Since the twelfth lunar month, there have been literati writing Spring Festival couplets under the eaves of shopping malls in an attempt to earn some money for the New Year. After the sacrifice, the new Spring Festival couplets were gradually posted, and thousands of families took on a new look. Some people use James Zhu, others use red paper, and only the imperial court and imperial clan princes use white paper with red and blue edges as the rules. Those who are not imperial clan shall not use them at will.
In the twelfth lunar month, plum blossoms are tied in a big-bellied and small-mouthed utensil and placed about five feet underground. When the fire warms the ground slightly, the plum blossoms will gradually turn white, put in paper cages and sell in the city. Momo, plum blossom and Spring Festival are also acceptable. Tents are set up and paintings are sold in prosperous areas. Women and children rushed to buy them for fun.
On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, porridge sellers lined up in the market on the street. There are even walnuts, persimmons, dates, chestnuts and dried water chestnuts, which are sold with baskets on their shoulders. Followed by fat pheasant, Guandong fish, wild cats, wild birds, bacon, iron sparrow, fruit cover, giant Buddha flower, bean light thousand pieces, Louzizhuang ingot. After October of the lunar calendar, we sell Wei paintings, door gods, hanging money, gold and silver foil, yellow money, gold coins, burning paper, glass mirrors and windows. After the 20th, honeydew melons, sugar cakes, glutinous rice cakes and kwantung sugar will be sold. When the stove was delivered on the 23rd, Shenma was provided with copied beans with rotten grass. There are also kiln sellers, porcelain bowls, incense burners and candlesticks in Beijing. Stuffed gourd, children save money; Support the pot tile, and the furnace mouth is used as an aid. After 25th, sesame stalks, pine and cypress branches, atractylodes lancea, etc. are sold for "aging". The price and money in the twelfth lunar month are more expensive than usual, so there is a proverb that "the water and soil in the twelfth lunar month are three points more expensive". At this time, the old man always advised the younger generation to spend money carefully, so there was another proverb, "Twenty-seven or eight, take all the goods and catch them to the end."
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, we celebrate Wang Houla and cook fruit porridge. Rice and beans were prepared the day before, and figures were carved with hundreds of fruits. Cooking porridge in the middle of the night, the whole family gets together to eat and feed it to relatives and neighbors, which is Laba porridge. Laba porridge is cooked with yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut, red cowpea and peeled jujube paste. And dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, sugar, red ponds, grapes, etc. Never use lotus seeds, lentils, coix seed and glutinous rice, which will hurt you. Peel the fruit once every seven days, wash the utensils once, and operate all night until the porridge is cooked at dawn. Afternoon is not allowed except for ancestor worship and Buddha worship. There are also red dates, walnuts and so on. Make it into categories such as lions and children, and you can see smart thinking.
Laba and Yuhe River start from the ice room, water is transported from Tonghe to the inner kiln, and ice is transported from Taiye Pool to the ice kiln, which is very convenient in summer.
At the end of 23rd, every family offered sacrifices to stoves, put up posts in the courtyard and hung lanterns. Sacrifice is a soup stove rice, honeydew melon and candied cake, and sacrifice is a fried bean pot with fragrant grains. Luo Bai, male, is willing to suppress evil and promote good. In the back room, women sweep the stove, smear clean mud and burn incense to worship.
Every year1February, within 19, 20, 2 1 22, Qin chooses an auspicious day, seals it as usual, announces it to the world, and all of them implement public holidays. Since then, the Liyuan Opera House has closed one day, and eight classes will perform together, and the play will be blessed on the first day of next year. Children who go to school are also given a holiday by the teacher after the "closure", which is called "the year after school".
From 25th to New Year's Eve, it is said to be "Luan Nian Festival". "Twenty-seven, sick, twenty-eight, sloppy."
At the end of the year, throw the medicine left over from one year outside the door and burn the collected prescriptions together. This is called "losing all diseases".
Burning pine branches, cypress leaves, atractylodes rhizome and auspicious Dan in a furnace is called "simmering year".
The day before New Year's Eve is called "New Year's Eve" and there is a banquet at home. People call it "not old". Burning incense outdoors is called "Tianxiang", which usually takes three days.
Many old people are on New Year's Eve.
On New Year's Eve, people go out to visit relatives and friends in embroidered robes, which is called "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new". Family members kowtow to their elders, which is also called "resignation". Newlyweds must go to their father-in-law's house to resign, otherwise it is disrespectful.
On New Year's Eve, sesame stalks should be sprinkled outside the walkway from home to the gate, which is called "stepping on the year".
It was the first time to have sex on New Year's Eve. Outside, treasures and torches win glory, and firecrackers explode. Shoulder cluster, chariots and horses stumble. Hundreds of officials went to North Korea to celebrate New Year's Day. At this time, firecrackers thundered all over the government and stayed up all night. It is even more mixed with the rattle, selling melon seeds to relieve boredom, selling rice wine ice cups, selling sweet-scented osmanthus head oil called Jiao Niang, and selling fine vegetable powder, which is comparable to the sound of firecrackers. It's really good. "Home of the natives, new clothes, Su Dai, worship the gods and ancestors; After burning germanium silk, the family went to worship, offered pepper plates, poured cypress wine, steamed cakes and sipped noodle soup. Going out to greet the relatives, attending the medicine window and the shadow window, there is a Cambodian celebration. " If you meet relatives and friends on the road, you should pay a New Year call first, and then wish "Happy New Year". "As for entertainment, flowers will be tea, ten brocade hot pots will be delicious, and the soup will be served with goose oil, pork buns, rice cakes and yellow rice; Wine and vegetables are salted chicken bacon, bad heron and phoenix fish, pheasant feet, deer and rabbit breasts; Fruits include pine, hazelnut, lotus, peach, apricot, melon seed kernel, chestnut, jujube, hawthorn cake, green branch grape, Baizigang durian, Bo Qiu pear, apple, lion orange, orange and bayberry. Mixed with delicacies, home confuses the market. Even if you are not close, you should offer three glasses of wine. If you forget your feelings, why not get drunk! " As the saying goes, "it's better to take a thousand than one." Four horses are noisy and happy all day, which can be said to be a very temporary victory. "
The New Year's Eve dinner is made of gold, silver and rice, with pine and cypress branches inserted on it, and decorated with money, dates, chestnuts, longan, fragrant branches and chopped five pieces before it can be taken out. (called "Chinese New Year's Rice") Take larger branches of pine and cypress, put them in bottles, and decorate them with ancient money, ingots and pomegranate flowers. It's a cash cow.
Wear it with colored ropes, weave it into the shape of a dragon and put it at the foot of the bed. It is called "lucky money". What elders give to children is also called "lucky money", and the "sticker" used by wealth managers to withdraw money is called "ticket". Every year, except for the rich, anyone who exchanges money with silver is written on the lottery ticket, which is for the "red ticket" Take the meaning of gorgeous and auspicious.
Anyone who sells flowers is called Tanghua. "At the feast, give each other gifts. Peony is gorgeous, kumquat yellow, fragrant, warm and fragrant, and it can be cured in one room in three spring, so people call it "hall flower"
Hanging a thousand is carved with auspicious words on red paper, accompanied by a long ruler and A Zhi, which is posted in front of the door, reflecting the symbol of peach. There are eight immortals hanging in front of the Buddha statue. Hanging thousands of households use more, and aristocratic families use less. Its yellow paper is three inches long and red paper is more than one inch long, which is a "small hanging thousand" and is used by shops.
Every new year's eve, put a long case in the atrium. Percentage is the sacred picture of heaven. Before "100%", it is called "full supply" to provide display honey for the first floor. Cao Tong's Eight Immortals, Pomegranate and Yuanbao are called "flowers for Buddha". When it's time to pick up the gods, they will burn incense at 100%, and then burn incense until the Lantern Festival. This is what people often call "the table of heaven and earth".
The first month of entering every household
On the first day of the first month, get up at five o'clock, burn incense and set off paper cannons. On this day, we visited each other, regardless of grades, and ran for several days, which was called "Happy New Year". Foods to eat, such as Pepsi-Cola boxes, are made of persimmons, lychees, longan, chestnuts and ripe dates.
On the first day of the lunar calendar, gods and ancestors are worshipped, and paper-cutting continues to reach the height of ancestors, which is called "zhangqian" and burning.
On the tenth day of the first month, I visited the door during the New Year, clamoring for posting, throwing a business card and leaving in a hurry. Most of them don't need to talk to their master.
From the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, it is commonly known as "Breaking Five". According to the old custom, you should eat "dumplings" for five days, which is called "boiled cakes" in the north. Now some families only eat it for three or two days, and some eat it every other day. However, there is no one who does not eat. This is true from the royal residence to the small houses in the streets, even for entertaining guests.
The lights in the first month have always been concentrated in the "six lights" at the front door, which are called "six lights", among which the lights in the "Ministry of Industry" are the most praised. Ice lanterns, birds and animals, and all kinds of things in the world are made very skillfully.
The lantern market used to focus on the East and West archways, but later it moved to the gallery headlines.
From New Year's Day to 16 in Xinzheng, Liulichang is full of department stores, lights, glass screens, tents for thousands of people, jade toothpicks, contacts for thousands of people, books and treasures. There is also "Qin Lou Chu Guan is partial to songs, and BMW is a guest." It is also a scene of the Old Beijing New Year Festival.
Labaer: Tianjin people call the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month "Labaer" and have the custom of drinking Labaer porridge. Many Tianjin people still soak garlic in vinegar on this day, which is called "Laba vinegar". "Laba vinegar" not only tastes mellow, but also does not go bad after a long time.
Visit Niangniang Palace: Since the 15th of the twelfth lunar month, various new year's goods have been listed one after another, and Gongnangong North Street with Niangniang Palace as the axis is even more lively. The first goal for boys to go to Niangniang Palace is the wind gourd. Adult men can't forget to buy lanterns when they come here. Most women come to "wash dolls". The "dolls" tied back from Niangniang Palace should be "washed once a year", which is something that women must complete before the festival.
Melon sacrifice to the stove: the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the kitchen god ascended to heaven. Every family will buy honeydew melons and wait until the evening 12 to sacrifice to the kitchen god. After the incense is burned, please come down from the statue of Kitchen God, light it and burn it. You can buy a new statue of the kitchen god on New Year's Eve, which is commonly known as the "kitchen god size" and change it every year.
Hanging money: hanging money is a pattern cut with colored paper and pasted on the glass and horizontal edge of doors and windows as an ornament of the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival. The posted money can only be damaged on the fifth day of the first month, otherwise it will mean a bad year.
"Breaking Five": Tianjin people call the fifth day of the first month "Breaking Five". On this day, every household will eat jiaozi, and the chopping board will jingle so that the neighbors can hear it to show that they are chopping "little people". Tianjin people attribute all the unhappy things to "villains", and only by getting rid of "villains" can wealth and prosperity be smooth, and setting off firecrackers on the fifth night of the fifth day also means avoiding evil spirits and disasters.
Chinese New Year Customs in Old Shanghai
The Spring Festival has lasted for thousands of years in China. But for a long time, the term "Spring Festival" refers to the "beginning of spring" among the 24 solar terms in a year. It was not until the Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Manchu rule and the Republic of China was founded that Sun Yat-sen ordered the whole country to switch to the solar calendar. Later, the New Year will also be changed to New Year's Day in the solar calendar. But after all, the Lunar New Year has become a traditional festival celebrated by the whole people, and it is difficult to change the solid local customs and national culture. The celebration of the Lunar New Year is still endless year after year. Since there is a new New Year's Day in the solar calendar, the Lunar New Year has been called "Spring Festival" in the solar terms since the Republic of China.
In the old days, it entered the "New Year" from the 65438+February 23rd of the lunar calendar and continued until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, forming a set of fixed programs. Let's see how Shanghai celebrated the New Year in the past.
The 24th of the twelfth lunar month, that is, the 24th of December, is the day when the Kitchen God plays a role in the sky. Therefore, on the evening of 23rd, every household should "send a stove" and "offer a stove" to celebrate the New Year. In the evening, every household worships the Kitchen God in the hall. More often, wine and fruit are placed on the kitchen with the image of the Kitchen God, and water chestnuts, clams, good fish and good meat are also provided. There is a bamboo cloud: "fame and fortune are prosperous and less right and wrong, all depending on the sky." There is nothing to offer at present. Fish buy fresh meat and fat meat. "
Kitchen God is going to report the human quality and human faults to the Jade Emperor for one year. In order to prevent him from going too far, people also offered candy ingots made of caramel when he sent them to the kitchen stove. It is said that it is to make him eat and stick his teeth, to make him unable to speak clearly, to make him talk less and not to speak ill of the world. When "sending the stove", all the points are incense sticks. It was night, cigarettes filled the room, and the offerings were dazzling, and the atmosphere of the New Year came at once.
The 25th day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when immortals descend to earth. Traditionally, every household has to dust inside and outside, remove the accumulated dust for one year, and clean up the sundries accumulated at ordinary times. This move is quite serious, and in today's words, it can be called an active and orderly mass health movement. After this day's work, every household is dirty, the supplies are better than before, and the appearance is fresh inside and outside, like a New Year's Eve.
From this day on, every household began to be busy with all aspects of the Spring Festival. The first thing is to buy and prepare all kinds of food for the New Year. Every family must also grind flour to make dumplings, and some families make rice cakes with flour. The former means "round and round", while the latter can mean "happy" and "high every year". The second is to prepare new clothes, new hats and new shoes. People may wear old clothes all the year round, but they must examine their "clothes" in the new year. Once again, I began to buy Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures and "door gods" and put them on the doors, upstairs and downstairs. During this period, in order to meet the needs of the public, many kinds of such things appeared in the market. Every family also needs its own things. For example, when buying Spring Festival couplets, the store will choose "the business is booming all over the world, and the financial resources are reaching the Three Rivers", while the average household will choose "the sky is increasing, the people are increasing, the spring is full, and Kunming is beaming".
This period is also the busiest time for shops in the middle of the year. On the one hand, business is booming and sales are booming. On the other hand, the end of the year is the period when each family cleans up the current accounts for one year and asks the debtor for arrears. So each family sent someone to handle this matter, and a large-scale "debt collection" team appeared in the city: "Cross the street from east to west with bills in cloth bags. Step into the heavy door and call it, and the husband will be together. " There are many people who can't repay on time for various reasons. Debt collectors have great responsibilities and pursue hardships, often day and night, regardless of the cold day and night.
Among those who can't pay their bills on time, in fact, many people are completely unable to pay their bills. In addition to the debts owed to the store, these people probably owe personal debts. The end of the year is also the time when most debts are paid off, so these people are under pressure from two sides to ask for money. However, according to the usual practice, debt collection can only be done on New Year's Eve, and it is not allowed to be done during the New Year. It is unlucky to blame yourself for "bad luck". Therefore, the New Year's Eve dinner is the last pass for those who evade debts. If they escape this, next year will be another matter. So they have been dealing with debt collectors and trying their best to get through this New Year's Eve: "The creditors who are riddled with holes have come, and it is difficult to get them back without any plans. I have to go on stage today to avoid it, and I will drive it away after dawn. "
However, except for the poor people mentioned above, on the whole, when the New Year comes, everyone is inevitably extremely happy and in high spirits. After all the preparations mentioned above, the New Year's Eve that we are looking forward to every day has finally come to our eyes, and the celebration of the New Year has reached a climax.
The beauty of New Year's Eve is at sunset. In the evening, all the families gather indoors, even those who are far away from home, try to go home and spend the New Year with their families before. Everyone sat under the lamp, eating the "New Year's Eve", eating and drinking, talking and laughing, and eating this meal for a long time. This is a year of trying to enjoy family happiness, hence the name "Family Happiness".
This night is next to the Chinese New Year, so many family elders don't sleep after the New Year's Eve. Still talking and laughing, eating omnivores. People don't think this night is deeper and longer. At midnight, some people will go to temples in the city to burn "head incense".
At the time of the crow, every household, men, women and children, put on new clothes, hats and shoes, and worship the heavens and the earth and ancestors in the hall where offerings have already been arranged. Then, young people and old people pay New Year greetings to their parents. They distribute the lucky money prepared many years ago to their children. This is the long-awaited hope of the children, and they finally happily put it in their pockets. Then open the door and let sonic boom greet the New Year, and the neighbors will meet to celebrate the New Year.
Every day from the first day of junior high school is a time when friends and relatives return to pay New Year greetings. When guests bring more gifts, they must treat them to "Yuanbao tea", that is, put olives in the tea or put an olive on the tea cover. He also offered fruit in a golden lacquer plate and said, "Congratulations!" " . I will treat you to wine and rice. At that time, the elders had to send lucky money when they saw the younger generation, which was inevitably a big burden for those who were financially strapped. However, this new year greeting method was simplified in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty. People who have a lot of contacts go out to pay New Year's greetings, and often just throw a thorn for them, which can save entertainment and expenses: "In exchange for new peaches and new colors, the robe is short to the door. Who is most afraid of frequent bending and rushing to throw thorns for the New Year. "
In the new year, in addition to visiting each other to celebrate the New Year, the rest of the time is to "celebrate" with various travel and entertainment activities. Some people go out for a stroll, and the most visited places are the City God Temple and the connected West Garden (that is, Yuyuan Garden): "There is nothing to do in the New Year, so you can take a walk in the zigzag bridge in the garden. Suddenly I heard the children clap their hands together and the kite shook for a long time. " However, since the establishment of the modern concession, the colorful Shili Yangchang has become a fascinating amusement place in the New Year, especially for those who live outside the Yangchang: "People in the city love the Yangchang, while people outside the city compete for the Temple Garden. At the same time, they are generally willing to watch, and everyone is speechless. " Others go out to the theatre, listen to books and have tea. After the opening of the port, there was a lot of prostitution in and out of Shanghai's foreign exchange. Some people took advantage of this period to travel wildly, so they were busy with fireworks everywhere: "The new year weather mirror is polished, and money is like a shuttle. There are thousands of Chuting in Qian Qian in Qin Lou, and there are many laughs at the opening of the fruit bowl "; Of course, more people often stay at home, and indoor fun can be found by themselves, such as inviting relatives and friends to build a "square city", playing drums and playing the piano, singing by themselves, and so on: "Food, new clothes and happiness make people old, and thousands of people borrow common names. Every household is closed for three days (referring to merchants), not the sound of cards or drums. "
On the fifth day of the first month, it is the birthday of the God of Wealth (commonly known as the "Road God"), and there are actions of "connecting with the God of Wealth", "connecting with the God of Wealth" and "connecting with the Road God" everywhere. The god of wealth talks about "wealth", and everyone pays attention to it, especially businessmen who start businesses for wealth, so their celebration is the most energetic. Shanghai has long been a prosperous commercial city in the southeast, and businesses can be seen everywhere. It is conceivable that the celebration of the fifth day is particularly intense. Businessmen get more than three kinds of sacrifices from the god of wealth: pig head, carp and rooster. Carp lovers, homophonic "Li Yu", are particularly popular. As early as a few days ago, villagers from rural areas were selling fresh carp to various pockets in the streets and alleys. Carp is also called "silver ingot fish", so it is called "sending silver ingots".
On the fifth day of the fifth grade, a new portrait of Marshal Zhao was hung in the middle of the merchant hall. Except for three sacrifices, the other sacrifices are extremely rich. Incense candles were lit and the house was brightly lit. Then, firecrackers were set off indoors and outdoors, one after another, and the whole city roared and the sound shocked hundreds of miles. And continuously, its sound and strength are too strong for the first morning: "firecrackers can't be picked up, and the god of wealth is busy fighting." I just hope that business will be good this year. Why not pick me up at the fifth watch? "
Finally, it is the fifteenth Lantern Festival. The expiration of May coincides with the reunion and is for good luck. On this day, every family must eat "Yuanxiao", which means reunion and good luck. But the prosperity of the Lantern Festival lies in "lights", so it is also called "Lantern Festival". It is a big lantern in front of every household and shop, and it is also a big lantern in public places such as temples, gardens and squares. After sunset, all the lights are put together, connected together, and the red light shines. Lanterns have various shapes, including various lanterns, plant lanterns, animal lanterns, character lanterns, story lanterns and so on. The most common lanterns in Shanghai are rabbit lanterns, ingot lanterns and lantern lanterns, among which the biggest and most wonderful one is the "dragon lantern": the dragon has a head and a tail, the scales are flashing, it is * * * long, and it has a long handle, which is held by the dragon dancer. There is also a special person holding a "rolling lantern" like a big ball, playing with the dragon's body, chasing and even fighting. They are dancing in the streets of Shanghai.
At that time, men, women and children will appear in groups. Chenghuang Temple and Xiyuan Garden are also the center of an activity. It is a pavilion decorated with colored lights, bright inside and outside. In the garden, there is a big rockery and high rocks, and fireworks are set off, which is the most attractive. The audience who came here jostled shoulder to shoulder, all smiling. In addition to watching lanterns, this Lantern Festival has a special "popularity": the so-called "ten-mile bead curtain does not roll, and the lantern watcher looks at the lantern watcher" is that unique artistic conception. The midnight snack will last until late at night, and everyone will walk home slowly after lights out. There is a saying that this day happened to be the day when the kitchen god returned, so he just caught up with the kitchen god when he went home.
At the coming dawn, this year's Spring Festival celebrations have come to an end. (Text/Zheng)
Chongming Spring Festival custom
Spring Festival is an important festival in China folk tradition. It is the first festival in all seasons, so people pay special attention to it. As the saying goes, "a hundred miles of different winds, a thousand miles of different customs." Due to the unique region of this county, the customs of Spring Festival vary slightly from place to place. Now collect some scenes and shots around the Spring Festival over the years, and indulge with readers.
24 nights
People who have worked hard for a year have been busy having a good Spring Festival since the 23rd day of the lunar calendar1February. The thirteenth or twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month is collectively called "twenty-four nights". According to legend, this day is the day when the kitchen god goes to heaven, and there is a folk custom of sending the kitchen god to heaven. On this night, people cook with "rolled silver bags" (with green vegetables, arrows, tofu, etc. As fillings, venetian blinds wrapped), "Twenty-four Fragrances" and red bean rice are used as sacrificial food. The custom of lighting incense sticks to sacrifice to the Kitchen God, preparing paper money, tying colorful bridges, kowtowing to worship, then setting off firecrackers and using the front curtain (commonly known as "happy string") for the statue of the Kitchen God has been eliminated, but the ancient custom of eating red bean rice and rolling silver bags still exists. After 24 nights, every household is getting more and more busy, cleaning up inside and outside, commonly known as dusting eaves, washing bedding, brewing wine, frying peanuts and broad beans and purchasing food. People in urban and rural areas on the island generally grind steamed cakes, and this custom has continued to this day. Because "Gao" and "Gao" are homophonic, people are looking for a good oral color that is high every year. There are different ways to make cakes in different parts of the country. Steamed sponge cake is the main sand, steamed sticky cake is in the middle area and steamed sole cake is the main sand. Poor families use sorghum flour and white jade rice as the main raw materials for steamed cakes. In addition, people should prepare some things, such as tin foil, paper money, incense sticks, gold ingots, tea and fruits, as sacrifices to God. A few days before New Year's Eve, people will put up new Spring Festival couplets, hang up their ancestors, hang their portraits on the main wall of nave, arrange sacrifices, and burn incense at the time of New Year's Eve to let the younger generation pay a New Year call. Before New Year's Eve, people will also play hoarding games, that is, put lime into sacks and print them on the ground, hoping that there will be Man Cang in the coming year. These activities are gone now. Some farmers also put the garbage and useless chores and weeds in the city into the field and set them on fire in order to be auspicious and safe in the coming year.
New Year's Eve
December 30th of the lunar calendar is New Year's Eve, commonly known as New Year's Day. On this day, all the new year's furnishings are properly arranged, such as writing Spring Festival couplets and putting up doors. In the evening, the whole family, old and young, get together for dinner, and the food is much richer than usual. The main course is cooked with Chinese cabbage and tofu, and wrapped in venetian blinds, which is called rolling money bundle, to show that the financial resources will come in the coming year. This evening is the happiest day for children, because parents and elders give lucky money. In the old society, this day was very difficult for people who had no money. According to the old rules, when the debts were paid off, they could not be collected at the end of the year. They can't be forced to collect debts before the lights are turned off in early February, so the creditors send people to collect debts everywhere, and those who can't pay their debts have to hide around until the first day of the new year. Therefore, there used to be a saying that "grain farmers are young and strong, and they are sad when they have no money."
the Spring Festival; Chinese New Year
The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, commonly known as the Spring Festival. The first thing every household does in the early morning of 2008 is to set off firecrackers, which is called "opening the door". Its original intention is to exorcise evil spirits, and later it means to open the door and make a fortune. During the Spring Festival, adults and children all put on new clothes and dress neatly, and the whole family sits around the dining table. * * * There was a hearty breakfast, mainly vegetarian, with glutinous rice balls and sugar rice cakes to show family reunion. In the last 24 nights, a bowl of red bean rice, commonly known as "old rice", was added to the breakfast, which meant a good meal every other year. After breakfast, the children greet their neighbors, relatives and elders one after another. There are many taboos on the first day of the first month. You can't use knives, splash water, go to the water bridge to wash rice, sweep the floor, open the back door, move firewood, swear words, hit people, stay up too late and so on. Even the firewood for cooking should be put in the furnace hall with sesame stalks and soybean stalks, making a crackling sound. The brighter the fire, the more auspicious it is, which indicates that everything will be fine this year. In addition, on the morning of the third and fifth day of each year, every family should make breakfast and light incense before meals, hoping that the whole family will be prosperous and safe.
In the past, there were more beggars during the Spring Festival. There was a beggar who begged not because his family was poor, but for filial piety. Some people say that there is a death gate for the elderly to live to 998 1 year-old, and only by eating "100 meals" can they spend it safely. So there are filial sons and daughters of the elderly at home.
On the first day of the Spring Festival, they went out to beg for food for their parents. There is also a beggar, commonly known as "beggar". The way they beg is interesting. Some beggars wrap their heads in red paper and hang them on bamboo poles. Every time they come to a house, they say that the vegetable head is here, the business is good, and they ask for charity. This is called "delivering vegetable heads". Some people make cows out of paper and bamboo thread, and say good words and auspicious words in front of every house for charity. Some people hold branches of holly or cypress and hang some small bells on the branches to show that their families will be like cash cows in the new year. This is the so-called "cash cow". Beggars in some companies, wearing Buddhist shirts and statues and masks, rushed into houses disguised as the God of Wealth to show that the God of Wealth had arrived. This is called "jumping to the God of Wealth". Chongming people lived in poverty in the old society, but when they met beggars from these enterprises, they were still charitable and gave them some food such as dry food. After liberation, these ways of running enterprises have long since disappeared.
In the early morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, all shops and craftsmen have to burn incense and worship God. This is the so-called "burning profit festival". At noon 10, the shopkeeper also held wine for the clerk, praying for a prosperous business in the new year. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, according to legend, it is the birthday of the God of Wealth, and all the shops in the street are open for business. On this day, every household eats wonton at noon to show wealth. In addition, there are puppet shows in the country. From the first day to the fifth day, families will visit each other. The incense in the temple is far more vigorous than usual. Especially on the morning of New Year's Day, many people go to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, and it is very early. Catch up with burning incense, Shouan Temple outside the city and Guangfu Temple in Zhongxing Town are the most lively places.
On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month; Lantern Festival; night of the 15th of the first lunar month；Lantern Festival；yuanxiao
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, commonly known as the first half of the first month. People regard the fifth to twentieth day of the first month as the Lantern Festival. In the past, before the Lantern Festival, every household used glutinous rice flour to make cakes of various shapes. Some looked like ancient silk balls and silver, while others looked like chickens, ducklings, carp, cotton peaches, corn, peaches and rice piles. At noon in half a month, every family eats wonton. In the afternoon, people will take these foods as sacrifices, worship their ancestors in graves, and offer sacrifices to the fields. In the evening, people will throw fireballs or carry lanterns of different shapes in groups of three or five, and then cross the third bridge to have fun. The habit of playing lanterns at 1: 30 in the first month is very popular. Lanterns are shaped like rabbit lights, carp lights and pentagonal lights. Moreover, the places where lanterns are hung also have local characteristics, such as arranging many red lights in glyphs or various figures, lighting candles inside the lights and using them. This is called "running a red light". Insert a bamboo pole between things without ditches in the countryside and hang a red lantern. Lighting a candle at night seems to be the same as during the day. When you look up, it looks good. This is called hanging spear lights and tying them into colorful buildings on the bridge. It is covered with all kinds of grotesque lanterns, and there is a feeling of amorous feelings here at night. In addition, there are lanterns, lions and lanterns in the Lantern Festival evening.
As the saying goes, "after eating two big heads, everyone will find their way." After the 16th day of the first month, the celebrants returned to all walks of life. At this point, the Spring Festival activities are over. After liberation, the Lantern Festival tends to be simplified, but the custom of eating wonton, making silk balls, making dumplings and playing with lanterns by children still exists and has been given new meaning. Especially in the streets of the county, it is more attractive to hang lanterns and set off fireworks at the Lantern Festival night.
For more than a thousand years, our ancestors have thrived in this beautiful land, and gradually formed various customs with strong local characteristics in their long-term production activities and daily life. These customs and habits condensed the ancestors' pursuit and yearning for a better life, and showed their good qualities of simplicity and hard work. Of course, there are some backward and ignorant contents on the other side of traditional customs. With the development of production and social progress, people's traditional customs have also changed from barbarism to civilization and from ignorance to science. With the development of civilization and the progress of science, some old customs contained in this paper have been abandoned, and some customs have been injected with new contents and inherited and carried forward. At the turn of the century, we should devote ourselves to building a new socialist fashion, strengthen the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and ensure the smooth progress of socialist modernization. When celebrating traditional festivals, don't forget that it is our conscious behavior to change customs and make due efforts for the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.
The old customs in Macao are very unique. "Xie Zao" is one of the most traditional China customs preserved in Macau. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Macao people call it "Xie Zao". According to the tradition in China, Macau people also give the kitchen god sugar, saying that it is to paste the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, so as not to speak ill of him in front of the Jade Emperor. I saw a picture of Santa Claus on the stove of a Macao family in Flower Street, Macau. Strangely, the portrait of Santa Claus was affixed with a couplet that read "Heaven speaks well and returns home with clothes on".
Macao people celebrate the New Year from the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, which is a homophonic word in Cantonese. Most business owners invite their employees to have a "reunion dinner" at the end of the year to show their prosperity and good luck. From the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, we can truly feel the annual flavor of Macao.
On New Year's Eve, watching the Spring Festival and visiting the flower market are two major events for Macao people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. Shousui is playing mahjong, watching TV, catching up and chatting, enjoying family happiness; Probably influenced by Christmas and Valentine's Day in the West, people in Macao are also scrambling to buy some auspicious flowers and trees to welcome the New Year. Now this has become a custom in Macao. Macau holds a flower market on Lunar New Year's Eve, mostly peach blossoms, daffodils, potted bamboos and potted oranges. Flowers are rich and prosperous, wishing peace and a bright future in the new year. The flower market in Macao was held for three days, which brought endless comfort to Macao people who had been running around for a year.
During the Spring Festival, Macao people pay attention to "benefiting the market", which is a red envelope. On this day, when the boss meets the employees, the elders meet the younger generation, and even the married see the unmarried, they must "benefit the field". "Shili" is pure and crisp to show good luck. Macao people call New Year's Day the "opening year". The custom is to eat "New Year's Eve". In order to make money and profit, New Year's Eve must contain Nostoc flagelliforme, lettuce and carp. Starting from "New Year's Day", the Macao government will allow civil servants to "gamble" for three days. After the Chinese New Year, Macau has completely returned to the traditional Chinese New Year custom in China. Until the Lantern Festival, it is also a fireworks festival, playing with dragons and lions, and being in high spirits.