New Year's Eve refers to the last night of the lunar calendar year, that is, the eve of the first day of the Lunar New Year. Because it often falls on the 29th or 30th day of the twelfth lunar month in the lunar calendar, it is also called the New Year's Eve. It is one of the most important traditional festivals of the Han people. The Han people attach great importance to it. Every household is busy or cleaning their courtyards, welcoming their ancestors home for the New Year, and offering rice cakes and three animals as offerings. The last day of the year is called "New Year's Eve" and that night is called "New Year's Eve". People often stay up all night on New Year's Eve, which is called staying up all night. On New Year's Eve, it is necessary to post door gods, Spring couplets, New Year pictures, and hang lanterns. New Year's Eve is extremely important to the Chinese. On this day, people prepare to get rid of the old and welcome the new, and have a reunion dinner. Family is the cornerstone of Chinese society. The annual reunion dinner fully demonstrates the mutual respect and love among Chinese family members. This mutual respect and love makes the relationship between the family closer. Family reunions often bring spiritual comfort and satisfaction to the head of the family. The elderly see their children and grandchildren in the house, and the whole family enjoys their family life. The past care and efforts in raising the children have finally not been in vain. What a happiness it is.

The origin of New Year’s Eve, how New Year’s Eve came about, the story about New Year’s Eve

The origin of New Year’s Eve: New Year’s Eve is the eve of the Spring Festival, also called New Year’s Eve. There is a legend: In ancient times, there was a ferocious monster named Xi, who would come out to harm people every year at the end of the year. Later, people knew that Xi was most afraid of the color red and noise, so on the night of New Year’s Eve, every household posted red Spring Festival couplets and set off firecrackers to ward off New Year’s Eve. beast, for peace in the new year. This custom has been passed down since then, and the night of New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve, also known as "New Year's Eve". This day is a day for people to eat, drink, play and have fun.

Northerners make dumplings, and southerners make rice cakes. The shape of dumplings is like "Yuanbao" and the sound of rice cakes is like "Nian Gao", which are both good omens of good luck and good luck. On New Year's Eve, the whole family eats a "reunion dinner" together, which gives the feeling of a family reunion celebrating the New Year. When having a reunion dinner, the "fish" on the table cannot be moved, because the fish represents "wealth" and "abundance every year" and symbolizes "wealth and luck" in the coming year. It is a kind of decoration and cannot be touched.

There is also a legend about the origin of year. According to legend, in ancient times, our ancestors were threatened by one of the most ferocious beasts. This beast is called "Nian". It preys on all kinds of animals. In winter, when there is a shortage of food in the mountains, it will break into villages and hunt people and livestock. The people are in panic all day long. People have struggled with "Nian" for many years. People found that Nian is afraid of three things: red color, fire and sound. So in winter, people hung red peach boards on their doors, lit fires at the door, and stayed up all night, banging and banging. That night, "Nian" broke into the village and saw red and fire lights in every house. Hearing the loud noise, he was so frightened that he ran back to the mountains and never dared to come out again. As the night passed, people congratulated each other, put on lanterns and streamers, drank and held banquets to celebrate the victory.

In order to commemorate this victory, every household will paste red paper couplets on the door at this time in winter, use electric lanterns, beat gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers and fireworks; at night, they will keep vigil all night; the next day , congratulated each other early in the morning. In this way, it is passed down from generation to generation and becomes "Chinese New Year". The climax of New Year's Eve is when the elders give out "lucky money" after the meal. The next step is to post Spring Festival couplets and door gods, and close the door. The door is not opened until the morning of the first day of the new year to "receive the God of Wealth". The next step is for the whole family to stay up until early in the morning. The lights on New Year's Eve stay on all night, commonly known as "Light Years".

The New Year’s Eve customs in various places are roughly the same, but the customs in some places are very unique, such as Suzhou, Beijing, Taiwan, etc. On New Year's Eve in Suzhou, everyone has to wait for the loud bells from Hanshan Temple in Fengqiao. When the bells ring through the dark night and reach thousands of households, it marks the arrival of the New Year. Regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, at midnight every day, the loud ringing of this giant bell will be heard in Hanshan Temple, which is known as the "Night Bell" among the people. This clock has become the time information in the lives of people within dozens of miles of Suzhou's urban and rural areas. The bells of Hanshan Temple also appear in poetry. The most widely circulated one is "Night Mooring on the Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: The moon is setting, the crows are full of frost, and the rivers, maples, and fishing fires are facing melancholy. At Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the bell rang for the passenger ship at midnight.

Now, every New Year’s Eve, Hanshan Temple in Suzhou still follows the ancient custom of ringing the bell to mark the year. In urban and rural areas of Suzhou, at the last moment of keeping up the New Year's Eve, the loud ringing of Hanshan Temple bells will be heard from the radio, announcing the beginning of the year. Thousands of households heard the bells ringing and firecrackers blasting, making the ancient Hanshan Temple bells a symbol of the times. Beijing’s New Year’s Eve is even more busy, with ancestor worship, gods, and stoves being celebrated. As soon as the ceremony of worshiping gods and ancestors began, the entire city of Beijing was drowned in the deafening sound of firecrackers. People also spread sesame straw in their yards and the whole family would step on it, which is called "stepping on the new year", which means longevity. The lights are bright all night long on New Year's Eve, and people bid farewell to the New Year and stay up late on New Year's Eve. When the New Year's bell rang, each family's dumplings were cooked, and people enjoyed themselves.