New Year's Eve is the last night at the end of the year. The last day at the end of the year is called "year-old division", which means that the old year is divided and replaced by a new year. In addition, that is, the meaning of removal; Evening means night. "New Year's Eve" means New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, etc. It is the last night at the end of the year.
Let's take a look at the customs on New Year's Eve!
1. New Year's Eve
Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable time for every household in the New Year. On New Year's Eve, a table is filled with sumptuous New Year's dishes, and the whole family is reunited and sitting around the table. * * * There are big dishes, cold dishes, stir-fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, there are two things, 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 symbolizes "more than good luck and celebration" and also means "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."
There are many tricks of the New Year's Eve, which are different in north and south, and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival, which has been handed down from ancient times. Due to geographical and climatic reasons, the northern part of China is still in the cold winter when everything is hidden on New Year's Eve and Spring Festival. In winter, the northern part of China is white and snowy, and it is basically impossible to grow crops. There are not many ingredients to choose from, so we should eat more jiaozi during the New Year. In the southern region, especially in some coastal areas, full of green is basically in four seasons, and the southern winter has great advantages in vegetables and fruits, so it has more choices in diet choice; In terms of geographical location, it also benefits from the abundant distribution of water resources, so all kinds of catches are sufficient and diverse; Therefore, on some important festivals, the diet in the south will be more varied. .
Second, paste the Year Red
Year Red is a general term for the red festive elements such as Spring Festival couplets, door gods, window grilles, New Year pictures and blessings. It's a long-standing folk custom in China to stick New Year's greetings (waving spring), which places people's longing for a happy life and wishes for a bright future.
Spring Festival couplets are also called door-to-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 pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. According to the records of the Jade Candle Collection and Yanjing's Chronicle of the Year, the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Taofu". It is said that this custom originated in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph "Couplet Conghua" discussed the origin of Spring Festival couplets and the characteristics of various works. There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross-dressing, spring strip and bucket square according to their places of use. 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.
In China, folks also like to stick various paper-cuts on their 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 deeply loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly pasted on windows, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate the festival with splendor.
Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been deeply loved by people for thousands of years. Later, because most paper-cutting is stuck on windows, the window grilles are named after it. The subject matter of window grilles is extremely extensive. Dramatic figures, historical legends, flowers, birds, fish and insects, landscape, real life and auspicious patterns can all be the content of window grilles, which can be described as omnipresent. However, the most common patterns are flowers and animals, festive auspicious patterns, which are often based on "auspicious and festive", "seeking auspiciousness in a good year", "abundant crops", "prosperous six animals", "more than one year after another" and "precious flowers and auspicious birds".
At the same time of putting up Spring Festival couplets, some families should put large and small "Fu" characters on the doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" refers to good fortune and good fortune, which places people's longing for a happy life and wishes for a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply paste the word "blessing" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "blessing has fallen (arrived)". In fact, the word "Fu" can't be pasted upside down. The gate is the place to welcome Fu Nafu, and the word "Fu" should be pasted right. Generally, the places where the blessing is pasted upside down are water tanks, garbage bins, and cabinets at home. In China, the word "Fu" is finely described and made into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp jumping over the dragon gate, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.
Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas, 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. .
Third, set off firecrackers
There is a saying in China that "open the door to set off 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" and "firecrackers". They were written as "blasting poles" in the Tang Dynasty, and they were also called "paper cannons" and "firecrackers" in southern China. If many individual firecrackers are connected in a string, they are called "firecrackers", "whips" and "whips". 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.
As for the evolution of firecrackers, Excellent Popular Arrangement records: "Ancient firecrackers. All of them are popular with real bamboo, so Tang poetry is also called explosive pole. Later generations rolled paper for it. Called "firecrackers". 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. Setting off firecrackers has become an entertainment activity with national characteristics, and people are setting off firecrackers to celebrate the old year and the new year.
New Year's Eve is also called "Ji Xiangye" in many places. On this night, both adults and children should say auspicious words, not unlucky words and disrespectful words. Therefore, joy, kindness and reunion are the biggest themes of New Year's Eve.