The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the Laba Festival. It is named because the twelfth lunar month is called the "twelfth lunar month".

During the Laba Festival, "Laba porridge" is eaten. Once "Laba" is over and the Spring Festival is approaching, every household begins to make preparations, including making rice cakes, selling new year's goods, dusting, celebrating the New Year, and making New Year's Eve soup rice, etc.

During this period, December 23rd is the "Sacrifice to the Stove Day". There is a folk proverb: "Every family is busy every year, so sacrifice to the Stove King on the 23rd." The offerings to the Stove Lord are sacrifices to the Stove God, including red balls, white balls,

Sesame balls, oil fruits, inch gold sugar, foot bone sugar, white Jiaojiao, black Jiaojiao, etc., or 8 colors, or 12 colors, all are sweet and sticky when eaten in the mouth.

After the sacrifice, the statue of "Zao Lord, the chef of the Nine Heavens East" that has been posted for a year is burned together with the paper-wrapped horse, praying that he will perform more good deeds in front of the Jade Emperor and bless the family's safety.

worry".

The Stove Sacrifice Fruit is divided and eaten by family members, mainly children. "Eating the Stove Sacrifice Fruit will keep your foot bones strong."

On New Year’s Eve, it’s time to take the Kitchen Lord home again and put the newly purchased statue of the Kitchen Lord on the stove.

Since the Kitchen Lord must first count the names of the people in his lower realm, family members have to go home to celebrate the New Year to pray for the Kitchen God to bring good luck to the whole family.

Nowadays, most households in urban and rural areas of Ningbo no longer use the old stoves, and the custom of offering sacrifices to stoves has also faded out.

After the stove-offering fruit was renamed as jasmine fruit, it is still on the market as a seasonal food. Although there are now many colors of candies and pastries, my grandmother will still send a pack of jasmine fruit to her underage grandson before the "stove sacrifice day".

The Year of Xie is the most solemn family worship ceremony of the year, with the main sacrifice being "all the saints of the Southern Dynasties". Legend has it that after the death of the Song Dynasty, people used this ceremony to express their grief for the emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty and their nostalgia for their homeland, and it became a custom later on.

Xie Nian is held between the stove sacrifice and the day or two before New Year's Eve. After the sacrifice, family members, relatives and friends gather together for a meal.

New Year's Eve is also called the Thirtieth Night, and Ruyuexiao is called the Twenty-nine Night. In the old days, this was the busiest day. In addition to picking up the Kitchen God, the activities that needed to be completed include: 1. Posting red Spring Festival couplets, the word "Fu", door gods, New Year pictures, etc.

, which not only expresses good wishes, but also creates a happy atmosphere.

Mascots such as ingots and Ruyi made from rice cakes should also be placed into rice vats and cabinets to symbolize "the vat is full and the rice is full".

2. Cut all the food that needs knives on New Year's Day, sweep the floor, and fill the water tank with water to ensure that kitchen knives, brooms, poles and other utensils that have been busy for a year can rest comfortably for the day

.

3. In the evening, New Year’s Eve rice is cooked to worship the ancestors, and then the whole family gathers around the table to eat the “New Year’s Eve dinner”. The whole fish in the dish should be reserved for the New Year, symbolizing “more than enough every year”; the staple food is

Juicy rice cake soup, which means "rice cake is high every year".

The New Year's Eve dinner is usually relatively simple. Of course, there are also more sumptuous dinners depending on the family's financial situation. But one thing is the same, that is, the whole family gathers together to talk about family happiness and enjoy the richness that is not easy to enjoy in ordinary times.

Strong family affection.

In recent years, it has become popular to book a table in a hotel for New Year's Eve dinner. Although it saves a lot of effort, other than "eating a meal", other meanings seem to have been forgotten.

4. After the New Year's Eve dinner, the elders distribute the New Year's money to the children at home. They should put the New Year's money under the pillow before going to bed, saying that they can "suppress evil spirits" ("Sui" and "祟" are homophones).

5. New Year's Eve is a special night where "one night leads to two years, and the fifth watch divides two years." When all preparations are completed, the door cannons are put off, the door is closed tightly, the lights are brightly lit, and the watch is kept waiting for the new year.

Some women who are devout believers in Buddhism go to temples to sit in vigil at night.

Some poor families with heavy debts also spend the night in "debt hiding temples". Since old debts are mainly due to be settled for the whole year before New Year's Eve, they come to collect debts all night. There are many poor people in the "debt hiding temples" on this night, and they are afraid of offending the public.

, so I don’t dare to follow up and demand payment.

Today, the custom of staying up late has evolved into watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, waiting for the New Year bell to ring at midnight, and then setting off fireworks to your heart's content.

2. The Spring Festival celebrations officially begin at the beginning of the first month. The main customs and customs of the Spring Festival are New Year greetings, which include setting off fireworks and firecrackers, eating glutinous rice dumplings, rice cakes, and melon seeds, having a feast with relatives and friends, and carrying out festive entertainment activities.

The first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the new year. People dress up, and after firing the cannons, they first go to the ancestral hall to pay New Year greetings to the statues of their ancestors. Some people also go to the temple early in the morning to burn incense.

Then starting from home, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to the elders in order, and then the same generation pays New Year greetings to each other.

When neighbors meet, they should also smile and say auspicious words to each other such as "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Happy New Year".

How well you spend this day is related to how well you spend the whole year in people's minds, so there are many taboos, such as not killing animals, not using knives and scissors, not using needlework, not emptying toilets, not washing clothes, and not opening doors to doors.

Do not splash water outside, do not fry in the pot (because "fried" and "noisy" are homophonic), do not break bowls, do not beat or scold children, do not beg for fire (including lighting cigarettes from others), etc. It is unlucky to violate taboos.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, one eats glutinous rice dumplings or fermented glutinous rice dumplings, or sweet soup fruits, expressing the wish that the whole year will be sweet.

Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, we visit relatives and friends, usually first close relatives and then distant relatives, first local and then distant relatives. You come and I go, visiting each other’s homes to pay New Year greetings.

As the saying goes: "Bless the New Year (year) with your mouth." The host should warmly entertain guests with melon seeds, fruits, lard dumplings, fried rice cakes and other refreshments. Close friends should also be invited to banquets and entertainment.

New Year greetings are a way for people to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and to express their best wishes to each other. It lasts until the tenth day of the first lunar month.