The origin of the Spring Festival
The Spring Festival falls on the first day of the first lunar month, also called the lunar (lunar) year, commonly known as the "New Year". This is the most solemn and lively ancient traditional festival in our country.
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Han people. However, our country is a multi-ethnic country. In addition to the Han, there are more than a dozen ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li who also have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival.
The Spring Festival has a long history. It originated from the activities of worshiping gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the year during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. There are also many legends about Nian. The ancient Spring Festival was called "Yuan Day", "New Year's Day" and "New Year". After the Revolution of 1911, the first day of the first lunar month was officially named the Spring Festival.
The long history has made the content of annual customs and activities extremely rich and colorful. Among them, those superstitious contents that worship heaven and worship gods have been gradually eliminated, while those contents that are full of life interest, such as pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year pictures, pasting the word "福", cutting window grilles, steaming rice cakes, making dumplings, burning firecrackers, New Year's Eve vigil, Customs such as New Year greetings are still very popular today.
The earliest Spring Festival couplets in our country were written on peach boards by Meng Chang during the Five Dynasties period: "New Year's greetings, happy festivals, Changchun".
Writing Spring Festival couplets on red paper began in the Ming Dynasty. New Year pictures originated from the door gods of the Tang Dynasty. Like burning firecrackers, they were used to drive away ghosts and ward off evil spirits in ancient times, but now they have become a custom designed to increase the festive atmosphere. Pasting the word "福" existed before the Song Dynasty. People would deliberately stick the word "福" written on red square paper upside down on doors, windows and furniture, taking the meaning of "luck has arrived (fallen)".
Staying up late on New Year's Eve is the most important annual custom, which was recorded in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. On New Year's Eve, family members, old and young, stay up late, gather together, drink, and enjoy family happiness. This is a custom that descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties still attach great importance to today. After the first rooster crows, the new year begins. Men, women and children, all dressed in festive costumes, first pay New Year and birthday wishes to the elders in the family, and then visit relatives and friends to congratulate each other. At this time, the land of China is sparkling and colorful. From the first to the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, people are immersed in the joyful, peaceful and civilized festival atmosphere.
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Eating New Year’s Eve dinner
After every household’s house has been decorated with a new look, New Year’s Eve is approaching. Therefore, the housewives are busy preparing for the most sumptuous and meaningful reunion dinner of the year. Reunion dinner, as the name suggests, is when the family gathers together to have a meal during the Chinese New Year, and even the deceased ancestors do not forget it. Therefore, after every family has prepared a reunion dinner, they must first "worship their husbands" (sacrifice their ancestors). When worshiping ancestors, the incense burner representing the ancestors should be removed from the shrine and placed on the altar table, then burn incense, pray, and invite the ancestors to have a meal. Then the elders and the younger ones kneel down and worship in sequence, which fully demonstrates the traditional virtues of the fashionable people who are prudent and pursue filial piety first. After the sacrifice, the meals used to worship the ancestors are reheated, a big table is set in the hall, and the whole family gathers around them. This is a beautiful moment for every family to reunite. No matter how far apart a family is or how much trouble they usually have, they should laugh and laugh at this time instead of saying sad things or making noises.
After dinner, the housewife was busy clearing the dining table, and a large-scale cleaning activity began. There is no need to be particular about the cleaning this time, it is purely for cleanliness and hygiene. Unlike the one at the end of the year, it had to be swept with pine branches and grass. Then they lighted the stove and started preparing the vegetarian food for worshiping the gods tomorrow. There are many types of vegetarian dishes, some are made from taro, some are made from sweet potatoes, some are made from dates, and some are made from peanuts, taro and sweet potatoes. All ingredients for vegetarian dishes should be prepared in the afternoon and allowed to dry. When frying vegetarian vegetables, when the fire is lit, put an iron pan and pour a large amount of peanut oil. When the oil boils, mix these ingredients into the slurry and put it into the pot. It will bubble in the oil pot. When ripe, the yellow color and fragrant aroma are particularly attractive. At this time, if there are guests at home, the hostess will offer you a plate of fresh fried vegetarian dishes, and then brew them with fragrant Gongfu tea, allowing you to taste the deliciousness of the famous Chaoshan snacks.
Sending New Year's money
Sending New Year's money is an important custom in Chaoshan Spring Festival. Elders should give money to their younger generations, and younger generations who can make money should also give money to their elders. The money should not be given away in a blank manner, but should be carefully packed in a profit bag or wrapped in a piece of red paper. This is commonly known as "pressing the belly and waist", which means that from beginning to end of the year, the pockets will be full and rich. What is particularly interesting is that before a child goes to bed, parents will put a large-denomination banknote in the child's belly pocket and take the banknote back after waking up.
New Year greetings, send big oranges
New Year greetings, also known as "Blessings to Righteousness". On the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after people get up and put on new clothes, the first thing they do is worship at home. It is often the younger generation who first bless the elders, and then the elders give their younger generations their wishes. After breakfast, everyone would like to send New Year greetings to their relatives and friends. A Chaoshan proverb says: "If you are interested in greeting the first and second day of the new year, you have no intention of greeting the third or fourth day of the new year." It means that the earlier the New Year greeting is, the more sincerity it will show. Therefore, some people go to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends immediately after getting up, and only eat after returning.
No matter how many gifts you bring for New Year greetings, big oranges (Teochew oranges) are indispensable. The homophony of big orange is "big luck". It doesn't matter if there are more or less characters, but it cannot be an odd number. When New Year greeters enter the door of relatives and friends, they should say different greetings to different people.
If you say "good luck in the new year" and "longevity" to the elderly, they will smile toothlessly; if you say "good luck in the work" and "progress in the new year" to those who have jobs, the listeners will find it very pleasant; For business people, nothing is more popular than "making big profits in the New Year" and "making a fortune and benefiting the market." If they are children who are studying, what they want most is to make progress in their studies and achieve outstanding results in the New Year. Send them this kind of message and they will be very kind to you. After sitting down, the host will serve the famous Chaoshan Gongfu tea to entertain the guests. Before leaving, the host will leave two large oranges from the visitor's gift, and then take out his own oranges to exchange, with the intention of giving each other good luck. Some people who are good at humor often only put two big oranges in their trouser pockets when they go out to pay New Year greetings. After paying New Year's greetings one by one, they still have two big oranges in their trouser pockets. Therefore, knowledgeable people among the people call the New Year greeting custom at the beginning of the year the "Orange Changing Movement."
Go back to your natal home
On the second and third day of the first lunar month, married daughters take their husbands and children back to their natal home to pay New Year greetings. When a daughter returns to her parents' home, she must bring a big bag of biscuits and candies, and her mother distributes them to the neighbors and folks, just like during the Chinese New Year. If there are multiple daughters in the family, and these daughters do not come back on the same day, then they have to come one at a time. The gift is quite thin, just four biscuits. However, the affection it reflects is very strong. The true meaning is "little etiquette but heavy affection". It expresses the girl's deep longing for her fellow villagers. When the girl returns home, if there is a nephew at home, the aunt has to dig into her pocket again. Although she has already given the new year's money on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the meaning this time is different. This custom is called "eating the sun and the day" by Chaoshan people. As the name suggests, it is just for lunch, and the daughter must rush back to her husband's house before dinner.
Find the poetry couplets yourself, it’s very easy!
The earliest Spring Festival: It is said that the "December Festival" existed in my country's primitive society. After the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, this custom was passed down. The book "Erya" says about the Spring Festival: "Xia means Sui, Shang means Sacrifice, and Zhou means Nian."
The earliest New Year’s Eve: The last night of the Chinese lunar year is called “New Year’s Eve”. "New Year's Eve" originated from the "eviction" in the pre-Qin period. According to records in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals": the ancients beat drums to drive away "ghosts of disease" on the day before the New Year. This is the origin of "New Year's Eve". The earliest mention of the name "New Year's Eve" was "Fengtu Ji" written by Zhou Chu in the Western Jin Dynasty.
The earliest Spring Festival couplets: According to the "History of the Song Dynasty": the year before the Song Dynasty destroyed Shu, on New Year's Eve (964 AD), Meng Chui, the lord of Later Shu, wrote "New Year's greetings, Jiajie Changchun" ", this is the first Spring Festival couplet recognized by people.
The earliest New Year pictures: The predecessor of New Year pictures is called door paintings. The earliest form of New Year pictures is the door god, which depicts the gods tea and Yulei from myths and legends. Some also painted tigers or ancient warriors on the doors. By the Song Dynasty, It evolved into woodblock New Year pictures.
The earliest New Year’s card: The custom of giving New Year’s cards has appeared as early as the Song Dynasty. According to Zhang Shinan of the Southern Song Dynasty, his family has an ink inscription congratulating Zhengdan during the Yuanyou period of the Northern Song Dynasty. "Zhengdan" means the first day of the first lunar month, and "Congratulations to Zhengdan" means "Congratulations on the New Year" printed on the current New Year cards.
The earliest firecrackers: The custom of firecrackers during the Spring Festival began in the Han Dynasty. There was no gunpowder paper at that time. The so-called firecrackers were the crackling sounds made by burning bamboo.
The earliest New Year's money: According to the ancient book "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy", New Year's money first appeared in the Tianbao period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The concubines played money-throwing games together during the Spring Festival, and the palace treasury scattered some money for them. they. This style was very popular in the palace at that time.
What is the year? Nian is the image of heavy and drooping ears of grain, which is a symbol of harvest. The so-called "when the grain is ripe, it means Nian".
What is the year? Nian is a monster that stays in the deep sea all year round and only climbs ashore on New Year's Eve. As soon as it came ashore, there was flooding wherever it went. Later, people put up red paper on their doorsteps, burned firewood in the yard, built a strong fire, and chopped vegetables and meat with kitchen knives, making a thunderous sound. It frightened "Nian" and fled back to the sea. So on New Year's Eve, we put up couplets, hang lanterns, wear new clothes, chop stuffing to make dumplings, and make a fire and burn firewood at night - this is the New Year.
So how did ancient people celebrate the New Year? Let's listen to this "New Year's Day Song" first -
Twenty-three sacrifices to Zao Tian, ??
Twenty-four couplets,
Two Make tofu on the fifteenth day,
Cut the meat on the twenty-sixth day,
…………
Kowtow on the first and second day of the lunar month,
Playing ball on the third and fourth days of the lunar month,
Jumping monkeys on the fifth and sixth day of the lunar month,
…………
“It’s been a busy half year in the new year. "The ancients began to be busy with "year affairs" from the twelfth lunar month, and the year was not over until after Yuanxiao. So let's trace the "steps" of the ancients and let's worship the stove first -
The Stove Lord is the most prominent among the gods worshiped during the New Year. The custom of worshiping the stove has been around for a long time. It is the ancestors' respect for the fire. , Zao's gratitude and expression of reverence. In legends, Huangdi, Yandi and Zhu Rong are all kitchen gods. The kitchen god who became popular in later generations was named Zhang and Ziguo, and he looked like a beautiful woman. He had a wife named "Qingji", six daughters named "Chacha", and several generals.
In addition to being in charge of the kitchen fire, he also had to investigate what was happening in the world and report to the Emperor of Heaven. People also "bribe" the Kitchen God with distiller's grains, malt sugar, sticky cakes, etc., and at the same time murmur blessings, asking him to speak well to God. This custom has been passed down to this day, but it was on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the sacrificial food was simplified to "Zao Sugar Stove Cake". But if you pay attention, you will definitely hear grandma and mother telling the Stove King: God said Good things to say, but don't say bad things...
The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu.
Thousands of households are always looking for new peaches. Old talisman.
——Wang Anshi
Firecrackers were originally a tool of witchcraft, used to drive away demons and ghosts. The original firecrackers were not firecrackers like today, but real bamboo, that is, burning bamboo to make a crackling sound to scare ghosts and monsters. Tusu is Tusu wine, which means to kill ghosts and revive human souls. It is said that drinking this wine on the morning of Yuan Day can prevent you from getting sick for a year. From now on, the wine drank during the Spring Festival will be collectively referred to as "Tusu wine".
Taofu, also known as "Peach Edition", is the predecessor of Spring Festival couplets. The ancients believed that peach wood is the essence of the five woods and can control hundreds of ghosts. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, there has been a custom of using peach as a tool to ward off evil spirits. It is said that the transformation of peach symbols into spring couplets was due to Meng Chang, the leader of Shu in the Five Dynasties. Paper Spring Festival couplets only became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Today's Spring Festival couplets are meant to exaggerate the atmosphere of the New Year and wish good luck. They have lost the driving role of the old Spring Festival couplets and are rich in content and diverse in form.
After writing the couplet, it’s time to prepare the food for the New Year. There are many foods during the New Year, such as rice cakes, New Year’s Eve dinner, New Year’s dumplings, etc. There are also foods with a strong witchcraft flavor, such as peach soup, cypress wine, pepper wine, and five-spice dishes. Peach soup is a soup cooked with peaches, cypress wine is a wine soaked in cypress leaves, and pepper wine is a wine soaked in pepper seeds. The ancients drank it on the first day of the first lunar month to ward off evil and pray for blessings. The five-spicy dish is a dish with five spicy foods such as onions and ginger, also known as the spring dish. It is commonly said that it can ward off evil, remove plague, and unblock the five internal organs. It also has the meaning of welcoming new things.
The hotel is sleepless under the cold light, and the guests' hearts are filled with sadness.
I miss my hometown tonight, and I will see another year of frost on my temples tomorrow.
New Year’s Eve is the night of reunion. It is difficult for Chinese people to understand the knot of reunion. Even if they are far away from home, they still have to rush home on New Year’s Eve to have New Year’s Eve dinner and stay up late. Home on New Year's Eve is an especially warm and sweet space. Historically, even prisoners in prison were released and returned home for reunions. The whole family sat together at the table and began the process of "reunion" and "watching the year together". First, there is a "reunion dinner". After the meal, the whole family sits together to watch the New Year.
At this time, the younger generation salutes their fathers and grandparents to bid farewell to the New Year, while the elderly have to share the New Year's money. New Year's money is also called "New Year's money", "New Year's money", and "New Year's money". It was originally used to ward off evil spirits and help children celebrate the New Year. Later generations often use it to express family affection. After the reunion dinner, there is also a "supper". The family eats snacks, laughs and plays, makes small talk, and waits for dawn. This is staying up late on the New Year's Eve. In addition, on New Year's Eve, there are customs such as listening in the mirror, shining silkworms in the field, selling idiots, and beating ash piles to predict the good and bad luck of the year, and to pray that children will be smart and everything will go well in the new year.
"During the New Year in the countryside, from the twelfth lunar month to the first half of the first lunar month, the sound of gongs and drums lasts for a full month and a half. The sound is monotonous, but it touches the hearts of every Chinese. At this moment,... I found that the winter jasmine flowers are blooming. ”
Yes, the jasmine flowers are blooming and the new year is here!
The ancients divided the first eight days of the new righteousness into six kinds of animals, people and grains. The first day of the first lunar month is Rooster Day, which is an auspicious day. The ancients used chickens to ward off evil spirits, by killing chickens on doors or sticking pictures of chickens on doors. Starting from New Year's Day, people begin to be busy paying New Year's greetings. New Year greetings have been popular since the Han Dynasty. On the first day of the first lunar month, officials went to the palace to pay homage, and the emperor and his ministers enjoyed themselves together. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, New Year greetings in official circles developed into formal etiquette, often involving "looking at the door and throwing a jab", regardless of whether they recognized the person or not. There are poems to prove it:
I don’t ask for a meeting, but for a visit, and famous papers come from the morning to fill my house.
I also throw in a few pieces of paper with others, the world is too simple but not too empty.
In folk belief, the first to fourth day of the lunar month are the days of New Year’s carnival, and normal life resumes on the fifth day of the lunar month. The fifth day of the lunar month is also called "Powu". The customary activity on this day is to "give away the poor". For businesses, businesses open on the fifth day of the lunar month. The activities of the first lunar month gradually calmed down until the fifteenth day...
Spring couplets originated from Taofu. "Peach charms" are rectangular peach boards hung on both sides of the door in the Zhou Dynasty. According to "Book of the Later Han Dynasty and Etiquette Records", the peach charm is six inches long and three inches wide, and the two gods "Shen Tu" and "Yulei" are written on the peach board. "On the first day of the first lunar month, a peach charm is made and placed in the household. It is called a fairy tree and is feared by all ghosts." Therefore, "Yanjing Chronicles of the Years" of the Qing Dynasty said: "The Spring Festival couplets are also peach charms."
During the Five Dynasties, in the court of Western Shu, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty and the Shu Family": Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, ordered Zhang Xun, a scholar, to inscribe a mahogany board, "because he was not a craftsman, he wrote the inscription in his own Mingbi: 'New Year's greetings, and the festival number Changchun'". This is our country's The first Spring Festival couplets. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Taofu". In Wang Anshi's poem, there is a sentence: "Thousands of households are always replacing old talismans with new peaches." In the Song Dynasty, the peach charms were changed from peach boards to paper, called "spring stickers".
In the Ming Dynasty, Taofu was renamed "Spring Couplets". Chen Yunzhan of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Hao Yun Lou Miscellanies": "The creation of Spring Festival couplets dates back to the Ming Dynasty. In the imperial capital of Jinling, before New Year's Eve, a decree was suddenly issued: a Spring Festival couplet must be added to the doorsteps of the houses of ministers and common people. A Spring Festival couplet appeared on the occasion of the Emperor's visit." Zhu Yuanzhang Not only did he go out of the city in disguise to watch the laughter, he also wrote Spring Festival couplets himself. He passed by a house and saw that there were no Spring Festival couplets posted on the door, so he went to inquire and found out that this was a house that castrated pigs and had not hired anyone to write them for them. Zhu Yuanzhang specially wrote a Spring Festival couplet for the castrate, "Cleaving the road of life and death with both hands, and cutting off the roots of right and wrong with one knife." The association is appropriate and humorous. After Ming Taizu advocated it, Spring Festival couplets became a custom and have been passed down to this day.