The Spring Festival custom in Ninghai.

People in Ninghai celebrate the New Year, usually from the middle of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the month. There is a saying that "the front door pays New Year greetings and the back door cuts barley". The barley harvest is almost in February of the lunar calendar, which shows that Ninghai people spend quite a long time in the New Year. "Records of Ninghai County in Guangxu" contains: "On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust was put on the stove. A few days before the Chinese New Year, relatives gave each other fruit bait, which was called "feeding the elderly". On new year's eve, there is a sacrifice to god, called sending the year; Offering wine first, inviting relatives and friends to get together for drinks, which means burning incense and charcoal in different years, which means keeping the year ... It is easy to be a door god when writing spring posts, which means starting over ... On the first day of the New Year, people get up early, set up incense tables in the court, and offer sacrifices to gods and ancestral temples by men and women. As the days passed, men and women paid homage to their elders and went out to visit relatives and neighbors. Firecrackers drove Li away and sacrificed Siming and Six Livestock, which was also a gift for the New Year. Anyone who exchanges property with others at the age of one must come down at night ... in the morning, he cooks tea with red beans and red dates and occasionally eats dumplings. Scholars change clothes, burn incense and worship heaven and earth first ... "From the existing literature, Ninghai people's New Year's content is quite rich, naturally forming a set of procedures. Sacrifice stove: On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone will be ready for the New Year. In the past, almost every kitchen stove had a shrine dedicated to "kitchen bodhisattva" If there is no Buddhist holy land, there is also a portrait of the kitchen bodhisattva posted on it. There are many words written on both sides of the shrine and the portrait, such as "Heaven speaks well, and the lower bound is safe". It is said that the Buddha Jujube Company is the "Nine-day Eastern Chef" sealed by the Jade Emperor. Around the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Buddha Jujube Company will ascend to heaven and report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor. In the ceremony of sending the kitchen god, Ninghai people called it "offering a sacrifice to the kitchen", that is, offering a sacrifice to the kitchen. According to the report of the Bodhisattva in Zaosi, the Jade Emperor entrusted his family with the fate of good fortune and bad fortune in the new year. Therefore, thinking about Bodhisattva's report early really interested this family. Therefore, in normal times, if there are fresh items in the market, such as making sugar and cakes, we should give them to the Bodhisattva Zaosi first, and the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the stove is of course more grand. Blowing dust: after holding the sacrificial stove, I officially began to prepare for the New Year. The most prominent thing is "dust removal". For example, before and after the New Year's Eve, there was a general cleaning, which Ninghai people called "dust removal". According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", the new year's dust removal means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all "unlucky" and "unlucky". This custom endows people with the desire to break the old and make new, and the prayer to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Therefore, the dust accumulated under the corner bed and the roof beam for a year must be removed with a broom at this time; Pots, pans and bowls between stoves should also be cleaned. Every household cleans the environment, cleans all kinds of electrical appliances, removes and washes bedding curtains, sweeps six yards, dusts cobwebs and dredges culverts in open channels. Everywhere, there is a joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival. From this time on, every household began to be busy with all aspects of the Spring Festival. The first thing is to buy and prepare all kinds of food for the New Year. Some families smash rice cakes, which means "high every year"; Some beat sugar and cut cakes, burn soju, and some prepare new year's goods. The second is to prepare new clothes, new hats and new shoes. People may wear old clothes all the year round, but they must check their clothes in the new year, so children look forward to the new year, mainly for this reason. Sticking Spring Festival couplets: Ninghai people generally call them "suitable for each household" and "Spring Festival couplets". They describe the background of the times and express their best wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. In the past, writing was mainly with a brush, which was often the time when the owner showed his calligraphy. While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. 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". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on. At the same time, it is often replaced by a new goalkeeper. In a word, Ninghai custom calls everything "starting over". Check out: This time is also the busiest time of the year in the store. On the one hand, when the business is booming and the sales are booming, especially the New Year's greeting bags, they are wrapped in coarse grass paper into triangular bags, mainly containing white sugar, red dates, longan, silver carp and so on. There is also a rectangular red paper with our store number on it. On the other hand, the end of the year is the period when each family cleans up the current accounts for one year and asks the debtor for arrears. So each family sent someone to handle this matter, and a large-scale "debt collection" team appeared in the city: "Cross the street from east to west with bills in cloth bags. Step into the heavy door and call it, and the husband will be together. " There are many people who can't repay on time for various reasons. Debt collectors have great responsibilities, pursue hardships, and often act day and night, regardless of the cold of the night shift, looking around with lanterns. Among those who can't repay on time, in fact, many people are completely unable to repay. In addition to the debts owed to the store, these people probably owe personal debts. The end of the year is also the time when most debts are paid off, so these people are under pressure from two sides to ask for money. However, according to the rules, the collection of debts is only on New Year's Eve, and it is not allowed during the New Year. Otherwise, it is unlucky to ask for "bad luck" There is an old saying in Ninghai, "After many years, you need copper coins on the first day of the first month." Therefore, the New Year's Eve dinner is the last pass for those who evade debts. If you escape this pass, next year will be another matter. So they have been dealing with debt collectors and trying their best to get through New Year's Eve. For example, Zhi Zhu's Poems in the Later Jin Dynasty wrote: "The ancient temple is busy with the imperial seal, and the family should arrange to pay off debts. Little Nv Jiao was so ignorant that he even encouraged him to go out and buy Luo Shang. " New Year's Eve: With the arrival of the Spring Festival, homeless people who have left their homes have rushed home, hoping to reunite with their loved ones. This is a reunion knot that China people can't give up. Even if people are far away, they should go home for New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve. A few days before New Year's Eve, relatives give each other sacrifices and fruit bait, and neighbors give each other a small amount of rice and flour to express their New Year greetings. This is called "feeding the New Year". Neighborhoods invite each other to drink, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, which is called "saying goodbye to the old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities in Ninghai, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. "One night is two years old, and one night is divided into two days." On New Year's Eve, home is a particularly warm and sweet space. It is said that in history, even prisoners in prisons can temporarily go home for reunion. When the whole family is sitting together for dinner, the elders will give the younger generation "lucky money", which Ninghai people call "Xie Nian". Sacrifice to the gods is essential. In the past, the education level was generally low, and jokes like "Raising chickens and keeping gizzards this spring" were often made. However, for the sake of the people, the literati in each village have prepared ready-made sacrifices for the people to pray for. For example, the inscription on the genealogy of the Wang family on New Year's Eve reads like this: "The sun and the moon move easily, and suddenly New Year's Eve. Prepare sacrifices for me and cleanse me. It's no use recommending your ancestors. Pray for unity, children and grandchildren will be trillions. " The content of all ethnic groups is similar. Although the words are crooked and the content is boring, they are entrusted with good wishes, and all ethnic groups are also willing to parrot and talk about it, which is particularly solemn compared with today's "Happy New Year and all the best". Then, the candle has a high fever, the incense mist is lingering, the charcoal fire in the brazier is red, the family sits around the stove and chats, and women often scramble to make shoes for their children. Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the moment to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. This is the so-called "keeping the old". 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. In short, in order to look forward to good luck in the new year. At midnight, some people will go to nearby temples to compete for the "head incense". On the first day of the first month, every family, men and women, old and young, put on new clothes, hats and shoes, and worship the heavens and the earth and ancestors in the hall where offerings have already been arranged. Then young people and young people pay New Year greetings to their parents, and then open the door to set off firecrackers to welcome the New Year. There is a saying in Ninghai that "open the door". 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 year and welcome the new year. 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. Poets are deeply touched by this scene, and there are many poems, especially Zhi Zhu's Ci. For example, Zhi Zhu in Dali chanted: "The firecrackers are old three times, and the men and women in the village are laughing and laughing. In the new year, I will worship Song Lin Temple first to protect my family. " At this time, the neighbors met to congratulate each other. Pay special attention to language during the Spring Festival. For example, Wang Jiren, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, wrote: "The east wind leaks back to the aperture, and the treasure sticks to the ink. I heard that every family is greedy for luck, and red pears are never popular. " In order to prevent a slip of the tongue, there is no pear with crisp mouth, because it is homophonic with the word "Li". On the first day of the first month, put on new clothes, and set up incense table offerings in nave or the court, mostly pure tea, new rice, zongzi and five-color fruits. And every household, old and young, worships heaven, which is called "worshipping heaven and earth". Breakfast is vegetarian, with clean rice and tofu. Or eat red date soup, red bean soup and glutinous rice balls, which means prosperity and reunion in a year. Meet each other to "pay New Year greetings" and say good things like "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Good luck". Don't light a lamp at night, go to bed early, and there is a saying that "the first day of the first month is the same bird house". Happy New Year: From the second day of junior high school, relatives bring candy, liquor, etc. "Happy New Year" to each other, and the party receiving the congratulations also hosted a banquet and gave the children "lucky money". After liberation, the wind of New Year greetings gradually declined. In recent years, it has become more and more popular, replaced by high-grade bottled wine and tonics. In the new year, in addition to walking around to pay New Year greetings, the rest of the time is to "celebrate" with various outings and entertainment activities. Some people go out for a stroll, and the most visited places are temples such as the City God Temple. Such as Hu's nonsense: "it's good to discuss the age of death, and firecrackers are loud and thick." Bring a pot of wine and a chicken to answer God at Shatou Temple. " Others go out to the theatre, listen to books and have tea. Of course, more people often stay at home, and indoor fun can be found by themselves, such as inviting relatives and friends to build a "square city", playing drums and playing the piano, and singing by themselves.