In the first year of marriage, I went to the countryside of Handan and listened to my husband's explanation that I should kneel and kowtow to my elders in the next year. What if he doesn't want to do it? Handan, the capital of Zhao in the Warring States Period, is an ancient city and plays an important role in our history. As a city with a history of more than 3,000 years, there are many cultures passed down in it. This custom of bowing to the elders in the New Year is more or less reflected in the northern region, at least in some rural areas of the Yellow River Basin.

In the 1980s, I vaguely remember someone in the village saying goodbye to their elderly relatives during the Spring Festival, and children kowtowing to their elders' homes for lucky money. As long as you kneel down and kowtow to your elders, it is said that children are scrambling to kowtow to their elders for the New Year. However, we haven't heard of letting women kowtow to their elders to pay New Year's greetings in the local area. Usually, on New Year's Eve, the new daughter-in-law will go to the ancestral temple to worship, indicating that she recognizes her ancestors and returns to her ancestral home. On Lunar New Year's Day, let my husband bring a New Year greeting to the elders in the neighborhood, so that everyone can meet new people and get along well in the future, right? But now, except children kowtowing to grandparents, no adults kowtow to pay New Year's greetings. According to our local saying, kowtowing to the elders can prolong life; Later, I don't know when it started. People are afraid that adults will kowtow to their elders to pay New Year greetings, saying that they are afraid that they can't stand "worshipping" and shorten their life. Although these are superstitious statements, they are only so in the local area. They are all "exquisite" in local customs and have no basis. Just do as the Romans do.

What you said reminds me of a farce. Someone died nearby some time ago. The old couple only have one daughter, and they are not married in their twenties. It is normal to help the gods. The problem is that at the funeral, the daughter of the deceased can't bow down, and she is a college student. Opposing this feudal superstition is not kneeling. That's very legitimate. Everyone's gone. Is it interesting to do so? Yes, this girl is telling the truth. The problem is that this kind of folk custom, if not observed, is simply a "great rebellion" in the local area. Then, this girl will be considered inhuman by her neighbors. What will happen to her family in the future? Except for her mother's face, no one will pay attention to a person who insists on "not being superstitious" and does not bow down to his dead father. It can be said that she will be "famous" in the local area in the future. I really don't know whether people call her "stupid" or ignorant.

Of course, no one is qualified to make others do things they don't like. We can't say that some things in traditional folk customs are correct, but they must be observed locally, otherwise there is no such thing as "do as the Romans do". Besides, this custom of New Year greeting is not to kneel down casually, but to go through the motions and want nothing. After all, since you are married to your husband, you need to make some compromises in your life and do as the Romans do.