Xishui people celebrate the New Year
"When the New Year comes, it's time to complain about the family. The sons want hats, and the daughters want flowers; the daughter-in-law wants meat to go back to her parents' home, and the mother-in-law wants glutinous rice to make (make) glutinous rice cakes - —". The nursery rhymes in my memory seem to echo in my ears, but they also seem like dusty history. After all, such New Year expectations have gone far away.
It has been a long time since I celebrated the New Year in my hometown, and every time I think of the scene of celebrating the New Year in my hometown during my childhood, it is really a reluctant memory.
To be honest, in our hometown Tuanbei, the New Year begins on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. When I was a child, I would sing children’s songs in anticipation of the coming New Year: “On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, eat fish bones; on the twenty-fifth day, make tofu; on the twenty-sixth day, it’s called New Year’s meat; on the twenty-seventh day, the new year is completed; on the twenty-eighth day, it’s time to wash Sloppy; twenty-nine, every family has it; thirty nights, hahaha.”
The twenty-fourth is the small year, and it is also the beginning of the New Year. Of course, a sacred ceremony is indispensable: receiving ancestors. Come to think of it, this is where the Chinese people's filial piety lies. During the New Year, how can living people forget their deceased relatives, especially their deceased elders? In our hometown, on the front wall of every household's courtyard, there is a nave with the title "Heaven and Earth Guoqin Shishi", and these "qins" are our ancestors. There must be a formal and large square table in the courtyard, which is where ancestors are worshiped and guests sit. The ceremony is held during dinner on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Several dishes are placed on the table, eight chairs are placed around it, then wine is poured, and the adults also say a few affectionate and flattering words (to each other, of course) ancestors), no one could move the chair at this time. After three rounds of wine, move the chairs, pour three glasses of wine on the table respectfully onto the floor, and then pour the rest of the wine into the jug (I think this is because I was reluctant to pour it all out). After the ceremony is over, the whole family begins to have a meal, and the Chinese New Year begins.
After the Little New Year, the New Year is truly held. Of course, the schedule for the New Year will not be like that in the children's songs, but the work before and after is inseparable.
Making glutinous rice cakes, hot bean cakes, killing New Year's Eve... are all places where friends come to join in the fun. Sometimes families with more money will give the onlookers a piece of glutinous rice cake or half a sheet of bean cake.
Eating New Year’s Eve dinner is an indispensable and important thing in our hometown. Generally speaking, it can be done during the three days from the 28th to the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, but the New Year meal is mostly eaten on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month. Legend has it that New Year's dinner was eaten thirty years ago because the poor were rushing to have a New Year's dinner, otherwise they would not be able to eat it when the debt collectors came. The New Year's dinner is mostly eaten in the morning when it is still dark. Legend has it that when the New Year's dinner is eaten in the morning, the rich are afraid that the poor who ask for rice will offend the God of Wealth (the door cannot be opened during the New Year's dinner); while the poor eat it at night, which is a sign of poverty. The family has to wait for the porters to come back with something or borrow something before they can gather together for the New Year meal. But most people like to have New Year's Eve dinner in the morning, apparently because they want to be blessed by the "rich".
Staying vigil is a rule on New Year’s Eve. Set up a fire pit in the center of the courtyard, set up a dry tree bag (the part where the roots of the tree join together) that has been prepared, add dry firewood, and light it. The fire will be strong and strong. If it is a pine tree, the smell of pine scent fills the entire courtyard. The elder men would warm a pot of local water and wine by the fire pit. At this time, peanuts became the best dish to go with the wine. Sugar water and tea will be warmed by the fire pit for women and children to enjoy. The children's favorite thing is to bake glutinous rice cakes by the fire pit. When the glutinous rice cakes start to bake through, a big belly will bulge in the middle. The remaining glutinous rice cakes will be covered with ashes. This is the happiest thing for a child. Not only does he want his belly to be swollen, but he is also afraid that he will be caught off guard and get stained with dust. However, his eyes are so tired that they look like they are about to pop out. With a burst of laughter, Every time I heard it, I enjoyed it.
There was no TV or anything else on New Year’s Eve at that time. It was late at night, and finally I couldn’t stand the intrusion of sleepiness, and everyone would eventually climb into bed. But the sound of firecrackers in the morning will bring people into the first day of the New Year.
People get up very early on the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, which is called "Chu Fang".
I still haven’t figured out what the real meaning of this prescription is, but everyone knows that it is to pray for good luck in the new year. Firstly, the firecrackers must be set off early, secondly, the head of the family must set off the firecrackers, and thirdly, longer and louder firecrackers are of course better. After setting off the firecrackers, the housewife will make a bowl of brown sugar water with rice crackers added. Everyone can enjoy a cup. This is a blessing that represents "sweetness and prosperity"!
The breakfast on the first day of junior high school must be chicken and bacon soup that has been simmered overnight. The aroma of the bacon has already spread throughout the room, making the children chatter and lick their mouths with greed. In my childhood, the delicacies of my hometown, "fried noodles in chicken soup and glutinous rice cakes cooked with bacon," could only be enjoyed during the Chinese New Year.
After breakfast, the whole Bay (natural village) began to celebrate the New Year. Every household would set off firecrackers when someone came, and the children would be given a handful of peanuts or homemade cakes. The children were very interested and went from house to house, making firecrackers sound all over the Bay. They also returned home with a full load.
Visiting relatives to pay New Year's greetings is also a major event in the first month. Of course, it should start with the elders or closest relatives. When adults go out to celebrate the New Year, they must take a child with them. I didn’t understand it at the time, but when I grew up, I thought about it. Isn’t this the “connotation” in it so that I don’t suffer a loss?
In our hometown, playing with dragon lanterns, catching colorful lotus boats, and singing social operas are all It's a very popular thing. It was also the happiest place to go to when I was a child. I can't understand the temple opera, but I just like the crowds.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was also early. After breakfast, the children must go to the bamboo forest to shake the bamboos. While shaking the bamboos, they also sing a song: "Master Zhuer, Mother Zhuer, you will not grow up, you will grow up for me, and I will follow you when I grow up." Generally long. ”
“Fire at thirty, lantern at fifteen” is very important in my hometown. But in my impression, the impression of this lantern is not the same as the “festival lantern” that I later learned about. But after night falls, all the dragon lanterns will have wax torches on each section, rolling and dancing in the open space, among the mountains and forests. This is a real dragon lantern, and it is a very moving scene.
When it comes to the "Lights" on the 15th day of the year, the most solemn and exciting part is the "send-off", which is also a grand and sacred event. In the afternoon - about four o'clock, it will be sent out. The "ancestors" have returned home. Perhaps this is the end of the New Year ceremony. Every household will bring wax torches and incense to the ancestral tombs of each family, and light incense and candles in front of each tombstone to give to the ancestors. Light up the way home. When it gets completely dark, as long as you dare to walk out of the door and look up, you will see lights dotted between the mountains in the distance, erratic and mysterious, like stars and fireflies, as if the sky and the world are connected. It forms a scene that will make you imagine endlessly.
Although the Lantern Festival dinner is a rare "Lantern Festival" - Tang Yuan, it is no longer of much interest because it is tomorrow - the 16th day of the first lunar month. , that is, "the year is over and the month is over, the drums are beating, the drums are falling"
And the new "year" is waiting for the new twelfth lunar month.