Marriage Customs and Spring Festival Customs of Hakka (Wuhua Area)

The last day of the Lunar New Year is called "New Year's Eve", which is also called "New Year's Eve" by Hakka people. The first day of the first month, that is, the first day of the lunar new year, is commonly known as the first day of the lunar new year, and is also called the Spring Festival with the second and third days. The Hakka New Year includes the Spring Festival, which starts on December 24th of the lunar calendar and ends on the 15th of the first month.

From the beginning of the new year to New Year's Eve, Hakka families put away their farm tools and are busy going to the market to buy new year's goods. Every household began to make candied glutinous rice, stir-fry candied glutinous rice, make sugar rice bubbles, make noodles, make baked cakes and other cakes to welcome the New Year. One of the important activities is to "sweep the dust" to show that we can get rid of the old and welcome the new and make the family look brand-new.

The 24th of the twelfth lunar month is a "small year", with rich New Year's Eve. Sacrificing a kitchen stove after dinner is called "Stealing Hearts Day", and most Hakkas "break ground" on this day, without asking Mr. Feng Shui to look at the direction and timing, just like the solstice in winter.

New Year's Eve is also called New Year's Eve. On this day, every household puts up Spring Festival couplets and puts red notes on the lintels and windows. On this day, every household slaughtered chickens and ducks. Going to the ancestral temple to worship ancestors means that you will not forget the kindness of your ancestors on holidays. On New Year's Eve, the New Year's Eve was eaten early. It usually starts at four or five in the afternoon and lasts until the evening. The whole family had a reunion dinner and drank wine to celebrate New Year's Eve. The children grew up and the old man celebrated the New Year. After dinner, they worship the kitchen stove to meet the kitchen god, and then the whole family began to clean the restaurant and wash dishes and chopsticks. All tableware should be scalded with boiling water to remove the oily smell, commonly known as "clean fasting". Then, the adults took out new clothes and let the whole family put on holiday clothes. Lights are lit in all rooms at home, and the charcoal stove or brazier in the main hall or dining room should burn the biggest tree pocket, which is called feeding pigs, and the big fat pigs will be entrusted to raise next year, and the crops will be abundant. Adults give children red envelopes to keep them alive and tell them to be obedient and study hard. People should be sensible when they are one year older. The family will sit around the fire, look back on the old year and look forward to the coming year, and stay up all night.

At midnight on the first day of the first month, people rush to burn incense and shoot guns to welcome the New Year. This is called "grabbing spring". It is believed that the earlier you get up, the better your blessings will be this year. The layman lifted the door opener and walked in the direction of "Geely", which was called "OK". Wear new clothes in the morning, worship your ancestors first, then your elders, and say "Congratulations on getting rich". Men with little boys prepare tea, wine and fish in baskets for offering sacrifices to the public and the dragon gods; The children invited everyone to drive the cows into the mountains and set off firecrackers all the way, which was called "sending the spring cows". Vegetarian breakfast (vegetarian all day in Wangmudu area of Ganxian county) means a healthy diet for one year, which is intended to avoid disasters and protect health. On that day, adults and children play all day, but they are not allowed to go out of the house. In particular, children are not allowed to sit on other people's doorstep, and women are allowed to knit in the sun or in their own patios, take soles and insoles, and chat casually. Men play cards or count beans, and children like to set off firecrackers. The whole village is very lively. On the second day of the second year, I began to visit relatives and friends to celebrate the New Year. At the first sight of the new year, we say "Congratulations on getting rich" to each other. In the old society, an adult took his children to celebrate the New Year. In the old days, elders knelt down to their elders, and elders gave their children red envelopes and said some auspicious wishes. The amount of lucky money varies according to blood relationship and friendship, and the amount given is also different. There are more religious believers than this day. Generally, families prepare "Jiulong Pan" from the second day of junior high school, where snacks such as preserved duck, pork liver and sausage are put, and peanuts, melon seeds and fruit bowls are added to entertain guests until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. My in-laws are often very kind to me, eating wine and eggs and eating a bowl full. On this festival, there are many recreational activities in the countryside, such as great drama (performed on the stage of ancestral temple), singing and picking tea, playing dragon lanterns, lion lanterns, carp lanterns and lion beating. From the second day to the fifteenth night of the first month, and then the lights went out after the climax.