Naturally, after the third, it became extremely rich. "I have known the third generation, and I have prospered. Therefore, I often recommend the antelope to worship the stove in the twelfth lunar month." Yin Zifang saw the Kitchen God and sacrificed the antelope. Later, she made good luck. Since then, the custom of killing antelope to sacrifice the stove has been handed down.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the offerings for offering sacrifices to stoves were quite rich. Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote a very vivid description of the folk sacrifice of stoves at that time: the ancient legend of the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen king spoke to the sky. Clouds, cars, and horses linger, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is cooked, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste and Gan Song rice bait are round. When a man offers his daughter to avoid, he drinks and burns money. You don't smell the struggle of your servant, and you don't feel angry when your cat and dog touch you. Send you to the heavenly gate drunk and full, and don't repeat the clouds with a long spoon and a short spoon, begging for points from the market.
The sacrificial stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the Chinese New Year. Because, a week later, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God came to the world with the good and bad fortune that the family should get, together with other gods. The Kitchen God is considered to guide the gods in the sky. Other gods will go to heaven again after the New Year, and only the Kitchen God will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony to greet the gods is called "receiving the gods", and it is called "receiving the stove" for the kitchen god. It is usually on New Year's Eve to pick up the stove, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, just put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.
As the saying goes, "Men don't Yue Bai, and women don't sacrifice stoves". In some places, women don't sacrifice stoves. It is said that the kitchen god looks like a small white face and is afraid of women's sacrifice stoves, which is "suspected of men and women". For the origin of the kitchen god, it has a long history. Among the folk gods in China, the qualification of Kitchen God is very old. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god revered by the people. According to the ancient book "The Book of Rites and Rites", Kong Yingda said: "Zhuan Xu's son Rili is a Zhu Rong, and he is worshipped as the kitchen god." "Zhuangzi Dasheng" records: "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao commented: "bun, kitchen god, dressed in red, looks like a beautiful woman." "Bao Puzi. Wei Zhi" also records: "On a dark night, the Kitchen God also accused the white man of sin." These records are probably the source of the kitchen god. Also, or the kitchen god is a "suiren" who digs wood for fire; Or Shennong's "fire officer"; Or "Su Jili" of "The Yellow Emperor cooks"; Or the kitchen god surnamed Zhang, the list, and the word Guo; Opinions vary. There is an interesting story among the people.
It is said that there was a family named Zhang in ancient times, two brothers, the elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots and pans. He was invited by East Street and West Square, and they all praised him for his high cooking skills. He became famous for a long time, and Fiona Fang called him "Zhang Zao Wang" for thousands of miles. It's strange for Zhang Zao Wang to say that no matter who builds a stove, he likes to meddle in other people's homes if there is a dispute. When he meets a noisy daughter-in-law, he will persuade him, and when he meets a fierce mother-in-law, he will say that he seems to be an old elder. In the future, the neighbors will look for him when they have something, and everyone respects him. Zhang Zao Wang lived for seventy years, and when he died, it happened to be late at night on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the death of Zhang Zao Wang, Zhang Jiake was in a mess. It turned out that Zhang Zao Wang was the head of the family, and everything in the family was under his command. Now that the eldest brother has left the world, the younger brother can only write poems and draw pictures. Although he has spent a lot of time, he has never taken care of housework. Daughters-in-law of several rooms are clamoring for separation, and the painter is stirred helplessly, frowning all day. One day, he finally came up with a good idea. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of the death of Zhang Zao Wang, late at night, the painter suddenly called to wake up the whole family, saying that the eldest brother had appeared. He led his son, daughter-in-law and the whole family to the kitchen, only to see the dark kitchen wall, flickering candlelight showing the appearance of Zhang Zao Wang and his late wife, and the family were shocked. The painter said, "When I was sleeping, I dreamed that my eldest brother and sister-in-law had become immortals, and the Jade Emperor named him the' Nine-day East Chef who ordered the kitchen to be the king of the palace'. You are always lazy and lazy, and your sister-in-law is not harmonious, disrespectful and unfilial, which makes your family uneasy. "Big Brother is very angry when he knows that you are splitting up. He is going to tell the Jade Emperor that he will come down to punish you on the eve of New Year's Eve. Hearing this, the sons and daughters' nephews and daughters-in-law were terrified, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed again and again, and hurriedly brought Zhang Zao Wang's usual favorite sweets for the stove, pleading with Zao Wang for forgiveness. Since then, uncles, brothers and daughters-in-law who often make noise have never dared to make a splash again. The whole family lived in peace, and the young and old lived in peace. When the neighbors knew about it, word spread, and they all came to Zhang's house to find out the truth. In fact, the kitchen king on the kitchen wall on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month was drawn in advance by the painter. He came to town to scare his children's nephews and daughters-in-law, but this method really worked. So when the neighbors came to the painter to inquire about the situation, he had to pretend to do it and distribute the painted kitchen king to his neighbors. As a result, it spread along the countryside, and every household's kitchen was affixed with the image of the kitchen king. The passage of time has formed the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and praying for the safety of the family. After the spread of the custom of offering sacrifices to stoves, since the Zhou Dynasty, the palace has also included it in the sacrifice ceremony, setting the rules of offering sacrifices to stoves throughout the country and becoming a fixed ceremony.
return
Sweep dust
After the stove festival was held, preparations for the Chinese New Year were officially started. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, our folks call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust-cleaning Day". Sweeping the dust is the year-end cleaning, which is called "sweeping the house" in the north and "dusting" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. 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. North and south of the great river, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of being happy to engage in sanitation and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
Interestingly, there is a rather strange story about the origin of sweeping dust in ancient times. Legend has it that the ancients believed that there was a three-corpse god attached to everyone's body. Like a shadow, he followed people's whereabouts and was inseparable. The Three Corpses God is a guy who likes flattery and gossiping. He often tells stories in front of the Jade Emperor and describes the world as ugly. Over time, in the impression of the Jade Emperor, the world is simply a dirty world full of evil. Once. The secret report of the Three Corpses God tells us that the world is cursing the Emperor of Heaven and trying to rebel against heaven. The Jade Emperor was furious, and made a decree to quickly find out what had happened in the world. Anyone who resented the gods and insulted them wrote their crimes under the eaves. Then let the spider cover it with a net to mark it. The Jade Emperor ordered Wang Lingguan to go down on New Year's Eve, and all the marked families were beheaded, leaving none. Seeing that this plan was about to succeed, the Three Corpse Gods took advantage of the gap and flew down to the mortal world. Indiscriminately, they made a mark on the eaves and corners of every household, so that Wang Ling Palace could be exterminated. Just as the three-corpse god was doing evil, the kitchen god found out his whereabouts and was frightened to disgrace, so he quickly found various kitchen gods to discuss countermeasures. So, I came up with a good idea. From the date of delivering the kitchen stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the time of receiving the kitchen stove on New Year's Eve, every household must clean up the house. If any household is not clean, the kitchen god will refuse to enter the house. Everyone followed the instructions of the kitchen god before he ascended to heaven, cleaning the dust, dusting the cobwebs, cleaning the doors and windows, and cleaning their own house completely. When Wang Lingguan visited the lower bound on New Year's Eve, he found that every household had bright windows and bright lights, and people were reunited and happy, and the world was wonderful. Wang Lingguan couldn't find a sign indicating bad behavior, and he was very surprised. He rushed back to the sky and told the Jade Emperor about the peace and happiness on earth and praying for a happy New Year. After hearing this, the Jade Emperor was greatly shocked. He made a decree to detain the Three Corpses God, and ordered to slap his mouth for 300 and put him in prison forever. Thanks to the help of Kitchen God, this human disaster was spared. In order to thank the Kitchen God for helping people eliminate difficulties and disasters and blessing Zhang Xiang, the folk dust sweeping always starts after the kitchen is delivered, and is busy until the New Year's Eve.
The custom of "sweeping the house with dust on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying, because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "except Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep away all "poor 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.
return
Spring festival couplets
As a unique literary form, Spring Festival couplets have a long history in China. It began in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has developed for more than a thousand years today.
As early as before the Qin and Han Dynasties, during the Chinese New Year, there was a custom of hanging peach symbols on the left and right of the gate. Taofu is two big boards made of peach wood, on which are written the names of the legendary deities "shentu (tu)" and "Yu Lei" to exorcise ghosts and suppress evil spirits. This custom lasted for more than 1000 years. It was not until the Five Dynasties that people began to put the couplet on the mahogany board instead of the name of the deity. According to historical records, Meng chang, the master of the post-Shu Dynasty, inscribed the couplets on the bedroom door on New Year's Eve in 964 AD, namely "New Year's Eve in Qing Yu, Jia JieNo. Changchun", which is the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China.
After the Song Dynasty, it has become quite common for people to hang Spring Festival couplets in the New Year. Therefore, Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" wrote that "thousands of families always change new peaches for old ones" is a true portrayal of the Spring Festival couplets at that time. Because of the close relationship between the appearance of Spring Festival couplets and Taofu, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "Taofu".
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, strongly advocated couplets. After he made his capital in Jinling (now Nanjing), he ordered ministers, officials and ordinary people to write a pair of couplets and stick them on their doors before New Year's Eve. He personally wore casual clothes and went out to watch and have fun from door to door. At that time, scholars also regarded couplets as elegant pleasure, and writing Spring Festival couplets became a temporary social fashion.
After entering the Qing Dynasty, couplets flourished in Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang Dynasties, just as in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and many famous couplets appeared.
With the development of cultural exchanges among countries, couplets were introduced to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still have the custom of pasting couplets.
return
New year pictures
During the Spring Festival, people not only paste Spring Festival couplets and cut window grilles, but also like to hang New Year pictures in the living room and bedroom. A new year's picture adds a festive atmosphere to every household.
New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. They reflect the customs and beliefs of the people and place their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets developed from the names of shentu and Yu Lei to characters, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting.
With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to the door gods, but gradually invites the god of wealth to the home, and then in some New Year pictures workshops, colorful New Year pictures such as Three Stars of Fu Lushou, heavenly god blesses the people, Harvest of Five Grains, Prosperity of Six Livestock, Greeting the Spring and Blessing the New Year are produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, advocated sticking couplets on the Spring Festival, New Year pictures became popular, and three important producing areas of New Year pictures appeared in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. Formed three schools of Chinese New Year pictures.
The earliest collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which show four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. However, the most popular picture among the people in China is a New Year picture of Marrying a Mouse. This painting depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human customs. The composition of his paintings is lively and lively. This painting left an indelible impression on Mr. Lu Xun. As he said, this entertaining "Marry a Mouse" not only arouses the interest of adults, but also has a stronger artistic influence on children.
Folk legend has it that New Year's Eve is an auspicious day for mice to get married. People should put some food under the bed and in the kitchen as a gift for the groom of mice, in order to pray for a bumper harvest in the coming year. Some grandmothers often tease their children before going to bed, saying, "Hide your shoes quickly, and don't let mice steal them as sedan chairs." This is where the words come from. Therefore, the New Year picture "Marry a Mouse" can especially arouse the children's * * * sound.
return
family reunion dinner on the lunar New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is extremely important for Chinese people. On this day, people are ready to get rid of the old and welcome the new and have a family reunion dinner. In ancient China, some prison officials even let prisoners go home to reunite with their families for the New Year, which shows how important the "reunion dinner" is to ancient China people.
The annual reunion dinner fully shows the mutual respect and love of Chinese family members, which makes the relationship between the family closer. Family reunion often comforts and satisfies the head of the family spiritually. The old people see their children and grandchildren in full house, and the family is happy. The care and hard work of raising their children in the past have not been in vain. What happiness it is. The younger generation can also take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for their parenting.
When the children are playing with firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for housewives in the kitchen. The New Year's food has been cooked a few days ago, and the New Year's Eve dinner is always cooked on the 30 th of the year. In the north, jiaozi on the first day of the Lunar New Year will also be packed out on the 30th night. At this time, everyone's chopping boards are busy chopping meat and vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards coming from every household, firecrackers coming from streets and alleys, the sound of "crackling" abacus and the cadence of reimbursement coming from shops and shops, mixed with laughter everywhere, are one after another, echoing with joy, interwoven into a cheerful movement on New Year's Eve.
Speaking of the sound of the anvil on New Year's Eve, Deng Yunxiang's "Yanjing Local Records" recorded a very bleak story on New Year's Eve: in the old society, the poor had a hard life, and the 30 th night was a pass. There is a family whose husband hasn't returned with money until late at night. "There are no bottles of millet at home, and there are no new year's goods. The woman put her child to sleep at home, unable to do anything. She heard the chopping block next door, and it was extremely painful. I wondered if her husband could bring some money or something back. I didn't know how to spend the year tomorrow, and I was afraid that there was no chopping block at home to make people laugh. So she cut the chopping block with a knife, thumped and chopped, and shed tears ... This story was really sad.
Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable time for every household in the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a table was filled with rich new year's dishes, and the whole family was reunited, sitting around the table, and having a family reunion dinner, the sense of fulfillment in my heart was really unspeakable. People not only enjoy the delicious food on the table, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold dishes, hot fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot, and the other is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "Fish" and "Yu" are homophonic, which is a symbol of "more than auspicious celebration" and also a metaphor for "more than every year". There are also radishes, commonly known as vegetable heads, wishing you good luck; Lobster, fried fish and other fried foods, I wish my family prosperity, such as "cooking oil with fire". Finally, I will have a dessert, wishing the days to come to be sweet and sweet. On this day, even if I can't drink, I will drink a little. In ancient times, people paid great attention to the quality of wine when drinking during the Spring Festival. Some wines are now gone, leaving only many touching wine names, such as "fermented grapes", "Lanwei wine", "Yichun wine", "Mei Huajiu", "peach blossom wine wine" and "Tu Su wine". Among these wines, Tu Su wine is the oldest and most popular. But how did the name of Tu Su wine come from? What is it made of? Legends have never been the same.
Tu Su is a kind of grass name, and some people say that Tu Su is an ancient wine made in this house, so it is called Tu Su wine. It is said that Tu Su wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the late Han Dynasty, and its formula was made by soaking rhubarb, Atractylodes macrocephala, cassia twig, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, aconite root and aconite root in wine. This medicine has the effects of benefiting warm and yang, expelling wind and cold, and avoiding the evil of epidemic diseases. It was later spread by Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, Sun Simiao always gives a pack of medicine to its neighbors, telling them that soaking wine with medicine and drinking on New Year's Eve can prevent the plague. Sun Simiao also named his house "Tu Su House". From then on, after generations, drinking Tu Su wine became the custom of Chinese New Year. In ancient times, Tu Su wine was drunk in a unique way. Most people drink alcohol, always starting from the elderly; But drinking Tu Su wine is just the opposite, starting from the youngest. That is to say, when the family get together to drink Tu Su wine, they should start with young children, and the older ones should drink a little one by one. Su Zhe, a writer in the Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Apart from Japan": "I drink Tu Su at the end of every year, but I don't realize that I have been over 70 years." That's the custom. Some people don't understand the meaning of this habit. Dong Xun explained: "Those who are young get old, so congratulations; "The old man lost his age, so he was punished." This custom was still very popular in the Song Dynasty. For example, Su Shi said in the poem "Stay Outside Changzhou at Night": "But learn from your worries and never hesitate to drink Tu Su at last." Although Su Shi was poor in his later years, his spirit was optimistic. He thought that as long as he was healthy and didn't care when he was old, he naturally didn't have to refuse to drink Tu Su wine in the end. In ancient times, this unique drinking order often made people feel all kinds of emotions, so it left a deep impression on people. Until the Qing Dynasty, this custom remained unchanged. Although this custom is no longer popular on a large scale today, the custom of drinking these medicinal liquor still exists on festivals or at ordinary times.
There are many tricks of the New Year's Eve dinner, including jiaozi, Wonton, Long Noodles, Yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival, which means "making friends at a younger age". And because the white-flour jiaozi is shaped like a silver ingot, a pot of pots on the table symbolizes the meaning of "making a fortune in the New Year, and the ingot rolls in". Some wrapped jiaozi, but also wrapped a few coins sterilized by boiling water, saying that whoever ate first would make more money. The custom of eating jiaozi was handed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint, saw that the poor people's ears were frozen rotten in the cold winter, so he made a kind of "Quhan Jiaoer soup" to treat frostbite for the poor people. He used mutton, pepper and some herbs to dispel cold and warm, and made ear-like "jiao-er" with a flour bag, cooked it in a pot and distributed it to the poor. After eating it, people felt warm all over and their ears were hot. Since then, people have followed suit, which has been passed down to today. Eating wonton in the new year is based on its original meaning. Legend has it that the world was in a chaotic state before it was created, and Pangu created the universe with four sides and long faces, also called longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the new year is to wish you a long life.
return
Shousui
In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the New Year begins with eating New Year's Eve. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, from the time when the lantern is lit, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to Zonggu's Record of Jingchu's Years Old, it was customary to have New Year's Eve dinner at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
The custom of observing the old age not only contains feelings of farewell and nostalgia for the years that have passed away like water, but also expresses good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Shousui": "Inviting the Shousui Arun family, the candle torch spread red to the blue yarn; "Thirty-six years have passed, and I prefer to cherish my youth from this night." It is human nature to cherish the years, so Su Shi, a great poet, wrote a famous sentence: "There will be no years next year, and my worries will be wasted;" Try your best to make it this evening, young people can still boast! " This shows the positive significance of keeping old on New Year's Eve.
Keeping the age at 30, the common name is "endure the year". Why is it called "endure the year"? There is an interesting story among the people from generation to generation: According to legend, in the ancient era of the wild, there was a ferocious monster, and people called him "Nian". Every New Year's Eve, Nian beast will climb out of the sea to harm people and animals, destroy the countryside and bring disaster to people who have worked hard for a year. In order to avoid the Nian beast, people close the door early on the thirtieth night of the twelfth lunar month, dare not sleep, wait until dawn, and drink to kill time and courage. Don't dare to go out until the Nian beast doesn't come out on the first morning of the new year. When people met, they bowed to each other, congratulated them, and were glad that they were not eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the 30th night of one year, Nian Beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian Beast, and only a newly-married couple with a red curtain and red clothes were safe. There are also a few childishness who lit a pile of bamboos in the yard and were playing. The fire was red. After the bamboo burned, it exploded. Nian beast turned here and saw the fire and turned around and fled. Since then, people know that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. Every year at the end of the year, every household puts up red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian beast will not dare to come again. In the book of songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a record of "the light of the court Liao". The so-called "Tingliao" is a torch made of bamboo poles. After the bamboo poles burn, the air in the bamboo joints expands and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound, which is the origin of "firecrackers". But in some places, villagers don't know that Nian beast is afraid of red, and they are often eaten by Nian beast. This story later spread to Zixing in the sky. In order to save people, he was determined to destroy Nian beast. One year, when the Nian beast came out, he knocked it down with a fireball and locked it on a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense, and ask Zixing to come down to keep safe.
On the night of "being two years old in one night, and being two years old in five shifts", family members get together and get together. The whole family sat together, and the table was filled with tea and fruits. In the New Year, a large plate of apples is indispensable, which is called "peace and security". In the north, some families still have to provide a pot of rice, which was cooked before the New Year. It is called "New Year's Rice", which means that there are leftovers every year, which can't be eaten all the year round, and this year they still eat the grain of the previous year. This new year's rice bowl is usually cooked by mixing rice and millet. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "two-meter rice" for the sake of yellow and white. This is called "golden rice with gold and silver, full of gold and silver". In many places, cakes, melons and fruits prepared at the time of observing the old age are intended to win a lucky charm: eating dates (spring comes early), persimmon (everything goes well), almond (happy people), longevity fruit (immortality) and rice cakes (higher every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family ate and enjoyed themselves, talking and laughing. Some vulgar families push Pai Jiu, roll dice, bet on Stud, play mahjong, and the noise of laughter and laughter has become the climax of New Year's Eve.
return
Exploding bamboo
At midnight, the New Year bell rang, and the sound of firecrackers shook the sky over the whole land of China. In this "three-yuan" moment of "the yuan of the year, the yuan of the month and the yuan of the time", some places still set up "Wang Huo" in the courtyard to show that Wang Qi is soaring and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and danced happily. At this time, there were bright lights in the house, bright sparks in front of the court and deafening noises outside the house, which pushed the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to the climax. Poets of all ages always praise the coming of the New Year with the most beautiful poems. Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" says: The sound of firecrackers makes one year old, and the spring breeze warms Tu Su. Thousands of households have a pupil day. Always change new peaches for old ones.
It depicts the grand festive scene of Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival. In the book "Ji Sheng at the Age of Emperor Jing" in Qing Dynasty, Pan Rongbi recorded the firecrackers on New Year's Eve at that time as follows: "On New Year's Eve, midnight meets, and the treasures and torches outside the door compete for brilliance, and the firecrackers are like thunder and thunder, all over the government and the public, all night long." There is also a description in A Dream of Red Mansions: "A screen frame is installed in the yard, and fireworks are set up. These fireworks are tributes from all over the world. Although they are not very big, they are extremely exquisite. There are all kinds of stories and fireworks. While speaking, the colors outside were put and put again. "There are also a lot of sporadic small firecrackers, such as' the sky is full of stars',' Kowloon enters the clouds',' a thunder from the flat ground' and' flying ten rings'." From this, we can also see the grand occasion of setting off fireworks in the old Spring Festival.
The sound of firecrackers is a sign to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and an expression of festive mood. Businessmen. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a big profit in the new year.
The first thing everyone does when they return to the house after setting off firecrackers is to worship heaven and earth, meet God and offer sacrifices to their ancestors. In ancient times, this custom was very prosperous. Due to the different manners and customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to visit the ancestral graves in the wild, and some go to the ancestral halls to worship their ancestors. Most of them put their ancestral tablets in the main hall in turn at home to display their offerings, and then the worshippers offer incense and bow down in order of age. After paying homage to their ancestors, southerners look at the auspicious direction of this year recorded in the almanac, burning lanterns and torches, carrying pots and holding wine, offering incense and firecrackers, and opening doors to travel to meet XiShen, calling it "going out of the Arabian nights" or "going out", Zhejiang "going out for a search" and Shanghai "going out for happiness". This custom is to get lucky and pray for God's blessing for a smooth year. On New Year's Eve, you stay up all night and stay up all night.
On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door for firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground is full of broken red, which is called "full house red". At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy.
During the Spring Festival, in the thoroughfares of various streets and lanes, large families hang lanterns and tie the knot. In the streets and lanes, there are all kinds of arts and crafts in the village, each offering its own high skills. In the lively countryside, troupe companies are invited to perform, and various kinds of entertainment and play are also carried out, such as listening to Taoist feelings, dancing yangko, singing flower drums, lion dancing, playing dragon lanterns and so on. People happily celebrate the Spring Festival.
return
Bainian
Paying New Year greetings is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to celebrate the New Year for the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on the happy New Year, and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, we should also salute and congratulate them.
New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders are worshipped, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After paying homage to the elders at home, people should also greet the New Year with smiles when they meet out, exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes for the four seasons" and "Happy New Year", and neighbors or relatives and friends also visit each other to pay New Year greetings or invite them to drink and entertain. In Volume 6 of Dream of China in Tokyo, the elder statesman Meng described the Bianjing time in the Northern Song Dynasty as saying: "On October 1st, the Kaifeng government was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellanies of the Garden that "on New Year's Day in the capital, people who traveled from the court officials to Shu Ren for days were called' New Year's greetings'. However, Shu Ren each worships his relatives and friends. "When dealing with officials in the DPRK, they are more loving than expert ...". Gu Tieqing, a Qing dynasty man, described in Qing Jia Lu, "Men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to humble their children, pay homage to their neighbors and friends, or stop sending their children to congratulate them, which is called' New Year greetings'. "Even those who don't meet for the rest of their lives, at this time, they also worship each other at the door ..."
In ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood, it was difficult to visit them all over the house. It was called "flying post" to send servants with business cards to pay New Year's greetings. A red paper bag was put in front of each house with the word "Jiefu" written on it, which was the purpose of flying the post. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Moon Order on Yantai" describes the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. "A large family has a special" door book "to record the guests' exchanges and flying photos. The front page of the door book has four virtual" relatives ":one is a centenarian, who lives in a centenarian lane; One said that he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street; One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. In order to get lucky. So far, giving new year card and New Year cards in the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.
The upper-class literati have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Zhou Hui, a Song Dynasty poet, said in Qingbo Magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuan You of Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year.". At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, so it would take time and energy to pay New Year's greetings everywhere. Therefore, some friends who were not closely related did not go there in person, but sent servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the name, address and congratulations of the recipient written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people paid a visit instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk about it, and the famous papers are full of cover; I also throw a few papers at people, and the world hates simplicity and is not too empty. " The "name thorn" and "name divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange questions.