Chinese traditional festival Spring Festival is just around the corner, in this giant group first wish you a happy New Year, all the best! The Spring Festival is the most traditional and solemn festival in China, but also the most lively festival, so what are the folk customs of the Chinese Spring Festival? Let's take a look!
1, the New Year dust
People say "the twelfth lunar month 24, dust sweep the house." Preparations for the New Year begin in earnest at the end of the year. Dusting is the year-end cleaning, the north is called "sweep house", the south is called "sweep house". Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, cleaning all kinds of equipment, unwashing bedding curtains, sweeping six Lv courtyard, dust and dust spider, dredging open channels. Everywhere is filled with a happy atmosphere of health, clean to welcome the New Year.
According to the "Lu Spring and Autumn Annals" records, as early as The Times of Yao and Shun, the Chinese Spring Festival already had the custom of sweeping dust. Because "dust" and "Chen" homophonic, so the New Year dust is given a new meaning, "in addition to Chen cloth new" meaning, hope all poor luck, bad luck all swept out, to pray for the next year Qingji; This custom sustains people's prayers and wishes to ward off evil and disaster, bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, and welcome good fortune.
2, paste couplets, Fu character, door god
During the Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every family will pick beautiful red spring couplets and paste them on the door to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the New Year, increasing the festive atmosphere. Another source of spring couplets is spring paste, the ancients on the start of spring day paste "Yicun" two words, and gradually developed into spring couplets, expressing a good wish of the Chinese working people to avoid evil and disaster, welcome auspicious blessing. It is said that this custom started in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty.
Spring Festival couplets depict beautiful images and express good wishes in neat, concise and delicate words. They are a unique form of Chinese literature and an important custom for us to celebrate the New Year. When people paste Nian Hong (Spring Festival couplets, Fu characters, etc.) on their doorsteps, it means that the Spring Festival has officially started.
3. Offering sacrifices to gods, stoves and ancestors
It is also a Chinese custom to offer sacrifices to gods during the Spring Festival. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has a tradition of being careful in the end. During festivals, we will never forget to worship our ancestors and express our gratitude to them. On New Year's Eve, people will put on dishes, pour wine and hold a grand sacrificial ceremony to express their memory for their ancestors and pray for the protection of their ancestors. This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation. Ancestor worship not only covers all the ancient traditional festivals in China, but also the eternal theme of Chinese folk festivals. The customs of offering sacrifices to gods are similar across the country, but the purpose is basically the same. They are all to pray for good weather, good harvests and good fortune in the coming year.
On the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, it is necessary to brush the stove clean after the evening, take down the old stove and burn it. On the morning of the New Year's Eve, the new image is pasted, and one by one, it is necessary to put wine, meat, candy, sugar cane, rice fruit, etc., burn incense, light candles, and put paper cannons.
Ancestor worship is generally done after offering sacrifices to the gods, and customs vary from place to place. In the north, food and tributes are offered to ancestral temples before eating at noon every day. Ancestral temples are not closed until the fifteenth day of the first month.
4, eat dumplings, eat dumplings, eat rice cake
Dumplings are now an indispensable festival food in the Spring Festival, the reason: first, dumplings shape like ingots. People eat dumplings in the Spring Festival "recruiting money" voice; Second, dumplings have stuffing, convenient for people to put all kinds of auspicious things to the stuffing, to place people's wishes for the New Year. When making dumplings, people often put gold ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into the filling. Those who eat gold and sugar will have a sweeter day in the coming year. Those who eat peanuts will live a long and healthy life. Those who eat dates and chestnuts will have a noble son early.
Eating dumplings is popular in northern China, usually eating meat on New Year's Eve and vegetarian on New Year's Day. In the New Year, the dumplings should have thin skin, many fillings, and be tightly squeezed so as not to be boiled. Meat dumplings should include pork, lamb, beef, chicken, and Mandarin duck dumplings mixed with two kinds of meat, as well as the "dumpling banquet" with a variety of flavors. Vegetarian dumplings use a variety of fresh vegetables. Dumpling shape is very much, there are crown top dumplings, butterfly dumplings, goldfish dumplings, dumplings, there are also push knead, fold knead, twist knead, flower knead crescent dumplings, and squeeze knead wood fish dumplings.
5, Shou Sui, give lucky money
New Year's Eve Shousui, is also one of the most important Spring Festival activities, neighbors and friends get together, or family together, some play cards, some watch the Spring Festival party, everyone all day long, waiting for the dawn, to welcome the arrival of the New Year.
Lucky money is the favorite custom of children and younger generation. After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, the elders will present coins to the younger generation respectively, and wear copper coins in a string of red lines, hanging in the chest of the child, that can suppress evil spirits. This custom has been popular since the Han Dynasty, of course, now there is no copper coins, generally take a red package of cash.
6, set off firecrackers
On the arrival of the New Year, every family opens the door of the first thing, is to set off firecrackers, to crackling firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the New Year, to show good luck. It is said that firecrackers originate from firecrackers, a custom that has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. In ancient times, setting off firecrackers was used to ward off evil spirits and disasters.
7.Happy New Year
New Year greetings are a traditional custom of Chinese folk, which is a way for people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the New Year and express good wishes to each other. In ancient times, "New Year" the original meaning of the word is for the elderly to congratulate the New Year, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulations on a happy New Year, greetings and good life content. In case of peers and relatives, also want to congratulate. With the development of The Times, the custom of paying New Year's greetings has been adding new contents and forms. In addition to the traditional way of New Year, and the rise of telephone, SMS, network New Year.
The time to pay New Year's call is generally from the first day to the fifth day. After the eighth day of the twelfth month, visiting relatives and friends is considered to worship the early years, while visiting relatives and friends after the fifth day of the first month and before the fifteenth day is to worship the old age. Early and old age are to avoid regret of emergency or remedial nature, folk proverb: a happy New Year fifteen is not too late.
8. Go to temple fairs
Temple fair is a traditional folk cultural activity unique to China, which integrates eating, drinking and playing. Since it originated around the temple, it was called "temple"; And because of the small business vendors see more people burn incense and worship Buddha, they set up all kinds of stalls outside the temple to earn their money.
Temple fair, also known as "temple city" or "festival field". These names can be said to be the historical track left by the formation of the temple fair. As a social custom, the formation has its profound social and historical reasons, and the temple custom is closely related to the religious activities of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples, and it is developed, perfected and popularized along with the folk belief activities.
During the Spring Festival, there are usually temple fairs in rural areas. In the early days, temple fairs were just a kind of grand sacrificial activities, but with the development of economy and people's needs, temple fairs gradually increased the market trading activities and some colorful entertainment activities while maintaining sacrificial activities.
9.Dragon Dance and Lion Dance
Dragon and lion dance is a traditional Chinese folk custom. Dragon dance is also known as playing Dragon Lantern or Dragon Lantern dance. Dragon is an ancient totem. According to legend, dragon can travel clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and deliver good fortune, symbolizing auspice. Therefore, dragon dance has become a custom throughout the country to pray for peace and harvest. From the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, many places have the custom of dragon dance. Dragon in the Chinese nation represents luck, honor, courage, but also a symbol of power.
On happy days, people use dragon and lion dances to pray for the blessing of the dragon and lion, so as to obtain good weather and good harvests.
10. Walk on stilts
Walking on stilts, also an entertainment activity during the Spring Festival, has a long history. It is recorded in the Lietzi Shuofu Chapter: "Those who have Lanzi in Song Dynasty... With legs as long as its body, it belongs to its shin, and drives and gallops." Walking on stilts is commonly known as "tying firewood feet", also known as "Gaoqiao", "walking on stilts", "tying high feet" and "walking high legs". It is a popular mass technical performance among the folk. It is usually performed in the square by dancers with long wooden stilts tied to their feet in some folk festivals.
