New year customs around the world

In ancient agricultural society, housewives began to prepare food for the New Year from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Because curing bacon takes a long time, it must be prepared as soon as possible. Many provinces in China have the custom of curing bacon, among which Guangdong is the most famous.

Steamed rice cake, because of its homophonic "high year" and diverse tastes, has almost become a must-have food for every household. The styles of rice cakes are square yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver, wealth in the New Year and continuous promotion in the coming year.

The taste of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like to eat jujube rice cakes, 100-fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes made of glutinous rice or yellow rice. Hebei people like to add jujube, red beans and mung beans to rice cakes and steam them together. In northern Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places, it is customary to eat yellow wheat fried rice cakes during the New Year, and some people will also stuff them with bean paste and jujube paste, while Shandong people steam rice cakes with yellow rice and red dates. The rice cakes in the north are mainly sweet, steamed or fried, and some people simply eat them with sugar. There are sweet and salty rice cakes in the south, such as those in Suzhou and Ningbo, which are made of japonica rice and have a light taste. In addition to steaming and frying, you can also slice and fry or cook soup. Sweet rice cake is made of glutinous rice flour with sugar, lard, rose, osmanthus, mint, vegetable paste and other ingredients. They are fine in workmanship and can be steamed directly or fried with egg white.

The night before the real Chinese New Year is called Reunion Night. A wanderer who has left his hometown has to go home from thousands of miles away. The whole family will sit around for New Year's Eve dinner and jiaozi. Jiaozi's practice is to use flour to make dumpling wrappers first, and then use leather bags to fill them. The contents of stuffing are varied, and all kinds of meat, eggs, seafood and seasonal vegetables can be stuffed. The orthodox practice in jiaozi is to cook it with clear water, remove it and mix it with vinegar and vegetables. There are also methods of frying jiaozi and baking jiaozi (fried dumpling). Because the word "he" in dough mixing means "he"; Jiaozi's "jiao" and "glue" are homophonic, and "harmony" and "glue" have the meaning of reunion, so jiaozi is used to symbolize the reunion of acacia; It is very auspicious to make friends with older people; In addition, jiaozi, which is shaped like an ingot, has the auspicious meaning of "making a fortune" when eating jiaozi in the New Year. All the families get together to pack jiaozi, so it's fun to celebrate the Spring Festival.

The customs of the Spring Festival are 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.

Laba, the red lantern to be hung in the New Year: the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, is a traditional festival of the Han nationality, as a signal of the coming of the "New Year". Traditionally, Laba porridge is drunk on this day, and Laba garlic is cooked on this day.

Sacrificing the kitchen stove is to send the kitchen god to heaven in the coming year.

Worship God, send God, burn incense, light candles and hang lanterns.

Worship ancestors and go to the grave.

Take a bath with grapefruit leaves.

Clean it up It is usually held on the 28th of a year, that is, two to three days before the New Year. On that day, the house should be cleaned to welcome the Spring Festival. As the saying goes in Guangdong, "at the age of 28, you can't be careless."

Put up Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures, and some rural areas even want stick grilles.

Turn the word "Fu" upside down: children who are just literate will say "Fu is lost", adults will say "Not lost", and children will stubbornly say "Lost! The blessing has fallen, so it means that the blessing has arrived, which is very auspicious.

Shousui: It is said that if children keep their age, their parents will get old.

In some places, there is a custom of selling laziness, that is, "selling laziness". For example, putting dough on a chair and letting children sit on it and stick to their buttocks symbolizes that they will not leave their seats when reading.

Set off firecrackers (firecrackers)

Set off fireworks.

Pay New Year greetings to each other. Some traditions in South China are that the younger generation of the first grade will pay New Year greetings to their elders, usually returning to the men's home. On the second day of the second year, I went back to my daughter's house to pay a New Year call. On the third day of the lunar new year, we generally don't go out to pay New Year's greetings. Because my mouth is red, I hope to avoid quarreling with others. If relatives and friends have not paid New Year greetings to each other, they will continue on the fourth day of the first year.

Give out red envelopes (lucky money).

Walking on stilts.

Buy annual flowers.

Beating gongs and drums.

Family reunion. People who go out to study and work should go home to reunite with their parents and celebrate the New Year together. See Spring Festival travel rush, afraid of being homeless.

It is a custom in Hong Kong not to pay New Year greetings on the third day of the Lunar New Year. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, people traditionally try not to pay New Year greetings to others to avoid quarrels. In Hong Kong, many good men and women will go to Chegong Temple in Sha Tin to pray and turn windmills, which means turning out good luck and praying for good luck in the New Year and peace throughout the year.

Do not buy shoes. Guangdong folk custom means not to buy shoes in January of the lunar calendar (because "shoes" is similar to the sound of "alas" in Cantonese). During the Spring Festival, people always say congratulations when they meet. For example, congratulations on getting rich, getting richer every year, getting safer every year, rising step by step, and prospering people.

Do not move the knife. In some rural areas and cities in Chinese mainland, it is a habit not to use knives or scissors from the first day to the third day of the Lunar New Year.

No bathing, no cleaning. In some traditions, you can't take a bath, wash your hair or clean up on New Year's Day, so as not to wash away or sweep away your luck. Eliminate the old and welcome the new. Buy some new clothes.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the god of wealth is greeted. It is said that the god of wealth will send blessings to the world on this day. This activity is very popular in southern China. Since the 1990s, some big cities have set off fireworks and firecrackers in the early morning of the fifth day of the fifth day as much as New Year's Eve.

On New Year's Eve in the northern region, it is traditional to cut jiaozi with jiaozi noodles and prepare the first packet of jiaozi, because the knife can't be used on the first day. Since 1980s, it has become a tradition for many families to watch CCTV's Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve. Due to the decline in the quality of its programs and the increase in other entertainment programs, many families now go to restaurants for the New Year.

Grade One: jiaozi in the morning. Traditionally, in Beijing (basically a tradition in the northern region), the old people don't go out on New Year's Day, and relatives, friends and colleagues pay New Year greetings to each other. There is a custom of eating glutinous rice balls for breakfast on New Year's Day in the Yangtze River valley, which means round and round, sweet and sweet.

The next day: Sacrifice the God of Wealth and drink "Yuanbao Soup" (wonton). The general habit in the north is to go back to my parents' home for New Year's reunion.

Day 3: ancestor worship. Generally, married women whose parents are dead will go back to their parents' home to pay homage to their ancestors and pay a New Year call on this day. Different from the Qingming "going to the grave", ancestor worship is just a memorial tablet for ancestor worship. But in rural areas such as Hebei, this day is also a day to go to the grave. Generally, it is necessary to bring snacks, wine and other sacrifices to the deceased ancestors and set off firecrackers to let them "celebrate the New Year". Generally speaking, only children are allowed to go to the grave, and people with foreign surnames who marry into their own family do not participate in ancestor worship.

Day 4: Generally, married women who are newly married or whose parents are still alive will return to their parents' home to pay New Year greetings on this day.

Day 5: In the poor days, in the north of China, generally no one goes out to pay New Year greetings, because this day is "Mafia Day", and it is generally not until the Spring Festival that the garbage at home can be swept away, and then firecrackers are set off to celebrate; There is a couplet "Kick the poor away and welcome the God of Wealth with both hands", which is a description of this custom. Generally, only some young people will hold a gathering of friends or classmates on this day. Also known as "Breaking Five", it means to eat in jiaozi at home.

Day 6: Open the market

Day 7: Winning Festival.

Day 8: Sacrifice to Heaven. At present, temple fairs in Beijing generally start from the first day and end on the seventh or eighth day.

Hong Kong

There are "floating colors" activities in rural areas.

Before the first day of junior high school: go to the flower market and the new year market in each district to buy new year flowers or new year goods.

Twenty-eight: cleaning.

New Year's Eve: Have a reunion dinner and burn incense in the temple.

The first day: the end of the temple fair incense, float parade, the preliminary round of the Spring Festival Cup football match, fireworks display.

The next day: New Year fireworks display in Victoria Harbour.

Day 3: New Year Horse Racing, praying at Chegong Temple in Sha Tin.

Day 4: China New Year Cup Football Match (Final)

Fifteen: Lantern Festival, many parks will have activities such as hanging lanterns and solving riddles on lanterns, attracting many people to wander around. I also eat soup as a sign of reunion.

Other activities: visit the wishing tree in Lin Village, Tai Po and pray; Pray for Chegong Temple; Pray to Wong Tai Sin Temple; Go to Yuanxuan College to worship Tai Sui and see the New Year flowers. (usually on the third day of the year)

As for New Year's greetings, except that the third day is a "red mouth", which traditionally means that it is easy to quarrel, it is generally held at will between the first day and the fifth day. In addition, if the annual Lunar New Year holiday falls on a Sunday, Christians and Catholics will hold religious activities in the auditorium.

Regarding the Spring Festival, there is a folk custom in Chinese mainland (North): from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, there are twenty-three honeydew melon sticks; Twenty-four house sweeps; Twenty-five grinding bean curd; Go to cut meat at the age of 26; Twenty-seven kill a chicken; Twenty-eight sides; Twenty-nine steamed buns; The saying of staying up all night on New Year's Eve.

New Year

Revolutionary Spring Festival

During the Cultural Revolution, the Beijing government asked the masses to "change customs" and "have a revolutionary and effective Spring Festival". On the occasion of the Spring Festival, we should seize the revolution, speed up production, work hard until the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, have dinner on New Year's Eve, and get off work on the morning of the first day.

Minority customs

When friends of Bai nationality in Yunnan celebrate the New Year, they will hold a celebration of "soaring into the sky", that is, put gunpowder in the bamboo joints of the whole bamboo, and after lighting it, the whole bamboo can collapse into the air for dozens of feet. Some areas also carry out "throwing hydrangeas" activities. On the morning of the first day of junior high school, the Oroqen people in Northeast China pour wine to each other according to their generations, while the younger generation kowtows to their elders and peers greet each other. Horse racing is held on the third day of the second grade. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the family tasted delicious food together. On the morning of the 16th day of the first month, the Oroqen people will engage in activities to discredit each other. The younger generation should kowtow before slandering their elders.

Taiwan Province Province, China

Winter solstice: This is a local custom in Taiwan Province Province. The solstice of winter has begun to have a festive atmosphere. On that day, ancestor worship is called winter worship, and some clan organizations will also gather for dinner on that day. On that day, ancestral tablets can be opened for cleaning, so many families also use this day to check the God and copy data as the basis of genealogy. Tail: commonly known as "tail tooth", it is a sacrifice to the earth god on December 16 of the lunar calendar. The company took this opportunity to hold a dinner party to reward employees for their hard work. In the early days, there was a custom of avoiding the head of a chicken to avoid the hint of dismissal. In recent years, large enterprises in Taiwan Province Province have hired film and television singers to perform at the Tail Tooth Dinner, and won high bonuses and stock lottery, which has become the focus of media attention in Taiwan Province Province.

Send to the gods: Sacrifice to send to the gods in the early morning of the twelfth lunar month, burn Ma Yun paper as a mount for the gods, return to the Spring Festival the next day, and prepare fruit sweet soup according to the regular meeting. After sending the gods, you can clean the shrines, shrines, statues, ancestral tablets and incense burners, remove the old door gods and prepare to replace them with new ones. The incense ashes in the incense burner must be re-screened on the same day, and the door god will burn the gold paper when he sends it to God. According to an old local legend in Taiwan Province Province, on 25th, after the God sent him off, he would come down to report his work instead of the God, so don't expose yourself to obscene clothes that day.

New Year's Eve: According to the December month of the lunar calendar, it is called twenty-nine or thirty in Taiwanese. A few days before the Chinese New Year, all families began to steam rice cakes, which are divided into sweet and salty, called sweet and salty. Tangyuan is made of glutinous rice, and some people add red beans. As the saying goes, "Eat well and have a good New Year"; Salted rice cakes are made by Millai. If there was a funeral at home the year before, the rice cake would not be made, and it would be presented by relatives and friends. People in Taiwan Province Province usually change Spring Festival couplets and door gods on New Year's Eve or a day or two before. With the development of the times, some people don't post Spring Festival couplets, but only post red short messages to express their congratulations, such as "Congratulations on the New Year", "Congratulations on making a fortune" and "Congratulations on the New Year". On New Year's Eve, we should worship the master of inheritance, also called "door worship", and then worship the gods and ancestors. After offering sacrifices to the gods, spring flowers will be affixed to the gods; After the ancestor worship, a cake and a meal will be placed and red flowers made of paper will be inserted, which is called "rice spring boy". That night, we will sit around the stove and eat vegetables for a long time. The so-called long vegetables are generally spinach with roots and mustard. Traditionally, the debts of agricultural society for one year must be paid off before New Year's Eve. Therefore, in the proverbs of Taiwan Province Province, people who are often in financial difficulties are called "29 days a day".

The first day: going out to pay a New Year call, which is called "going in spring". Generally speaking, the direction of travel and the time to open and close the door will be decided according to the farming history. On that day, people in Taiwan Province Province usually go to temples and Buddhist temples to burn incense and pray for a happy New Year.

The next day: the day of going back to my mother's house is still vulgar. Before the second day of junior high school, married women are not allowed to go back to their parents' home, and it is said that they will share their parents' blessings. However, with the progress of the times, in recent years, women's groups in Taiwan Province Province have made efforts to promote the new concept of their daughters going home for the New Year.

Day 3: On the day of marrying a rat, you need to go to bed early as usual.

The fourth day: the day of receiving God, it is customary to choose near dusk, and there is a saying of "sending God early and receiving him late". After receiving the gods, the people who were offended by the zodiac were fitted with traditional symbols. At present, many temples in Taiwan Province Province also have Tai Sui Dian, offering sacrifices to the King of Stars in those days, so that believers can register for the sacrifice.

Day 5: The market is open and all walks of life are open for business.

Day 9: Legend has it that it is the Christmas of the Taoist Jade Emperor, which is called "Heaven". In the early morning of the same day or after midnight on the eighth day, families began to offer sacrifices, and firecrackers continued all night.

Fifteenth: Lantern Festival, it has become a fashion to hold a sightseeing lantern festival in Taiwan Province Province. Every year, giant lanterns are made according to the zodiac and become the focus. There are still activities all over the country, such as lighting lamps in Pingxi, Taibei County, washing the harbor for the sacrifice of Prince yehliu, jumping dragons in miaoli city, bombing Tan Xuan in Taitung City, and saltwater bee cannons in Tainan County.

Folk Reading Ballads in Taiwan Province Province;

"The first morning, the second morning, the third day sleepy, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day fat, the seventh day in 77 yuan, the eighth day, the ninth day, the tenth day full. Eleven husbands, twelve mouthfuls, thirteen glutinous rice with mustard.

Malaysia, Singapore

Before the first day: buying new year's goods, commonly known as "doing new year's goods."

New Year's Eve: Have a reunion dinner.

The first day: go to the temple to burn incense and go out to pay New Year's greetings.

The next day: the day when I went out to pay New Year greetings and went back to my parents' home.

The third day: generally do not go out to pay New Year's greetings. Because of "red mouth", I hope to avoid quarreling with others. If relatives and friends haven't paid New Year greetings to each other yet, they will continue on the fourth day.

Day 9: Born in the sky, in the early morning of that day or after midnight of the eighth day, families began to offer sacrifices.

Fifteen: Lantern Festival. Like Chinese Valentine's Day, the Lantern Festival in Singapore and Malaysia is called "China Valentine's Day", and the way of celebration is also different: unmarried women will throw oranges at the river to pray for marriage (men throw bananas), and there is generally no custom of carrying lanterns or enjoying them.