2014-01-1715: 37: 26 Source: Beijing Evening News (Beijing)
In five days, it will be the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and there is another saying of "having a small year". Starting from this day, it means that this is a "busy year". So, what are the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival in ancient China?
Celebrating the New Year kicked off the New Year.
The folk song says, "Twenty-three, cantaloupes are sticky; Twenty-four, sweeping the house. " It is said that every year on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month, folk activities such as offering sacrifices to stoves and sweeping houses will be held to welcome the arrival of the New Year. Traditionally, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is regarded as the prelude of China New Year, because the first day of the first month is commonly called "Lunar New Year", and the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is also called "Lunar New Year" accordingly.
The symbolic folk activity of the New Year is offering sacrifices to the stove. Food is the most important thing for people. China's ancestors worshipped the Kitchen God for a long time. In a farming society with low productivity, people regard "eating" as the top priority in their lives. Huainanzi records: "The Yellow Emperor died after cooking, and he was the kitchen god." Zhou Li also said: "Zhuan Xu's son is called Li, Zhu Rong and Kitchen God." After the prosperity of Taoism, it was also said that the Kitchen God was the "Nine-day East Chef Commander Kitchen Palace" sealed by the Jade Emperor. In the widely circulated "Tai Shang Induction", it has been described that "the director's life is heavy and he will seize his discipline", so the kitchen god has evolved into a folk god who not only cooks, but also manages life. Siming refers to the kitchen king, counting one hundred days, and Kyrgyzstan refers to twelve years. Kitchen God tells about human sins. Once charged, the life expectancy of misdemeanors will be shortened by 100 days, and that of felonies will be shortened by 12 years. Therefore, in the old society, there were "Kitchen God" statues in people's kitchens, and a pair of couplets were posted on both sides of the statues: "Heaven speaks well; The lower bound is safe. " In order to make the kitchen god "speak well in the sky", on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, people will incense the kitchen god and offer honeydew melons made of caramel and flour. According to the saying of "officials, three people and four people", officials offer sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while people offer sacrifices to stoves on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.
After the sacrifice, every household should sweep the house away from the dust. Because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, sweeping the dust at the arrival of the new year means "getting rid of the old and not being new", which can sweep all bad luck out of the house.
The Spring Festival was called New Year's Day in ancient times.
Now the Spring Festival is the first day of the Lunar New Year, but in ancient China, the first day of the Lunar New Year was regarded as the New Year. New Year's Day or Yuan Day mentioned in ancient poetry refers to the first day of the first lunar month. The most famous "one-year-old firecrackers ring, and the spring breeze send warm enters Tu Su; Every family always trades new peaches for old ones every day. "It is the poem Yuan Ri written by Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty.
The Spring Festival, also known as Yuanri, New Year's Day, the Reform Movement of 1898, Chen Yuan, Yuanshuo, Nian Egg, Sui Nian, Nianchao, Xinzheng, Shouzuo, Sanyuan or Nian and New Year, is the first day of the summer calendar. In ancient times, the New Year was originally called the beginning of a year. The time of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties is different: the beginning of Xia Dynasty was in Yin Jianyue, that is, January of Xia calendar (the same as today); At the beginning of Shang dynasty, the ugly moon was under construction, that is, December in the summer calendar; The beginning of the Zhou Dynasty was in the month of the founding of the People's Republic of China, that is, November in the summer calendar. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the solar calendar was promulgated, which clearly stipulated that the first day of the first month of the first month of the summer calendar was the beginning of a year, and it has been used since then until 19 1 1 years ago. After the Revolution of 1911, China began to adopt the Gregorian calendar. New Year's Day was changed to Gregorian calendar 65438+1 October1,and the first day of the first month in the summer calendar was renamed Spring Festival. After 19 12, people in China began to celebrate the Gregorian calendar and the summer calendar. As a new year in the summer calendar, the Spring Festival has attracted much attention because it carries the long-standing folk culture of the Chinese nation.
The ancients called beginning of spring Spring Festival.
The word Spring Festival has been used in ancient books for a long time, but the ancient Spring Festival refers to the beginning of spring. In the first month of the summer calendar (around February 4 of the Gregorian calendar), the Spring Festival marks the beginning of spring. A year's plan starts with spring. The ancients attached great importance to the establishment of the Spring Festival. Since the Zhou Dynasty, this is a grand festival that ancestors must hold, so beginning of spring is also called the Spring Festival. During the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Tiandi personally led three officials and nine ladies to the eastern suburbs to welcome the Spring Festival and pray for a bumper harvest. When he returns to the palace, he will reward his ministers and be friendly to them. In the Song Dynasty, Wu recorded in his dream: "On the day of beginning of spring, under the tsai Chen, you should enter the DPRK to celebrate." During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Spring Festival culture became more prosperous: "Scholars and ordinary people celebrate each other", which is called "worshipping spring". On the day when spring begins, Jing and all government officials should dress up and go to the spring field one mile away from Dongzhimen in the eastern suburb to welcome the spring. This "spring worship" ceremony is similar to the "New Year's greetings" on the first day of New Year's Day, also called the Spring Festival.