The Customs of the Jin and Zhou Dynasties: "The custom of Shu is to ask each other in old age, which is called a New Year's greeting; to invite each other for wine and food to bid farewell to the new year; and to stay awake until the end of the New Year's Eve, which is called staying up late on New Year's Eve." Tang Dynasty Meng Haoran's poem "Wood on New Year's Eve": "Everyone should not lie down to watch the New Year's Eve, thinking about it will bring the soul of dreams." Song Zhu Shuzhen's poem "New Year's Eve": "The poor winter is about to go, but I still linger, sitting alone and frequently pouring the cup to watch the New Year's Eve." Qing Dynasty Ji Yun's "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes·Luanyang Xiaoxialu 3": "Halfway through, I lost my footing and fell into a dry well. I was on a remote path in the wilderness, and every family was keeping up with the New Year. There were no pedestrians on the road, and no one answered the call." Xu Yunuo In "A Broken Shoe": "We usually stay up all night. We were cold and hungry. We were about to prepare some hot water to drink. Suddenly the county governor came again and immediately forced us to go to the city. It is customary for Chinese people to stay up late on New Year's Eve. There is a habit of keeping the New Year's Eve dinner together. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting from the time when the lanterns are lit. Some people have to eat until late at night, at least according to Zong Mo's "Jingchu Sui Sui Ji". In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a custom of having New Year's Eve dinner. On this night, the whole family reunites and gathers together, with a table full of refreshments and fruits. A large plate of apples is indispensable for New Year's offerings. This is called "peace and peace". In the north, some families also offer a bowl of rice, which is cooked before the New Year. It is called "every other year's meal". There is always leftover rice to eat throughout the year, so this year it means eating the previous year's rice. This pot of rice and millet is usually mixed and cooked. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "Er Rice Rice" because it is yellow and white. It is called "gold and silver, and the pot is full of gold and silver". Many places prepare cakes, melons and fruits during the New Year's Eve to seek auspicious words: eat dates (spring comes early). Eat persimmons (everything goes well), eat almonds (happy people), eat longevity fruit (immortality), eat rice cakes (get better every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family eats and laughs. The common people play pai gow, throw dice, bet on stud, and play mahjong. The noise and laughter form the climax of the New Year's Eve joy. The all-night vigil symbolizes driving away all evil plagues and looking forward to the new year. Good luck and good luck. This custom gradually became popular. In the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin wrote a poem about "keeping the year old": "The cold leaves the winter snow and the warmth brings the spring breeze." To this day, people are still used to keeping the year old on New Year's Eve. In ancient times, staying up late had two meanings: older people staying up late meant "saying goodbye to the old year", which meant cherishing time; young people staying up late meant staying up late to extend their parents' lives. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the transition between the new and the old year has generally been around midnight. People all over the world are looking forward to the arrival of midnight in the New Year. The custom of staying up late on New Year's Eve expresses a feeling of nostalgia for the passing years, and also expresses good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Shou Sui". Said: "Invite the Ajong family to watch the New Year, and the wax torch is passed on to the blue yarn. Thirty and sixty years have been wasted, but from now on I will cherish my years. "It is human nature to cherish the years, so the great poet Su Shi wrote the famous line "Shou Sui": "There will be no years next year, and worries will be wasted; if you work hard today, you can still be proud of your youth! "This shows the positive significance of staying up on New Year's Eve. Staying up on New Year's Eve is commonly known as "staying up". Why is it called "staying up"? There is such an interesting story that has been passed down among the people for generations: According to legend, in the ancient prehistoric era, There is a ferocious monster, people call it "Nian". Every New Year's Eve, the Nian beast will crawl out of the sea to harm people and animals, destroy farmland, and bring disasters to people who have worked hard for a year. On the night of the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, they would close the door early and not dare to sleep. In order to kill time and strengthen their courage, they would drink until the Nian beast stopped coming out in the morning of the first day of the lunar month before people dared to go out. They bowed to each other, congratulated each other, and were glad that they were not eaten by the Nian beast. After many years of this, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against the Nian beast. One year on the 30th night, the Nian beast suddenly came to a place in the south of the Yangtze River. In the village, almost all the people in the village were eaten by the Nian beast. Only a newlywed couple wearing red curtains and red clothes were safe. There were also a few children who lit a bunch of bamboos and played in the yard. The fire was bright red, and the bamboo made a "pop" sound after it burned. The Nian beast turned here and was so frightened when he saw the fire that he turned around and ran away. At the end of the year, every household would put up red paper, wear red robes, hang red lanterns, beat gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers, so that the Nian beast would not dare to come again. According to the chapter "The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Ting Liao". The so-called "Ting Liao" is a torch made of bamboo poles. After the bamboo poles burn, the air in the bamboo joints expands and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound. This is what "Ting Liao" means. The origin of "firecrackers". But in some places, villagers did not know that the Nian beast was afraid of red, and they were often eaten by the Nian beast. This incident was later spread to Ziweixing in the sky. In order to save people, he was determined to destroy the Nian beast. One year, he waited for When the Nian beast came out, they knocked it down with a fireball and locked it on the stone pillar with a thick iron chain. From then on, people always burned incense during the New Year and asked Ziweixing to come down to the lower world to keep it safe. In Cangzhou, Hebei Province, every year in the twelfth lunar month, every household stays up late at night from the 23rd to the 30th. This custom is related to the youngest daughter of the Jade Emperor. She is wise and kind-hearted and sympathizes with the poor in the world. She secretly falls in love with a poor young man who cooks for others.
When the Jade Emperor found out, he was very angry, so he sent his little daughter down to earth to suffer the consequences of the poor boy. The Queen Mother sympathized with her daughter and interceded, so the Jade Emperor reluctantly granted the poor man the "position of Stove King". The poor man became the "Kitchen Lord" of every household, and the Jade Emperor's youngest daughter naturally became the "Kitchen King's Grandma". Grandma Kitchen King was well aware of the sufferings of the people, so she often brought back food, drink, clothing and other things from the sky to distribute to the poor people in the name of visiting relatives. The Jade Emperor originally disliked his poor son-in-law and his youngest daughter. He was very angry when he heard that his youngest daughter was bringing things back from heaven. He stipulated that they were only allowed to return to Heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month every year, and were not allowed to return to Heaven the rest of the time. . The next year, the Chinese New Year was approaching, but the poor people still lacked this and that, and some could not even lift the lid of the pot. Grandma Kitchen King saw it in her eyes and felt pain in her heart. On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, she planned to go back to her parents' home to order some food for the poor people. However, I don’t even have any noodles at home, and what will I do if I don’t have any dry food on the road? When the people found out, they worked together to make some noodles, baked two cakes, and gave them to Kitchen God Grandma to take on the road. The Kitchen King's grandmother returned to heaven and told the Jade Emperor about the sufferings of the world. However, the Jade Emperor was not only unsympathetic, but also thought that her daughter was bringing back poverty, so he asked her to go back that night. Grandma Kitchen King was so angry that she wanted to leave immediately. Then she thought, no, how can I explain to the people if I go back empty-handed? Besides, you can’t take advantage of your cruel father. At this time, the Queen Mother happened to come to stay with her, so she took advantage of the situation and said, "I'm not leaving. I'll take a broom back tomorrow to sweep away the poor people." On the twenty-fourth day, the Kitchen King's grandma was making brooms, and the Jade Emperor came to urge her. She goes back quickly. She said: "Why are you urging me? It's almost the Chinese New Year. I don't have any tofu at home. I'm going to make some tofu tomorrow." On the twenty-fifth day, the Kitchen King's grandma was cutting tofu, and the Jade Emperor came again to urge her to go back quickly. She said, "Why are you urging me? I have to cut the meat tomorrow!" On the twenty-sixth day, the Kitchen King's grandma had just cut the meat, and the Jade Emperor once again urged her to go back quickly. She said, "Why are you urging me? My family is so poor that I can't even raise a chicken. I have to kill chickens tomorrow!" On the twenty-seventh day, the Kitchen King's grandma was killing chickens, and the Jade Emperor came again to urge her to go back quickly. . She said: "Why are you urging me? Bring some dry food on the way. I will make dough and steam steamed buns tomorrow!" On the 28th day of the New Year's Eve, Grandma Kitchen King was steaming steamed buns, and the Jade Emperor came again to urge her to go back quickly. She said, "What are you urging me to do? We have a wedding wine during the Chinese New Year, and I will go to collect the wine yuan tomorrow." On the twenty-ninth day, the Kitchen King's grandma had just returned from collecting wine, and the Jade Emperor came again to urge her to go back quickly. She said: "Why are you rushing? We can't even eat dumplings all year round, and I have to make dumplings tomorrow!" On the thirtieth day, when the Kitchen God's grandma was making dumplings, the Jade Emperor became very angry and told her to go back today. The Kitchen King's grandmother had almost prepared everything, so she didn't say much. She just couldn't bear to leave the Queen Mother and didn't leave the palace until dark. That night, every household did not sleep, waiting for the return of Grandma Kitchen King. When people saw that the Kitchen God Grandma was back and brought back many good things for the New Year, they all lit incense, paper chips, and firecrackers to welcome the Kitchen God Grandma. At this time, it was the fifth watch of New Year's Eve. In order to commemorate the Kitchen God and not forget her kindness, people sacrifice to the Kitchen on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month every year and stay up for thirty nights, which is called "staying up late". There is also something called "surviving a hundred years". This is to wait to welcome the virtuous and kind-hearted Kitchen King Grandma back to earth from heaven. This custom has been passed down to this day. Origin 2: The custom of keeping the year old arose in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Many literati in the Liang Dynasty wrote poems and essays about keeping the year old. "One night lasts two years, and the fifth watch divides two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil plagues and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been passed down to this day.