Introduction of the Spring Festival: The Spring Festival, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, also known as the lunar year, commonly known as "New Year". It is one of the grandest and most lively traditional festivals in China. The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated in the Yinshang period at the end of the year to sacrifice to the gods and ancestors.
The origin of the Spring Festival: There are many different stories about the origin of the Spring Festival, but one of the most widely accepted is that the Spring Festival emerged during the period of Yu and Shun.
The Spring Festival generally refers to the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, is the first day of the new year, commonly known as the "New Year", but in folklore, the traditional meaning of the Spring Festival refers to the Lunar New Year from the Lunar New Year's wax festival or Lunar New Year's twenty-third or twenty-fourth stove, until the first day of the first month of the nineteenth, which is the climax of the Yuyue and the first day of the first month.
Before the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the date of the Spring Festival in various dynasties was not consistent, since the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first year of the first month of the summer calendar (lunar calendar) for the first year, the date of the annual festival is thus fixed, and continues to the present day, after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, the beginning of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar to count the years, so that the Gregorian calendar to count the years, so that the Gregorian | Month | Month for the ″Yuantan ″, that the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar for the ″Spring Festival ″. The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was called "New Year's Day".
Customs of the Spring Festival:
Sacrifice of the stove
The lunar calendar December 23 sacrifice of the stove, is the day after the night to brush the stove clean, the old Zaojun removed and burned, except for the early morning of the night of the new like stickers, a send a welcome to be set up wine and meat, sweets, sugar cane, rice and other fruits, burning incense, candles, paper cannons.
Folk worship stove, the source of ancient fire worship customs, sacrificial stove in Chinese folk have thousands of years of history, stove god beliefs are Chinese people on the "food and clothing" dream of the pursuit of reflection.
Sweeping dust
New Year's Eve "Lunar New Year's Eve" on the twenty-fourth day of the month of wax, sweeping dust (also known as sweeping the house) of the custom. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" consonant, the New Year dust sweeping has "in addition to the meaning of Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to all poor luck, bad luck, swept out the door.
Pasted red
Year 28, 29 or 30 days of the family "paste red" (red is the Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year's paintings, "Fu" character and other New Year's Eve red festive stickers). elements).
According to the Jade Candle Canon and the Yenching Book of Years and Times, the original form of the Spring Festival couplets was what was known as the "Peach Symbol".
New Year's Eve Dinner
New Year's Eve Dinner, also known as the New Year's Eve Dinner, is an extremely important event for the Chinese, where families respect each other and ****talk about their family life, and sit around the dinner table with a sense of happiness.
People pay great attention to the New Year's Eve "New Year's Eve dinner", in addition to family reunion, gather the joy of heaven, but also pray for the safety of the family, working outside the home are rushed back to the New Year.
Vigilance
Vigilance on New Year's Eve is one of the New Year's activities, and the custom of vigilance has a long history.
The folklore of New Year's Eve is mainly manifested in the New Year's Eve lamps and lanterns all night long, the vigil is said to be "burning lamps and candles", that is, on New Year's Eve, all the houses are lit lamps and candles, but also special lamps and candles in the bottom of the bed, which is said to be "illuminating the wastage", and it is said that so illuminating the year! After that, it will make the next year home wealth.
Ancient north and south customs are different, ancient northern year-observing customs are mainly boiled New Year's Eve, such as the Jin Dynasty, the Zhou Department of the book of the "land and customs" said: New Year's Eve night everyone with each other and gift, called "feed years"; young and old get together to celebrate, wishing the completion of the celebration, called the "sub-years"; The whole year without sleep, to wait for the dawn, called the "old age".
Some places in the New Year's Eve night, the whole family gathered together, ate New Year's Eve dinner, lit candles or oil lamps, sitting around the stove chatting, waiting for the old and welcome the new moment, all-night vigil, symbolizing all the evil plague and disease Zhao ran away, looking forward to a new year of good luck.
Baying for the New Year
Baying for the New Year is one of the customary activities. On the morning of the first day of the year, it is the time to welcome the new year and pay homage to the "god of the year". Sennen, also known as "Saito," "Taito," and "Sennjin," is the name of the star of the year created during the reign of the Tenno Clan, and is also a deity believed in by the people.
Tai Sui to sixty jia zi of the stem and branch chronology for the cycle of operation, *** sixty, each year there is a year-old god on duty, in the year when the duty of the year-old is called "value of the year-old", is a year-old master, in charge of the year of the earth's good luck and bad luck.
As the "Three Fates" said: "The year-old is the master of the year, the leader of all the gods". Worshipping is the oldest traditional New Year's custom, and it is still practiced in Guangdong, especially in the Wuchuan area.
On the first day of the new year, when the old is out and the new is in, one welcomes the new year, pays homage to heaven and earth and the gods of the year, and receives blessings and prays for the new year. This traditional custom has been passed down from generation to generation, and to this day, paying homage to the gods is still one of the main customs of the Spring Festival.
Paying homage to the New Year
Paying homage to the New Year during the Spring Festival is one of the traditional customs of the festival, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and to express their good wishes to each other.
The second and third of the year began to go to relatives to see friends, pay their respects to each other, congratulations and blessings, and say some words of congratulations on the new year, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, good new year, and so on.
The significance of New Year's greetings is that friends and relatives visit each other to contact feelings, congratulate each other on the New Year, express their feelings for friends and relatives and the good wishes for the new year of life.
With the development of the times, the custom of paying New Year's greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms.
The New Year's card, which is common in modern society, was already practiced in ancient China. As early as in the Song Dynasty, the families of the royal aristocrats and scholars and their relatives used the New Year's card, called "name sticker" or "name sticker", to pay tribute to the New Year.
Pai Li Yes
Pai Li Yes, is one of the long-established New Year's Eve customs, "Li Yes" is also written "Li Shi" or "Li Shi "
Pai Li Si is one of the long-lived Chinese New Year customs.
Pai Lishao, Lishao Lishao, implies that the year can be Lishao Lishao, big red. The word "li shi" has been recorded in the I Ching, and carries the meaning of a small amount of capital and a large amount of profit.
The Yuan Dynasty's "Proverbs" also mentions that "for the sake of good omen, we should ask the host family for a Lixian", which shows that Lixian also has the meaning of good luck.
According to the "Yi Miscellaneous Notes", "Ying Shang Li Shi, Ying Da Li things", businessmen sent called Li Shi, to take the meaning of its favorable to do anything.
References:
Chinese New Year - Baidu Encyclopedia Chinese New Year