China's Spring Festival, generally from the lunar calendar on the twenty-third day of the month of sacrifice to the stove kicked off, the holiday fireworks and firecrackers also began.
Sacrifice of the stove, the folk have the so-called "official three people four boat family five", that is, the government in the waxing moon on the twenty-third day, the general civilian family on the twenty-fourth day, the water family for the twenty-fifth day of the sacrificial stove. The ceremony of sacrificing Zaoshen is called "sending Zao" or "resigning from Zao", which is mostly held at dusk at night. The family goes to the stove room, sets up a table, pays respect to the Zao Wang in the shrine on the wall of the stove, puts on offerings, kneels and kowtows, and sets off firecrackers, so that the Zao Wang can "say good things in heaven, and keep peace in the world". Burning firecrackers has become one of the most important procedures to give Zaoshengyi a strong performance.
The festival is closely related to the New Year, because, a week later, on the night of the 30th day of the New Year, Zao Wang Wang will come to the earth with the family should get the good fortune and bad luck, together with the other gods. Lord Zao is believed to lead the way for the gods in heaven. While the other gods go back to heaven after the New Year, only the King Zao stays in the kitchen of the family for a long time. The ceremony of welcoming the gods is called "receiving the gods", and for Lord Zao it is called "receiving the stove". The ceremony is usually held on New Year's Eve, and is completed by putting on a new lantern, burning incense and setting off firecrackers in front of the shrine.
Every day on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, the city and countryside of the Central Plains will be crackling with the first round of firecrackers of the New Year. Townspeople are busy buying candy, fire and other food for the stove, while in the countryside, the preparatory activities for the stove and the grand ceremony of the stove in the deafening sound of the opening. In the old days, Kaifeng circulated a proverb that says: "Lapa, sacrificial stove, the New Year came, the girl wants to flower, the boy wants to gun." Therefore, once the "sacrificial stove", China's urban and rural areas will have "the flavor of the year".
Sacrificed the stove God, the next day is the year 24, the common practice is to sweep. In addition to sweeping the house in order to clean the environment for the New Year, but also all the poor luck, bad luck out of the door. In some areas, the folk custom is also to get rid of the old and welcome the new, for welcoming the God of Wealth. They clean the house, then burn incense, firecrackers and explosives to welcome the arrival of God, thus blessing the family with a year of peace and prosperity.
After cleaning the house, it is the 25th day of the New Year, when the custom is to grind tofu. In addition to grinding tofu for New Year's Eve, in the Beijing-Tianjin area, the Jade Emperor is also welcomed to the earth on this day. When welcoming the Jade Emperor, firecrackers are set off, incense is burned and worship is offered, and all the families pray for the Jade Emperor's blessings, longevity, and the elimination of disasters and harm. On this day, it is not allowed to curse people, otherwise the Jade Emperor will hear them and they will be blamed, which will lead to a lot of trouble.
The folk custom of the 26th day of the year is to cut meat, and another important custom in the Central Plains is to steam steamed buns. Steamed buns are not only for eating, but also to predict how the next year's luck will be. If the steamed buns steamed puffy and clean and even, then the next year is naturally good luck, no harm; if the steamed buns steamed too hard and not proportional, there must be a ghost or wild ghosts in the steamer to make trouble, it will have to go through some prayers or abuse, and even firecrackers deterrent, only to make the situation better. In short, it is important to avoid having everything go wrong before the year, thus affecting your luck in the coming year.
Twenty-seven, twenty-eight days in the traditional folklore to cut hair, bath, Zhengzhou, "twenty-seven pick fine children, twenty-eight pick fools"; the capital has a "twenty-seven wash guilt, twenty-eight wash scruffy" slang. Central Plains folk custom these two days also kill chickens and ducks, for the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner preparation. At this time, the majority of urban and rural areas can be heard everywhere firecrackers, colorful fireworks also began to bloom in the night sky.
The Yu northern region of rural villages on the twenty-eighth of the day folklore also paste "painting", some called paste "ga (transliteration)", that is, write a pair of stickers, stickers door god. Some local customs in the posting of pairs of firecrackers to help, this time the courtyard is usually like a brocade, red as satin, the rich festive atmosphere, it came.
The folk custom of the 29th of the year is to play wine. In the old custom is to spread the wax away, is the night, to neighboring villages, dozens of people in a team, carrying lanterns, drums, holding incense rolls, to the village temples in front of the gods, lighting candles, burning incense foil, firecrackers, intended to worship God to drive away evil spirits to send the gospel. A village to send, another village to receive, the four fields of bright lights, firecrackers noise. After the liberation, this custom gradually disappeared, but the folk blessings, sacrifices, firecrackers, the wind has never stopped.
New Year's Eve the day before, also known as the "small New Year's Eve", some places in northern Henan folk custom to home wine and feasts, to and from the visit to the "other year", and burning incense in the outdoors (called "Tian Xiang"), the firecrackers in front of the court, usually to the end of the firecrackers, the firecrackers, the firecrackers. The firecrackers are set off in front of the court, usually for three days.
The period before the festival is a paradise for children. Schools are out of session and the family is free, so it's fun to play around. I remember when I was a child this time of the year, always with all the pocket money on my body, all over the world to buy cannons and firecrackers, a small number of gun stalls are often surrounded by the water. At that time, the money was small, buy cannon very carefully, put when also more frugal, do not ring the cannon broken plus twist to burn again. Neighbors who want to fire the cannon, that is a big deal, everyone coaxed up to watch, that kind of lively scene and atmosphere, still unforgettable.
New Year's Eve in most northern regions folklore is pinching nuts, out of the pot. That is, pinch flat food, fried food. These two are the most intense and heavy work on the day of the Lunar New Year's Eve. The package of flat food should be enough to thirty night and the first day of the morning to eat. They are busy until about 5:00 p.m. Rural folklore in northern Henan after the flat food package, to first cook a pot, fishing to a small plate, by the housewife at home to burn incense and paper prayers for the ancestors, the other by the men in the family with a bar tray to the graves of the ancestors, each grave to put a small plate, burning gun kowtow, and then is out of the pot to fry the food. Zhengzhou area on New Year's Eve dinner under the dumplings before the custom of firecrackers, but the meaning of the old and welcome the new a little more.
New Year's Eve is the last night of the lunar month of the annual lunar calendar, it and the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month of the first and last). The word "除" in "New Year's Eve" means "to go, to change, to alternate", and New Year's Eve means "the end of the month and the end of the year", i.e. the end of the old year. "that is, the old year to this year and in addition, the next year another new year's meaning, is the last night of the lunar calendar throughout the year. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around the old part of the new, eliminate disasters and pray for blessings as the center, and firecrackers have become the main event.
When the midnight hour, the New Year's bell rang, the whole of China over the land, firecrackers sound the sky. At this time, inside the house is bright lights, in front of the court is brilliant sparks, outside the house is the sound of the sky, the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to the climax. Pan Rong ah in the Qing dynasty, "the Imperial capital of the year in a book," the firecrackers on New Year's Eve at the time made the following record: "New Year's Eve of the second, the night of the intersection, outside the door of the treasure torch competition, Jade Ko competing sound. And firecrackers such as waves of thunder, all over the countryside, all night long."
Today's firecrackers on New Year's Eve is even more magnificent, when the clock strikes zero, the urban and rural skies are the sound of roaring guns, shaking the sky and earth. As little as a thousand whip, ten thousand whip, as many as tens of thousands of whip, hundreds of thousands of whip bursting piece, one after another, stretching. Wake up in the morning, the door is full of red, go out to pay tribute to the New Year, always step on the thick firecracker confetti, like a fluffy red carpet. The year, this is when it really came.
The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar called the first day of the year, the first of the new year. The first morning of the first day of the morning, it is more firecrackers noise, covering the sky. Wenzhou around the first thing that every family is scrambling to hit the "door cannon". All over the city a firecracker sound, commonly known as "catch the year". Playing the "door cannon" also has the practice, generally the first small firecrackers a string, called "100 children gun"; then put a double sound firecrackers. The big firecrackers only three hair, meaning that can lift the year's plague disaster, and said to receive the New Year. Common belief that playing "open the door cannon" the earlier the better, symbolizing that this year, do whatever will go smoothly, such as the intention to get rich, planting people will be a bumper crop. Some places in the open door cannon, but also in the mouth of the words: "open the door, fire the cannon; wealth is also to, hi also to." General firecrackers of the outer skin and the inner skin are a color red, after burning paper flowers all over the ground, as brilliant as the cloud brocade, the formation of a full color, joyful.
Northern folklore in most areas, the first day of the morning meal to dumplings, which is the first meal of the New Year. Before the meal (some are under the dumplings when) firecrackers are essential. In the old days, when the firecrackers were prevalent, this time every household was boiling pots and stoves, the sound of whips, the red-hot New Year's Eve came.
Beijing's rural first morning, a lot of lion dance class and rice-planting teams to beat the gong and drums to the villages and households to pay homage to the New Year, the hosts are more firecrackers to show their welcome.
In previous years, firecrackers, fewer varieties, not much room for choice. Today's firecracker varieties have been quite rich, the most common is "single ring", "double ring" and "whip" three categories, color has more than a thousand kinds of more.
The firecrackers around the world, there is no big difference, but the specific meaning is different. In Jiangsu to open the door to the three guns, to take the meaning of the "three high". In the day is not yet bright when you can hear a steady stream of firecrackers, because people believe that the earlier the firecrackers, the more will be sent home. In some places to let go of the door cannon in accordance with the "book" designated moment, the direction of the fire, put the first time in the house to ignite the firecracker's center of gravity, and then open the door, the gun to the outside, while saying a "peace and good luck". This firecracker sound from the day before dawn until the morning of.
The merchants also have another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve in order to make a great deal of money in the new year. However, according to the old custom, to honor the God of Fortune to compete for the first, firecrackers to the back. Legend has it that if you want to make a fortune, the firecrackers have to be set off at the end of the night to be considered sincere. The first thing we do after the firecrackers back to the house, is to worship heaven and earth, welcome the gods, ancestors. Southerners are also in the ancestor worship, check the calendar contained in this year's auspicious direction, burning lanterns and torches, pots of wine, incense ringing firecrackers, open the door to travel to meet the god of joy, said "out of the sky" or "travel", this custom for the auspicious, praying to the gods to bless a year of everything goes smoothly!
Folklore
What people do in the first month of the year is mostly eating, drinking, playing and having fun, but almost every day has a specific designation, and the days from the second to the fifth are the most important in the New Year, except for New Year's Day.
The second day of the New Year's Day to pay homage to a particularly large number of people, but also married daughters with their husbands and children back to their families to pay homage to the New Year's Day. Hainan folk custom, such as the first year of marriage back to the bride's home to pay homage to the New Year, it is necessary to prepare their own firecrackers, before entering the door to play a string of firecrackers to show that the notice.
Old times on the second day of the year, some villages in East Henan, early on the sound of firecrackers, whistles, whistles into a piece, mules and horses, car traffic, an endless stream. People are full of joy, visiting friends and relatives, enjoy the festival of pleasure.
In the Beijing area, but also in this day to welcome the god, in southern Fujian also aid this example. Local folklore to the waxing moon twenty-six for the end of Nga, the second day of the first month for the first Nga, in these two days to use three sacrificial animals to worship the God of Fude - the landlord, which is called to do Nga. It is said that it is necessary to hurry up to do the tail yam and do the head yam, so on the second day of the first lunar month, after lighting the incense, you have to set off the firecrackers immediately without delaying for a second, it is said that the god of good fortune can hurry up to bring the silver, so that he can make a lot of money.
In Dongguan on the second day in addition to sacrifices to the gods, there are open, open the custom of the year. On this day, stores have to use three animals to sacrifice to the land god and so on, known as the open. As for the opening of the New Year is to bring chickens, geese, pork, etc. to the mother's house to pay homage to the New Year after offering to the gods at noon. Lighting firecrackers also becomes indispensable for rituals, feats of strength and festivities.
The third day of the month is the day to visit the graves and pay homage to family members who have passed away, also known as "doing the third day of the month". Folklore in many areas of our country have placed offerings, incense and kneeling, firecrackers custom. Some places also believe that the third is a poor day, to deliberately firecrackers, called "send the poor". The third day is not a day of fun, people do not like to travel on this day, in Jiangsu and Zhejiang area is the third for the "small year towards", with the first is the same way.
The fourth day of the month in some places is considered to be the day of God's return home, to prepare some livestock rituals to worship the God of the stove, called "wait for God". They believe that the god should come home later, and the later he comes home, the more the Jade Emperor loves him. In southern Fujian both follow this custom, the fourth day of the first month is the day to take the stove god home, but to burn "cloud horse" in the evening of the third day of the god lighting, and let him ride down to the earth in the son of time, but also in the afternoon of the fourth day of the preparation of the three sacrificial offerings to them, burning incense on the ritual, then firecrackers, so that the gods in place, so that is to take the god is complete.
In Mei County on the fourth of this day, or red men and women spring days, they are well-dressed, in the street, firecrackers, fireworks, wandering around, enjoy the festival of happiness, searching for the man if you can meet their own sweethearts, that is no better.
Fifth, commonly known as the God of Fortune's birthday day (the north also has in the second), this day, all hope for prosperity people must be prepared to receive the God of the gift of livestock, businessmen and stores pay particular attention to this, and some of them opened on this day to show good luck. Such as the "Qing Jia Records" said: "five days, for the birth of the God of the road head, gongs and firecrackers, livestock and milk Bi Chen, to compete for the first for the benefit of the market, will get up early to meet, called the head of the road to receive." Some rich eager businessmen, in the fourth night began to pick up, their gongs ringing, the sound of artillery pieces, drink "road head wine", often to receive the dawn to pick up the end, called "grab the head of the road".
Some merchants also have to eat "God of Fortune wine" on the fifth day. In Beijing, after the fifth store to open firecrackers, known as the "ghost of the avalanche". Some northern regions of the business after the fifth store opening firecrackers are extremely popular, we hope that the firecrackers can crash away from the past bad luck, ushered in the New Year's financial prosperity.
Shanghai area merchants in the first five hours, in the hall on the center of the new image of Zhao Gongyuan Shuai, in addition to the three animals, the rest of the offerings are very rich. Incense and candles were lit, and the light shone all over the hall. Then inside and outside the household firecrackers, one after another, the whole city boom, sound vibration for hundreds of miles. And continuous, its sound, the intensity of the momentum is too early on the first day of dawn: "Firecrackers connected to the sound, the God of Fortune is busy **** scramble to welcome. Just want business this year good, pick up and drop off why not to the fifth night."
Tianjin people call the fifth day of the month "broken five". On this day, every family to eat dumplings, chopping board to ding dong ring, so that the four neighbors hear, to show that is chopping "villain". Tianjin people attribute bad things to the "little man" body, get rid of the "little man" in order to be lucky, smooth, the fifth night firecrackers, but also the meaning of avoiding evil and avoiding disaster.
The sixth in some places for the married daughter of the day of return. This day son-in-law, daughters will come to the door to pay tribute to the New Year, festivities, firecrackers and the custom of the second day of the year is also largely the same.
The seventh to the tenth, in the old calendar is very important days. According to Dongfang Shuo "Zhanshu" said: "eight days after the year, one day chickens, two days of dogs, three days of boars, four days of sheep, five days of cattle, six days of horses, seven days of people, eight days of grain. When its day is clear, the thing it hosts is fertile; when it is cloudy, there is disaster." Gu Lu, "Qing Jia Lu" in another nine days and ten places: "Commonly known as the seven days for the day of man, eight days for the Valley Day, nine days for the day of heaven, ten days for the day of the earth. People regard the cloudiness and clearness of these four days to account for the auspiciousness and disasters of the whole year." On these days, people pray to the God of heaven, bring prosperity, grain harvest, and celebrate the birth of the Jade Emperor (nine days), firecrackers and all kinds of rituals on the day of the day.
In the first month in addition to the first five, more lively to be counted on the Lantern Festival, some places from the first month of the twelfth, three will begin to Lantern Festival, has been to the sixteen to stop. The significance of the same New Year's Eve is almost the same, but also to burn incense and firecrackers to worship the gods. Fifteen to eat the Lantern Festival, in the Song Dynasty has been the trend, and the custom of Zhang Lantern is along the Tang Dynasty, prevalent in the Song Dynasty. On this day, in addition to the streets and lanes of lights and colorful, the Chamber of Commerce will also set off fireworks, firecrackers, from eight to ten o'clock stretching, can be described as a fire even the sky, the people of the alleys.
Northern folklore over the Lantern Festival is "fifteen flat, sixteen round," that is, fifteen to eat dumplings, sixteen to eat the Lantern Festival. These two days folk fireworks (also called fireworks) is very popular. Folk commonly known as fireworks for the "flower", fireworks called "release flowers", and will be combined with firecrackers called "flower gun". Fireworks can be broadly divided into jet class, rotating class, class, spit beads class, wire incense class, ground salute class, smoke class, modeling toys class, small salute bomb class categories, thousands of varieties, is the Lantern Festival's most favored children's play.
Folk fireworks since the Song Dynasty has become a custom, the first month of the fifteenth often have the emperor "honor" to see, to show the people with music. The fireworks scene is also extremely grand, brilliant, in modern times is also rare.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" depicts the fireworks: "the yard under the screen frame, the fireworks will be set up to hang ready, the fireworks are all tributes from all over the world, although not very large, but very delicate, colorful stories are complete, sandwiched between colorful firecrackers. Between words, outside a colorful put and put. And there are many 'stars in the sky', 'nine dragons into the clouds', 'a sound of thunder on the ground', 'flying ten rings' and so on. Small sporadic cannonballs." From this can also see the old spring fireworks spectacle.
Childhood New Year's fireworks, is a very desirable thing, colorful bamboo tube, drip gold, full of stars, the heavenly maiden scattered flowers, five blessings, etc. are very popular varieties. Beautiful fireworks, carrying childhood dreams, flying into the sky, transformed into a colorful and brilliant light, the festival night sky dressed in beautiful purple and red, enchanting, now remember, still have a great memory.
Lighting firecrackers to beep and blare the sound of firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new, can create a festive and lively atmosphere, bring joy and good fortune, is one of the important recreational activities during the holidays. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers is more and more widely used, varieties and colors are also increasingly numerous, whenever a major festival, festivities, and marriage, building, business, etc., are to set off firecrackers to show that the celebration, Figure a good luck. Now, Hunan Liuyang, Liling, Guangdong Foshan and Dongyao, Jiangxi Yichun and Pingxiang, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other areas is China's famous hometown of firecrackers, the production of firecrackers colorful, high-quality, not only sells well across the country, but also exported to other countries and regions of the world.
Loud firecrackers, bright red spring couplets, showing people's enthusiasm for a new life, yearning, aspirations, but also focuses on a national psychology, dreams and aspirations. Although this time in the north is still frosty, but people in the rumbling firecrackers, awakened the spring; from the snow crystals to see the wheat fields of gold and blue; from the fragrance of plums smelled the fragrance of peaches and plums. Sequence from then on to Yangchun, the Qiankun Li vitality sprouting. People are thus cheerful, optimistic, confident enthusiasm to meet the arrival of the new spring.