The origin of the Spring Festival:
The Spring Festival is the first year of the lunar calendar. Another name of the Spring Festival is China New Year, which is the biggest, most lively and most important ancient traditional festival in China, and it is also a unique festival for China people. It is the most concentrated embodiment of Chinese civilization. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of the Spring Festival has continued to this day. Spring Festival generally refers to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month. But among the people, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial ceremony from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th of the first lunar month in La Worship, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax. How to celebrate this festival, in thousands of years of historical development, has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits, many of which are still handed down today. During the Spring Festival, a traditional festival, the Han nationality and most ethnic minorities in China will hold various celebrations. Most of these activities are mainly about offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and praying for the new. The forms of activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics. On May 20th, 2006, the folk custom of "Spring Festival" was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
There is a legend about the origin of the Spring Festival. In ancient China, there was a monster called Nian. Its tentacles were very long and fierce. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The villagers were in a hurry and panic. Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away." The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. From then on, every year on New Year's Eve, every family posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
Spring Festival custom:
Purchase new year's goods
China's annual custom culture has a long history, and all kinds of Chinese New Year customs originate from all parts of the country, and the north and the south have their own characteristics. Although customs vary from place to place, it is almost a "must-have" for Chinese New Year to prepare new year's goods and send new year's gifts all over the country. Buying new year's goods, including food, clothing, clothes, use, stickers (New Year's Eve) and gifts, are collectively called "New Year's Goods", and the process of buying new year's goods is called "Buying New Year's Goods". Celebrating the Spring Festival is an important activity for China people.
Sacrifice to the kitchen god
The folk sacrificial furnace originated from the ancient custom of worshipping fire. For example, Ming Shi said, "The kitchen. Make it, create food. " Kitchen God's duty is to take charge of the kitchen fire and manage the diet. Later, it was expanded to investigate human good and evil to reduce good and evil. Sacrificing to the Kitchen God has a history of thousands of years in China, and the belief in the Kitchen God is a reflection of China people's dream of "adequate food and clothing".
sweep the dust
In the folk, there is a custom of "sweeping the house on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" on New Year's Eve. The folk proverb says "Twenty-four, sweep the house". Folk call it "Dust Day". Dust removal is year-end cleaning. Every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of appliances, remove bedding curtains, clean the courtyard in Liu Lu, dust off cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly. According to the folk saying, because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust years ago means "getting rid of the old and not getting new". The purpose of sweeping dust is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck, so as to pray for a clear and auspicious year in the coming year.
Cut a year's raw meat
The folk proverb says, "On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, kill pigs and cut meat for the New Year", which means that meat is mainly prepared for the New Year on this day. The so-called killing pigs, of course, is to kill your own pigs; The so-called meat cutting means that poor families who don't raise pigs go to the market to buy meat for the New Year. The reason why "cutting the annual meat" is written into the annual festival ballad is because the farming society and economy are underdeveloped and people can only eat meat at the annual festival, so it is called "annual meat".
Post New Year's Red (swing spring)
On the 28th, 29th or 30th of each year, every household hangs "Year Red" (Year Red refers to the red festive elements such as Spring Festival couplets, door gods, banners, New Year pictures and blessings). Sticking New Year Red (waving spring) is a traditional Chinese New Year custom in China, which adds a festive atmosphere and places people's good expectations for the new year and new life.
Spring Festival couplets: According to literary works such as Jade Candle Collection and Yanjing Years, the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "peach symbols". Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" every day when they were in beginning of spring, and later they gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. Sticking Spring Festival couplets is also called sticking couplets, Spring Festival couplets, couplets and peach symbols. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form 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.
New Year pictures: Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy holiday 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. 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.
Window grilles and 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. At the same time, some people have to write "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.
Family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve, reunion dinner, etc. , especially the family dinner on New Year's Eve at the end of the year. The New Year's Eve dinner originated from the ancient ritual vessels at the end of the year, and it is a reunion dinner after offering sacrifices to the gods and ancestors. New Year's Eve is the highlight of the year, which is not only colorful, but also very interesting. Worship the gods and ancestors before the reunion dinner, and eat after the worship ceremony. Generally, there are chicken (indicating that there is a plan), fish (indicating that there is more than one year), oyster sauce (indicating that the market is good), Nostoc flagelliforme (indicating that it is rich), yuba (indicating that it is rich), lotus root (indicating that it is smart), lettuce (indicating that it is profitable) and sausage (indicating that it is long-term) for good luck. China people's New Year's Eve dinner is a family reunion dinner, which is the most abundant and important dinner in a year. ?
There are many famous dishes on the New Year's Eve, which are different in North and South, and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival, which has been handed down from ancient times. Due to geographical and climatic reasons, during the Spring Festival, the northern part of China is still in the cold winter when everything is hidden. In winter, the northern part of China is covered with snow, so it is almost impossible to grow crops. There are few resources and few ingredients to choose from. In the southern region, especially in some coastal areas, the eyeful of green is basically in the four seasons, and winter in the south has great advantages in vegetables and fruits, so there are more choices in diet choice; Geographically, it also benefits from the rich distribution of water resources, so all kinds of catches are abundant and diverse; Therefore, in some important festivals, the diet in the south will be more colorful.
stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve
Keeping the new year's eve is one of the activities of the old customs, and the custom of keeping the old age has a long history. The folk custom of observing the new year is mainly manifested in that every household lights a New Year's fire and gets together to keep the "New Year's fire" from going out and wait for the moment to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. On New Year's Eve, the lights were on all night. It is said that all houses light candles, especially under the bed, which is called "wasting light". It is said that after such lighting, the family's wealth will be more abundant in the coming year. In ancient times, the north and the south had different customs. In some places in ancient times, the custom of keeping the old age was mainly to stay up on New Year's Eve. For example, in the "Local Records" written at the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, it is said that everyone gives gifts to each other on New Year's Eve, which is called "giving the old"; Young and old get together and wish a complete song called "age division"; Sleeping all the year round, waiting for dawn, is called "guarding the age". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the fire and chat, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and expecting good luck in the new year.
lucky money
Lucky money is one of the ancient customs. After dinner in 2008, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, and the younger generation can spend the first year safely when they get lucky money. Lucky money has the meaning of exorcising evil spirits and keeping peace in folk culture. The original intention of lucky money is to suppress evil and drive away evil. Because people think that children are easy to be invisible, they use lucky money to suppress evil spirits.
There are many kinds of lucky money in history, which are usually distributed to the younger generation by the elders during the countdown to the New Year, indicating that the lucky money contains the care and sincere wishes of the elders to the younger generation; The other is given to the elderly by the younger generation. The "year old" of this lucky money refers to the age, which is intended to look forward to the longevity of the elderly. The earliest lucky money written in the Han dynasty, also known as winning money, is not circulated in the market, but cast as an ornamental in the form of coins, which has the function of avoiding evil spirits.
Wandering spirit
Vagrancy is one of the traditional New Year customs. Visiting the gods, also known as the holy procession, the tour master, the camp master, the tour bodhisattva, the contest of visiting the gods, the annual regulations, welcoming the gods, the spring outing, walking incense, visiting the hometown of bodhisattva, carrying idols, and taking idol tours. , refers to people in the New Year or other festive festivals, or the Christmas of the gods, to the temple to invite the distracted gods to the sedan chair, and then carried out of the temple for sightseeing. The main purpose is to repay God, eliminate disasters and pray. Along the way, there will be a variety of artistic performances such as gongs and drums, suona, dolls, lion dances, dragon dances, colorful flags, lanterns, octaves, acrobatics and band performances. It is a traditional folk activity integrating sacrifice, prayer, celebration and banquet.
Visiting gods in Chaoshan area, also known as "Touring God Race" and "Hosting", is a traditional folk activity in Chaoshan area. Every Spring Festival, in chronological order, towns and villages take turns to hold folk soul wandering activities, and the scene is very lively. In western Guangdong, it is also called "Master You", "Bodhisattva You" or "Miss the World". The so-called chronology is "tracing back to the source and giving examples every year". In Beiliu area, it is also known as the "annual example". In the Pearl River Delta region, it is also known as the "hometown of bodhisattvas". People marched in the village with statues and received blessings. In Fuzhou, it is also called "Meeting God". The third day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the time to wander around and become one of the important activities of "running the year" in rural areas. Wandering gods often take the village as the unit, and sometimes several villages unite to March around the village in groups with gongs, drums and firecrackers as the unit. People lined up in the street to watch and gather, and the scene was warm.
Worship the elderly
Paying New Year's greetings is one of the traditional activities. Welcome the new year on the morning of the first day of the year and worship the "Year God". "Sui", also known as "country" and "Tai Sui", is an ancient star name. Tai sui is also a god of folk beliefs. At the age of 60, with the chronology of cadres and branches of 60 Jiazi as the running cycle, there are 60 people. There are old gods on duty every year. In those days, the traditional duty was called "traditional duty", which was the master of the year and was in charge of good and bad luck in the world. For example, in the Three Commandments, it is said that "the man who is too old, the one-year-old Lord, and the head of the gods". Paying New Year greetings is the oldest traditional Chinese New Year custom, which is still popular in Guangdong, especially Wuchuan. On the first day of the new year, welcome the new year, worship God and be blessed.
temple fair
Visiting temple fairs is one of the folk activities during the Spring Festival. Guangfu Temple Fair and Beijing ditan temple fair are also called the two major temple fairs in China. Covers the puppet show, China stunt, Wulin Congress, Lantern Festival and other theme activities. It contains rich contents such as blessing culture, folk culture, food culture, business and leisure culture.
Pay new year's call
Paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival is one of the traditional customs of New Year's festivals, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new and express their best wishes to each other. On the third day of the second day of junior high school, I began to visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, congratulate each other, bless each other, and say something like congratulations on getting rich and happy New Year. The significance of New Year's greetings lies in visiting relatives and friends, congratulating each other on the New Year, expressing feelings for relatives and friends and good wishes for the new year's life. With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms.
Perry is.
Exclusion is one of the long-standing customs, and "profit" also includes writing "profit market" or "profit thing". Right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. The word "benefiting the market" has existed since ancient times, and it was recorded as early as the Book of Changes, which means to benefit more with less. In the Yuan Dynasty, the textual research on proverbs also mentioned that "it is a good omen to seek benefits from the master", which shows that seeking benefits also means auspiciousness. According to Yi Za Zhu, "Doing business for profit, doing things for profit", businessmen call it profit, which means doing everything is beneficial.
Setting off firecrackers
There is a folk saying in China that "there are firecrackers when you open the door". That is to say, 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. Fireworks are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". Its origin is very early. Regarding the evolution of firecrackers, Excellent Popular Arrangement records: "Ancient firecrackers. They are all popular with real bamboo, so Tang poetry is also called explosive pole. Later people roll paper for it. It's called firecrackers. ?
The original purpose of firecrackers is to welcome gods and exorcise evil spirits. Later, with its strong festive color, it developed into a symbol to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. 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.
How to celebrate the New Year in different dynasties;
According to relevant records, the Spring Festival originated in Yu Shun about 4000 years ago. According to legend, Shun ascended the throne to worship heaven and earth, which is called the first year, that is, the Spring Festival now. Since then, the Spring Festival has been handed down. Although the meaning of the Spring Festival is roughly the same, they all pray for blessings at the beginning of the year, worship ancestors, worship gods and buddhas, welcome the Spring Festival and pray for a bumper harvest. Except for the old cloth and new board, the Spring Festival of each dynasty is still slightly different.
During the Qin Dynasty, after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, the Spring Festival was held regularly at the end of autumn and the first day of October every month, which was called New Year's Day. Its main significance and activity is to celebrate the harvest that year.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set New Year's Day on the first day of the first month of October (that is, the first day of the Lunar New Year, which has continued to this day), which was called the first year. Its main significance and activity is to offer sacrifices to ancestors.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no difference between the Spring Festival and the Western Han Dynasty. According to Cui Ti's "Four-person Moon Order", "The first day of the first month is the right day. Bow to your wife and worship your ancestors. "
Jin dynasty? On the basis of the original New Year's Day and the beginning of the year, the concept of observing the year appeared. According to local customs, in the Jin Dynasty, people stayed up all the year round waiting for dawn. On New Year's Eve, all parties gave gifts to each other, which was called "Feeding the Year". Wine and food are invited, and the name is "Don't be old"; Young and old get together and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is called "guarding the age". This custom was impacted by the Tang and Song Dynasties and has continued to this day.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Spring Festival basically formed a festival. In addition to visiting the door to pay New Year's greetings, there have also been "New Year's greetings", just like the current New Year cards, except that most of them now use electronic cards. The Spring Festival has a strong festive atmosphere.
In the Song Dynasty, we ate jiaozi during the Spring Festival. Now the custom of eating jiaozi in the north basically comes from this, and there were firecrackers in the Song Dynasty. Today, the custom of setting off firecrackers in the Spring Festival originated in the Song Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Spring Festival in the Ming Dynasty was no different from the Spring Festival now. The Spring Festival in the Ming Dynasty was very lively, and some of the above customs came out, as well as the Spring Festival customs such as welcoming the kitchen god, sticking to the door god and enjoying the Lantern Festival, which are still in use today.
In the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival at this time was officially called the Spring Festival of the Qing Dynasty. According to records, the Qing emperor had the custom of writing down blessings and giving them to ministers.
During the Republic of China, the way to pay New Year greetings during the Spring Festival was to issue red business cards, that is, business cards must be red to represent happiness. In addition, putting business cards in other people's homes means paying New Year's greetings and celebrating holidays.
New China, which is the Spring Festival of today's era, adopted the Gregorian calendar at the first plenary session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference on September 27th, 1949, and designated Gregorian calendar 1 month 1 day as New Year's Day, commonly known as Gregorian calendar year, and the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival, which is now celebrated.
Moral symbol:
The Spring Festival symbolizes the farewell of the old and the welcome of the new. Moral: family reunion, peace, prosperity and so on. The Spring Festival refers to the traditional Lunar New Year in the cultural circle of Chinese characters, commonly known as the "Chinese New Year Festival". The traditional names are New Year, New Year and New Year, but they are also verbally called New Year, Celebrating New Year and New Year. This is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation. During the Spring Festival, every household should worship ancestors, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, welcome the new year and pray for a bumper harvest as the main contents, with rich forms and strong national characteristics. Try to reunite with your family as much as possible, and express your ardent expectations for the coming year and your best wishes for life in the new year.
Related allusions:
Legend 1: "nian" is the first text of barnyard grass. As early as in ancient calligraphy books, folks put "Nian" in the grain department, which means barnyard grass is rich.
Legend 2: It is a modern thing for people to call the New Year Spring Festival. For thousands of years, the calendar in China has undergone many changes, but the lunar calendar has been adopted until the Revolution of 1911, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted (19 1 1). In order to distinguish the solar calendar from the lunar calendar, and because the lunar new year begins in spring, it is called the Spring Festival.
Legend 3: The ancients arranged New Year's Eve on a cold day, just between the autumn harvest and winter storage and spring ploughing in Xia Geng, and during the slack season, they saved energy for the strenuous physical labor in the coming year.
Legend 4: Legend has it that Nian is a fierce monster. As the saying goes, Nian is afraid of noise and uses explosion to drive it away. "The so-called Chinese New Year is to get rid of this monster and pray for peace and good luck.
Legend 5: As early as the Shennong era, there was a so-called "offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods". Year is a tangible ghost, and Chinese New Year is to drive away ghosts and keep peace. This is the embryonic form of Spring Festival culture, a kind of New Year culture and the original form of ghost culture. According to the first issue of Journal of Folk Museum 1996, the Spring Festival is both a festival for people and a festival for ghosts.