Only the above food, of course, is not rich, like the ancient gods and ancestors with pastries - honey for, Saqima, etc., not only is the Beijing region, Manchu and other ethnic minorities food, but also in the Beijing family must be food. Some well-off Beijingers used to eat fish on New Year's Eve. Fish must be carp, initially in the name of sacrificing to the gods, and later associated with the "lucky" auspicious words, fish is both food and offerings.
As for the dumplings on New Year's Eve, the vegetarian dumplings are used to honor the gods, and everyone eats the meat-filled ones; for those who are not rich, the dumplings are filled with a mixture of meat and vegetables. Even for the poorest families, the "program" of eating dumplings on New Year's Day is not missing. In addition to dumplings and rice cakes, which are well-known delicacies, people in "Old Beijing" have to make "Dou Er Sauce", a kind of sauce made of meat skin, dried tofu, soybeans, green beans and water mustard, A cold dish made of meat skin, dried tofu, soybeans, green beans, water mustard, etc., it is amber in color and similar to "meat jelly". In addition, there is also "mustard pier", which is a cold dish used to accompany wine and appetizers. People eat greasy food during the holidays, easy to "fire", "phlegm", these cold dishes can make up for this defect.
When a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes have been prepared, Beijing people also have candies, dried fruit, melon seeds and "mixed children", the so-called "mixed children" is today's mixed dried fruit. Back then, these small foods were people sitting around the stove, the food when the New Year's Eve resignation.
Today, those offerings and traditional foods in the name of ancestor worship, almost all of them have been preserved, only less noticeable. As for today's Spring Festival, the table can only be summarized by the word "abundant", what Sichuan and Lu dishes, seafood, will appear on the New Year's Eve table of the ordinary people. The "new school" people will also go to the big restaurant to "set a meal" to welcome the New Year!
Lapa congee: The eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, in the old Beijing, is also considered a festival. On this day, the most important thing for every family is to make Laha congee. There are several different stories about the origin of Laha congee: some say it was made in honor of Shennong, some say it was made in honor of Yue Fei, and some say it was passed down from Zhu Yuanzhang. But the most widely circulated one is the one in honor of Buddha.
According to the Buddhist "Puyao Sutra", Shakyamuni escaped from the royal palace to become a monk on Mount Jiaxu, studied the classics, and spent six full years in the mountains. When he graduated, it was the eighth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which is generally known as "Sakyamuni's attainment of enlightenment" by Buddhists. According to the Karma Sutra, Siddhartha Gautama had no time to care about his personal food and clothing because of his six years of austerity, and he ate only some hemp and wheat every day, and he did not have enough to eat and drink for many years. When he graduated from his studies, he was already ragged and skinny. Exhausted, he walked down Mount Kathu, sat on the banks of the Nilian River, and begged from the village people. The cowherd woman in the village gave Sakyamuni milk in a bowl, boiled it and gave it to Sakyamuni to eat, so that Sakyamuni's health was quickly restored. After the prosperity of Buddhism, in order to commemorate this event, it is stipulated that this day for the ancient Indian people "fasting monks" and relief of the poor and the day of food and drink. After the introduction of Buddhism to China, the first eight days of the month of Lunar alms this thing gradually turned into boiling "Lunar congee" custom. Chen Yaowen of the Ming Dynasty said in his book Tianzhongji: "On the eighth day of the twelfth month of December in Tokyo during the Song Dynasty, all the major temples in the capital city sent seven treasures and five flavors of congee." The "Seven Treasures and Five Flavors Porridge" here refers to the "Lapa Porridge". Some Buddhist temples in our country boil "Laha congee", is to commemorate the story of the Nilian River cowherd woman relief Sakyamuni.
In addition to boiling Laha congee for the Buddha, the people also take it as a gift to each other between friends and neighbors.
In ancient times, Lapa congee was cooked with red beans and glutinous rice, and then the ingredients gradually increased. The Southern Song Dynasty, Zhou Mi wrote "Old Story of Wulin", said: "with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms, persimmon chestnuts and so on to do the porridge, called 'Lapa congee'. To date, the people of China's south, northeast, northwest of the vast area still retains the custom of eating Lapa congee.
Lapa congee with a lot of materials, generally with kidney beans, peas, beans, cowpeas, mung beans, millet, rice, sorghum rice and other beans and rice mixed in a piece of time, together with small jujubes, chestnuts and other dried fruits simmered, drink, plus brown sugar, sugar, roses, mignonette and other seasonings. Careful, it is with glutinous rice, Job's tear grains rice, lingzhi rice, chicken head rice, lotus seed meat mixed in a piece of porridge, and then paved with candied fruit preserves, lychee meat, Gui Yuan meat, pine nuts, peach kernels, green silk, red silk, but also to put out a pattern pattern, it is really good-looking and tasty. Winter eat a bowl of steaming congee, both delicious and nutritious, can really increase the blessing and longevity.
In addition to the porridge, the folk have the custom of soaking Lahua garlic. Also on the eighth day of the first lunar month, the peeled garlic cloves into the altar, filled with vinegar, seal the mouth, I a warm place to put, until the evening of New Year's Eve to eat dumplings, only to open to enjoy. The color of the soaked garlic cloves is green, like emerald, and it tastes acidic and a little bit spicy, which is really a unique flavor.
Legend has it that if you don't drink congee on the 8th day of the 12th month, you will be poorer next year. In the Qing Dynasty, the palace side of the congee is the Yonghe Palace Lama boiled well after the tribute.
"Send a letter to the congee," is a widely circulated folk song: after the Lunar New Year, the debtor should pay the debt. The first time I saw this, it was a very good time for me to go back to the house.
Twenty-third Festival of the King of the Stove: Every lunar month 23, the old Beijing family stove. The Beijing popular song "Men Shen Zao" sings: "Every year, every family is busy, the twenty-third day to sacrifice the king of the stove. A table is set up in the middle of the festival, with two plates of sugar on both sides. There is a bowl of water with black soil and hay, and incense is burned in the stove. The head of the family comes over and praises the king of the stove for his good fortune." This song describes the scene and the real scene of the old Beijing when the family sacrifices to the stove.
China's Shang Dynasty has been the god of the stove. In the Zhuangzi - Dasheng chapter, there is a record of "stove harmful". Sima Biao notes that "bun, stove god, dressed in red, like a beautiful woman." Huai Nan Zi - Recorded Discourse" says: "Yandi made fire. He died and became Zao." Gao Liao note: "Yan Di, Shen Nong, with fire virtue in the world, died and sacrificed ancestor in Zao Shen." At that time, sacrificing ancestors to the God of the stove was memorial in nature. It was said that Zaojun was in every household to understand the good and evil on earth. Therefore, the couplet says: "Going up to heaven to say good things, returning to the palace to bring good luck." When does Zaojun return to the palace? Probably before the Spring Festival. It is to bless the family with good fortune and peace in the new year. It is a good wish.
Zaojun, is also the god of fire. The name of the fire god is Zhu Rong, or Hui Lu. Zhu Rong legend Zhu Rong, to fire Shi Hua, No. Red Emperor, so the later fire officer because of the predicate. A regarded as the emperor beast when the fire officer, later people honored as the fire god. Fire God was originally for the benefit of mankind, but also became synonymous with fire. Old Beijingers sacrificed Zaojun and the Fire God, because since ancient times, the dry weather around the Spring Festival is a time of many fires. It is very necessary to be careful with fire.
Beijing proverbs have: "send a message of Lapa congee, life-threatening Kanto sugar, life-saving boiled meat and potatoes," said, meaning that Lapa passed the Spring Festival will soon be coming to the information, one to the New Year's end of the debtor debt, and twenty-three days is the most urgent time to force the debt, so it is the life-threatening Kanto sugar, to the New Year's Eve to eat dumplings at midnight, the general debtors according to the rules! The general creditors, according to the rules, will not come. Some poor families, rice are not enough to eat, which have money to buy Guandong sugar sacrificial stove, therefore, the old Beijing folk song to stay legend "'Zao Wang, this is Zhang, a bowl of cold water, three incense, this year, the boy mixed with poor, next year, then eat Guandong sugar." Once upon a time in Beijing, there were many Zaowang temples, and every household was dedicated to Zaowang. In addition to ethnic minorities, almost all Han Chinese have the custom of sacrificing Zao Wang. Zaoshen is the god enshrined in folk stoves, also known as Zaojun, Zaowang and Zaowangmaster. Primitive people, in order to show their gratitude to the inventor of fire, offer sacrifices to his ancestors every summer, which symbolizes fire, and the stove also represents fire. The northern part of our country has the custom of sacrificing the stove with candy on the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year. As the saying goes: "twenty-three, sugar melon sticky, twenty-five, sweeping dust". Sweeping dust is not only good for environmental health, but also good for fire prevention, because some combustible garbage completely removed, it removes a fire factor.
Lunar New Year's Eve sweeping room: Tang Dynasty, "sweeping the year" style prevailed. According to the Song Wu Zimu "dream beam record" records: "December end ...... regardless of the size of the family, are sprinkled clean the door, to dust, net household ...... to pray for the new year's peace." Passed down through the generations, the custom of sweeping the house before the Spring Festival was formed. Even if the people are few and poor people have to sweep the house. This is not only a kind of preparation for welcoming the gods down to the world, but also an important move to sweep away filth, bad luck and poverty. Sweeping the house is indeed a rather troublesome task, but one that cannot be avoided. The master of a large family commanded the servants to do; the general household is the whole family of young and old to do, will be indoor furniture and furnishings are moved to the courtyard, wipe clean, especially on the side of the copper work must be played brightly. For the interior is mainly to sweep the corners of the roof on the tower ash, cobwebs, tear off the walls of the old paintings, to be painted or framed, and then pasted on the new paintings; tear off the old window panes on the glass windows, wiping clean to be New Year's Eve when pasted on the new window panes; in particular, the Buddha Hall, the ancestral shrine to be more carefully organized and cleaned, such as incense burners, wax cuttings, flower pots, sea lamp bowls, bowls of offerings and other rituals must be polished, before the Buddha's old coupling pairs, such as money, and so on, are all uncovered! The old couplets in front of the Buddha, hanging money and other things, all removed.
After sweeping the house, people have to "choose auspicious" to the bathhouse or in the home foam bath bath, shaving and haircut, said in addition to the old to welcome the new.
After sweeping the house, the whole family began to organize the New Year's goods, please incense, wax paper code, offerings, write couplets, cut window, buy hanging money, New Year's paintings, firecrackers ...... ready for New Year's.
Lapis lazuli is a very important part of the Chinese New Year, but it is also the most important part.
Lunar New Year's Eve: Lunar New Year's Eve is on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year. If it is a small year, the New Year's Eve will be on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year. The people call this day "New Year's Eve". In all the festivals, "New Year's Eve" should be considered the old Beijing's busiest and the most fun day.
The first thing to do is to put up spring scrolls. The street door of every house, both sides of the door should be pasted with red paper written in the Spring Festival couplets, the lintel should also be pasted on the banner. Most of the content of the Spring Festival couplets is to increase the blessing, longevity, wealth, treasure and so on, anyway, are auspicious words. Next is to post the door god. The door god in old Beijing is Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde from the Tang Dynasty, with a white face and a black face, one on the left and one on the right. It is said that they are good at driving away evil spirits and catching demons. Some tenants also have to post the hanging thousand. Hanging a thousand also known as hanging money, with red paper or colored paper cut, pasted on the windows and doors, it is said to avoid the poor God.
It is said that the night of the New Year's Eve to the early morning of the first day, the gods to come down to the world to examine the good and evil on earth, these gods inside the God of Wealth, the land masters. The 23rd day of the Lunar New Year is the time when Mr. Zao Wang, the king of the kitchen, comes back to the earth and continues to be the head of his family. At this time, people should be respectful, cautious, but also burn incense and kowtow, please the gods in the new year more care.
The night of New Year's Eve is one of the most savory times for old Beijingers. First, the whole family gathers for a reunion dinner and enjoys the most sumptuous food of the year. Most of the dishes are stewed fish, stewed meat, stewed chicken, meatballs, buckwheat and other meat dishes, but also fresh and refreshing cold dishes, for example, with cranberries, big red robes made of spicy vegetables, and sugar and spicy Chinese cabbage, mustard duner and so on. The staple food is dumplings, usually stuffed with mutton and cabbage or pork and leeks. When eating dumplings, never forget to take "Laha vinegar" as a seasoning.
On the night of the 30th of the year, the meal, people should be Qi, the table should also say more auspicious words, and herald the future days and beautiful, reunion.
According to the custom of the old Beijing, on the night of the New Year's Eve can not sleep, we have to play his painfully overnight, which is called "keep the year". This is called the "year-end vigil." There are two meanings. For older people, keeping watch on New Year's Eve has the meaning of cherishing time; young people keep watch in order to prolong the life of their parents. Firecrackers to celebrate the Spring Festival, in China has more than two thousand years of history. Ancient people burned bamboo to make a sound, called "firecrackers". "Popular Haiku" said: "Ancient firecrackers, all for the real bamboo on fire, so the Tang poetry also known as popping rod. Later people rolled paper for it, called the firecracker." The original meaning of firecrackers is to scare and expel evil spirits. The Jing Chu chronicle of the year, "the first day of the first month, is the day of the three yuan, the rooster crows up, first in front of the courtyard firecrackers, in order to dispel the mandrill evil spirits." The Divine Anomaly Scripture" cloud: "Western mountains, there are people, more than a foot long, a foot, sex is not afraid of people; offenders are cold and hot, the name of the mandrill. Bamboo in the fire, beeping sound, and the mandrill scared.
Later people then like its shape, with gunpowder for it. "This is of course a superstition. Today, we put firecrackers, although there are old and welcome the new, to take an auspicious omen, but there is no superstitious color.
Chinese New Year customs - lion dance
Whenever "the sound of firecrackers in addition to the old year", in China's vast land, the traditional lion dance accompanied by the warm spring breeze and joyful gongs and drums, appeared in the towns and villages. For the annual Spring Festival, adding a rich atmosphere of joy.
The lion dance is a traditional folk sports activities in China, originated in the era of the North and South Dynasties.
According to legend, in May of the 23rd year of Yuanjia (466 A.D.) of Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty, the assassin of Jiazhou of the Song Dynasty was ordered to invade Linyi, and Fan Yang, the king of Linyi, used an army of elephants to participate in the battle. This army of elephants made it difficult for the enemy, who possessed only short weapons, to even approach it because the soldiers were armed with spears and rode on the backs of tall and large elephants, and the Song soldiers began to suffer great losses. Later, the vanguard officer, General Zhenwu Zongcourt, thought of a solution. He said that all beasts are afraid of lions, and elephants are probably no exception. So, overnight with the noodles, hemp, etc. made a lot of fake lions, painted in colorful, and special open mouth. Each "lion" by two warriors draped, hidden in the bushes. He also dug many deep and big traps around the intended battlefield. The enemy drove the elephant army to attack, Zongcourt with a bow released a fake lion, this "lion" one by one turned a big bloody mouth, tusks and claws straight to the elephants.
The elephants were scared to turn their heads, Zongcourt took the opportunity to command the soldiers to ten thousand crossbows, the frightened elephants were running around, a lot of them fell into the trap, people and elephants were captured alive. ...... From then on, the lion dance was first popular in the army, and then spread to the people. Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi's "West Liang Envoy" in the "masked Hu people masked lion, carved wood for the head of the silk for the tail; gold-plated eyes and silver posting teeth, rise up the sweater swinging ears ...... ". Visible, in the Tang Dynasty has a similar modern lion dance.
Why do people like to dance lion during the Spring Festival? It is said that the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong Foshan region appeared a monster, every year will be over, it appears in the suburbs of Foshan, trampling crops everywhere, mutilation of people and animals, rural farmers do not win its bitter people will be bamboo grate tied into a number of lion model, and painted with a variety of mottled colors, set up beforehand, when the beast appeared, drums and gongs ringing, the group of lions dance, all towards the beast, the beast was terrified of ten thousand, turned his head and ran away, and then the local townspeople think the lion dance is the best way to get to the top. Afterwards, the local villagers think that the lion has the power to drive away evil spirits and suppress demons, and has auspicious omens. So, every year in the Spring Festival to play drums and gongs, door to door, lion dance to pay tribute to the New Year, in order to show that the elimination of harm, forecast auspicious intentions.
Lion dance, in addition to the Spring Festival, in the days of celebration, also often with a lion dance. Folk general lion dance by two people cooperate to play a big lion (some areas called too lion), a person dressed as a small lion (some areas called less lion), another person dressed as a samurai, holding an embroidered ball as a guide, and the first open fist kicking, in order to induce the lion to dance. The lion with the drum beat of fast, slow, light, heavy, and suddenly look up, and suddenly look back and low, and suddenly look back and prostrate, and suddenly wagging his head and tail, a thousand different, interesting, in imitation of the action, there are licking hair, wipe the feet, scratching the head, wash the ear, pilgrimage, rolling and other actions; in the skills, there are on the platform, over the footbridge, across the three mountains, out of the cave, down the hill, rolling, spitting and picking up the green, and so on.
Chinese New Year customs - play dragon lantern
Chinese New Year, in China's vast number of towns and cities, there is a "play dragon lantern" habit.
"Juggling Dragon Lanterns" is also called "Dragon Dance", also known as "Dragon Lantern Dance", is a popular folk dance in China.
China's ancient people created the image of the dragon to send good wishes. According to legend, the ancients called the dragon, the phoenix, the unicorn and the tortoise as the four spirits. Beautifully modeled, gorgeous and colorful, the lines are rigid and flexible. In the history of the river shines a unique artistic luster. As early as in the Shang-Yin era, bronze and bone carving on the dragon pattern; Zhou Dynasty bronze dragon pattern has become more and more complete. "Playing dragon lanterns" in the Han Dynasty folk has been quite common. In the Tang and Song dynasties, "social fire" and "dance team" performances, "playing dragon lanterns" was a common form of performance. Song Dynasty Wu Zimu "Dream Liang Records" recorded: the Southern Song Dynasty line capital Lin'an (now Hangzhou) "the night of the Lantern Festival ...... grass bound into a dragon, with a green screen cover grass, dense lamps and candles ten thousand lamps, look at the winding as the shape of the two dragons."
In ancient times, people took the "dragon" as the embodiment of good luck, representing the wish for good weather, so the dragon dance to pray for the blessing of the dragon, in order to get good weather and a good harvest in all seasons. People dance with bamboo, iron ligature, outside with silk or cloth made of colored dragons for fun, show cheerful mood, after folk artists continue to process manufacturing, to now "play dragon lantern" has developed into a form of perfect, with considerable performance skills and romanticism with the folk dance art, deep for the masses of people.
"Juggling dragon lanterns" performance, there are "single-dragon playing pearls" and "double-dragon playing pearls"
two kinds. The dragon body consists of many sections, each section is about five feet apart, the first section is called a file. The "sections" that make up the dragon's body are usually singular. (Such as nine, eleven and thirteen sections). The dragon's head part is also divided into light and heavy, generally weighing about thirty pounds. The dragon bead inside the candle is called "dragon lamp", do not point is called "cloth dragon".
In the play method, different styles, each with its own characteristics. Juggling nine sections of the main focus on pattern skills, the more common actions are: dragon roaming, dragon head drill crotch (wear flowers), head and tail drill, dragon swinging tail and snake back skin, and so on. No matter what kind of tricks are performed, the performer has to start with a broken step. Play eleven, thirteen sections of the dragon, the main performance of the dragon's movements, that is, the dragon chasing the red pearl flying jump, suddenly high, like flying clouds; suddenly low, like the sea breaking waves, meandering, very beautiful.
There is a habit of playing dragon lanterns in the countryside, that is, not only in the village to play, but also to perform outside the village, to the town or city wide streets, squares to "race". Whenever the New Year to the Lantern Festival period, in a succession of gongs and drums, firecrackers, each folk "dragon dance" team to show their skills, attracting thousands of people in the streets.
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Spring Festival customs
The Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, but also one of the most important festivals throughout the year, how to celebrate this festival, in the development of thousands of years of history, the formation of a number of more fixed customs, many of which are still passed down to the present day.
1. dust
"Lunar New Year's Eve, dust sweeping the house", according to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals", China in the Yao and Shun era, there is a Spring Festival dust sweeping custom. According to folklore: because of "dust" and "Chen" harmonized, dust sweeping in the New Year has the meaning of "in addition to the Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to all poor luck, bad luck all sweep out the door. This custom is a symbol of people's desire to break away from the old and bring in the new and their prayers for the old and the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean up the environment, wash all kinds of appliances, dismantle the bedding curtains, sprinkle clean the courtyard, dust dust cobwebs, dredge the nullahs and ditches. Everywhere overflowing with happy health, clean and welcome the new year's happy atmosphere.
2. Posting Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets, also known as door-to-door, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc., it is neat, couplets, simple, sophisticated text depicting the background of the times, expressing the best wishes, is China's unique form of literature. Every Spring Festival, whether urban or rural, every family should select a large red Spring Festival couplets pasted on the door, for the festival to increase the festive atmosphere. This custom began in the Song Dynasty, began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the ideology and artistry of the Spring Festival couplets have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangrui prepared the Spring Festival couplets monograph, "Threshold Union series of words" on the origin of the couplets and the characteristics of various types of works are discussed.
The types of spring couplets are more, according to its use of the place, can be divided into the door heart, frame pair, horizontal cape, spring strips, doufang and so on. "Door" in the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frame; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "Chunzhi "According to the different contents, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond-shaped, mostly posted in the furniture, shadow wall.
3. Stick the window and upside down "Fu" character
In folklore, people also like to stick a variety of paper cuttings on the window - window flowers. Window flowers not only set a festive atmosphere, but also decorative, appreciative and practical in one. Paper cutting in China is a very popular folk art, for thousands of years by the people's favorite, because it is mostly pasted on the window, so it is also known as "window flowers". Window decoration with its unique generalization and exaggeration of the auspicious events, good wishes expressed to the fullest, will be decorated with festivals red hot and rich.
At the same time in the paste Spring Festival couplets, some people in the house door, wall, lintel pasted on the large and small "Fu" character. The Spring Festival sticker "Fu" word, is China's folk custom from a long time ago. The character "福" refers to good fortune and good luck, and it expresses people's desire for a happy life and their wish for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wishes, some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "good fortune has arrived". Folk there will be "Fu" word fine as a variety of patterns, patterns of longevity, longevity peach, carp jump Dragon Gate, the five valleys, the dragon and phoenix, and so on.
4. Stickers
Spring Festival hanging stickers in urban and rural areas is also very common, thick black colorful paintings to thousands of families added a lot of prosperity and joy of the festive atmosphere. New Year's paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and holding their hopes for the future. New Year's paintings, like spring scrolls, originated as "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of the New Year's paintings has not only limited to monotonous themes such as the God of the Door, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings in the workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune and Longevity," "Heavenly Officials Provide Blessings," "Five Grains and a Plentiful Harvest," "Six Animals Prosperity," "Welcoming the Spring to receive the blessings of" and other classic colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy people's joyful prayers for the New Year's good wishes. There are three important production areas of Chinese New Year paintings in China: Taohuayu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; forming three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings, each with its own characteristics.
China's collection of the earliest Chinese New Year paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fair presenting the face of the country" woodcut New Year paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and green beads of the four ancient beauties. The most widely circulated folk painting is the one of "The Mouse Marrying Her Marriage". It depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride in accordance with the customs of the earth. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng Mantuo of Shanghai combined the lunar calendar and New Year's paintings. This is a new form of New Year's paintings. This combination of two and one of the New Year's paintings, later developed into a calendar, and is still popular throughout the country.
5. Year-keeping
New Year's Eve year-keeping is one of the most important New Year's activities, the custom of year-keeping has a long history. The earliest records are found in the Western Jin Dynasty Zhou Chu's "Land and Customs": New Year's Eve night, each with the gift, known as "feed the year"; wine and food invited, known as the "other year"; young and old get together to drink, wishing to complete, known as the "split year"; everyone all night long to keep the New Year's Eve. "
The first time I saw the movie was when I was a kid, and it was the first time I saw the movie.
"One night even double the year, five more divided into two days", New Year's Eve night, the whole family gathered together, ate the New Year's Eve dinner, light up candles or oil lamps, sitting around the stove chatting, waiting for the old to welcome the new moment, all-night vigil, symbolizing all the evil plagues and epidemics according to the run to drive away, looking forward to a new year of good luck. This custom gradually prevailed, to the early Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin wrote a "year-keeping" poem: "cold resignation from the winter snow, the warmth of the spring wind". Until today, people are still accustomed to the New Year's Eve to welcome the new year.
In ancient times, there are two meanings of year-end vigil: the elderly year-end vigil for the "resignation of the old year", there is the meaning of the treasure of time and light; young people year-end vigil, is to extend the life of parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the moment of transition between the old and the new year is usually the middle of the night.
6. Firecrackers
Chinese folk "open door firecrackers" said. That is, the arrival of the new year, the first thing to open the door of every household is to set off firecrackers, to beep and blare firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers is a Chinese specialty, also known as "firecrackers", "cannonballs", "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, so far has a history of more than two thousand years. Firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, is a kind of festival entertainment, can bring people joy and good luck. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers is more and more widely used, varieties and colors are also increasingly numerous, every major holiday and festivals, and marriage, building, opening, etc., are to set off firecrackers in order to show the celebration, Figure a good luck. Now, Hunan Liuyang, 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 the world.
7. New Year's Day
On the first day of the New Year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dressed neatly, go out to visit friends and relatives, pay respect to each other, wishing good luck in the coming year. Worship a variety of ways, some of them are the same patriarch led a number of people to go door to door to pay tribute to the New Year; some colleagues invited a few people to pay tribute to the New Year; there are also get together to congratulate each other, known as the "group worship". Because of the time-consuming and laborious door-to-door New Year's greetings, some of the upper-class people and the scholarly community used the stickers to congratulate each other, which developed into the later "New Year's card".
When the Spring Festival to pay homage to the New Year, the younger generation should first pay homage to the elders, wishing the elders a long life and well-being, the elders can be prepared beforehand the New Year's Eve money to the elders, it is said that the New Year's Eve money can be pressed to the evil spirits, because the "age" and the "spirit" harmonic, the elders get the New Year's Eve money can be a year of peace and security. It is said that New Year's money can keep evil spirits at bay, because "year" and "spirit" sound alike. There are two kinds of New Year's money, one is a colorful rope threaded and braided into the shape of a dragon, placed at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in the "Yanjing Yearly Record"; the other is the most common, that is, wrapped in red paper by the parents of the money given to the children. New Year's money can be rewarded in the evening after the New Year's greetings in public, can also be in the New Year's Eve when the child is asleep, by the parents secretly placed under the child's pillow. Now the elders for the younger generation to send the custom of the new year's money is still prevalent.
8. Spring Festival food customs
In the ancient agricultural society, about since the eighth day of the lunar month, housewives will be busy opening the New Year's food. Because of the long time needed to curing preserved meat, so it must be prepared as early as possible, many provinces in China have the custom of curing preserved meat, which is the most famous preserved meat in Guangdong Province.
Steamed rice cakes, rice cakes because of the harmonic "year high", coupled with a variety of flavors, almost become a must-have seasonal food. There are square yellow and white rice cakes, symbolizing gold and silver, which means a prosperous new year.
The taste of rice cake varies from place to place. Beijing people like to eat red dates made of rice or yellow rice rice cakes, fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes. Hebei people like to add jujube, small red beans and mung beans in the rice cake steamed together. Northwestern Shanxi in Inner Mongolia and other places, New Year's Eve used to eat yellow rice flour fried rice cakes, some also wrapped with bean paste, date paste and other fillings, Shandong people use yellow rice, red dates steamed rice cakes. Northern rice cakes are mainly sweet, or steamed or fried, some people simply dip sugar to eat. In the south, rice cakes are both sweet and salty, such as those in Suzhou and Ningbo, which are made of round-grained rice and have a light flavor. In addition to steaming and deep-frying, they can also be sliced and stir-fried or boiled in soup. Sweet rice cakes are made from glutinous rice flour with sugar, lard, roses, osmanthus, mint, and veggie paste, etc. They are very well made and can be steamed directly or deep-fried with egg whites.
The night before the real New Year is called the Night of Reunion, when people who are away from home have to travel thousands of miles to come back home, and the whole family has to sit together and make dumplings for New Year's Eve. The dumpling method is to make dumpling skins out of flour first, and then use the skins to wrap up the fillings, and the fillings are all kinds of different things, such as various kinds of meats, eggs, seafood, and seasonal vegetables, etc., all of which can be put into the fillings, and the orthodox method of eating dumplings is to boil them with clear water, and then fish them out to be accompanied by soy sauce with vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil. The orthodox way of eating dumplings is to boil them in water and then dip them in soy sauce flavored with vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil. Dumplings can also be deep-fried and cooked (potstickers). This is because the word "he" (和) means "to merge" (合), and the words "饺子" (饺子) and "交" (交), which mean "to merge" and "to merge" (合), harmonize with each other. The words "合" and "交" have the meaning of getting together, so dumplings are used to symbolize reunion and happiness; they are also taken as the meaning of a new year's handover, which is very auspicious; in addition, dumplings resemble a Yuanbao (元宝), so eating dumplings on New Year's Day carries the auspicious meaning of "inviting wealth and prosperity" (招财進宝). In addition, eating dumplings on New Year's Day also carries the auspicious meaning of "inviting wealth and prosperity". Families get together to make dumplings and talk about the New Year.
The customs of the North than the South are more, such as dumplings, and to paste the window, a variety of patterns, symbolizing the coming year, including some of the year of the wear and pay attention to, countless.
Eating rice cakes, dumplings and soup dumplings on New Year's Day is one of the customs of the Chinese people. Because of its harmonic "year high", the rice cake means high rise every year, coupled with a variety of flavors, especially by the people of Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou area, the market space is very large. Soup dumplings symbolize reunion and are the traditional food for Chinese New Year. And eat dumplings on New Year's Eve, is influenced by the northern New Year's Eve customs, but the complex procedures such as flour, chopping, rolling and so on, people are discouraged, so frozen dumplings have become a supermarket a big selling point.