Since entering the waxing moon, there are writers and artists in the marketplace under the eaves of writing Spring Festival couplets, in order to earn some silver for the New Year. After the sacrifice of the stove, the new spring couplets gradually sticky hanging, thousands of households, a new look. Some people with Zhu paper, some with red paper, only the inner court and the royal family princes and so on, according to regulations with white paper, set with red and blue edges, not the clan shall not be unauthorized use.
Lunar New Year will be bundled up in a belly in a small utensil, placed in the ground five feet or so, burning fire, so that the ground slightly warm, plum blossoms on the gradual release of white, with a cage of paper, to the market to sell, small peach, plum, Yingchun can be so. In the prosperous areas, they set up mats and scaffolds to sell paintings. The women and children are eager to buy, for the fun of it.
The first day of Lunar New Year, the street sells congee fruit rows into the market. More walnuts, persimmons, jujube, chestnut, dried lingjiao rice people, shoulder basket storage, called and sold. Next, there were fat pheasants, Guandong fish, wild cats, wild rasps, preserved meat, iron bird, deep-fried noodle cake, big Buddha flower, doo light thousand sheets, and floor zhuangyuanbao. After the 10th day of the lunar month, they sell guard paintings, door gods, hanging money, gold and silver foils, ingot and yellow money, pin gold inverted you, horse burnt paper, glass mirrors, and window eyes. After the 20th, they sell sugar melons, sugar cakes, glutinous rice and bamboo cakes, Guandong sugar. Bad grass copied beans, is the 23rd to send the stove when the supply of the gods and horses with. There are also selling kilns, copper and silver for porcelain bowls, the capital of the incense burner candlestick; smothered gourd, children to save money; support pots and pans, the stove used to help Cuan. To the 25th after the sale of sesame straw, pine and cypress branches, South Cangzhu for the "simmering age" of the use. Lunar month, the price of all things are more expensive than the weekdays, so there is a "Lunar month, the soil and water expensive three proverb. Older people to this time, always want to advise the younger generation to spend money carefully, so there is "twenty-seven or eighty-eight, flat to take the product grasp" of the proverb.
The eighth day of the Lunar New Year for the King and Marquis of La, family cooking fruit porridge. The day before the preparation of rice and beans, to the fruit carved into figures like the birth of a flower style. Three more congee into, the whole family get together to eat, gift relatives and neighbors, for Lapa congee. Laha congee is made of yellow rice, white rice, river rice, millet, lingzhi rice, chestnuts, red cowpeas, peeled jujube puree, etc., boiled in water, and dyed red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnut stalks, pine nuts and sugar, red ponds, Zuo Zuo grapes, for coloring. Do not use lotus seeds, lentils, Job's tears, hanging Yuan, with the flavor is hurt. Every seven days to wax, it is stripped of the fruit to wash the vessel, the night operation, to dawn when the porridge is cooked. In addition to ancestor for Buddha, feed friends and relatives, not after noon. And with red dates, walnuts, etc. made of lions, children and other categories, to see the ingenuity.
Lapa River on the Royal River ice cellar, through the river water storage kiln, Taiyi pond ice storage snow pool ice kiln, open the door to transport, summer out of the use of very easy.
On the 23rd, when the end of the day, the family sacrifice stove, yard pole, hanging lanterns. Offerings are soup stove rice, sugar melon sugar cake, feed the god horse to incense lees fried beans water pot. The men worship the gods and wish them good luck. Women in the inner room, sweep the stove, to clean the mud to decorate, burn incense and worship.
Every December, in nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two four days, by the Chintian Supervisor to choose an auspicious date, the usual seal, issued by the world, all the implementation of public holidays. Thereafter, the pear orchard theater to choose a day to close the stage, eight classes together, to the next year's New Year's Day is blessed with the opening of the play. School children, in the "seal" after the schoolteacher also let the vacation, called "school year".
Twenty-five days to New Year's Eve is said to be "chaotic day". "On the 27th, we wash away the guilt, and on the 28th, we wash away the scruff."
At the end of the year, the leftover medicines will be discarded outside the door, and the collection of prescriptions, put together and burned, which is called "throw a hundred diseases".
In the furnace burning pine branches, cypress leaves, South Cangzhu, auspicious Dan, called: "simmering years.
The day before New Year's Eve, called the "small New Year's Eve", the family set up a banquet, people visit called: "Farewell". The day before New Year's Eve is called "Little New Year's Eve", and the family will set up a banquet and people will visit each other.
New Year's Eve, a lot of old reasoning
New Year's Eve, people python gowns and coats out to visit friends and relatives, known as the "farewell". Family members bowed to honor the elders, also called: "farewell". Newly married couples must go to the father-in-law's home to say goodbye, or for disrespect.
New Year's Eve from the family court to the door, where walking outside to spread sesame straw, which is called "step on the year".
New Year's Eve, the night of the first turn of the son, outside the door of the torch, firecrackers competing. The moped is clustered, the car and horse clattering. Hundreds of officials to the court, congratulations on New Year's Day. At this time, the sound of firecrackers such as waves of thunder, spread throughout the countryside, all night long. More mixed with the sound of rattlesnake drums, selling melon seeds to relieve boredom sound, selling rice and white wine ice marigold sound, selling cinnamon head oil shaking call the sound of the lady, sell the fine powder sound, and the sound of the firecrackers, and the up and down, it is really good to hear. "Tumin home, new clothes, Su belt, worship God and ancestor; burning germanium and silk, Mashuang family reunion, offering pepper plate, pouring cypress wine, whole steamed cake, sip powdered soup. Going out to welcome the joy, to participate in the medicine window, visit the shadow window, with the invitation to congratulate the festival." If you meet friends or relatives on the road, you will salute them, and then wish them, "Happy New Year." "As for the entertainment, the openwork will be fruit for tea, ten brocade hotpot **** food, soup is goose oil square patch, pork buns, Jiangmi cake, yellow millet; wine and food is cured chicken bacon, bad heron phoenix fish, pheasant claws, deer and rabbit preserved; fruits are pine, hazelnut and lotus Qing, peach, apricot and melon kernel, chestnut and jujube branch round, hawthorn cake Gengcai, green branch grapes, white son of pomegranate, qiu bo pear, apples and fruits, lion citrus phoenix tangerine, orange slices of Yangmei. They are also mixed with sea and mountain treasures, and the family is confused with the market points. Even if you are not a close friend, you must offer three cups of festival wine. If you forget your feelings, why don't you get drunk!" As the saying goes, "When you're at a new festival, it's better to go to a thousand homes than to sit at one. And the four horse clamor, happy all day, can really say is a great moment of victory.
New Year's Eve rice with gold and silver rice, inserted on the pine and cypress branches, decorated with money, jujube, chestnuts, longan, incense sticks, broken five before removing. (so-called "New Year's rice") take the pine and cypress branches in the larger, inserted in the bottle, decorated with ancient money, treasure, pomegranate flowers, etc. is the "money tree".
Colorful rope threaded, braided into a dragon shape, placed at the foot of the bed, called "New Year's money". Honor to the children, also known as the "New Year's money", the money shop to get money with the "sticker" called "ticket". Every year in addition, all the rich and noble families to silver for money, are written on colored paper, is the "red ticket". Take the beautiful and auspicious meaning.
Where the sale of flowers, said the flowers of the smoke rule for the Tang flowers.
Whenever they sell flowers, they call the flowers of Kaori "Tang flowers", and give them to each other every New Year. Peony is colorful, kumquat drooping yellow, full of fragrance, warm incense, three spring colorful rule, all in a hall," so people also call it "tang flower.
Hanging a thousand, that is, with auspicious words engraved on red paper, long feet in length, sticking to the door, and peach symbols mirror. There are eight immortals on the figure, hung in front of the Buddha. Hanging thousands of civilian households with it, the big families with it less. Its yellow paper is three inches long, red paper is more than an inch long, is "small hanging thousand", for the market used.
Every New Year's Eve, set up a long case in the atrium, for a hundred percent. The hundred percent, is the whole map of the gods and goddesses. "Percentage" before the display of honey for a layer, called "full supply". On top of the offerings, the eight immortals, pomegranates, and Yuanbao, etc., are called "offerings to the Buddha". To receive the god, will be percent incineration, and then burn incense, to the Lantern Festival until, this is often referred to as "heaven and earth table".
Into the first month of the family
On the first day of the first month, get up at five o'clock, burn incense, put paper cannons. This day visit each other, no matter how expensive, running back and forth for several days, called "New Year's greetings". Things to eat, such as: Pepsi Daji box, by the persimmon, lychee, longan, chestnuts, ripe dates, etc. into.
On the first day of the month, the gods and ancestors, cut paper constantly to more than ten feet, for the ancestors in front of the so-called "qianzhang", burned.
In the first half of the first month, the New Year's visitors to the door, shouting to receive the sticker, throw a business card, hurriedly go, most do not need to talk to the host.
The first day of the first month to the fifth, commonly known as "broken five". According to the old custom to eat "dumplings" five days, the north called "cooking meat and potatoes". Nowadays, some people only eat three or two days, some every other day, however, no not eat. From the princely mansion to the streets and alleys of small households are, even the hospitality is also so.
The lights of the first month have always been concentrated in the front door of the "six", called: "six lights", to "Ministry of Industry" of the lights are most famous. Ice lanterns, birds and animals, the world, the production of very skillful.
The lamp market was once concentrated in the East and West four pailou, and later moved to the corridor of the headline.
Liulichang every new year's day to the 16th, the Department of goods gathered, light screen glaze, ten thousand lamps hanging in the shed, the jade axis toothpick, a thousand door contact, book full of books, treasures to play town street. There are more "Qin Lou Chu Hall bias song, BMW car tour lady". It is also a scene of the annual festival in the old capital.
La Baili: Tianjin people call the eighth day of the first month of Lunar New Year "La Baili", there is the custom of drinking La Baili congee. Many Tianjin people also use vinegar to soak garlic on this day, the name "Lahai vinegar"." Lahai vinegar" is not only the flavor of mellow, and not bad for a long time.
Stroll Niangniang Palace: Lunar New Year's Day 15 began, a variety of New Year's goods are all on the market to Niangniang Palace as the axis of the Palace of the Palace of the North Street is very lively. Boys to the Niangniang Palace, the first goal is the wind gourd, adult men to here, can not forget to buy lanterns, women to come here more than "wash dolls". From the Niangniang Palace tethered back to the "doll" every year to "wash a round", which is the festival before the women must do things.
Sugar Melon Stove: Lunar New Year 23, is the day of the ascension of Zao Wang Wang, families to buy sugar melon children, until 12:00 at night to sacrifice Zao Wang Wang. After the incense is burned out, please down the stove king statue, light the fire burned, the New Year's Eve and then buy a new stove king statue, also known as the "stove king yard son" to change on, year after year, are so.
Hanging money: Hanging money is cut with colored paper into a pattern, pasted on the windows and doors of the glass and horizontal prongs, as the Spring Festival festive atmosphere of the embellishment. The stickers can only be damaged on the fifth day of the first month, otherwise it means a year of bad luck.
"broken five": Tianjin people call the fifth day of the first month "broken five". On this day, every family to eat dumplings, chopping board to chop ding dong loud, so that the neighbors hear, to show that is chopping "little man". 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.
Old Shanghai New Year customs
The Spring Festival in China has continued for thousands of years. But for a long time, the term "Spring Festival" referred to the "Spring Festival" in the 24 solar terms of the year. Until the Xinhai Revolution overthrew Manchu rule, the Republic of China was founded, Sun Yat-sen ordered the country to change to the solar calendar, and then, the New Year should be replaced in the solar calendar New Year's Day. However, the lunar New Year has become a traditional festival celebrated by all people, solid, deep customs and national culture, is difficult to change. The celebration of the Lunar New Year is still going strong year after year. As a result of the emergence of a new solar calendar New Year's Day, in order to show the difference, since the Republic of China, the Lunar New Year has been moved to the festival of the "Spring Festival" of the name.
In the old days, from December 23 onwards on the lunar calendar into the "New Year", has to continue to the first month of the 15th Lantern Festival to end, but also formed a set of fixed programs. Let's take a look at how the city of Shanghai celebrated the New Year in the old days.
Lunar Lunar month 24, that is, December 24, for the "God of the stove" to the sky to play the day, so the night of the 23rd, every family to "send stove", "sacrificial stove", celebrate the New Year! This is the beginning of the celebration of the New Year. It is the night of each household or worship God of the stove in the hall, more in the pasted God of the stove on the kitchen stove, for wine, fruit, but also for water chestnuts, water chestnuts, as well as good fish, good meat, there are bamboo lyrics so that: "Fame, fortune and prosperity, less right and wrong, the whole grips God blessing silent dependence. There is nothing else to offer this day, and the fish are bought fresh and the meat is bought fat."
Vesta God to heaven is to report to the Jade Emperor in a year on the earth's good and bad, people's faults, in order to avoid him to say too much, so "send the stove" when people also provide with caramel sugar made of sugar, etc., it is said that he ate sticky teeth, speak unclear, and can be less, do not say the earth's bad words. "Send stove" when each family to point on the incense and candles, is the night, the house smoke, colorful offerings dazzling, the atmosphere of the New Year came at once.
The twenty-fifth day of Lunar New Year is the day when the gods come down to the world. According to tradition, each household inside and outside the dust sweeping, clearing a year's accumulation of dust, clean up the usual chaotic pile of debris, etc. This is quite serious. This is a very serious action, in today's terms, it is an active, regulated and modeled mass hygiene campaign. After this day's work, every household nasty to go, supplies than before well, inside and outside the show fresh look, is like a change of year.
Also from this day onwards, families began to busy themselves with all aspects of the New Year's tension. First of all, to buy, prepare enough New Year's food used in various colors. Each household must also grind powder, for the package dumplings, some families and Tuan powder homemade rice cakes. The former is to take "reunion" meaning, the latter can eat "happy", "high year". Next is to prepare new clothes, new hats, new shoes. People may generally wear old things throughout the year, but in the New Year is sure to turn over the "line"; again is to begin to buy spring couplets, buy New Year's paintings, buy "door god", to be posted on the door of the head of the household, upstairs and downstairs. During this period, in order to supply the needs of the public, the market sells these things in a very rich variety. Each family is also a need, such as buying Spring Festival couplets, shopkeepers choose "prosperous business through the four seas, the source of prosperity up to the three rivers", the general household is more than choose "days to increase the years of life, spring full of Qiankun Fukumanyuan" and so on.
This period is also the store in the middle of the year the busiest time, on the one hand, when the business is red-hot, sales of the most prosperous season, on the other hand, the end of the year is to clean up a year's accounts, to the owed households for the period of arrears. So each family sent specialists to handle this matter, the city has appeared a rather large-scale "debt collection" team: "Accounts in the hands of the bag, traveling through the street east to the west of the alley. Stepping into the heavy door, he called out to answer, Mr. The debt to be returned to the full." There are those who are very quick to pay back the bill, but there are many who cannot pay back the bill on time for various reasons. Debt collectors are burdened with the task of pursuing, often day and night action, night, regardless of the cold of five nights.
In the case of those who can't pay their bills on time, there are actually many who are completely unable to pay their bills. These people in addition to owe the store's account, is likely to owe a private debt. The end of the year is also the time when most debts are repaid, so these people are faced with two aspects of the heavy pressure to collect money. However, according to customary practice, debt collection, debt collection only to New Year's Eve until the New Year can not be discussed, otherwise responsible for self-seeking "bad luck", in has been unlucky. Therefore, to hide accounts, debt collectors, New Year's Eve is the last hurdle, such as escaping this hurdle, next year is another story. So they have been with the bill collectors, debt collectors maneuver, by all means to get through this New Year's Eve off: "A hundred holes and thousands of debtors to come, no plan and difficult to return. I have no choice but to take refuge on the stage today, and get rid of it after this dawn."
However, apart from the poor people like those mentioned above, on the whole, the coming of the New Year is a time of great joy and excitement for all of us. After all the foregoing preparations, the New Year's Eve, which is looked forward to every day, finally comes into sight, and the celebration of the New Year reaches its climax.
The beauty of New Year's Eve is the sunset. In the evening, all the elders and children of the family gather in the house, even those who are far away from home, but also try to return home before then to celebrate the New Year with their families. Everyone sits together under the lights, with the "New Year's Eve dinner", eating and drinking, laughing and joking, this meal continues longer. This is a year of hard work to the end of the enjoyment of the joy of family, so the name is "happy family".
The night immediately following the New Year, so many family elders, after the New Year's Eve dinner, do not go to bed, around the stove to observe the New Year. It is also to talk and laugh while eating snacks. People will not feel this night night deeper and longer. To the midnight, there are some people will go to the city temple to burn the "first incense".
Keep to the chicken early crowing, the day slightly bright, each household men, women and children are wearing new clothes, new hats, new shoes, in the long ago settled offerings on the hall, worship of heaven and earth, sacrifices to the ancestors. Then the young and the young all pay New Year's greetings to their parents, parents to the children scattered to the year before already prepared for the New Year's money, which is the children's long awaited, and finally happy to hand into the bag. Then open the door and release the explosion to welcome the new, neighbors to see each other to say new year.
Since the first day after the day, it is the period of relatives and friends back and forth to pay tribute to the New Year. Guests come with gifts, hospitality must please drink "Yuanbao tea", is the tea put on the green fruit or tea cover top set green fruit a. Also use the gold lacquer plate with fruit offerings to the guests, the mouth said "congratulations more like this". And must be invited to eat wine and rice. At that time, the elders who see the younger generation are to send the New Year's money, which is not a small burden on the economically disadvantaged, not inevitably. However, this kind of New Year's greetings, to the end of the Qing Dynasty in Shanghai has been simplified. Those who had a lot of contacts went out to pay their New Year's greetings, and often did not enter the door, but only threw a thorn in the side, as if they had come to congratulate the New Year, which could save on socializing and expenses: "Changing the peach symbols in new colors, and a short set of robes in front of the door. The most fearful of people is that their backs will be broken frequently, and they will cast a thorn in a hurry to celebrate the New Year."
In the New Year, in addition to moving around each other to congratulate the New Year, the rest of the time is to a variety of travel, entertainment activities to "celebrate". The most popular places to go are the City God Temple and the connected West Garden (i.e. Yuyuan Garden): "There is nothing to do in the New Year, but to walk across the nine bridges in the garden. Suddenly I heard the children clapping their hands together, whose harrier was swinging in the middle of the day." However, since the establishment of the modern rental territory, the colorful Ten Mile Ocean Park has infinite charm, and has become a good place for New Year's fun, especially for those who live outside the Ocean Park: "People in the city love to go to the Ocean Park, and people outside the city strive to enter the Temple Garden. At the same time the general look happy, we are metaphorical in the wordless"; and also outside the theater, listening to books, drinking tea. After the opening of the port on the ocean field inside and outside the wind of prostitution is very prevalent, there are some people will take this period for sex tourism, so busy fireworks everywhere: "New Year's weather mirror new grinding, throwing money as fast as a shuttle. Chu pavilion Qin building thousands of places, fruit plate opening laughter"; of course, more people often stay at home, indoor music can be found, such as inviting friends and relatives to build "square city", drumming and playing the qin, pulling the self-singing, etc.: "food and fresh clothes to enjoy the year more, the Qian people throw stabbing with a common name. All the families closed their homes and stopped for three days (referring to the merchants), not the sound of cards or drums."
To the fifth day of the first month, for the God of Wealth (commonly known as "Road Head God") birthday, everywhere there is "to receive the God of Wealth", to receive "five-way God of Wealth (take the meaning of the five-way east, west, south, north, south and east)". The "God of Fortune", the "God of Five Roads", and the "God of the Roads" are celebrated everywhere. God of Fortune unified "wealth", everyone related, especially the opening of the business for the wealth, so they celebrate the most energetic. Shanghai has long been a prosperous southeast of the big Shangyi, merchants can be found everywhere, the celebration of the first five days of the particularly fierce can also be imagined. Merchants to receive the God of Fortune more for three animals: pig head, carp, rooster. Carp, harmonic "Liyu", especially popular. As early as a few days ago, the streets from the countryside in the townspeople, selling fresh carp to the families, carp is also known as "Yuanbao fish", so it is known as "send Yuanbao."
The first five hours, the merchants hang up the new image of Zhao Gongyuan Shuai in the middle of the hall, in addition to the three animals, the rest of the offerings are very rich. The newest addition to the list is the newest addition to the list, the newest addition to the list, the newest addition to the list. 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 Wealth is busy **** scramble to welcome. Just want business this year good, pick up and drop off why not to five."
Finally came to the fifteenth Lantern Festival. Fifteen full moon, just the meaning of reunion, is great luck. This day every family must eat "Lantern Festival", that is, dumplings, is to take the reunion, the meaning of good luck. But the Lantern Festival also lies in the "lights", so it is also known as the "Lantern Festival". Is the day of households, stores and stores hanging lights in front of the door, temples, gardens, plazas and other public **** premises, but also large lights and colors. After sunset, ten thousand lights are released, even pieces of even the city, the red light shining sky. Lanterns in a variety of shapes, there are various colors of lanterns, a variety of plant lights, animal lights, character lights, story lights, etc., Shanghai, the most common rabbit lamps, lanterns, horse lanterns, the largest, the most wonderful for the "dragon lanterns": the dragon body has a head and a tail, scales flashing, *** long 9 sections, under the bearings to the handle by the dragon dancers to manipulate. And by the special person holding a large bead like "rolling lamp", and the dragon body around, chasing, and even fighting, they *** dance in the streets and alleys of Shanghai.
At that time, men, women and children in groups out of the appearance of lights. The City God Temple and the West Garden is another center point of activity. The pavilions are decorated with lights, inside and outside the bright. In the garden of the big rocky hill, but also set off fireworks, the most attractive. Come here the audience shoulder to shoulder, all smiling. This festival in addition to see the lights, to appreciate a special "popularity": the so-called "ten miles of curtains are not rolled, look at the lights to see the lights of people," is that unique mood. Lantern night of the fierce has been to extend until the end of the night, to the end of the lights, the crowd began to slowly walk home. One theory, this day is still the day of the return of the God of the stove, then go home just to the stove master to catch.
The year's Spring Festival celebrations come to an end with the coming dawn. (Text / Zheng Zuan)
Spring Festival Customs in Chongming
Spring Festival is a major festival in China's folklore tradition, which is the first festival in the four seasons of the year, so it is especially valued by the people. As the saying goes, "A hundred miles of different winds, a thousand miles of different customs". Because of the county's unique geography, so the Spring Festival customs are slightly different from place to place. Now collect some of the past years before and after the Spring Festival scenes, footage and readers of the gentleman together with melting in the thick of the countryside in the same drunk.
The twenty-fourth night
From the twenty-third day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, people who have worked hard for a year to have a good Spring Festival began to get busy. The night of December 13th or 24th on the lunar calendar is collectively known as the "24th Night". According to legend, this day is the day when Zaojun goes to heaven, and it is a common custom to send Zaojun to heaven. People in this night with "rolled silver bag" (with green vegetables and mushrooms, tofu, etc. cooked as a filling, and then wrapped into a hundred leaves), "twenty-four sugar", red beans and rice as a sacrificial food, lighted incense and candles, offerings for the Zaojun, and prepare paper money, tie colorful bridges, kowtowing and worship, and then firecrackers, the Zaojun statue and the front curtains (commonly known as the "string of joy") burned, the head of the household to the image of the king to say something to himself, such as "good things to play in the sky, to protect the safety of the lower world" and other auspicious words of prayer. and other auspicious words to pray. This custom has now been removed, but the ancient custom of eating azuki bean rice and rolling silver bags still exists. After the twenty-fourth night, families are busier and busier, inside and outside cleaning, commonly known as dusting the eaves, each family is busy washing bedding tents, brewing wine, fried peanuts and beans, and purchasing food with things. It is common for people in both urban and rural areas of the island to grind flour and steam cakes, a custom that continues to this day. Since the words "gao" and "gao" are homophones, it is a good sign that people want to be high every year. The method of making cakes varies in different parts of the county. Shangsha mainly steams muffins, the central part steams sticky cakes, and Shimousha mainly steams pug-soled cakes; while poor people use sorghum flour and white corn as the main raw materials for steaming cakes. In addition, people have to prepare some tin foil, paper money, incense, candles, yuanbao, tea and fruit and other things as offerings to honor the gods. A few days before New Year's Eve, people also want to put up new spring couplets, hanging ancestor, the ancestors of the statue hung on the wall of the main wall of the hall, set up offerings, to be a New Year's Eve, light incense and candles, so that the descendants to look up to. Before New Year's Eve, people also play hoarding, that is, the lime in a sack, to the ground print, hoping that the next year grain silo. These activities are now gone. Some farmers will also be the city's garbage and useless chores and weeds piled up to the field, light a fire and burn, in order to the next year auspicious, safe and sound.
New Year's Eve
December 30 of the lunar calendar is New Year's Eve, commonly known as New Year's Eve. On this day, all the New Year's furnishings are set up, such as writing Spring Festival couplets and posting door gods. In the evening, the whole family gathered around to eat New Year's Eve dinner, the dishes are far more abundant than usual, the main dish with the heart of vegetables, tofu, etc., burned with a hundred leaves rolled wrapped, known as the roll of money bundles, to show that the coming year, the source of wealth rolled in. This is the happiest night of the year for children, as their parents and elders give them money for the new year. In the old society, no money in this day is difficult, according to the old rules, the year the debt to clear that year, the end of the year to discuss the debt, to the first day of the year can not be forced to discuss, until the beginning of February after the fall of the lamp to discuss the debt, so the debtor in the New Year's Eve sent around to collect the debt, can not afford to pay the debt of the people had to hide around, can not return to their homes, the first day of the year to go home. So in the old days, there was a "good year off food households, no money sad" proverb.
Spring Festival
The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar for the Spring Festival, commonly known as the New Year. The first thing to do in the morning is to set off firecrackers, called "open the door cannon", its original meaning is to drive away evil spirits, and later contains the meaning of opening the door to good luck, high rise and fortune. New Year's Eve, adults and children put on new clothes and hats, dressed neatly, the whole family sat around the table, *** into a hearty breakfast, mainly vegetarian, plus dumplings (round), sugar rice cakes, to show that the whole family reunion, year high, and will last year's twenty-fourth night of a bowl of adzuki bean rice into the breakfast, commonly known as the "Chennian rice," meaning that every other year has a surplus of good taste. After breakfast, the children to neighbors, friends and relatives, elders, one by one, greeted with respect. The first day of the first month of the taboo is quite a lot, can not move the knife, can not splash water, can not go to the water bridge to pan the rice, can not sweep the floor, can not open the back door, can not move the firewood, can not export slurs, can not hit, can not sleep too late and so on. Even cooking firewood to cook vegetables with sesame sticks, soybean sticks, etc. in the stove hall crackling sound, the more fire, the more auspicious, the forecast of this year's prosperity, section of the high. In addition, the third and fifth morning of the New Year, every family should burn breakfast, before the meal to light incense and candles, praying for the prosperity of the whole family peace.
In the old days, the Spring Festival beggars up. There is a kind of beggar, they are not because of the poverty of the family to go begging, but for filial piety. According to legend, the elderly live to 9981 years old, there is a ghost gate, only ate the "hundred rice" can be safe and sound through this pass. So the family has an elderly filial piety men and women in
The first day of the new year out of the house to beg for food to their parents to eat. There is another kind of beggar commonly known as "beggar", they beg in a funny way. There are beggars with red paper wrapped with vegetables hanging on bamboo poles, every door to a said vegetables to the head, business is good, pleading for alms, which is called "send vegetables". Some use paper and bamboo wire made into a cow, to the door of the family to say all the good words, auspicious words, in order to seek alms, which is called "send spring cow"; some holding a holly or cypress branches, hanging some small bells on the branches after the ancient money, said that the family will be like a money tree in the new year, as the money comes, which is called "shaking the money tree"; there are beggars dressed in Buddhist shirts, wearing a mask of the God of Fortune in the disguise of the God of Fortune to the family of the bodhisattva. Inside the courtyard of the house running wildly jumping, to show that the god of wealth bodhisattva came, this is called "jumping god of wealth". Although the Chongming people lived in poverty in the old society, they were still kind to these beggars and gave them some dried food and other foodstuffs. After the liberation of these enterprises have long been extinct.
Early in the morning on the second day of the New Year, stores and craftsmen are burning incense to God, called "Burning Festival", ten minutes at noon, the owner of the store also set up a wine hospitality to the shopkeepers, together with the New Year to pray for a prosperous business. On the fifth day of the new year, which is said to be the birthday of the God of Wealth, stores in the streets and alleys open for business, and every family eats wontons at noon on this day to show that they have money. In addition, in the countryside and fields there are wooden head theater (now known as puppet theater). Between the first and the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, families visit friends and relatives to wish each other a happy Lunar New Year and to give each other gifts. During the period, the temple incense far more than usual, especially the first morning of the year, on the temple to burn incense to worship Buddha's people especially, and especially early, to rush to burn the first incense, outside the city of Shou'an Temple and the town of Zhongxing Guangfu Temple is the most lively place.
Lantern Festival
The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar for the Lantern Festival, also known as the Festival of the first yuan, commonly known as the first half of the first month, the people of the first month of the fifth to the twentieth for the Lantern Festival period. In the old days, before the Lantern Festival, every family made all kinds of shapes of cakes with glutinous rice flour, some of which were shaped like the ancient silk ball, silver, and some of which were shaped like chickens, ducks, carp, cotton bells, corn, peaches, rice piles, etc. At noon of the first half of the first lunar month, every family made cakes with glutinous rice flour, some of which were shaped like the ancient silk ball, silver, and some of which were shaped like chickens, ducks, carps, cotton bells, corn, peaches, rice piles, etc. At noon of the first half of the first month, every family eats wontons; in the afternoon, people will also use these foods as offerings, go to the graves to pay homage to their ancestors, sacrifices to the fields, and in the evening, people in groups of three or five or with different shapes of lanterns, and then flinging fireballs, and then cross the three bridges, to enjoy the game. The custom of lighting lanterns at the halfway point of the first lunar month is very popular. The shapes of lanterns include rabbit lanterns, carp lanterns, pentagonal lanterns, etc. The places where the lanterns are hung also have local flavors, such as lining up many red lanterns into zigzags or various shapes, lighting candles inside the lanterns, and hanging them high on bamboo poles, which is called "pulling out the red lanterns", or inserting a bamboo pole between the countryside and the dead ditch and hanging the red lanterns, and then, when it is nighttime and candles are lit, it is like daytime, and it looks very nice to see from the heights, which is called hanging the choshi lanterns. Choshi lanterns, colorful buildings at the mouth of the bridge, filled with all kinds of strange lanterns, give the place a special flavor at night. On the night of the Lantern Festival, there are also many other activities such as running horse lanterns, tuning lions, flinging Tian Cai, inviting the three ladies to the pit, and having a girl in the Lantern Festival.
As the saying goes: "Eat two big, each person to find the head of the road". After the sixteenth day of the first month, the people who celebrated returned to their respective professions. At this point, the activities of the Spring Festival is over. After liberation, the Lantern Festival, tends to simplify, but eat wontons, do silk ball, round and children play with the custom of the lamp still exists, and give a new meaning, especially in the county streets, the night of the Lantern Festival hanging colorful lanterns, fireworks are attracting a lot of men, women, and children, and some out of the family, on the street to see the lantern. Strange fireworks, colorful, the night sky of the Lantern Festival illuminated colorful, it symbolizes the motherland's growing prosperity.
More than a thousand years, our forefathers have been in this beautiful land to live, reproduce, in their long-term production activities and daily life, and gradually formed a variety of customs and habits with strong local characteristics. These customs and habits unite the ancestors' pursuit and aspiration for a better life, and reflect their good qualities of simplicity, hard work and thrift. Of course, on the other side of the traditional customs are also mixed with some backward and ignorant contents. People's traditional customs with the development of production, social progress from barbarism to civilization, from ignorance to science. Some of the old customs contained in this article have been abandoned with the development of civilization and the progress of science, and some of them have been injected with new contents and have been inherited and carried forward. At the turn of the century today, we should be committed to building new socialist customs, increase the construction of socialist spiritual civilization, to ensure the smooth progress of socialist modernization, in celebrating the traditional festivals, we must not forget that the tree new winds, break the bad customs should be the conscious behavior of each of us in the construction of socialist spiritual civilization to make their own due efforts.
Macao's New Year's custom has a unique flavor. The "thank you to Zao" is one of the most traditional Chinese New Year customs preserved in Macau. On the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, the Macau people send off the God of Stoves, which is called "thanking the God of Stoves". According to Chinese tradition, Macanese people also use Zao candies to give the god of Zao, saying that they use the candies to paste the mouth of the god of Zao, so as to prevent him from saying bad words to the Jade Emperor. I've seen a Santa Claus statue on a Macau family's stove in Macau's Flower Street, and strangely enough, the Santa Claus statue is labeled with a "good word from heaven, good luck in the house" link.
The Chinese New Year in Macau starts on the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, which is the Cantonese word for "easy to get rich", and most of the business owners treat their employees to a "New Year's dinner" at the end of the year to signify their good fortune and good fortune. The flavor of the New Year in Macau can be truly felt on the 28th day of the Lunar New Year.
On New Year's Eve, the New Year's Eve vigil and the flower market are the two major events for Macau people to celebrate the old year and welcome the new. The New Year's Eve is to play mahjong, watch TV, catch up on old times and chat, and *** enjoy the joy of family; probably influenced by the Western Christmas and Valentine's Day, Macao people also scramble to buy some auspicious flowers and trees to welcome the New Year, which has become a Macao New Year's Eve custom nowadays. Macau in the Lantern Festival organized flower market, mostly peach blossoms, daffodils, potted bamboo, potted oranges, blossoms, wishing for peace, flowers and trees signify a new year's good prospects. Macau's flower market is held for three days, which gives endless comfort to the people of Macau who have been running around for a year.
On the day of Chinese New Year, Macao people pay attention to the "Lai Si", "Lai Si" is the red packet, this day the boss to see the staff, the elders to see the elders, and even married people to see the unmarried people have to "Lai Si."" Li Shi" pure crisp is to show good luck. Macau people call the second day of the Lunar New Year "New Year's Eve". It is customary to have a "New Year" meal, which must be prepared with hairy vegetables, lettuce, and carp, which is meant to take its fortune. From the day of the "New Year", the Macau government allows civil servants to "bet" (gamble) for three days. After the "New Year", Macao is completely back to the traditional Chinese New Year customs, until the Lantern Festival, is also a fireworks festival, play dragons and lions, joyful.