How time flies! I have spent more than ten new years in a blink of an eye ... it's not, it's going to be the New Year again.
On New Year's Eve, our whole family get together for New Year's Eve dinner, which is our common custom of keeping the New Year's Eve. According to historical records, this custom originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and gradually became popular. In the early Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shousui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze." Until today, Chinese people are used to setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve, sitting around the house watching TV, and the whole family is laughing and laughing again and again. ...
It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used to worship gods and ancestors on New Year's Eve, and later became food for the Spring Festival.
During the Spring Festival, we also have an indispensable delicacy-jiaozi. Eating jiaozi means "making friends when I was young", while "Zi" means "Zi Shi", which is homophonic with "Jiao" and means "Happy Reunion" and "Good luck". But why is it indispensable? One reason is that jiaozi is shaped like an ingot, and eating jiaozi in the Spring Festival means "getting rich". Another reason is that jiaozi has stuffing, which is convenient for people to put all kinds of auspicious things in it to pin their hopes for the new year. In some areas, when people eat jiaozi, they have to match some non-staple food to show their good luck. If you eat tofu, it symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; Eating persimmons symbolizes all the best; Eating three fresh vegetables symbolizes the prosperity of Sanyang. People in Taiwan Province Province eat fish balls, meatballs and seaweed, symbolizing reunion and wealth.
After cleaning the house on the 28 th of the twelfth lunar month, I have to post a blessing! The word "fu" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "good luck" and "good luck". Whether it is now or in the past, people's yearning for a happy life and their wishes for a better future are pinned. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply turn the word "blessing" upside down, indicating that "blessing has fallen" and "blessing has arrived" There is also a legend that the word "fu" is posted upside down among the people. Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, used the word "fu" as a code word to prepare for murder. In order to eliminate this disaster, kind Ma Huanghou asked all the families in the city to put "Fu" on their doors before dawn. Naturally, no one dares to go against Ma Huanghou's will, so the word "Fu" is posted on every door. If one of the families can't read, turn the word "fu" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent people to the streets to check and found that every family had posted the word "Fu", and another family had posted the word "Fu" upside down. When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the body guard to cut down the house. When Ma Huanghou saw that things were not good, he quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "The family knew that you were visiting today, and deliberately turned the word" Fu "upside down. Isn't this what' Fudao' means? " When the emperor heard the truth, he ordered his release, and a great disaster was finally eliminated. Since then, people have turned the word "Fu" upside down for good luck and in memory of Ma Huanghou.
During the Spring Festival, people in many areas like to stick various paper-cuts on their windows-window grilles. Window grilles can not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also bring people beautiful enjoyment, integrating decoration, appreciation and practicality.
Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on windows, people generally call it "window grilles". Window grilles are rich in content and wide in subject matter. Because the buyers of window grilles are mostly farmers, window grilles have quite a lot of content to express farmers' lives, such as farming, weaving, fishing, herding sheep, raising pigs and chickens. In addition, there are myths and legends, drama stories and other themes. In addition, the images of flowers and birds, insects and fish, and the zodiac are also very common.
There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". The first thing in the new year is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.
Firecrackers are a specialty of China with a long history of more than 2,000 years. Now, most of us think that setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere, is a kind of entertainment in festivals, and can bring happiness and good luck to people.
We also have a legend:
Once upon a time, there was a monster named Nian. It has horns on its head and is very powerful. Nian beast usually crawls out of the bottom of the sea and eats cows, sheep, chickens, pigs and people.
Once, the people knew that Nian beast was coming, and they were afraid that Nian beast would hurt them, so they took their animals into the mountains to escape. Then came an old man with a white beard, and an old woman advised him to hide quickly. Grandpa with white beard said normally, I live here. I'm not afraid of Nian beast. Only Nian beast is afraid of me.
The old woman and the people in the village are hiding in the mountains, and only the old man with white beard stays at the old woman's house. Nian beast broke into the village at night and was the first to arrive at the old woman's house. It saw the old woman sticking to the red paper door and shook her body. Nian beast screamed with anger and ran angrily into the yard. At this moment, there was a sound of "pengpeng pa" in the yard, and then it caught fire. Nian beast is shaking even more. It turns out that Nian beast is most afraid of red, noise and fire. As soon as Nian beast entered the yard, the door of the house opened. Grandpa with white beard walked out of the room in red and laughed at Nian beast. Nian beast saw it, turned and fled in fear. Grandpa White Beard chased Nian Beast all the way to the seaside. Nian beast hides in the sea. Never come out again.
The next day, the old woman and the people in the village came back to see that red paper was stuck at the door of every household, and bamboo was piled up in the yard and burned.
From then on, everyone knew a good way to get rid of Nian beast. As the Spring Festival approaches, red couplets, red window grilles, and red blessings will be posted at the door, and firecrackers and fireworks will be set off.
We are going to pay a New Year call on the first day of the new year. The original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" is to pay New Year greetings to the elderly. On the first morning, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to the elders. The meaning of "pressing the age" is homophonic, so after the elders are worshipped, they will distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. And the younger generation can spend the first year safely when they get the lucky money. When people go out to meet each other, they should also exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Happy New Year".
According to folklore, the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, and every household holds a banquet to celebrate the God of Wealth. There are many folk legends about the God of Wealth: Cai Jing in the Song Dynasty was very rich. According to folklore, he was born a god of wealth. He happened to be born on the fifth day of the first month, so people regarded him as a god of wealth. After Cai Jing was demoted, people converted to the God of Wealth. At that time, the national surname of the Song Dynasty was Zhao, and this mysterious word was an integral part of the word "Lan", so he gave a new name to show his worship.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhao Xuantan is the most respected. In addition to Zhao Xuantan being honored as "God of Wealth", there are also folk sayings that "God of Wealth is partial", "God of Wealth" and "Wu Caishen" are heavenly emperors. The belief in the God of Wealth is popular in Yuan Qiu, Dexing, Jiangxi. There are five temples of God of Wealth outside Andingmen in Beijing. The "literary god of wealth" is also called the "god of wealth". His paintings are often juxtaposed with "Fu", "Lu", "Shou" Samsung and XiShen. Together, they are Fu, Lu, Shou, Cai and Fu. The rich star gentleman has long white hair and a cornucopia in his hand, from which the word "lucky money becomes treasure" comes.
In fact, we have many customs during the Spring Festival, which are worth learning and inheriting. Don't let them become memories. Only by living a sweet life with your family can you understand each other, communicate with each other and get happiness from it. So on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, let's go home and have a look, and don't lose the opportunity to reunite with our families again!
Chapter II: Sacrificing stoves on the 23rd/24th of the twelfth lunar month [Spring Festival custom]
In China, the Spring Festival usually begins with offering sacrifices to stoves. 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, in the twelfth lunar month, officials hold sacrificial stoves, 24 officials hold them, and 20 senses hold them.
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 the 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 Tang Dynasty, there was a record of "rubbing distiller's grains on the stove to make Siming (the kitchen god) drunk". 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. 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 God 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 who dress up, sing and dance and 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. We also have it there, but it's flat, like thick pancakes. That's the so-called gum tooth. The original intention is to invite the kitchen god to eat and stick his teeth, so that he can't adjust his mouth to 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 know the third world, but I am prosperous. Therefore, I often recommend antelope to sacrifice the stove on the twelfth day. " 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 recorded: "There are buns in the stove." Sima Biao commented: "bun, kitchen god, dressed in red, looks like a beautiful woman." Bao puzi "Wei Zhi" also records: "On a dark and windy night, Kitchen God also accused the white man in heaven." These records are probably the source of Kitchen God. Also, or the kitchen god is a "suiren" who drills wood to make a fire; Or Shennong's "fire official"; Or "Su Liji" in "The Yellow Emperor Cooking Ren"; Or the kitchen god surnamed Zhang, the name list, the word Guo; Opinions vary. There is an interesting story circulating among the people.
It is said that in ancient times there was a family named Zhang, two brothers. The elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots and pans. He was invited by East Street and West Square, and they all praised his cooking. He has been famous for a long time, and Fiona Fang called him "King Zhang Zao" thousands of miles away. Strangely, Wang said that no matter who built a stove, he liked to interfere in other people's homes if there was any dispute. When he meets a noisy daughter-in-law, he will persuade him. When he meets a fierce mother-in-law, he will say that he seems to be an old elder. In the future, neighbors will look for him if they have anything, and everyone respects him. The king lived seventy years, and when he died, it happened to be late at night on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the death of Wang, Zhang Jiake fell into chaos. It turns out that the king is the head of the family and everything in the family is under his command. Now that the eldest brother has passed away, the younger brother can only write poems and draw pictures. Although he spent a lot of time, he never did housework. The daughters-in-law in several rooms clamored for separation, and the painter was stirred helplessly and frowned all day. One day, he finally came up with a good idea On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of Wang's death, late at night, the painter suddenly called to wake up the whole family and said that the eldest brother had appeared. He took his son, daughter-in-law and the whole family to the kitchen, only to see the flickering candlelight on the dark kitchen wall showing the appearance of the king and his dead wife, and the whole family was shocked. The painter said, "When I was sleeping, I dreamed that my eldest brother and sister-in-law became immortals, and the Jade Emperor named him the prince of the Nine Days East Chef. You are always lazy, lazy, and your sister-in-law is not harmonious, disrespectful and unfilial, which makes your family uneasy. My brother is very angry when he knows that you are going to break up. He is going to tell the Jade Emperor that he will come down on the evening of the 30th to punish you. " Hearing these words, the children's nephews and daughters-in-law were frightened. They immediately knelt down and kowtowed again and again, and hurriedly brought Wang Pingping's favorite candy to the stove and begged the kitchen king to forgive them. Since then, uncles, brothers and daughters-in-law who often make noise have never dared to make trouble again. The whole family lives in harmony, young and old. Neighbors knew about it, and the news spread. They all came to Zhang's house and wanted to know the truth. In fact, the kitchen god on the kitchen wall on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month was painted by the painter in advance. He came to town to scare his children's nephews and daughters-in-law, but this method really worked. So the neighbor came to the painter to inquire about the situation, so he had to pretend and distribute the painted kitchen god to the neighbors. As a result, it spread along the countryside, and the kitchen of every household was labeled as the kitchen god. Over time, the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and praying for the safety of the family was formed. After the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god spread, from the Zhou Dynasty, the palace also included it in the sacrificial ceremony, and formulated the rules of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god nationwide, which became a fixed ceremony.
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.
sweep the dust
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, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of being willing to engage in hygiene and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
Interestingly, there is a strange story about the origin of ancient dust sweeping. Legend has it that the ancients believed that everyone was attached to a three-corpse god. Like a shadow, he followed people's whereabouts and was inseparable. Three dead gods are a guy who likes flattery and gossip. He often tells stories in front of the Jade Emperor and describes the world as ugly. Over time, in the jade emperor's impression, this world is simply a dirty world full of evil. Once. The secret report of the three dead gods tells us that the world is cursing the Emperor of Heaven and wants to rebel against him. The jade emperor was furious and made an imperial edict to quickly find out what happened in the world. Anyone who hates gods and insults them writes their crimes under the eaves. Then let the spider cover it with a net and mark it. The Jade Emperor ordered Wang Lingguan to go down on New Year's Eve, and all the marked families were beheaded, not one left. Seeing that the plan was about to succeed, three resin gods took advantage of the gap and flew down to earth. Indiscriminately, they marked the eaves and corners of every household to make the tomb palace extinct. Just as the Three Corpses God was doing evil, the Chef God discovered his whereabouts and was frightened to disgrace, so he quickly sought out various Chefs to discuss countermeasures. So, I came up with a good idea. From the day when the kitchen is delivered on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the time when the kitchen is closed on New Year's Eve, every household should clean up the house. If any household is not clean, Kitchen God will refuse to enter the house. According to the instructions of the kitchen god before he ascended to heaven, everyone cleaned the dust, dusted the cobwebs, cleaned the doors and windows, and thoroughly cleaned their houses. When Wang Lingguan visited the lower bound on New Year's Eve, he found that every household had bright windows and bright lights, people were reunited and happy, and the world was beautiful. Wang Lingguan was surprised that he could not find a sign indicating bad behavior. He rushed back to heaven, told the Jade Emperor that there was peace and happiness on earth, and prayed for a happy New Year. The Jade Emperor was greatly shocked after hearing this. He made a decree to detain the Three Corpses God, ordered him to be slapped for 300 mouths, and put him in prison forever. Thanks to the help of Kitchen God, this human disaster was spared. In order to thank the Kitchen God for helping people to solve disasters and bless Zhang Xiang, the folk dust-sweeping always starts from the kitchen and is busy until the New Year's Eve.
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"
Eat stove candy
Kitchen sugar is a kind of maltose, which is very sticky. The candy that is drawn into a long strip is called "Guandong Sugar", and the candy that is 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.
Chapter III: Customs and habits related to the Spring Festival.
Before the Spring Festival, I just joined in the fun with adults. I know a lot of customs and habits related to this year's Spring Festival.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, every household should post Spring Festival couplets to show the meaning of welcoming the spring. Grandpa chooses a good pair of Spring Festival couplets every year. The first part of this year's election is: jubilant and prosperous, and the second part is: good luck and many blessings. The horizontal batch is: good luck. This is enough to indicate a happy life in the new year.
Eating jiaozi at midnight on New Year's Eve is also essential for every family. Old people say that eating jiaozi is good. Eating jiaozi contains very rich cultural significance. Jiaozi's homophonic cross-border is to make a fortune when crossing the border. Because jiaozi is shaped like a gold ingot, it symbolizes reunion and wealth.
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, commonly known as "Breaking Five", means that people have to go out for outdoor activities. This morning, my grandparents and I walked from Jiangjun Wharf to Xinhua Wharf along the river bank. This is the skating rink. Men, women and children are crowded. People wear colorful holiday clothes, as if they put some blooming flowers on the skating rink. Some people are skating, others are skating. Some people put down their ice carts from a height on the ice track, and everyone really had a good time! Adults, children and the elderly, singing and laughing. ...
Isn't this a true portrayal of peace and prosperity?
Chapter four: the customs of my hometown.
There are many traditional festivals in my hometown, such as Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Double Ninth Festival ... Each festival has its own traditional customs.
The pace of the Spring Festival is getting closer and closer to us, and in the Spring Festival, our custom can put a laundry list. On New Year's Eve, friends and relatives will go home, get together, eat delicious food and chat with each other. After dinner, our children can play firecrackers outside, while adults play cards and watch TV in the room. We didn't go to bed until very late. On the morning of New Year's Day, I got up early and drank a bowl of fragrant and sweet jujube soup to warm myself. After drinking jujube soup, deafening firecrackers echoed in my ears, and the new year began in this firecrackers. This scene reminds me of Wang Anshi's January day.
Besides firecrackers, the spring breeze also brings warmth to Tu Su. With the influence of this poem, is the atmosphere of the Spring Festival stronger? Accompanied by greetings, New Year greetings began, and my parents and I went to visit relatives. This is also my favorite part, because at this time, my wallet becomes bulging. At night, beautiful fireworks will bloom in the sky, which is really colorful! It's really fun to read it! This is the Spring Festival in my hometown. How do you spend the Spring Festival in your hometown?