The emperors of the Qing Dynasty, most of whom preferred the cold and fear of heat, the vast majority of the year is in the "Spring Garden", "Yuanmingyuan" and other gardens, only to the Spring Festival each year, only to get up to go back to the palace to celebrate the New Year. The emperor generally in the waxing moon on the 26th "closed pen", "seal", stop the office, in the first day of the first month of the ceremony to re "open pen", "open seal ".
According to the "Qing Historical Manuscripts - Rites" records, the first day of the first month of the morning just dawn, the hundred officials to gather in Taihe Temple Square to the emperor to pay tribute to the New Year. On that day, the square is arranged on the Luangdao ceremonial, the eaves of the hall is arranged in the royal band and the golden bell, jade chime and other musical instruments. To the hour (7:00), Chintian Supervisor officials announced that the time has come, the noon gate on the bells and drums, the band played music, the emperor ascended to the throne of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Luang Yiwei officials flung a quiet whip, the Zanwei officer shouted "row class". Hundred officials in accordance with the square placed on the copper "grade mountain" marked by the grade position, kneeling in line. At this time by the two university sergeant kneeling holding congratulatory table, read by the table officer. After the reading, all the officials performed three kneeling and nine kowtow salute. After the ceremony, the emperor gave the seat to give tea, the hundred officials to kowtow and thank you. Tea, quiet whip again, the band played again, the emperor down the hall, the hundred officials retreat, the New Year's Day ceremony is completed. At this time, the emperor will have been prepared with "Ruyi" purse, given to the side of the children of the eight banners, courtesans, eunuchs. The "Ruyi" in the purse usually has gold Ruyi, silver Ruyi, jade Ruyi and silver money several kinds. Before the Qianlong Emperor ascended to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to receive the New Year's greetings from all the officials, he usually drank a cup of tusu wine in his bedchamber, the Hall of Nourishing Heart. His special wine cup weighs 1 catty, with gold inlaid with jewels specially made, known as the "Golden Ou Yonggu Cup". Jinou symbolizes the mountains and rivers, "Jinou Yonggu" means "mountains and rivers forever".
The Qing dynasty "national dynasty palace history continued" records, the Qianlong emperor every year on the first day of the first month of the morning to go to the Beihai hermetic temple, climbed the big Buddha building incense convergence of blessings, and then return to his when the emperor before living in the heavy Chinese palace, with engraved "blessings to the living", called "ten thousand years of green tube Then he went back to Chonghua Palace where he lived before he became the emperor, and used a black lacquer brush dipped in vermilion sand to write the word "blessing". Every year, he writes the first lucky character to be solemnly sealed and never opened, to show that the blessing is retained. The next blessed characters written are rewarded to princes and ministers. The Confucian classic "Shangshu" explains the meaning of the character "Fu": first, longevity, second, wealth, third, tranquility, fourth, virtue, and fifth, a good death in old age. According to this, the prerequisite for enjoying happiness is a long life. Emperor Qianlong life of 89 years old, children and grandchildren of five generations of the same hall, the first emperor, so he thought that the five blessings in his later years, calling himself "five blessings of the five generations of the ancient and rare son of God".
In addition, in the New Year's Eve, the emperor will also set off firecrackers, paste couplets, however, the royal New Year's Eve couplets used to hang the way, rather than folk people commonly used paste. This is not only clean to use, but also can be used many times if preserved properly.
The people of the New Year's Eve is the most important thing is the New Year's Eve dinner, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is no exception. The emperor's family is rare on weekdays to have meals together. Only on New Year's Day, the consorts were licensed to accompany the feast. New Year's Eve morning, the emperor and the empress, concubines in Chong Hua Palace **** into the morning meal. Breakfast generally have Lara (yellow rice), biscuits, rice cakes, etc., pattern more than ten to twenty products, but this is not the official New Year's Eve feast. The New Year's Eve reunion meal is held at Shenzheng (4 p.m.). In fact, at 12 o'clock in the afternoon began to set the table layout of cold dishes, snacks. The dinner was set up in the Palace of Baohe Temple or Qianqing Palace, the emperor a table, the table is "Golden Dragon Banquet Table", the table surrounded by gold embroidered table surroundings. Banquet table and the emperor's "throne" set up between a "long table", dishes are placed on the banquet table, the emperor ate and then taken by the people to the long table.
New Year's Eve dinner preparation of cooking materials are mainly traditional Manchu food. Such as in the Qing dynasty palace dietary files recorded in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong New Year's Eve feast held in the amount of materials used, which the Qianlong emperor Imperial Table Banquet materials used in the amount of: 65 pounds of pork, fat duck 1, 3 duck, fat chicken 3, vegetable chicken 7, 3 pork elbow, pork belly 2, 8 small stomach, meal 15, wild boar 25 pounds of meat, 5 geese in Guandong, 20 pounds of mutton, venison 15 pounds of wild chicken 6 20 catties of fish, 4 deer tails, and 3 small and large pig intestines. In addition, the production of snacks with white flour 5 pounds 4 two, sugar 6 two. Most of these materials are "Guandong" produced, reflecting the inherent food customs of the Manchu.
The dishes on the feast table from the outside to the inside is divided into eight ways, there are all kinds of meat, vegetarian, sweet and salty snacks, cold meals, hot meals, **** sixty-three products, there are two carved lacquer fruit box, four Su cake, abalone screws and other fruits, pasta. Various meals on the table location, the distance between each other also have size requirements. The so-called "abalone snail" is not today's banquet eat abalone, conch, the Qing Dynasty Emperor rarely ate seafood, occasionally eat fish, but also only eat the Songhua River tribute to the silverfish, sturgeon. Here abalone snail, is a seafood dried and ground into powder made of snacks.
Dish outside the fruit clock eight products, and milk, snacks, stove food, Oorbukha, duck stuffed buns, rice flour snacks and other snacks arranged in east and west, which "Oorbukha" is a kind of Manchu deep-fried pasta, there are four products of the North and South small dishes. Palace rules, each concubine has its own dietary standards, usually separate meals. But for the New Year's Eve dinner, the concubines had the honor of accompanying the emperor. In addition to the emperor's family, there are six tables to accompany the guests, each table hot and cold dishes to order a **** twenty-four pints, compared to the emperor will be much less, and the bowl of food has been downgraded to a porcelain bowl.
After everything is ready, with the sound of drums and music, the emperor and concubines to take their seats. Eunuchs first to Qianlong into the soup meal. Soup meal with a box, "box" that is, two boxes in one, to take the pair of auspicious meaning. His Majesty's pair of boxes are two pairs, the left box for bird's nest red and white duck waist hot meal a product, round-grained rice dry meal a product. The right box for bird's nest duck waist soup a product, duck tofu soup a product. Then, the eunuchs to the concubines to send soup, although also use the box, but the number of halved, each a pair, containing round-grained rice meal a product, mutton lying egg powder soup a product. And there are also rules, according to the rank to send one, and then send the second.
After the soup is used, the music stops and the feast begins to change. The so-called turn feast, is the banquet on all kinds of meals, furnishings (except vases, chopsticks, fruit boxes), starting from the emperor's table, accompanied by the table to turn again, meaning that the whole family **** with the enjoyment. After the turn of the feast, the wine feast. The emperor's wine and food table divided into five ways *** forty products, consort wine and food table fifteen products. The emperor in the Dan Sheng Da Dong music into the first cup of wine, after the consort into the wine one by one. After the wine into the fruit tea, then the consort rose, the emperor left the feast, the music of the toast played, the family feast is over.
After the end of the New Year's Eve dinner, the emperor ordered to eat their own rice and even plates, bowls, plates, spoons, chopsticks a piece of the reward to the close ministers and princes, county kings. Everyone watched the "Qinglong Dance", which, as the most Manchurian-flavored program, has always been reserved for the New Year Banquet. "Qinglong Dance", also known as "Mahu Dance", is an early Manchu folk dance. The dance is divided into two camps, one side of the dancers wearing animal masks, clad in animal skins, pretending to be animals; the other side of the dancers dressed in Manchu costumes, pretending to be hunters, and later on, the costumes of the hunters became the costumes of the Eight Banners at that time. The dance usually ends with the hunter successfully hunting the animal.
The environment of the family feast, while also showing the feudal etiquette system, was generally more casual. Emperor Kangxi once composed a poem at a banquet in the Qianqing Palace, describing the emperor and his consorts together, gathering and celebrating the festivities at the time of the festivities, and writing about the harmonious atmosphere and warmth of the mood during the banquet. The poem reads: "This evening, the Dan Curtain Banquet, set Yi relatives. Passing citrus is a good idea for the festival, and traveling reeds are happy for the spring. The fragrance of the red snail is heavy, and the light of the tapestry wax is new. There is no need to sing the song of Zhanlu, the bright moon is enough to keep people." Hundreds of people in the New Year, pay attention to the reunion and blessings, the emperor's family in the New Year, there is also a set of etiquette. Although the royal rites are rehearsed, the purpose is the same as the common people, the figure is festive and auspicious~