The king of people on the 23rd.
Sweep the house on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.
Thirty years old in the twelfth lunar month:
First of all, we should put up Spring Festival couplets. Followed by the door god. Have a reunion dinner, everyone should be together, and say more auspicious words during the dinner, which indicates that the future will be harmonious and beautiful. According to the custom of old Beijing, you can't sleep on New Year's Eve, so everyone should have a good night with him. This is called "shou sui". "Shounian" has two meanings. For older people, this means cherishing the time on New Year's Eve. Young people stay old in order to prolong the life span of their parents.
The custom of Spring Festival in China;
I. Tibetans
Every nation has its own unique culture and living habits. Tibetans are an ancient and enthusiastic people. In the long history, they also formed their own living habits and taboos.
1. When two friends meet after a long separation, greet each other or chat, you can't put your hand on each other's shoulder.
2. You can't step on or step on other people's clothes, and you can't put your own clothes on other people's clothes, let alone cross people.
3. Women should not hang up their clothes, especially the pants and underwear that people pass by.
Don't whistle or cry loudly in the house.
5. The family is not at home, the guests have just left, noon and sunset, and on the first day of the Tibetan New Year, you can't sweep the floor or take out the garbage.
6, outsiders can't mention the name of the deceased in front of the relatives of the deceased.
7. What should be done this year can't be done next year, such as knitting wool, sweaters and carpets.
8. At dusk, you can't just go to other people's homes, especially pregnant women who have given birth and women who have just given birth or seriously ill patients. Strangers can't go.
9. After noon, you can't take out any belongings at home.
10, a stranger who has never been to mountains and cliffs and canyons, can't talk loudly.
1 1, tableware, pots, plates, etc. Can not be crossed or trampled.
12. Two people at home go out at the same time and go in the opposite direction. They can't go out at the same time. They must go out before and after, and the time to go out should be separated.
13, women can't comb their hair and wash their hair at night and can't go out with their hair covered.
14. When using brooms and dustpans, you can't pass them directly by hand. You must put them on the ground first, and then another person will pick them up from the ground.
15. Whenever relatives and friends visit your home or visit you, they will send you some butter tea or highland barley wine as a gift. Guests can't leave everything empty when they leave. Be sure to leave some in it or change something for themselves.
16. A chipped or cracked bowl cannot be used for eating or pouring tea for guests.
Two. Yi ethnic group
Torch Festival of Yi people, that is, the Year of Yi people. In the eyes of Yi people, fire symbolizes light, justice and prosperity, and a powerful force that can destroy all evil. Torch Festival is a festival of joy, love and happiness for Yi people.
3. Customs and Excise Department
Lunar New Year is a traditional grand festival in China, which I believe is unknown to all people in China. However, celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is completely different from the traditional ones in terms of customs and atmosphere.
In recent years, few Hong Kong people put up Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures at home during the Lunar New Year. On the contrary, they posted "Prosperous Business" and "Safe Access" in some shops or homes. Even so, the original intention of posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures is the same as that of posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures. I hope everything will be smooth and safe in the coming year.
4. Macau Customs
The old customs in Macao are very unique. "Xie Zao" is one of the most traditional China customs preserved in Macau. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Macao people call it "Xie Zao". According to the tradition in China, Macau people also give the kitchen god sugar, saying that it is to paste the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, so as not to speak ill of him in front of the Jade Emperor. I saw a picture of Santa Claus on the stove of a Macao family in Flower Street, Macau. Strangely, the portrait of Santa Claus was affixed with a couplet that read "Heaven speaks well and returns home with clothes on".
Customs of Spring Festival in Five Provinces of Taiwan Province
The Spring Festival is a traditional folk festival with a long history of the Chinese nation. Taiwan Province Province, which is separated from Fujian Province by water, has the same history, culture, customs, living habits and kinship with Chinese mainland, especially in southern Fujian, so the Spring Festival customs of the people on the island are naturally similar to those of Chinese mainland.
6. Interesting Jiangsu Spring Festival customs
During the Spring Festival, in addition to posting Spring Festival couplets, hanging New Year pictures, observing the new year, dancing lions and paying New Year greetings, Jiangsu folks have some unique customs, just like the whole country. Now the number of collections is for readers to see.
Suzhou people cooked water chestnuts in New Year's Eve meals and dug them out when eating, which is called "digging gold ingots". When visiting relatives and friends, put two green olives in the tea, which is called "gold ingot tea". Congratulations on getting rich.
On the first morning of the New Year, people in Wujin hang portraits of their ancestors in nave, offering them tea fruits and rice cakes, and the whole family pays New Year greetings in turn. This is called "the shadow of worshipping God", and they are not allowed to sweep the floor from home, for fear of sweeping out "wealth" and "wishful thinking", so they can only sweep from the outside to the inside. Jiangning people have the custom of "knocking on the drums" during the Spring Festival. The flag is open, and the gongs and drums are everywhere to add fun. On the third day, "playing the night drum", on the seventh day, "playing seven drums", and on the thirteenth to fifteenth days, the atmosphere was warm.
Nantong people have the custom of planting sesame stalks, holly and cypress branches at home or in front of the church, which means that life is blooming every day and the seasons are evergreen.
Huaiyin people also have the custom of "roasting the head wind" for their children on the sixth day. At night, I took my children to the fields to light torches to drive away evil spirits for them. While roasting, I sang: "Roast my head, wake up, roast my feet, keep my feet straight, roast my stomach without diarrhea, roast all over my body, and the illness will never be seen again."
On the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, Wuxi fishermen took a boat to the western hills to worship the Wang Yu Temple, praying for the blessing of the water god and offering sacrifices to the Ao Jing Giant Buddha, which is called "Shang?" After the Wang Yu Temple was demolished, this custom gradually became indifferent.
7. Guilin Spring Festival custom
From New Year's Eve to New Year's Day
Spring Festival travel rush stepped on the bell at 0: 00 on February 24th, 65438, and walked into the urban and rural areas of Guilin. This day is Guilin people's "New Year's Eve", that is, "Chinese New Year". On New Year's Day, people kill dogs and ducks to celebrate the Spring Festival. The firecrackers on this day, with people's wish to send the kitchen god "God speaks well", crackled and spread to Gao Yu. People think that the Kitchen God is the head of the family, in charge of good and evil, good and bad, good and bad, so every year, the Kitchen God should be sent to heaven to explain to the Jade Emperor, so as to save the whole family from disaster. The ritual of offering sacrifices to stoves is mostly completed by the elders in the family. They put candy on the kitchen stove and offered sacrifices to the kitchen god, praying that the kitchen god would "speak well in heaven and bring good luck to the world". Sacrificing candy to the kitchen god aims to make candy "stick" to the kitchen god's mouth and make his sweet mouth speak well. After the night falls on New Year's Eve, firecrackers will be set off to welcome the Kitchen God. This is an ancient custom of "Chinese New Year" in Guilin. Nowadays, even setting off firecrackers is only a remnant ceremony of an ancient custom.
8. Daur nationality: annual height
The Daur nationality in the north has the custom of visiting the New Year. During the Spring Festival, people put on holiday clothes, visit each other and congratulate each other. Every family has steamed cakes, and as soon as New Year's greetings come in, the host treats them with steamed cakes. "Gao" is homophonic with "Gao" in Chinese, and treats each other like cakes, which means that the living standard in the new year will be further improved. During the festival, Daur people also held songs and dances and sports activities, which lasted for half a month.
9. Mongolians: There is endless wine and meat.
The Mongolian people in the north celebrate the Spring Festival is another scene. Before the festival, every household prepared rams, various dairy products and several jars of wine. On New Year's Eve, people put on beautiful Mongolian robes, and the whole family sat among them to welcome the New Year. Eat and drink at midnight. Usually, you should eat and drink more. The more wine and meat left, the better. This symbolizes that there is no shortage of wine and meat in the new year. On the morning of the first day of junior high school, men and women wore all kinds of costumes, rode on war horses, and rushed to "Haote" (villages and towns) in groups of three and five, stringing together yurts one by one. When stringing bags, you should kowtow to the elders first, and then the son-in-law of the host family will toast the guests who come to string bags, and people will sing and dance.
X. Zhuang nationality: welcoming heroes
Zhuang people living in the south of China call Spring Festival "New Year's Day". On this day, people should congratulate each other no matter who they meet when they go out, thinking that this year can be auspicious. Zhuang people also have a custom of providing for the aged, which Zhuang people call "Chi Li Festival". The "Food Festival" is on the 30th of this month. It is said that more than 65,438+000 years ago, a Zhuang peasant armed force returned home in triumph after fighting against foreign invasion. At this time, the Spring Festival has passed. In order to welcome them, the Zhuang people celebrated for them on the 30th of this month.
1 1. Buyi people: girls grab the first water.
Buyi people living in the southwest frontier of China hold vigils every New Year's Eve. At dawn, the girls scrambled to fetch water outside the house. Whoever carries water first is the most hardworking girl. The Jingpo people there like to hold shooting activities before the Spring Festival, and the girls are the organizers and referees of this activity. They hung the embroidered purse on the bamboo pole with thread and swayed from side to side at the top of the tree, asking the young man to make a move. The girls will give the wine as a prize to whoever hits the wallet first. A wallet usually contains a coin, some millet and some decorative beads as a symbol of happiness.
12. Hani: Swing.
A few days before the Spring Festival, the village where the Hani people live has been very lively, and women are busy with Baba. Baba is a cake made of glutinous rice. The boys are busy chopping bamboo up the mountain, ready to set up a swing. The swings there are more than ten meters high, and the Hani people, regardless of gender, age and age, love to play on swings. During the festival, everyone wears their favorite clothes to swing, showing a lively and harmonious holiday scene everywhere.
Thirteen. Dai people: throwing chaff bags
Young Dai men and women like the game of throwing chaff bags. During the Spring Festival, boys and girls throw chaff bags at each other to see who can catch them accurately. After playing for a certain period of time, the girls quietly grabbed the broadsword, wrapped cloth or tied horse worn by the young man and ran home. If a young man has feelings, follow him. When parents saw their daughter coming back with a headscarf and a good horse, they gave a banquet.
In addition, April 13 every year is the Dai calendar New Year, and it is also the most solemn festival of the Dai people-the Water Splashing Festival. They regard splashing water as a symbol of exorcism and decontamination, and also regard this day as the most beautiful and auspicious day.
14. Gaoshan people: "surround the furnace"
The Gaoshan people who live in Taiwan Province province of China have another taste during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a family sits around a round table and eats hot pot, which is called "around the stove". Women who usually don't drink should also take a symbolic sip of wine to show good luck. Vegetables eaten around the stove need not be cut with a knife. After washing, you should cook by roots to show that you wish your parents a long life. If someone at home goes out, you should also leave a seat empty and put this person's clothes on the empty seat to show that the whole family misses him.
15. Manchu: Hanging the national flag for the New Year.
Manchu is divided into four flags: red, yellow, blue and white. During the Spring Festival, people with red flags hang red flags, people with yellow flags hang yellow flags, people with blue flags hang blue flags, and people with white flags hang white flags. These flags are beautifully patterned and brightly colored, symbolizing the auspicious beginning of the year.
During the festival, boys set off firecrackers in groups, or take various homemade wooden sledges and swish on hills and ice. Girls and young daughters-in-law wear newly-made flowery clothes and play Galahad (kneecaps of pigs or cows) in groups of three or five. From the night of the first day to the fifth day, people also volunteered to organize yangko dancing to celebrate the New Year. A strong yangko team not only dances in this village, but also dances in other villages. Onlookers are often so happy that they forget fatigue and cold. There are even enthusiastic audiences-they follow the yangko team from village to village and don't come back until dawn.
Sixteen years old. Bai nationality: "Let it rise"
During the Chinese New Year, the Bai compatriots in Yunnan have a celebration called "Flying High". The so-called "soaring" is to use the whole big bamboo and put gunpowder in the cracks of the bamboo. After lighting, the whole bamboo can collapse into the sky and become a veritable "soaring". In some areas, Bai compatriots, like Miao and Zhuang, have the custom of "throwing hydrangeas" from Spring Festival to Lantern Festival. Anyone who can't catch the hydrangea should give each other a souvenir. Those who concede goals many times and can't exchange souvenirs show that they have accepted each other's love.
17. Dong nationality: Lusheng Society
During the Spring Festival, a mass activity called "Dong Year" (also called Lusheng Festival) prevailed among Dong compatriots in Guizhou and Hunan. This activity is similar to the "group worship" of the Han nationality, but it is more joyful and enthusiastic than the "group worship". This kind of activity is usually held by two villages. The two teams formally held a Song Lusheng and Dance Competition in the square. At this time, the audience of the two villages danced with the music and enjoyed themselves.
18. Yi people: Tiaohu
During the Spring Festival, the Maidichong Yi people in Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province have a special custom of "Jumping Tiger Festival". On the eighth day of the first month, adult men in the village gathered at the site of the earth temple behind the village to kill dogs and offer sacrifices to "rice" ("rice" means earth, "rice" means master and rice means god), and then "Bimo" in the village offered sacrifices to the earth god and invited the tiger god. Eight villagers danced as tigers. "Tiger" has towering ears, thick tail and tiger stripes all over the body. They drew a Chinese character "Wang" on their foreheads and hung a big bronze bell around their necks, which was very dignified. After Bimo said a farewell ceremony and invited the Tiger God, King Tiger led all the tigers into the village. Throughout the Tiger Jumping Festival, the whole village was immersed in a happy atmosphere of welcoming tigers, sending tigers, watching tigers jump and exorcising evil spirits. The local people are convinced that only through the annual traditional jumping tiger, offering sacrifices to the tiger god and praying for the blessings of their ancestors can all the villagers have a bumper harvest every year, a prosperous population and a happier life.
Nineteen. Sani: Eat dumplings.
On New Year's Eve, Sani is called "thinking period". On New Year's Eve, it is very solemn to worship ancestors and eat New Year's Eve. In the afternoon, green branches are planted in front of every house, and a straw hat is hung on the branches. This is a silent notice: please don't enter! No talking! Even people at home are not allowed to talk loudly.
There is an interesting phenomenon in Sani language: "Tangyuan" and "Chinese New Year" are the same word, called "Kuanzima". Because we must eat glutinous rice balls during the Spring Festival. For half a month from the first day of the first month, people were immersed in joy.
Spring Festival custom-setting off firecrackers
Celebrating the Spring Festival with red flowers and having a reunion dinner have formed many folk customs for thousands of years before and after the Spring Festival. Aside from these, all customs such as setting off firecrackers, dancing lions and playing dragon lanterns have been given new contents to varying degrees with the progress of science and culture.
Setting off firecrackers
"This is a bright gem, a shining petal. I can't believe it. In a small paper tube, there is such a beautiful soul-it is as warm as fire and as charming as flowers. It dedicated its life to the new year ... "
This is a poem about fireworks. On New Year's Eve, whether it's a bustling city or a secluded mountain village, whether it's a neon-lit downtown or deep in an alley, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom.
Setting off firecrackers to celebrate the Spring Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. The ancients burned bamboo and made a sound, which was called "firecrackers". "Popular Frontier Tour" said: "In ancient times, firecrackers were really made of bamboo, so Tang poetry was also called explosive pole. Later generations rolled paper and called it firecrackers. " The original intention of firecrackers is to scare and drive away evil spirits. "Chronicle of Jingchu's Age" records: "The first day of the first month is the day of three yuan, and chickens crow and set off firecrackers in front of the court to get rid of Shan Gui." "Nerve" says: "There are people in the western hills, more than a foot, more than a foot, not afraid of people; Sometimes it is cold and sometimes it is hot, which is called mandrill. In the fire of bamboo, there was a beep, but mandrill was frightened.
Later generations followed its shape and used gunpowder for it. "This is superstition, of course. Today we set off firecrackers, although it means to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, but it is not superstitious.
According to legend, in the early Tang Dynasty, some places suffered from natural disasters and plagues year after year. A man named Li Tian put nitrate in a small bamboo tube, let it explode, use smoke to disperse miasma in Shan Lan, and reduce the epidemic situation. This is the earliest prototype of setting off nitrate firecrackers. Later, due to the invention of gunpowder, people used paper tubes instead of bamboo, and used hemp sticks to string firecrackers, which was called "weaving guns", and it was also called "firecrackers" because the sound was as clear as a whip. There was a record of selling firecrackers on the streets of Kaifeng on New Year's Eve in the Song Dynasty (Tokyo Dream China). There are also workshops specializing in the production of firecrackers throughout the country. The original paper roll firecrackers were finished in one sound, and later developed into various fireworks.
Firecrackers, a specialty of China, are not available abroad. Since ancient times, due to people's continuous processing and improvement, there are more and more varieties and styles of firecrackers, and their colors have jumped out of a single fiery red. In addition to the traditional ancient philosophers firecrackers, single-ring and double-ring fireworks, there are many fireworks, which have been given elegant and poetic names. Such as: Jin Ju Spitting Flowers, Flying Snow in Spring.
There are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands and even as many as 100,000 giant firecrackers.
Spring Festival custom-lion dance
Whenever "firecrackers kill the old year", on the vast land of our country, traditional lion dance activities appear in towns and villages with warm spring breeze and cheerful gongs and drums. For the annual Spring Festival, it adds a rich atmosphere of joy.
Lion dance is a traditional folk sports activity in China, which originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
According to legend, in May of the 23rd year of Yuanjia in Song Wendi (AD 466), the secretariat of Jiaozhou in the Song Dynasty was ordered to attack Lin Yi, and Wang Fanyang of Lin Yi also took part in the war with elephant soldiers. Because this elephant soldier rode on the back of a tall elephant with a spear, it was difficult for enemies with only short weapons to get close to it, and the soldiers in Song Jun began to suffer a big loss. Later, Zong Yi, a pioneer officer and general Zhenwu, came up with an idea. He said that all animals are afraid of lions, and elephants may be no exception. As a result, many fake lions are made of noodles and hemp overnight, painted in colorful colors, and their mouths are particularly wide open. Each "lion" was covered by two soldiers and hidden in the grass. He also dug many deep and big traps around the scheduled battlefield. The enemy drove the elephant army to attack, and Zong Yi released the fake lion with a bow. One by one, the "lions" turned their mouths and headed for the elephants.
The elephant turned around in horror, and Zong Yi took the opportunity to order the soldiers to put all the crossbows together. The frightened elephants immediately ran around desperately, many of them fell into traps, and both people and elephants were captured alive. ..... From then on, lion dance was first popular in the army, and then spread to the people. Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Missions to the Western Regions", including "Masked Man Zi and Masked Lion, carved with wood as the head and tail; Gold-plated eyes with silver teeth, rising sweaters with ears ... ". It can be seen that there was a modern lion dance in the Tang Dynasty.
Why do people like to dance lions during the Spring Festival? It is said that in the early Ming Dynasty, a monster appeared in Foshan, Guangdong. It appears in the suburbs of Foshan every year, destroying crops everywhere and endangering people and animals. People in the countryside are miserable, so they tie bamboo grates into several lion models and paint them in various mottled colors. When the monster appeared, gongs and drums rang, lions danced together and rushed at the monster. The monster was frightened and turned around and ran away. Therefore, every year during the Spring Festival, gongs and drums are played, and people go door-to-door and dance lions to celebrate the New Year, to show the intention of eliminating holes and insects and predicting good luck.
Besides the Spring Festival, lion dancing is often used for entertainment on festive days. In the folk lion dance, two people play a big lion (some areas are called Tai Lion), one plays a little lion (some areas are called Shao Lion), and the other plays a warrior, holding a hydrangea as a guide, and first kicking to induce the lion to dance. With the speed of the drums, the lion suddenly looked up, turned to look down, turned to lie prone, shook his head and wagged his tail in various ways, which was full of fun. In imitation actions, there are actions such as licking hair, wiping feet, scratching head, washing ears, worshipping and rolling. In terms of skills, there are stairs, overpasses, three mountains, caves, downhill, bowling, spitting and picking green.
Spring Festival custom-playing dragon lanterns
During the Spring Festival, many towns in China have the habit of "playing with dragon lanterns".
"Playing Dragon Lantern", also called "Dragon Dance" and "Dragon Dance", is a popular folk dance in China.
Ancient China people created the image of dragons to express their good wishes. According to legend, the ancients called dragons, phoenixes, unicorns and turtles four spirits. Beautiful shape, bright colors, rigid and flexible lines. Shining unique artistic brilliance in the long river of history. As early as Shang and Yin Dynasties, bronze wares and bones were engraved with dragon patterns. The dragon pattern of bronze wares in the Zhou Dynasty has been gradually perfected. "Playing with dragon lanterns" has become quite common among the people in the Han Dynasty. In the performances of "Shehuo" and "Dance Team" in the Tang and Song Dynasties, "playing with dragon lanterns" has become a common form of performance. Wu's Dream in the Song Dynasty records that Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, "on the night of the Lantern Festival, the grass is tied into a dragon, covered with green curtains, and there are thousands of lights and candles, which are like double dragons."
In ancient times, people regarded "dragon" as the embodiment of good luck, representing the wish of good weather. Therefore, dragon dancing is used to pray for the dragon's blessing, so as to achieve good weather in the four seasons and abundant crops. People dance with bamboo, iron bars and colorful dragons made of satin or cloth for fun, showing a cheerful mood. Through the continuous processing and manufacturing of folk artists, "playing dragon lantern" has developed into a kind of folk dance art with perfect form, equivalent performance skills and romantic color, which is deeply loved by the masses.
The performances of "Playing Dragon Lantern" include "Playing Pearl with Single Dragon" and "Playing Pearl with Double Dragon"
Two kinds. The dragon's body consists of many sections, each of which is about five feet apart. The first section is called a gear. The "knots" that make up the dragon body are generally singular. (such as sections 9, 11 and 13). Faucets are also divided into different weights, generally about 30 kg. Those who light candles in the Dragon Ball are called "Dragon Lantern" and those who don't are called "Bulong".
In terms of gameplay, local styles are different and each has its own characteristics. Playing nine knots is mainly based on tricks, and the more common moves are: dragon swimming, dragon drilling crotch (piercing flowers), head and tail drilling, dragon wagging tail and snake shedding. In the dragon dance, no matter what tricks are performed, the performers have to start with broken steps. Playing the 11 th and 13 th dragons mainly shows the dragon's movements, that is, the dragon leaps after the red orb, rising and falling, as if flying in the clouds; Up and down, like breaking the waves into the sea, winding and moving, it looks good.
There is also a habit of playing dragon lanterns in rural areas, that is, not only playing in the village, but also performing in other villages and "competing" in the wide streets and squares of towns or cities. During the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, with the sound of gongs and drums and firecrackers, various folk "dragon dance" teams showed their magical powers, causing crowds to watch.
local
The customs of the Spring Festival
Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them have been passed down to this day.
1. Dust removal
"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". According to Lv Chunqiu, 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 bad luck and bad luck. 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. 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. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
paste up Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.
There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.
3. stick grilles, pour the word "fu"
In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors.
While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.
Paste new year pictures
Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.
The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.
Step 5 keep your age
Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".
On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shou Sui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze". To this day, people are used to celebrating the New Year's Eve.
In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.
Setting off firecrackers
There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.
7. Happy New Year
On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".
When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders and wish them health and longevity. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still very popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.