What are the customs during the Spring Festival?

Festival is the biggest traditional folk festival in China, and it is a folk festival integrating blessing, entertainment and food. The Spring Festival has a long history, which evolved from ancient times praying for the New Year at the beginning of the year, and carries rich historical and cultural connotations in its inheritance and development. New Year's greeting activities are centered on offering wishes and praying for blessings, and are carried out in the form of eliminating the old, worshipping ancestors, exorcising evil spirits and praying for a bumper harvest. The content is rich and colorful, vivid and festive, and the annual flavor is rich, which embodies the essence of traditional culture of Chinese civilization. During the Spring Festival, various New Year celebrations will be held all over the country. Due to different regional cultures, there are differences in the content or details of customs, which have strong regional characteristics. ? [ 1-3]? Chinese New Year has a long history. In the process of inheritance and development, some relatively fixed customs have been formed, many of which have been passed down to this day, such as holding new year's goods, sweeping dust, pasting new year's red, having a reunion dinner, observing New Year's Eve, celebrating New Year's greetings, dancing dragons and lions, worshipping gods and ancestors, praying for disaster relief, setting off firecrackers, setting off fireworks, worshiping gods, gambling boats, temple fairs, beating gongs and drums, flying cursor flags and so on. Traditional festival ceremonies and related custom activities are important contents of festival elements, bearing rich and colorful festival cultural connotations. Ancestor worship not only covers all the ancient traditional festivals in China, but also is the eternal theme of folk festivals in China. The 23rd or 24th of the busy year is called "off-year" among the people, and people are busy since childhood. Off-year doesn't mean a certain day. Due to local customs, the days called off-year are different. During the off-year period, the main folk activities include sweeping dust and offering sacrifices to stoves. Before the Qing Dynasty, the traditional festival of offering sacrifices to stoves in the off-year was the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Since the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the emperor's family held a ceremony to worship heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In order to "save money", they also worship the kitchen god, so the folks in the northern region have followed suit, mostly on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. In most parts of the south, the old tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is still maintained. ? [6-7]? Sweep the dust, please click on the input picture to describe that the old cloth was torn down and replaced with new cloth the year before last. Sweeping dust is one of the new customs of removing old cloth on the first day of New Year's Day. The folk proverb says, "On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house". 23/24 ended, and officially began to prepare for the New Year. Sweeping dust means year-end cleaning, which is called "house sweeping" in the north and "house sweeping" in the south. 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. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly. ? [8-9]? According to the folk saying: Because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and replacing the new". The purpose of sweeping dust is to sweep away all "bad luck" and "bad luck" in order to pray for the coming year; This custom places people's prayers and wishes to ward off evil spirits, avoid disasters, bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. ? [ 10]? Worship the stove

Please click on the input picture to describe the stove sacrifice on February 23rd or 24th of the Lunar New Year/KLOC-0, that is, the stove should be cleaned after dark, the old stove should be torn down and burned, and new photos should be posted on the morning of New Year's Eve, as well as wine, meat, candy, sugar cane, rice fruit and so on. It should be placed, and incense, candles and paper cannons should be lit. The folk activities of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, but at the beginning, the day of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god was not in the early years. Zheng Xuan commented on the Book of Rites: "(Kitchen God) lives in the world, and the procurator is too young to blame." Legend has it that from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, these days are the days when Kitchen God returns to the palace. On New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God will be invited to descend to earth again, and the people will hang up the idol of the Kitchen God before preparing for the New Year's Eve. According to "Records of Local Customs" written by Zhou Chu, a celebrity in Jin Dynasty in China, "On the 24th night of the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen god offered sacrifices to heaven, and he was one year old the next day, so he offered sacrifices to the day first." ? [8]? [ 1 1]? Local conditions and customs: Fan Chengda, a Song Dynasty poet in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, has a poem "Sacrificing a stove" handed down from generation to generation, which vividly describes the custom of Suzhou people to send stoves in the Song Dynasty. His poem said: "In ancient times, on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the chef confided to the sky, and there were fewer horses and chariots and more cups and plates at home. The pig's head is cooked, the fish is fresh, and the bait with bean paste and Gan Song powder is round. When a man asks his daughter to avoid it, he drinks and burns money. You can't smell the fight between your servant and your son, and you won't feel angry if your cat and dog touch your dirty husband. I sent you to Tianmen to get drunk, and the spoon was long and short. I didn't go back to Yuntou and begged for points in the city. " According to the memory of the old Suzhou people, in addition to the "sugar ingots", there are other offerings, such as paper horses, door curtains and ingots. ? [ 1 1]? Make tofu at the end of the year

Please click on the input picture to describe the folk proverb: "On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, grinding bean curd." In some places, there is also the custom of eating tofu residue before New Year's Eve. In some areas, it is said that after the kitchen god died, the jade emperor would go to the lower bound to see if each family was acting like the kitchen god, so each family ate tofu dregs to show their hardship and avoid the punishment of the jade emperor. According to the folklore of the Jade Emperor, the Jade Emperor himself descended to earth on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month to investigate the good and evil in the world and decide the fortune for the coming year. Therefore, every household gives its blessing, which is called "receiving 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. ? [8]? Zhao Tian Zhao Can wild silkworm

Please click on the input picture to describe Zhao Tian-silkworm, also known as "burning field silkworm" and "burning field wealth", which is a popular folk custom of praying for the New Year in Jiangnan area. 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. ? [ 12]? 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. In "All Forgive", many people get married, and this year is called "the year of 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. For those who have little energy to do great things, this is a good opportunity for recreation. ? [ 13]? On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month at the end of the year, there is a folk saying: "Kill pigs and cut their meat on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month" or "cut their heads on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month", which means mainly preparing to eat meat for the New Year. The reason why "cutting annual meat" is called "annual meat" is because the farming society and economy in some places are underdeveloped, and people often eat meat on the annual festival. ? [ 14]? In some local villages, this day is a big market day, and people in villages around the market will go to the market to buy new year's goods. Smoke, wine, fish, meat and firecrackers are as indispensable as gifts for visiting relatives and friends, and the flavor of the year is gradually getting stronger. In the past, the lives of ordinary people were relatively poor and there were many families. So they often eat the last meal without the next meal, and the conditions are slightly better. They can just eat some corn and wild vegetables, and finally look forward to the New Year. The laborers at home began to kill pigs one after another. People who don't raise pigs go to the market to cut a piece of meat and go home. Therefore, the braised pork on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is also called "killing pigs and cutting pigs"? [ 14]? At the end of the year, 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. As the saying goes, bathing on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is "blessing washing" and "illness washing". ? [ 15]? At the end of the 28th, there was a saying in some places in the north: "On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, cakes and steamed buns are made with decals" or "On the 28th, noodles are made". The so-called decals are new year pictures, Spring Festival couplets, window grilles and all kinds of things posted during the Spring Festival. There is a saying in Guangdong that "twenty-eight-year-old is sloppy", which means that on December 28th of the lunar calendar, the whole family should stay at home and clean up and post New Year greetings. ? [ 16]? The last day of the New Year is called New Year's Eve, and that night is called New Year's Eve. It is connected with the beginning and end of the new year, and is called "the end of the year to the poor month". This is New Year's Eve, and it is also an important time node to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. "New Year's Eve" refers to the eve of New Year, also known as New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve and so on. This is the last night of the year. During this period, the theme of the activity is to get rid of the old cloth and update the new cloth. Since ancient times, there have been customs such as sticking New Year's greetings, offering sacrifices to ancestors, having a family reunion dinner, and observing the old age, which have been passed down to this day and last forever. New Year's Eve is a time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, to reunite the whole family and to worship the ancestors. Together with Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th and Double Ninth Festival, it is called the four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China. ? [ 17- 19]? On New Year's Eve, people pay special attention to taking off old cloth to welcome the New Year. Every household is busy cleaning the courtyard, decorating and welcoming their ancestors home for the New Year. The sacrifices are rice cakes, three sacrificial meals and three teas and five wines. New Year's Eve has a special meaning in the hearts of China people. On the most important day at the end of this year, no matter how far away, the wanderers have to rush home to reunite with their families, say goodbye to the old year with firecrackers and set off fireworks everywhere to welcome the new year. ? [ 17- 19]? Worship God and ancestors.

Please click on the input picture to describe that ancestor worship on New Year's Eve is one of the important customs of Chinese New Year. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has a tradition of pursuing the future with caution, and will never forget to pay homage to our ancestors and repay their kindness. On New Year's Eve, people will put on dishes, pour wine and hold a grand sacrifice ceremony to express their memory of their ancestors and pray for their blessing. This traditional custom has been handed down from generation to generation. Ancestor worship not only covers all the ancient traditional festivals in China, but also is the eternal theme of folk festivals in China. ? [20-2 1]? There are many forms of ancestor worship, some of them go to ancestral halls to worship ancestors, and most of them put ancestral tablets in the main hall in turn at home to place offerings, and then worshippers worship them in order of age. Worship ancestors, mostly fish bowls, filled with high bowls, quite ringing. ? [22-24]? Sticking the Year Red Sticking the Year Red

Please click on the input picture to describe the New Year Red, that is, paste Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year pictures, blessings, horizontal pens, window grilles and so on. Because these are all red festive elements posted during the Chinese New Year, they are collectively called "New Year Red". Because these are all red festive elements posted during the Chinese New Year, they are called "Chinese New Year Red". Sticking New Year Red is a traditional New Year custom in China, which reflects people's customs and beliefs, adds festive atmosphere and places people's good expectations for the new year and new life. Gatekeeper: At first, the gatekeeper carved mahogany into a human shape and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a gatekeeper and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Lei Yu specialize in ghosts. They guard the portal, so evil souls, big and small, dare not enter harm. 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 keeper. Later generations often regard painting a pair of door gods as a skill. Spring Festival couplets: couplets, also known as "door couplets", "couplets" and "peach symbols". One said that Spring Festival couplets originated from peach symbols; Another source is Spring Festival 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. 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. ? [25-26]? New Year pictures: Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy holiday atmosphere to thousands of families. These all have folk functions of praying and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. ? [27]? Window grilles: During the Spring Festival, people in many areas like to stick various paper-cuts on their windows-window grilles. Window grilles can not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also bring people beautiful enjoyment, integrating decoration, appreciation and practicality. ? [28]? Hanging money: Hanging money has a long history. Because the name has the word "money", hanging them under the eaves of the door indicates that the new year's financial resources are rolling. ? [29]? The word "Fu": Every Spring Festival, in some places, every household should put the word "Fu" on the door, wall and lintel. Sticking the word "Fu" in the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom. ? [30]? Horizontal batch: Horizontal batch refers to the banners matching couplets, which are generally only used for several necessary couplets. The so-called "horizontal" refers to the writing method of horizontal writing; "Approval" means revealing and commenting, which means supplementing, summarizing and perfecting the theme of the All-China Federation. ? [3 1]? Family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve

Please click on the picture to describe the New Year's Eve dinner, which is one of the Chinese New Year customs. Also called New Year's Eve, reunion dinner, etc. Especially the New Year's Eve dinner. The New Year's Eve dinner originated from the ancient sacrificial ceremony at the end of the year, and it is a reunion dinner after offering sacrifices to the gods and ancestors. Reunion dinner is the highlight of the year ago, which is not only colorful, but also very meaningful. Worship the gods and ancestors before the reunion dinner, and eat after the worship ceremony. Generally, there are chicken (representing a plan), fish (more than enough every year), oyster sauce (good for the market), Nostoc flagelliforme (rich), yuba (rich), lotus root (smart), lettuce (rich) and raw garlic (calculated). China people's New Year's Eve dinner is a family reunion dinner, which is the most abundant and important dinner in a year. ? [32-34]? Lucky money lucky money (called "giving benefits" in Guangdong) is one of the customs of the Spring Festival. Lucky money is distributed by the elders to the younger generation. After dinner, 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 a year safely with lucky money. In some families, parents will put their children under pillows after they fall asleep at night. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the care and sincere blessing of the elders to the younger generation. 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 sneak around, so they use lucky money to suppress evil. ? [35-36]? Shou-nian, also called Fei-nian, Shou-nian Fire and Shou-nian Fire, has a long history and is one of the folk activities in China. On New Year's Eve, the main features of folk activities are lighting and keeping fire. Every room should be brightly lit all night, and the whole family will be reunited to welcome the arrival of the New Year. On New Year's Eve, burning lamps and candles all night is called "waste". It is said that after this pass, the family's wealth will be enriched in the coming year. In ancient times, the north and the south had different customs. In some places, the custom of keeping old is mainly to stay up all night, that is, to keep vigil all night; For example, Zhou Chu of the Jin Dynasty wrote "Local Records" and said: On New Year's Eve, everyone gives gifts in stages, 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". In some places, 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 looking forward to good luck in the new year. ? [ 18]? [37-38]? Festival custom editor set off firecrackers on the first day of the first month to bid farewell to the old year, and fireworks filled the sky to welcome the new year.

Please click on the input picture to describe the theme of welcoming the New Year, offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for a bumper harvest from the first day of the first month. At the turn of the New Year's Day, various activities to celebrate the New Year, such as firecrackers exploding, fireworks flying all over the sky, saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year, reached a climax. On the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are first set off, which is called "setting off firecrackers" to send the old and welcome the new. After the firecrackers, the ground is full of broken red, and the first day of the first month is called "full house red". We celebrate the New Year and welcome the New Year. In the morning, families burn incense to worship heaven and earth and ancestors, and then congratulate their elders on the New Year in turn, and then congratulate each other with relatives and friends of the same race. Many places have the custom of being vegetarian on the morning of the first day of the first month. On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish good luck in the new year. ? [ 18]? [39]? Paying New Year's greetings is one of the ancient folk activities. In the morning of the first year of the new year, welcome the new year, worship vegetarianism and worship the "Year God". "Sui", also known as "country" and "Tai Sui", is an ancient star name and a god of folk belief. 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, the traditional customs of greeting the new year, offering sacrifices to God and receiving blessings have been passed down from generation to generation. ? [ 18]? [40-4 1]? In the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "setting off firecrackers". After the firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is the so-called "full house". At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy. The saying of "setting off firecrackers" has existed since ancient times. 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. On the morning of Lent, worship God and set off firecrackers. On the morning of the first day, we worship Tai Sui God with vegetarian food. We must be vegetarian for breakfast, including vermicelli, yuba, Nostoc flagelliforme and mushrooms. Eat all the vegetarian dishes that should be eaten this year in the morning, so that you can eat big fish and big meat later. ? [42]? It is said that broom's birthday is on the first day of the first month. You can't use a broom on this day, otherwise it will sweep away luck, ruin money, attract "broom stars" and bring bad luck. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep it from the outside to the inside. Don't throw water on the garbage on this day, for fear of breaking the money. Today, this custom still remains in many places. Don't put a broom or take out the garbage on New Year's Eve. Prepare a big barrel of waste water to avoid splashing outside that day. The second day of the first month (Eid al-Fitr)

Please click on the input picture to describe the Spring Festival custom activities (18 photos). According to tradition, it is a brand-new beginning to say goodbye to the old year on New Year's Eve, welcome the new year on New Year's Day, break fast on the first day of New Year's Day and lift fast on the second day of New Year's Day. The custom of opening the new year is to eat "New Year's Eve". This meal is usually made of seaweed, lettuce, fish and so on. , intended to make money, lilu. Modern people also put New Year's Eve in restaurants. Some suburban villages still retain the custom of "releasing", buying live carp, covering the eyes of the fish with red paper, and putting them into the river pond after offering sacrifices to the gods. ? [42]? Children's Day is a traditional Children's Day. On the second day of the first month, children will go to their parents' homes to pay New Year greetings. The daughter who got married on this day went back to her mother's house and asked her husband to go with her, so it was commonly known as "Wedding Day". Daughters who go back to their parents' home must bring some gifts and bags to their children and have lunch at their parents' home. Chaoshan people call my uncle's return to his parents' home for dinner the next day "to have a midnight snack", which means to have lunch. Uncle and daughter must return to their home before dinner (some areas may stay for dinner because of the trip). ? [43]? Visiting relatives and friends is a way to celebrate the New Year. Paying New Year greetings is an important activity in the Spring Festival, and it is also a way for people to express their best wishes to each other. They visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, and say congratulations on getting rich, happiness and so on. The meaning of New Year's greetings is to visit relatives and friends, congratulate each other on the New Year, and express feelings for relatives and friends and good wishes for life in the new year. ? [4 1]? [44-45]? On the third day of the first month of the first month, the door-keeper paper was burned. In the old society, pine and cypress branches and door-keeper stationery hung on festivals were burned day and night to show that one year had passed and it was time to start business again. As the saying goes, "if you burn the janitor's paper, one will seek physiology." ? [46]? In ancient times, Chikou was a folk in the south of China. On the morning of New Year's Day, you should post "red mouth" (forbidden mouth), thinking that this day is easy to quarrel and not suitable for New Year's greetings. The so-called "red mouth" is usually made of red paper about seven or eight inches long and one inch wide, with some auspicious words written on it. In a word, sticking a "red mouth" is to make people feel that they can go in and out safely all year round, will not quarrel with others, and will not encounter all kinds of unfortunate disasters, and make more money at home and all the best. In ancient times, in Hong Kong, people generally didn't pay New Year's greetings on the third day of New Year's Eve, because the third day of the first month was "Chikou", also known as "Chigou Day". The red dog is the God of Anger, one of the so-called Five Emperors of the ancient Vision Wei family, that is, the Southern God in charge of summer. It is generally believed that it is unlucky to be angry with my brother when the sun is red. Therefore, the example of "Xiao Nianchao" should be to worship ancestors and gods. ? [46-47]? The third day of Xiaonian Dynasty, also known as Xiaonian Dynasty, has the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods. On the third day of the lunar new year, I usually don't go out to pay New Year's greetings. Because my mouth is red, I hope to avoid quarreling with others. Relatives and friends can't walk around and visit each other. There is also the custom of not using a knife or cutting from the first day to the third day of New Year's Eve. Small-year dynasty: in ancient times, the third day, the small-year dynasty, did not sweep the floor, did not beg for fire, did not draw water, with the old dynasty. ? [47]?