origin
It is difficult to know when the custom of Chinese New Year originated, but it is generally believed that it originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties. The first month of the lunar calendar (65438+ 10 month) is the beginning of a year. In most cases, it is beginning of spring on the first or middle day of the first month (a small part of beginning of spring is in the late twelfth month), and now it is named Spring Festival; The final determination of the specific time of the festival is believed to be related to the minimum impact on agricultural work at this time. The last day of the lunar year (30th and 29th of the lunar month) is called "New Year's Eve". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together for dinner (the last meal of the Lunar New Year). After dinner, there are customs of staying up late and giving lucky money, which means keeping the first day of the next year from the last day of the lunar new year. Therefore, this festival is also called China New Year.
According to the solar calendar, the spring outing lasts from 1 to 2 1 to February 20th. The beginning of spring is on February 4th or 5th.
Small year and big year
In the folk, especially in rural areas, there has always been the habit of having a small year and a big year.
Off-year, that is, on the 23rd (or 24th) of the twelfth lunar month (see the explanation on the discussion page), send the Kitchen God to heaven (cremate the Kitchen God's paintings) and report to the Jade Emperor the performance of his family in the past year. In order to make the kitchen god speak well, we should offer honeydew melons, and paste sugar on his mouth when sending him away, so that he can speak well in heaven. To welcome Kitchen God back on New Year's Eve is to invite (buy) a new painting of Kitchen God (with the milk of Kitchen God and his wife on it) for the kitchen. A pair of couplets are usually posted on both sides of the painting: Heaven says yes, and the lower bound ensures peace. Horizontal batch: the head of the family.
The new year begins on the last day of the twelfth lunar month. It is generally believed that until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, there is another saying that the New Year is celebrated in the first month.
go on holiday/vacation
The "legal holiday of the Spring Festival" stipulated by the mainland is from Lunar New Year's Eve to the second day of the lunar calendar, but there are seven days off, and I don't go to work until the seventh day. In fact, the middle weekend and a supplementary weekend add up to seven days.
Countries around China influenced by China, such as South Korea, have the Korean word "Seollal?" (Korean for "New Year"), a legal holiday; Vietnam, commonly known as the "New Year's Day", the legal time, like China, is also the first to third day. Although different countries have different names, their customs are similar.
The legend of "year"
According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, eating livestock and hurting people's lives. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.
One year on New Year's Eve, people in Taohua Village were rushing up the mountain to take refuge. An old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man? Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away." When the old woman looked at him carefully, she found that he was young, healthy, energetic and had an extraordinary world outlook. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.
At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard. Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion.
The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. Villagers flocked to the old woman's house, only to find red paper on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and several red candles in the house still glowing ...; In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to their relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast.
Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom spread more and more widely and became the most solemn traditional festival in China.
The custom of New Year in China
Twenty-three of twelfth lunar month
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, also called "off-year", is the day when people worship the kitchen. The folk song "Twenty-three, Melon Stick" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, officials hold sacrificial stoves on the 23 rd of the twelfth lunar month, people hold them on the 24 th, and houses and boats hold them on the 25 th.
Sacrificing a stove is a kind of custom with great influence and wide spread among the people in our country. In the past, almost every kitchen had a kitchen god. People call this god "the Bodhisattva who commands life" or "the stove commands life". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef Commanding the Kitchen Palace" sealed by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the patron saint of the family. Kitchen shrines are mostly located in the north or east of the kitchen, with the idol of Kitchen God in the middle. Some people who don't have the niche of the Kitchen King even put the idol directly on the wall. Some gods only draw a kitchen god, while others have two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Chef". This is probably an imitation of the image of human lovers. Most of the statues of Kitchen God are also printed with the calendar of this year, which reads the words "Oriental chef is in charge", "guardian of the world" and "head of the family" to show the status of Kitchen God. On both sides, there are couplets of "Heaven says yes, the lower bound is safe", wishing the whole family peace.
Kitchen God has been staying at home to protect and supervise his family since last year's Eve. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven and report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The ceremony of sending the kitchen god is called "sending the kitchen stove" or "resigning the kitchen stove". According to the report of Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor entrusted his family with the fate of good fortune and bad fortune in the new year. So for a family, Kitchen God's report is really interesting.
Sending stoves is usually held at dusk. The family went to the kitchen first, set the table, incense the kitchen god in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and present honeydew melons made of caramel and flour. Then tie the bamboo poles into paper horses and make them into animal feed. Sacrificing caramel to Kitchen God is to make his old man's mouth sweet. Some places still wrap sugar on the mouth of the kitchen god, saying, "Say more good things and don't say bad things." This is to block the kitchen god's mouth with sugar and tell him not to speak ill. In the Chronicle of the Old Times in the Tang Dynasty, there was an occasional record that "Siming (Kitchen God) got drunk by applying distiller's grains on the stove". After people coated the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, they took off their idols and ascended to heaven with paper and cigarettes. In some places, sesame stalks and pine branches are piled in the yard at night, and then the statue of the kitchen god, which has been enshrined for a year, is taken out of the shrine and burned on the fire with paper horses and forage. The courtyard was brightly lit, and at this time, the family kowtowed around the fire, burning and praying: It's twenty-third this year, and I'm going to send the kitchen ruler to the Western Heaven. With strong horses and forage, you will arrive safely. Melon is sweet and sweet. Please speak kindly to the Jade Emperor.
When sending the Kitchen God, there are several beggars in some places, dressed up, singing and dancing to send the Kitchen God door to door, named "Send the Kitchen God" in exchange for food.
The custom of sending stoves is common all over China. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "A boxer sends a stove as a fact": only chicken glue is sweet and clothes are fragrant. If there is nothing at home, there are only a few antelopes.
He said in the article "The Day of Sending Kitchen Stoves": "On the day when the chef ascended to heaven, there was still a kind of sugar on the street, which was as big as a citrus, and we also had it there, but it was flat and flat, like a thick pancake. That is the so-called' gum teeth'. " The original intention is to ask the chef to eat it and stick his teeth on it, so that he won't speak ill of the jade emperor. The allusion to "antelope" in Lu Xun's poems comes from the Biography of Yin Shi in the Later Han Dynasty: "When Xuan Di proclaimed himself emperor, Yin Zifang was the most filial and kind. Cooking in the morning of the twelfth day, seeing the kitchen god, the children have to worship and celebrate; There is an antelope at home, so it is worshipped. After the third one, he naturally became extremely rich. "I have known the third generation, and I have made a fortune. Therefore, I often recommend the antelope in the twelfth lunar month to worship the stove. " Yin Zifang met the Kitchen God and sacrificed the antelope. Later, she got lucky. Since then, the custom of killing antelopes to sacrifice stoves has been handed down.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the offerings for offering sacrifices to stoves were quite rich. Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote a very vivid description of the folk activities of offering sacrifices to stoves at that time: it is said in ancient times that in the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen god spoke to heaven. Clouds, cars and horses linger, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is cooked, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste and Gan Song bait are round. When a man asks his daughter to avoid it, he drinks and burns money. You can't smell your servant's struggle, and your cat and dog don't feel angry when they touch you. Send you to Tianmen to get drunk, and don't repeat the clouds with long spoons and short spoons, begging for points from the market.
The sacrificial furnace on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the New Year in China. Because, a week later, on New Year's Eve, Kitchen God came to the world with the good and bad fortune that the family should get. Kitchen God is considered to guide the gods in the sky. Other gods have ascended to heaven after the Chinese New Year, and only Kitchen God will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony of welcoming God is called "receiving God", and the kitchen god is called "receiving kitchen". Generally, it is New Year's Eve to pick up the kitchen, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, just put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.
As the saying goes, "Men don't Yue Bai, women don't sacrifice to the kitchen". In some places, women don't sacrifice stoves. It is said that the kitchen god looks like a small white face and is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, which is "suspected of men and women." The origin of Kitchen God has a long history. Among the folk gods in China, the qualification of Kitchen God has a long history. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god revered by the people. According to the ancient book The Book of Rites, Kong Ying Da said: "Hitachi, Zhu Rong, the son of Zhuan Xu, is worshipped as the kitchen god." "Zhuangzi Sheng Da" records: "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao commented: "bun, kitchen god, dressed in red, looks like a beautiful woman." "Hold PiaoZi. "Wei Zhi" also recorded: "On a dark night, Kitchen God also accused the white man in the sky." These records are probably the source of Kitchen God. Also, or the kitchen god is a person who digs wood to make a fire; Or the fire officer of Shennong; Or "Su Liji" in "The Yellow Emperor Cooking Ren"; Still the kitchen god surnamed Zhang, the famous list, the word Guo ... there are different opinions.
Due to different local customs, there are also activities of "jumping the kitchen king" and "beating the kitchen king" among the people. "Jumping the Kitchen King" is a folk activity form developed from ancient exorcism, mainly the activity of beggars. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month to the 24th, it is the day of "jumping the kitchen god". After entering the twelfth lunar month, beggars are in groups of three or five, and women dressed as stoves make trouble at the door with bamboo sticks and beg for money, which is called "jumping on the stove king" and also means exorcism. This activity is mainly carried out in the southeast of our country.
On the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, people pay attention to eating jiaozi, which means "look down on the windward side of jiaozi". Eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles in mountainous areas. In the southeast of Shanxi, the custom of eating fried corn is popular. A folk proverb says, "Twenty-three, don't eat fried, on New Year's Eve-pour it all at once." People like to bond fried corn with maltose and freeze it into pieces, which tastes crisp and sweet.
There are two folk songs circulating in southeastern Shanxi. One is "Twenty-three, send my master to heaven; Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, steamed dumplings; Twenty-six, cut meat; Twenty-seven, tin cleaner; Twenty-eight, sloppy; Twenty-nine, washing feet; On the 30th, the door gods and couplets were pasted together. It shows that time is tight and preparation is tight. The second is a nursery rhyme: "Twenty-three, sacrifice the stove, the children clap their hands and laugh." In five or six days, the new year is coming. Bad box, playing with walnuts, losing two shots. When Wu Zixu ping-pong rang, the fire rose higher than the sky. "This reflects the joy of children looking forward to the New Year. Among all the preparations, cutting window grilles and stick grilles are the most popular folk activities. There are all kinds of animal and plant stories, such as the plum blossom of magpie, the peach willow of swallow, the peony of peacock, the rolling hydrangea of lion, the opening of three sheep (Yang), the pearl beating of two dragons, the toon of deer crane (Liuhe Tongchun), the longevity of five bats (Fu), the full moon of rhinoceros, the years of lotus (Lian) and fish (the rest), and the swimming of Yuanyang. Folk customs include "Da Deng Dian, Du Ermei, Three Mothers teach four places, five women celebrate their birthdays, six are in the snow, the seventh day of July is Tianhe, and nine clothes celebrate the birthday of the Eight Immortals", which reflects the folk preference for opera stories. In a family with a new wife, the new wife should bring all kinds of window grilles cut by herself, go back to her husband's house and put up windows, and neighbors will come to see them. After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household should steam steamed bread. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two types: worshipping God and visiting relatives. The former is solemn, while the latter is gorgeous. Especially to make a jujube hill for Kitchen God. "A steamed bread, neighbors to help". This is often a great opportunity for folk women to show their dexterity. Steamed bread is a handicraft.
After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household will write Spring Festival couplets. People pay attention to it, and God will stick it, and doors will stick it, and things will stick it, so Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete content. The couplets in front of the statues are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Heaven and earth have something in common: "the grace of heaven is as deep as the sea, and the virtue of the earth is as heavy as the mountain"; Land God Union: "White jade is born in the soil, and gold is born in the ground"; God of wealth alliance: "God of wealth in heaven, God of wealth on earth"; Jing Shenlian: "Well can lead to the four seas, and home can lead to the three rivers". The granary and the Spring Festival couplets in the granary are warm celebrations and expressions of hope. For example, "the grain is abundant and the six livestock are prosperous"; "The rice surface is as thick as a mountain, and the oil and salt are as deep as the sea"; "Nanshan cattle are like tigers, Beihai Ma Rulong"; "Big sheep flourish every year, and little sheep increase every month" and so on. There are also some single couplets, such as "Looking up to see happiness" in each room, "Going out to see happiness" across the door, "Prosperity is soaring to the sky" on the fire, "The courtyard is full of gold" on the tree, and "Deep-rooted foliage" on the stone mill. The couplets on the gate are the facade of a family, which are particularly exquisite, lyrical or picturesque, rich in content and witty.
After the Stove Festival, preparations for the Chinese New Year officially began. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, China folks call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust Day". Dust removal is year-end cleaning, which is called "house cleaning" in the north and "dust removal" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. North and south of the great river, there is an atmosphere of jubilation, sanitation and clean welcome for the Spring Festival.
The custom of "sweeping the house with dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all "unlucky" and "unlucky". This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
The "three-corpse god" is called "god" by Taoism and is enshrined in the human body. According to the "Taishang Three Corpses", "The name of the corpse is Peng Shu, in the head; The name of China's body is Peng, which is in the abdomen; The name of this body is Jiao Peng, which is in the human foot. " He also said that on that day, they went to heaven to tell the emperor Chen about human sins; But as long as people stay up late, it can be avoided. This is the so-called "keeping Geng Shen"
Eating stove candy is a kind of maltose, which is very sticky. The candy bar drawn into a long strip is called "Guandong Sugar" and the one drawn into a flat circle is called "honeydew melon". When it is put outside in winter, because of the cold weather, the honeydew melon is solidified firmly, and there are some tiny bubbles in it, which tastes crisp and sweet and has a special flavor. The real kwantung candy is too hard to break. Be sure to split it with a kitchen knife when eating. The material is very heavy and fine. The taste is slightly sour, there is no honeycomb in the middle, each piece weighs one or two, two or four, and the price is relatively expensive. Sugar, sesame sugar and non-sesame sugar. Sugar is made into melon shape or north melon shape. The center is empty and the skin thickness is less than five points. Although the size is different, the transaction is still calculated by weight. The big honeydew melon weighs one or two Jin, but few people buy it as a cover.