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The Spring Festival is an ancient traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year, so the customs of the Spring Festival are also varied. According to legend, Nian animals are afraid of red, fire and noise, so people have customs such as putting up Spring Festival couplets, setting off firecrackers and beating gongs and drums. The customs of different periods, regions and nationalities are different.

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. During the Spring Festival, Han people and many ethnic minorities in our country will hold various activities to celebrate. The main contents of these activities are offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year, and praying for a bumper harvest. The activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics.

Twenty-three of twelfth lunar month

Zhuxian Town's woodblock New Year picture "cornucopia stove" is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "off-year". It is said that this day is the day when the kitchen god goes to heaven, so it is necessary to worship the kitchen god. The seventh day after the off-year will be 30.

In China, the Spring Festival usually begins with a ceremony of offering sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five people", that is, the government held a ceremony to sacrifice stoves on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, ordinary people on the 24th and houseboats on the 25th. After holding the sacrificial stove, they officially began to prepare for the New Year. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, the cartoon "Sacrificing a Kitchen to Heaven" is called "Spring Festival" by the people.

Sacrifice to the kitchen god

It is said that every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Kitchen God will tell the Jade Emperor about the good and evil of this family and let the Jade Emperor reward and punish them. Therefore, when sending stoves, people will put candy, water, beans and grass on the console table in front of the statue of the kitchen king, and the last three of them are for the mount for the kitchen king to ascend to heaven. When offering sacrifices to the stove, you should melt the sugar (or honey) and put it on the mouth of the kitchen god, so that he can't speak ill of the jade emperor and say: God speaks well. According to folklore, Kitchen God tells the world about good and evil. Once the defendant commits evil, his life will be shortened by 300 days for major crimes and 100 days for minor crimes. This statement is widely circulated.

People think that a few good words from the Kitchen God in front of the Jade Emperor will bring happiness to the family and bless the family's peace in the coming year. Therefore, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household has to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god and ask him to speak well and say auspicious words the day after tomorrow. This ceremony of sending the kitchen god is called "sending the kitchen stove" or "resigning the kitchen stove".

When sending stoves, people use various methods to deal with the kitchen god, in order to make him "speak well from heaven and return to the palace for good luck." Some worship it with chewing gum candy, so as to stick the kitchen god's teeth so that it can't talk nonsense; Some people paint the kitchen door with distiller's grains, calling it "drunk commander", so drunk that the kitchen god dare not talk nonsense.

Kitchen God is treated specially. It is certainly not good for him to "eat others' mouths short" and speak ill of him. This is actually a kind of moral self-discipline among the people.

Seven days later, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God will be brought back. Because, on the night of New Year's Eve, Kitchen God will come to the earth to celebrate the New Year with the gods, and there will be ceremonies of "receiving the kitchen" and "receiving the gods" on that day. According to the general local custom, the master is responsible for receiving the kitchen god, and the harem does not participate. In ancient times, there was a saying that "men don't Yue Bai, women don't sacrifice stoves".

After seeing off the Kitchen God, it was the turn to worship the ancestors, which was called "hanging shadows" by the people. Lin, a folklore expert in Tianjin, said that on New Year's Day, portraits or photos of ancestors should be hung on the wall, drinks and tributes should be prepared, and people should worship them until New Year's Eve.

Eat stove candy

Kitchen sugar is a kind of maltose, which is very sticky. The candy that is drawn into a long strip is called "Guandong Sugar", and the candy that is drawn into a flat circle is called "honeydew melon". When it is put outside in winter, because of the cold weather, the honeydew melon is solidified firmly, and there are some tiny bubbles in it. It tastes crisp, sweet and fragrant, and has a special flavor. [2]?

Twenty-four twelfth lunar month

sweep the dust

The folk proverb of the cartoon "Sweep the Dust" says "Sweep the house dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month". After the Stove Festival, preparations for the Chinese New Year officially began. Dust removal is year-end cleaning, which is called "house cleaning" in the north and "dust removal" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. 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. North and south of the great river, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of being willing to engage in hygiene and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

According to ancient records, there was a habit of year-end cleaning in ancient times. The custom of "sweeping the house with dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", 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 "unlucky" and "unlucky". Volume 12 of Jia Qinglu records: "La will be disabled, so it is advisable to choose a constitutional book to sweep away the day and go to the court to collect dirt. Or 23 rd, 24 th and 27 th, commonly known as' dust'. " On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the house was thoroughly cleaned inside and outside. It can be seen that this custom has placed people's desire to break the old and establish the new, as well as their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. It is also the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation to pay attention to hygiene and prevent diseases in winter accumulated in the long history. [3]?

Comic book "Pushing Mill to Make Tofu"

Twenty-five twelfth lunar month

Make tofu

The folk proverb says, "On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, push the mill to make tofu." According to research, tofu was invented by Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty. Zhu wrote in the poem "Tofu" in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Growing peas is exhausting. If you know Huainan, you will have a spring cloth. " Interestingly, some places still have the custom of eating tofu residue before New Year's Eve. The reason is that the local legend says that the Jade Emperor will go to the lower bound to see if each family is acting like the Kitchen God, so each family will eat tofu dregs to show their poverty and avoid the punishment of the Jade Emperor. Legend has it that eating tofu residue is actually a low productivity in ancient times, and there is not so much delicious food. It is also a portrayal of the virtue of diligence and thrift of our ancestors.

Jieyu yellow

According to the ancient custom, when the Kitchen God goes to heaven, the Jade Emperor will personally descend to earth on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month to investigate the good and evil on earth and decide the fortunes of the coming year. Therefore, every household offered his blessing, calling it "Meeting the Jade Emperor". On this day, we should be careful in our daily life and words, strive for good performance, win the favor of the Jade Emperor and bring good luck for the coming year.

Rush out of chaos

It was not until New Year's Eve that Kitchen God was sent to welcome him back. During this period, there is no God's jurisdiction on the earth, and at all times, many people get married, which is called "expelling chaos". Luannian is a special period designed by people to adjust their social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings, which is a good opportunity for those who have little energy to do great things. Therefore, people invented this special time folk custom according to the needs of real life. It can be seen that in traditional society, people's life order is regulated by folk customs.

Zhao Tiancan

Zhao Tiancan, also known as "burning silkworm" and "burning field wealth", is a popular folk custom in Jiangnan area to pray for the New Year. On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, a long pole tied with a torch will stand in the field, indicating the new year with the flame, and the thriving flame indicates the bumper harvest in the coming year. This activity is held in some places on New Year's Eve.

Thousand Lantern Festival

Thousand Lantern Festival is a religious festival of Mongolian and Daur. Mongolian is called "Ganming Zhuola", which means Thousand Lantern Festival. On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, I made "Ganming Zhuola" and lit it in the temple, thinking that the more I ordered, the more auspicious it would be. This festival custom is the most popular among Mongolians in Vilat, Xinjiang. On this day, local people eat roast beef and mutton, and hold a traditional sports cartoon "Kill pigs and cut meat for the coming year". ? [4]?

twelfth month of the lunar year

Cut a year's raw meat

As the saying goes, "On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, kill pigs and cut meat for the New Year", it is said that this day is mainly to prepare meat for the New Year. Killing pigs, of course, is killing your own pigs; Cutting meat means that people 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 agricultural society and economy are underdeveloped, and people often eat meat at the annual festival, so it is called "annual meat". [5]?

Comic book "Kill the Chicken and Get the Egg"

December 27th.

Kill the chicken and catch the big episode.

The folk proverb says, "On the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, kill the chicken to catch up with the big gathering". On this day, in addition to slaughtering their own poultry, every household has to go to the shops in the market for centralized procurement. Compared with the market on weekdays, the market on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month mainly deals in new year's goods, such as firecrackers, Spring Festival couplets, horses, incense sticks, burning paper, beef and mutton, toys and gifts for children and headdresses for girls. On this day, markets all over the country are very lively.

have a bath

In traditional folk customs, we should concentrate on bathing and washing clothes these two days to get rid of the bad luck of the year and prepare for the Spring Festival next year. There is a saying in Beijing that "twenty-seven washes away illness, twenty-eight washes away sloppiness". Taking a bath on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is "washing Fulu". ? [6]?

Comic book "Sticking Peach Symbol"

the 28th of the twelfth lunar month

appliqué

There is a saying in the middle of the year: "On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, cakes and steamed bread are decorated with decals". The so-called decal is to paste New Year pictures, Spring Festival couplets and stick grilles, and all kinds of divinatory symbols.

Among them, the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets originated from the ancient "Fu Tao". The ancients used peach wood as a wood to ward off evil spirits. The Book of Arts said, "Peach is the essence of five trees, so it also suppresses evil spirits." In the Five Dynasties, Meng Changya, the monarch of the post-Shu Dynasty, was good at literature. Every year, he made people write inscriptions for Fu Tao, which became the origin of Spring Festival couplets in later generations. The inscription on the Fu Tao "New Year's Qing Yu, Spring Festival Changchun" became the first "Spring Festival couplets" in China's recorded history. Later, with the appearance of papermaking, the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets with red paper instead of mahogany appeared. [7]?

Comic "ancestor worship"

the 29th of the twelfth lunar month

offer sacrifices to ancestors

In the twelfth lunar month, it was said, "Please go to the grave and ask your ancestors for a big donation." Ancestor worship has a long history in China. Death is not only an important symbol of filial piety, but also a virtue of respecting the elderly. The Spring Festival is a big festival, and the ceremony of paying homage to one's ancestors is particularly grand. In most areas, ancestors were invited on the morning of the 29th. According to Mao Cui's "Four-person Moon Order" in Han Dynasty, "On the first day of the first month, you should bow down to your wife and ancestors. On the day of worship, I drank wine, and my family, big or small, was humble, second only to my ancestors. My son-in-law's great-grandson presented Chili wine to my parents, saying that it was to celebrate their long life and happiness. " This shows that as early as the Han Dynasty, ancestor worship in China was already a very important activity in the Spring Festival.

Little new year's eve

The day before New Year's Eve is called "New Year's Eve", and people call it "Don't be old" when greeting each other. Burning incense outdoors is called "Tianxiang", which usually takes three days. [8]?

30 December

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve refers to the night on the last day of the twelfth lunar month, which is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month). The word "except" in "New Year's Eve" is "go; Easy; "Alternating" means that New Year's Eve means "the month is poor and the old year is exhausted". People should get rid of the old year and welcome the new year. It means that the new year will be replaced next year. This is the last night of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during the period are centered on resigning the old and welcoming the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.

During the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, a ceremony of "exorcism" was held in the palace at the end of each year to beat drums to drive away epidemic ghosts, which was called "banishment". Later, the day before New Year's Eve was called "small exorcism". New Year's Eve is New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve.

doorman

During the Spring Festival, there is a custom of putting up doors all over China. At first, the janitor carved mahogany into a human shape and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a janitor and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Lei Yu specialize in ghosts. They guard the portal, so evil spirits dare not enter the portal to do bad things. After the Tang Dynasty, two brave soldiers, Qin Qiong and Wei Chijingde, were painted as gatekeepers, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were painted as gatekeepers. Every household has a door god, and later generations often draw a pair of door gods as martial arts. Door gods are divided into three categories: the first category is "door gods", which are mostly attached to doors or the whole door, about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second kind is the "door keeper", which is attached to the small street door, about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two gods with a black face and a white face. White left black right, white easy, black evil, each holding a slap in the face. The third category is the "gatekeeper", which is a little smaller and more limited than the street keeper. It is also a black and white Er Shen, but there are also two black and white statues sitting like statues. At most, there is a picture of "Kirin sending a child" posted on the door, and there are two plump pink dolls with comb crowns, each riding a unicorn. This kind of door god should have been stuck on the wedding door for good luck, and later it was also used as a New Year decoration for ordinary street doors.

paste up Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as "door-to-door" and "spring post", are a kind of couplets, named after being posted during the Spring Festival. One source of Spring Festival couplets is Fu Tao. At first, people carved figures out of mahogany and hung them by the door to ward off evil spirits. Later, they painted the door god on the mahogany, simplified it and wrote the door god's name on the mahogany board. Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" more and more at the beginning of spring, and gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. The real popularity of Spring Festival couplets began in the Ming Dynasty, which was related to Zhu Yuanzhang's advocacy. According to Chen Shanggu's Miscellaneous Notes on Mao Yunlou in Qing Dynasty, one year when Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing for the New Year, he ordered every household to post a Spring Festival couplets to celebrate. At first, Spring Festival couplets were carved on mahogany boards, and later rewritten on paper. The color of mahogany is red, which means good luck and avoiding evil spirits, so most Spring Festival couplets are written in red paper. However, temples are made of yellow paper, and toilet paper is made of white, green and yellow. Use white paper in the first year, green paper in the second year, yellow paper in the third year, and red paper after the funeral in the fourth year. Because Manchu is still white, the Spring Festival couplets in the Qing court are made of white paper, with blue borders on the outside and red stripes embedded inside.

Posting the word "Blessing", stick grilles, New Year pictures, and hanging thousands of pictures.

These all have folk functions of praying and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. They reflect people's customs and beliefs and place their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets developed from the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu to figures, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting. With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to the door gods, but gradually invites the god of wealth to their homes, and then in some New Year pictures workshops, colorful New Year pictures such as three stars of Fu Lushou, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperity of six animals, greeting the spring and praying for blessings are produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. As Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, advocated posting Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures became popular, and three important producing areas of New Year pictures appeared in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. Formed three schools of Chinese New Year pictures. 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 two-in-one New Year picture was later developed into a calendar. Hanging a thousand is carved with auspicious words on red paper, accompanied by a long ruler and A Zhi, which is posted in front of the door, reflecting the symbol of peach. There are eight immortals hanging in front of the Buddha statue. Hanging thousands of households use more, and aristocratic families use less. Its yellow paper is three inches long and red paper is more than one inch long, which is a "small hanging thousand" and is used by shops. The earliest thousands of hanging coins were linked by making money (copper coins), which, like lucky money, had an overwhelming victory effect. ? [9]?

stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve

In our country, people have the habit of observing the New Year's Eve, commonly known as "forbearing the Year". Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to Zonggu's record of Jingchu's age, there was a custom of New Year's Eve dinner at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year.

Give lucky money

Lucky money is given to the younger generation by the elders. In some families, everyone is not allowed to leave the table after the New Year's Eve. After everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger generation to encourage their children and grandchildren to learn and improve in the new year. In some families, parents put their children under pillows after they fall asleep at night, and in more families, children gather in the main hall, shouting Happy New Year to grandparents and parents, and queuing up to bow down; Then reach for the red envelope. They even took back their grandparents' bedrooms and ran to the bed together, shouting "lucky money, lucky money!" " "The old man is not busy enough, so he is stingy. From bargaining to siege, he finally dug up the red envelope of his ancestors. Everyone took them and roared away. The old man was overjoyed to see this scene and thought it was a good sign for all the best in the new year. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethics.