My life, after several dynasties, has passed more than eighty years! The times are progressing, and the way of celebrating the New Year is very different and progressive.
I lived a small family life from the age of four or five to eleven (that was the pre-Qin period). At that time, my father was the principal of Yantai Naval School in Shandong Province. During the annual leave, several of his cousins went home to live. Father bought them some musical instruments: gongs, drums, erhu, flutes, etc. for them to play, and also bought some firecrackers and fireworks. I can't play and I'm afraid to shoot. I'm just picking up a few drops of gold for fun. It's a small paper twist with a little gunpowder in it. When you hold it in your hand, you release a little scattered Venus. It's not loud and beautiful.
At that time, slaughter was prohibited from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month. So before the Spring Festival, my mother bought some elbows, pig's trotters, chickens and ducks, cooked them, marinated them with soy sauce, red distiller's grains and many seasonings, stuffed them in a big jar, and ground a lot of glutinous rice gouache to make red and white rice cakes. These delicious foods, we have been eating until the Lantern Festival!
On New Year's Eve, we lit candles to burn incense, and set up very rich food and wine for our ancestors. We kowtowed in turn, and the two offerings were removed, which was our New Year's Eve.
On the first day, we put on new clothes early in the morning, kowtowed to our parents and elders to pay New Year greetings, and got lucky money wrapped in red paper, which contained sparkling Mexican "standing people" silver dollars!
I can neither play nor dare to shoot. On this day, I am most concerned about the arrival of "flower shows" in several nearby villages. These "flower parties" are organized by villagers, some are boat people, some are dressed as "Aunt Wang", and the women are all young people in the village. They are very beautiful! The gongs and drums led the way, followed by many children, making a lot of noise. When I arrive at my door, I will naturally be surrounded by a large circle of people, so I will stop singing, and the lyrics are very funny, and there will be constant laughter around me. At this time, we quickly took out cigarettes, alcohol and snacks to comfort them. This flower party has gone, and that flower party has come again. The flower festival in Jinguozhai will always rank first.
19 1 1 year, we returned to Fuzhou, Fujian (it was already the Republic of China) to live with our grandparents and uncles. It is very lively to celebrate the New Year in a big family. Everyone has been busy since the day of offering sacrifices to the stove. First, the "gold ingot" is piled into the shape of gold, silver, paper and foil, and then strung with a rope, and burned when it is ready to be offered to the gods. Then I was busy cleaning the house, sweeping away cobwebs and dust in the corner with a long duster, and polishing all the bronzes, such as wax tables, incense burners, copper locks on cabinets and boxes. There is a new big red Spring Festival couplets on the gate. Grandpa also pasted auspicious words such as "Write on New Year's Day, Happy New Year" on the desk with red paper. Of course, these are all adult things. We children are only going to wear new clothes, set off fireworks, pay New Year greetings and get lucky money. Because there are many brothers and sisters in the big family, my grandfather's red paper bag only has a dime of new silver coins, but because of the large number of elders and the lucky money given by each grandmother's family, we almost get several pieces!
After the New Year, the Lantern Festival is another climax. Our hometown is in Nanhou Street, Fuzhou, which has always been a lamp market. Before the Lantern Festival, it was already "the flower market was full of lights". The lights were bright and the moonlight was bright, and people in the street flowed all night. The customs of Fuzhou and the lanterns played by children during the Lantern Festival are all given by my grandmother. In Fuzhou dialect, "Deng" and "Ding" are homophones. "Tianding" is an auspicious word, so my grandmother gave us four brothers and sisters five lamps! My younger brothers are much younger than me and don't know how to play. At this time, I took advantage of them. I hung the lantern of "Three English Wars against Lu Bu" on the wall, holding a goldfish lamp with moving eyes in one hand and a rabbit lamp that can walk on the ground in the other, and I felt very proud. But the most fun thing is to follow my brothers and sisters to the gate to see the lights. Many relatives and friends came to my street to watch the lights, and we were all happy to set up torches made of bamboo sticks and send them away.
19 13 years, when we arrived in Beijing, we lived a small family life again, and we didn't burn gold ingots to our ancestors during the New Year. I only bow to my parents and elders during the New Year, so I'm embarrassed to get lucky money. There are no older children at home, and no one beats gongs and drums. The younger brothers can only set off some small firecrackers, which makes the Chinese New Year seem a lot colder.
The Chinese New Year is not lively in the family, but the collective holiday celebrations are expanding year by year. Government schools have New Year's group worship, lanterns and colorful decorations at the gate, and various entertainment programs. Now Chinese New Year celebrations are more collective-centered, really celebrating the whole world! Take the "Ditan Culture Spring Festival Temple Fair" in recent two years as an example. There was everything at the meeting, and the participants were all looking at all directions, listening to all directions and eating happily. Friends who visited the Spring Festival temple fair last year were all very excited when they came back. Although I can't attend because of my mobility difficulties, I have imagined that kind of jubilation and excitement from the news in the newspaper, and I am mentally involved.