According to Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, as early as the Yao and Shun era, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival. Because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has a new meaning, meaning "except Chen Buxin", hoping to sweep all the poor luck and bad luck out of the house.
2, paste couplets, blessings, door gods
On the afternoon of the day before the Spring Festival, children will stick couplets on the door with paste and brushes, and then let the adults below see if the stickers are correct. Some of them are cross-approved and pasted on the cross head of the lintel, and couplets are pasted on the left and right sides of the door.
Others put blessings on doors, walls and lintels to express people's longing for a happy life. Others will stick pictures with door gods on the door panels to pray for a safe year and add a festive atmosphere.
3. Worship ancestors and gods
Offering sacrifices to gods during the Spring Festival is a custom that spreads all over China. The customs of offering sacrifices to gods are similar all over the country, but the purpose is basically the same. They are all for praying for good weather, abundant crops and good luck in the coming year.
Sacrificing ancestors is usually after offering sacrifices to gods, and customs vary from place to place. In our hometown, before having lunch every day, each household sends a representative, brings food and offerings to the ancestral temple to pay homage to ancestors, and the ancestral temple will not close until the 15th day of the first month.
4. Eat dumplings, dumplings and rice cakes.
In most parts of the north, it is a custom to eat dumplings in the morning during the Spring Festival, and a coin is often put in the dumplings. Anyone who eats a coin will be said to be the happiest person in the family that year. In Huai 'an, Jiangsu Province, there is a custom of eating dumplings in the morning. In Kaifeng, Henan Province, jiaozi and dumplings are eaten during the Spring Festival. There is also the habit of eating rice cakes during the Spring Festival, and the taste of rice cakes varies from place to place.
Five, shou sui, give lucky money
Keeping old on New Year's Eve is also one of the most important Spring Festival activities. Neighbors and friends get together, or families get together, some play cards, some watch the Spring Festival party, and everyone stays up all day, waiting for the dawn and welcoming the arrival of the New Year.
Lucky money is a favorite custom of children and younger generations. After the New Year's Eve dinner, the elders will give coins to the younger generation respectively, and thread copper coins into strings with red lines and hang them on the children's chests, saying that they can suppress evil spirits and exorcise ghosts. This custom has been popular since the Han dynasty. Of course, there is no copper coin now, and it is usually cash in a red package.