In Nankang, whenever the Spring Festival approaches, people who go out, no matter how far away (some of them are vagrants working and studying abroad), try their best to get home and reunite with their families for the Spring Festival.
After beginning of winter, every household began to sausage (half fat and half lean pork, cut into pieces, add salt, pepper, fennel and so on. Add appropriate amount of white wine, mix well and leave overnight. Take the pig's large intestine, marinate it with salt, clean it, put the meat in, press it tightly, stab it with a needle and let the air out. After the sausage is wrapped, it is hung on a bamboo pole and dried in the sun. This is the tradition of Gannan sausage. In addition, salted duck is also made.
Steaming glutinous rice wine (commonly known as "water wine" by Gannan people), the process of brewing glutinous rice wine is roughly as follows: first, steam glutinous rice with rice, then spread it cold, then spread a certain amount of wine cake, put it in a small jar, then cover the jar with straw and quilt and keep warm. After a few days, the glutinous rice in the jar fermented into dregs, which contained a lot of liquid. At this time, put the "wine", a small basket woven with bamboo sticks, into the jar, put the liquid into the "wine", and then scoop the liquid into the jar with a bowl. This liquid is called "nine niang", which has a high degree and needs to be soaked with a certain amount of boiling water. This produced a mellow Hakka glutinous rice wine)
From mid-December of the lunar calendar, fried dumplings, fried peanuts, melon seeds and glutinous rice balls (unique foods of Hakka people in southern Jiangxi) have a long history and were listed as tributes as early as the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. Using glutinous rice as raw material. It is an important folk activity of Hakka people in Gannan. Many young and strong men are wearing red cloth around their waists and holding yellow sticks made of wooden sticks, beating yellow rice preserves around the stone mortar in turn. Old people and women are busy in the outer circle, and children are watching. This one is finished, so everyone carries the mortar to the next one and goes door to door. Just beat the yellow rice bean jelly, dip it in soy sauce or sugar with your hands, and you can eat it. Visit relatives and friends, and present some golden yellow rice preserves, which means good luck and wealth. When guests come home, cut the glutinous rice into pieces and fry it.
/kloc-in late February, people buy new year's goods and go to stores to buy goods and food needed for the New Year. "Nankang County Records" says: "In late December, every day, there are crowds of people, selling local products and buying new year's goods." It can reflect the busy scene of Nankang people going to the market to buy new year's goods years ago.
Second, off-year
The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "off-year". This day is the Hakka New Year in Gannan, and it is to send the kitchen god. Among the Hakka people in southern Jiangxi, Kitchen God is also called the goddess of Kitchen God, because she can go back and forth between heaven and earth and manipulate people's peace and prosperity. To some extent, she is the goddess of Hakka. On this day of off-year, almost every Hakka in Gannan will offer three sacrifices, sugar and wine to worship the "Southern Fire Emperor" and pray that she can say a good word in front of the Emperor and let her bring us happiness. There is a saying in Nankang County Records: "Before liberation, light candles, burn incense at night, and send a whip to the Kitchen God, asking him to' perform good deeds in heaven and return to the palace for good luck'". It can reflect Nankang people's expectation for auspicious life.
Nankang places special emphasis on off-year from government departments to ordinary people. There is a cloud in Shangyou County: "The official seal, the students are scattered, and the distant people return; Pay back the account, give gifts, wipe things, steam cakes; Treat sacrifices and make contributions. Ancestor's legacy is hung in the hall, and a confession is set up. "Off-year that day, Nankang local county administrative departments at all levels have a day off, people who work in the distance have also rushed home. If someone owes an account, he will pay it off before next year.
Whose rice cakes and new year's goods haven't been bought yet, so they are busy buying them last year. Some families will hang the portraits of their ancestors in the hall, light incense on the altar and worship their ancestors. On this day, every household is busy cleaning, removing dust from the roof, draining ditches, scrubbing pots and pans, tables, chairs and other household appliances. This is what Hakkas commonly call "sweeping the house".
After the off-year holiday, I am getting busier and busier, buying New Year pictures, writing Spring Festival couplets, getting a haircut (our custom there is that haircuts and nails are not allowed from the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, and it is best to deal with them before the New Year), making tofu, making preserved rice, catching up on new clothes and so on. , showing a happy and busy atmosphere.
Third, New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve, commonly known as New Year's Eve. In Chongyi County, near Nankang, there is a custom of sweeping graves (going to ancestral graves, weeding, cleaning tombstones, arranging cemeteries, lighting incense, bowing three times, killing chickens with chicken blood, spraying firecrackers in front of graves three times, and finally lighting a whip to explode, praying for ancestors to bless his children and grandchildren for health and happiness in the coming year).
In the afternoon, light candles, burn incense, set off firecrackers and worship ancestors. Every household sticks Spring Festival couplets (commonly known as "Shang Hong"). At noon on New Year's Eve, every household began to put up couplets, and also put auspicious characters in red paper on doors, stoves and even barns, pigsty and chicken coops.
Set off firecrackers (you must light three firecrackers and set off a group of firecrackers before dinner. At night 12, firecrackers should ring three times and be hung to remind people of the arrival of the new year. Be sure to take a bath and put on new clothes on New Year's Eve (on New Year's Eve, Hakka people in southern Jiangxi will fry a pot of hot water with camphor, silk grass and other "like grass" to lead a totally clean life. It is said that a year's hardships can be washed away, and a year's evil spirits can be driven away. It will be safe and smooth after washing. ) burn incense and light candles, worship the gods and ancestors, and have a reunion dinner at night. A sumptuous dinner table is a reward for the past year. It is a good dish that I have never eaten before. At this moment, you can put down your appetite and eat.
At this time, there is bound to be a small glass of wine on the table, which is a sacrifice to the ancestors and cannot be drunk. Hakka people in Gannan will also buy an extra set of bowls and chopsticks at the dinner table. On the one hand, it is ready for ancestors to enjoy, on the other hand, it is praying for "more food" in the coming year, and the population will flourish. The atmosphere is pleasant. The whole house is brightly lit, which is called "shining years". The elders give their children lucky money (pray for the smooth growth of the younger generation, educate their ancestors on entrepreneurship and ethics, and the younger generation says that they should be filial to their elders). Some people "keep watch", beating gongs and drums and staying up all night.
Fourth, the first to fifteenth day of the first month.
The first day of the first month is the beginning of the new year. It's best to get up early and set off firecrackers to welcome the New Year before others get up. It is said that whoever sets off firecrackers first will have the best luck.
The whole family get together to eat fruit wine and have a good drink. I ate quickly on this day (because I ate too many rich delicacies on New Year's Eve, I had to eat "old rice" and vegetarian dishes on the first day of the New Year's Eve, which helped digestion, which meant an extra year), and I didn't sweep the floor (there is a custom among Hakka people in southern Jiangxi for the New Year, so I can't sweep the floor on the first day and the second day of the New Year's Eve, no matter how dirty it is. It is said that this means "hoarding money" and piled up at the door. Neighbors meet to congratulate each other! People who have their own opinions on weekdays are also smiling at the moment to show good luck.
From the beginning of the first day of junior high school, I began to pay New Year greetings to my elders. Neighbors come to my house to pay New Year's greetings, drink tea and invite sugar. I wish them good luck, good luck. They also give each other lucky money.
In the early morning of the next day, every household kills chickens and cooks eggs, and people all drink soup and then have a hearty breakfast. This is the beginning of a year-old hearty food, commonly known as "teething" (the twelfth lunar month also eats a rich table, which is a hearty food at the end of the year, commonly known as "teething").
From the second day of junior high school, people began to visit relatives and friends, and young couples took their children to buy wine and meat for the Yue family to celebrate the New Year. The newlyweds pay a New Year call to the Yue family for the first time, commonly known as "New Year", with rich gifts. When you meet relatives and children, you should give them "favorite money". On the second day of the second day of the second grade, the garbage went in, indicating that the wealth was not swept out.
On the third day, I cleaned up, swept away the hidden garbage, sent it to the wild, lit incense sticks and whipped it, commonly known as "sending it to the poor."
On the fourth day of the fourth year, dragon lanterns and lions were played, and some of them also played historical figures and fairy tales. The gongs and drums roared and firecrackers roared. They greeted each other door to door until the Lantern Festival, which was called "spring". "Nankang County Records" has a cloud: "From the first day of the first month to the Lantern Festival, it is customary to pay a New Year call. In the past, every village bought five or nine dragon lanterns and paraded in the market on sunny nights and foggy months. People greeted them with whips, and Youlong danced with candles on the belly of lanterns. The sound of gongs and drums, suona and whip is pleasant, and people have a good time. "
V. Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, commonly known as "Lantern Festival" and "Lantern Festival". On this day, dragon lanterns and lion lanterns gather together to hold a grand Lantern Festival. "Nankang County Records" says: "At night, the town is decorated with lanterns, firecrackers roar, drums and music announce the sky, people crowd all night, dancing dragon lanterns, playing lions and rocking flower boats? In rural areas, in addition to lanterns, there are customs of "pulling green" and "dancing green vegetables and dragons", that is, putting candles in celery hearts and dancing wildly in the wild to eliminate disasters, praying for the safety of people and animals, and bumper harvests. It reflects the festive and lively scene of Nankang people during the Lantern Festival.
On the Lantern Festival, every family has plenty of wine and meat, and Hakka people generally eat Yuanxiao, which symbolizes family harmony, reunion and happiness. In addition, there are the customs of burning lanterns (burning lanterns of Kongming, of course, if the weather is too dry, otherwise there is a danger of fire), watching lanterns and solving riddles on lanterns. That night, all the families get together to eat and drink. "After drinking Yuanxiao wine, all walks of life should do it quickly." Explain that the new year has passed, and everyone has to return to their posts to study and work.