2. Lunar New Year's Day 30 In the morning, near midday, put up the couplets, and then prepare for the evening's New Year's Eve dinner, basically, the Spring Festival Gala began when the New Year's Eve dinner is almost ready to eat. Waiting for the end of the Spring Festival, basically also want to take a break, daytime good spirit to pay tribute to the New Year. After waking up in the morning, the children put on new clothes, down the dumplings to eat (dumplings to eat before worshipping the son, this God and that God). After the start of the New Year's Eve, the family generally left one person, and then the others first to the surrounding neighbors to pay tribute, and then drive around the closer relatives to pay tribute to the elders, which is generally the work of the first day of the year
4. the second day of the year Rizhao custom is the second day of the year the daughter-in-law back to her mother's home, that is, the aunt to go to the mother-in-law's home to pay tribute to the New Year
5. the third day of the year to the sixth day of the year before the holiday time, most of the time are The time before the holidays is mostly spent visiting friends and relatives, class reunions
6. The sixth day During the day, if there has been 66 or 80 and so on the birthday of the old man, the whole family generally choose this day to reunite to celebrate with firecrackers. The evening of the sixth is to receive the king of the stove, to burn paper and firecrackers (the year before the New Year is the 23rd of the lunar month is to send the king of the stove, to say good things to the sky, down to the world to ensure peace)
7. first month of the fifteenth Lantern Festival in the morning to eat the Lantern Festival, and dumplings in the evening to symbolize the reunion, and in the evening, usually go to see lanterns, fireworks.
The Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, but also one of the most important festivals of 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 have been passed down to the present day.
Sweeping dust
"Lunar month 24, dust sweeping house", according to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals" records, China in the Yao and Shun era, there is a Spring Festival sweeping dust custom. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" consonant, dust sweeping in the New Year has "in addition to the meaning of Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to all the poor luck, bad luck, swept 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. The whole place is filled with the joyful atmosphere of sanitation and cleanliness to welcome the new year.
New Year's Money
The Spring Festival to pay homage to the New Year, the elders will be prepared in advance of the New Year's money to the younger generation, it is said that the New Year's money can be pressed to stop the evil spirits, because the "age of" and "Sneaky" harmonic, the younger generation to get the New Year's money can be peaceful and safe through the A year. There are two kinds of New Year's money, one is to colorful rope threaded woven into the shape of a dragon, placed at the foot of the bed, this record is found 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 given in public after the younger generation pays homage to the New Year, or it can be placed under the child's pillow by the parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve.
Folk believe that when the New Year's money is given to the child, when the evil spirits, demons or the "New Year" go to harm the child, the child can use the money to bribe them to turn bad luck into good luck. Qing people Wu Man Yun "New Year's money" poem in the cloud: "a hundred and ten money through the colorful line long, divided again pillow from the collection, the discussion of firecrackers to talk about xiao price, added to the children of the night busy". From this point of view, the new year's money is tied to a child's heart, and the child's new year's money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and sweets and other festive things.
Now the custom of elders giving new year's money to their seniors is still prevalent, and the amount of money ranges from a few dozen to a few hundred, which is mostly used by children to buy books and school supplies, a new fashion that gives new content to new year's money.
Posting Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets, also known as door pairs, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc., which is a unique form of literature in our country, with neat, couplets, simple, exquisite text depicting the background of the times, expressing good wishes. Every Spring Festival, whether urban or rural, every family should select a pair of big red spring couplets posted 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 Spring Festival couplets of ideological and artistic have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangzhu prepared by the Spring Festival couplets monograph "Threshold Lian series of words" on the origins of the couplets and various types of works of the characteristics of all made a discussion.
There are many types of spring couplets, which, according to their place of use, can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal phi, spring strips, and doufang. "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 different contents, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond, more in the furniture, shadow wall.
Pasted window and upside down "Fu" word
In the folk people also like to put a variety of paper cutouts on the window - window. 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 affixed to the window, so it is also known as "window flowers". Window flowers with its unique generalization and exaggeration of the auspicious events, good wishes expressed in the best possible way, will be decorated with festivals red hot and rich.
At the same time as the Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on the doors, walls and lintels of their houses. The Spring Festival sticker "Fu" character, is China's folk custom from a long time. 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 have longevity, longevity peach, carp jump Dragon Gate, five grains, dragon and phoenix, and so on.
New Year's paintings
The Spring Festival hanging stickers New Year's paintings in urban and rural areas is also very common, thick black colorful New Year's 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 been 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 Plenty of Fortune," "Six Animals Prosperity," "Welcoming the Spring Receiving Blessings," and other classic colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy people's wishes for a happy and prayerful New Year. There are three important production areas of Chinese New Year paintings in China: Taohuayu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong Province; three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings have been formed, each with its own characteristics.
China's earliest collection of Chinese New Year paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fairness of the country's face" woodcut New Year paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Banji 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 wall calendar, and is still popular throughout the country.
Watch the New Year's Eve
Watch the New Year's Eve is one of the most important New Year's activities, and the custom of watching the New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record is 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 "share the year"; all night long to keep the New Year's Eve, the most important activity. "
The first time I saw this is when I was a young man and I had to wait for the day to dawn, so I called it the "New Year's Eve".
"One night even double the year, five nights divided into two days", New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered together, ate the New Year's Eve dinner, light up candles or oil lamps, sitting around the fireplace chatting, waiting for the time to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, the all-night vigil, symbolizing all the evil plague and epidemic according to the run 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, warmth into the spring wind". Until today, people are still accustomed to the New Year's Eve to welcome the new year.
Anciently, 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 their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time of the transition between the old and new year is usually the middle of the night.
Firecrackers
Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of the new year, the first thing that families do when they open the door is to set off firecrackers, to beep and blare the sound of 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.
Welcome to the New Year
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 respects 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; there are 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 labor-intensive door-to-door New Year's greetings, some of the upper-class people and the scholarly community used the posters to congratulate each other, which developed into the later "New Year's card".
The Chinese New Year, the late generation should first pay tribute to the elders, wishing the elders a long life and well-being, the elders can be prepared beforehand the New Year's money to the elders, it is said that the New Year's money can be pressed to stop the evil spirits, because the "age" and the "spirit" consonant, the elders get the New Year's 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.
An important activity in the Spring Festival is to new friends and neighbors to congratulate the New Year, the old term for New Year's Eve. Han Chinese New Year's Eve style, the Han Dynasty has. After the Tang and Song dynasties are very popular, some do not have to go in person, can be used in the name of the invitation to cast congratulations. The Eastern Han Dynasty called "prick", so the business card is also known as the "name prick". After the Ming Dynasty, many people stick a red paper bag in front of the door, specializing in name badges, called "door book".
Folk visit the form of New Year's Eve, according to each other's social relations, can be divided into four categories:
One is to go to relatives. The first day must go to the father-in-law, shall bring gifts. After entering the door first to the Buddha statues, ancestral images, pagodas each line three kowtow salute, and then to the elders in turn kneeling. You can stay to eat and play.
The second is a courtesy visit. Such as to colleagues, friends to pay tribute to the New Year, a door into the house, only to the Buddha three kowtow, such as with the host of the Department of the same generation is only required to arch a bow, such as older than their own, should still take the initiative to kneel down, the host should be down the seat to do to help the shape of the even said free to show humility. This situation is generally not appropriate to sit for a long time, pleasantries two polite words to say goodbye. After the master was worshiped, should choose a day to return to worship.
Third is a thank-you visit. Where a year to people owe love (such as lawyers, doctors, etc.) to buy some gifts to send, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the New Year, to express gratitude pillow.
The fourth is a series of visits. For the left and right neighbors of the neighborhood, not much interaction in the past, but meet can say, to the Jubilee, just to the yard, meet each other with a clasped fist and said: "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "a Shun Bashun", in the house to sit down for a while only, not very much etiquette.
Anciently, there is a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: New Year's Eve is to the elders kowtow; New Year's Day is to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups rest, enterprises, schools, we get together to congratulate each other, called "reunion".
New Year's greeting is a traditional Chinese folk custom, is a way for people to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and express their good wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the term "New Year's greeting" was to pay respects to the elders, including kowtowing to the elders, congratulating them on a happy New Year, and greeting them on a good life, etc. When there were relatives and friends of the same generation, they were also invited to pay respects to the elders. When there are relatives and friends of the same generation, they should also bow to congratulate.
Anciently, if or neighborhood friends and relatives too much, it is difficult to visit all over the door, the servants to bring business cards to pay tribute to the New Year, known as the "fly post", the door of each house to paste a red paper bag, written on the "receive the blessing of the two words, that is, for the bearer to put the fly post with. This custom began in the Song Dynasty upper class. The Qing Dynasty's "Yan Tai Yue Ling" described the Beijing New Year's Festival as follows: "This is also the month when pieces fly and empty cars go." It became fashionable. Large families ad hoc "door book" to remember the guests and fly piece of correspondence, the door book of the first page of the virtual "pro-arrivals" four people: one said the life of a hundred years old master, live in a hundred years of the Square Lane; one said the rich Yu masters, live in Yuanbao Street; one said that you have no great people, live in the university scholar's house; One said the blessing of the old master, live in the five blessings building. In order to try to auspicious to curry favor. To date, the Chinese New Year gift of New Year's tablets, New Year's cards, is the legacy of this ancient send each other fly post.
The upper class scholarly men had the custom of throwing congratulations to each other with famous posters. Song Zhou Hui in the "Qingbo Magazine" said: "Song Yuanyou years, New Year's greetings, often using servants to hold the name of the thorn on behalf of the go". At that time, the scholars traveled widely, if around the door to pay tribute to the New Year, both time-consuming, but also exhausting energy, so some of the relationship is not close to the friends do not go in person, but to send a servant to take a kind of paper with plum blossom paper cut into two inches wide, three inches long, written on the top of the name of the recipient of the congratulations, address and congratulations on the words of the card to go to on behalf of the New Year's greeting. People in the Ming Dynasty to visit instead of New Year's greeting. Ming Dynasty distinguished painter, poet Wen Zhengming in the "New Year" poem described: "do not seek to meet but through the visit, the name of the paper towards the full sheltered hut; I also cast a number of paper with the people, the world hate Jane not suspected of false". Here the "famous prick" and "famous visit" is the origin of the present New Year's card. New Year's cards are used for contacting and greeting each other, which is both convenient and practical, and even today they are still popular.
From about the time of the Qing Dynasty, New Year's Day and add the form of "reunion worship", the Qing Yi Lan master in the "side hat Yu Tan" said: "the capital in the first of the year, routine reunion worship, in order to unite the friendship of the year, in order to Dunhuang feelings", "every year! By the year book red booking guests, food and drink banquets, for the whole day happy".
With the development of the times, the custom of New Year's Eve is also constantly adding new content and form. Now people in addition to the inheritance of the past New Year's Eve, and the rise of ritual telegrams and telephone New Year's Eve and so on.
But from the first to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, called "taboo door". Only men go out to pay their respects, while women have to wait until after the sixth day of the first month before they can go out to visit. The New Year's visit extends for a long time, until around the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. When you go to someone's house in the evening to pay your respects, it is called the "Night Festival", and after the tenth day of the first lunar month, it is called the "Lantern Festival", which is why there is a joke that "if you want to pay your respects to the New Year, you will not be late for the cold food". Sanzheng, Zhengdan, Zhengshuo and other 30 kinds of names. After the Xinhai Revolution, changed to the Gregorian calendar, this day is designated as the Spring Festival, in order to distinguish the Gregorian New Year's Day, but people are still accustomed to see it as the New Year's Day, commonly known as "New Year", "over the New Year", "the old calendar years ", "lunar year". New Year's Day is early in the "Shangshu - Shun Dian", to the Han Dynasty, folk customs have been quite diverse, and is still the grandest festival of the year, public officials take a three-day vacation, folk celebrations last half a month.
The old customs of the Spring Festival
The old customs of the Spring Festival from the beginning of the first day of zero, Shandong, generally by the parents first up "hair paper", before opening the door to put a fire cracker, and then only to talk. Men under the leadership of parents to worship the gods of heaven and earth. The first meal of the Spring Festival is dumplings. Firecrackers are fired while the dumplings are being cooked. In order to drive away evil and seek good luck, some regions use sesame stalks to cook the dumplings over the fire, which means that the new year will be like a blossoming sesame seed, and the days will be better and better. Dumplings to cook more, there must be a surplus, after the meal to be put on the pot of steamed bread, meaning that there is a surplus head. After the dumplings are cooked, a bowl is first filled to honor Heaven and Earth, and then a bowl is filled to honor Zaojun. During the meal, in addition to a bowl for each person, one or two more bowls are served in the hope that the family will prosper. Eating dumplings is full of festive joy. Chinese New Year dumplings are wrapped with money, jujube, chestnuts, etc. Eating jujube means that you can get up early in the new year and work hard to become rich; eating chestnuts means that you can make great efforts and sweat in the new year; eating peanut rice means that you can live a long life; and eating money means that you can become rich. No matter who eats any of them, everyone congratulates heartily. If the child ate the money, the parents are more very happy, that the child has merit, in addition to encouragement, but also reward money, to show congratulations. Many places to eat vegetarian dumplings on the first day of the year, to take the meaning of "vegetarian quiet year". Linqing place on the first day of breakfast to eat a variety of steamed buns, jujube cake, sticky nest, etc., and with a variety of pills, vermicelli, cabbage boiled into the "whole dish", called "eat the whole year's meal".
New Year's greetings
The custom of New Year's greetings at the Spring Festival has a long history and is still going strong. First of all, the family worship, a family, the younger generation to the elders to pay tribute to the New Year, the generation between each other to pay tribute to the New Year; then close to worship, that is, not out of the five service to the elders to pay tribute to the New Year; finally, far worship, to the five service to the elders and friends and relatives to pay tribute to the New Year. In the old days to kowtow, now generally just hello. Businessmen to pay tribute to the New Year, in addition to greetings, but also to say congratulations to each other. Seniors to elders to pay tribute to the New Year, elders to give money. Linqing the first day of the New Year, men and married women to participate, men and women separately, worship their own elders, and then worship the elders within the clan, which is called "clan worship", after the patriarch led to the temples, the shrine of different surnames to worship the gods, which is called "worship Zhuangxiang New Year", and finally, the village chief commanded all the village people in the village. The village head commanded the village crossroads in the village to worship each other to solve the disputes of past years, this is called "worship unity year". Yuncheng and other places have a "Spring Festival five begging long" custom. Children get up without saying a word, the first to hold tightly to the Tsubaki tree, while singing "Tsubaki tree Tsubaki tree king, you grow thick to my long long, you grow thick to do material, I grow long to wear clothes. Zoucheng has a special custom of pounding rat holes, the first morning, with a stick pounding rat holes, while pounding the side said "poke and poke, poke and poke, ten rats nine blind, there is a not blind, but also asked me to poke brake it", intended to ensure food security.
Regional rules
Southwest Lu customary rules, the first morning can not be chickens, ducks, geese, etc. put out, some circle a day, at least half a day, for fear of stirring up the year (because of the firecrackers, the poultry will be scared to fly everywhere), other animals such as cows, horses, dogs, cats and other domesticated animals, have been given preferential treatment, some ate dumplings, and some gnawed on the bones of the meat. Some people feed their livestock with grains and cereals, after the livestock are full, and then broom from the head of the livestock down to sweep, sweep out what grain to mean that this grain harvest. That is, the first morning of the first year to feed chickens with rice, it is said that chickens eat a grain of rice, you can lay an egg, all kinds of food to the dog to eat, it is said that the dog first thing to eat, must be a bumper harvest.
Jiao Dong Longkou, Penglai area, the first morning there are some special activities. One is to illuminate the virtual consumption, the hostess got up, holding a red candle, lifting up the kangshi shine, and then all the corners of the light again, meaning that the light to expel the darkness, the evil evil out. The second is to press the window sill, put all kinds of flour flowers made with flour before the year into the window sill in the morning of the first day, which is very beautiful. Third, "playing the swing", children get up, in accordance with the instructions of their parents years ago, climbed the bolt to play three "swing", it is said that this can grow faster. Four is to put pressure tank money, throw some coins into the tank, it is said that put pressure tank money, a year will not be drought, grain abundance of surplus money. Five is to throw Sheng bug (coiled dragon), the first morning, the hostess first years ago with the face of the steam Sheng bug into the grain hoard and noodle tanks. Sheng is a harmonic of leftover, throw Sheng bug to take the meaning of "leftover". When the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in Weishan County, Nanyang Town, the first day of the year by the children on the street lanterns, jumping and cheering to sing auspicious ballads, commonly known as "shouting hair". There are many kinds of auspicious songs sung by children: "Fat Choy! Fortune! Buy land! Build a house!" "This year is a good year! Next year, we'll have a big boat! Load jujubes, go down to Jiangnan, load one, unload 10,000, and sweep 800 quintals!" "Send it! Round! Yuanbao wheel home to come!"
Laiwu and other places have the custom of sending home on the first day. People go to their graves, burn paper, fire cannons and kowtow to send their ancestors back to their graves. After returning home, the family tree is put away, the Spring Festival ancestor worship ceremony is then over. However, in some areas, the family tree is sent on the second day of the Lunar New Year, while in others, the family tree is sent on the third day of the Lunar New Year, which varies from place to place.
Taboos on the first day of the year
There are many taboos on the first day of the year, and they vary greatly from place to place. Junan taboo push mill (before the year closed mill, until the first five allowed to use the mill), taboo picking water, taboo sweeping the ground, taboo beating and cursing. In Linyi, it is forbidden to move the needle money, forbidden to wrap dumplings, forbidden to eat meat, forbidden to pound garlic. Yiyuan first night taboo light, it is said that the light, rats will be flooded. Jiaodong all over the most taboo on the first day of breaking things, in case of breaking things, to hold the pieces, do not look back, do not speak, straight to the well, the pieces will be thrown into the well, otherwise "the Lord of the evil". There are also places in the broken objects, read the auspicious words "years and years (broken) peace" to crack. The first day of cooking dumplings, broken can not say "broken", to say "earn (earn). Store New Year's Eve to eat dumplings while eating garlic, because "garlic" and "scattered" sound the same, and changed the name of the garlic for "Yi and vegetables".
Celebrations
Celebrations for the Spring Festival begin on the first day of the month and continue until the fourteenth day of the first month. Jiaodong region in the second day after sunset to send the New Year, send the New Year to set tribute, burning incense and paper, firecrackers. Some in the street on the table, one after another firecrackers, very lively. Zouping the third afternoon to send the year, commonly known as "send a hundred gods", also known as "round year". Linqing has the second sacrifice God of Fortune's custom, the merchants home for the God of Fortune's tablet, the table with the "money dragon" and "jujube mountain". Sacrifice, burn incense and kowtow, neighbors also bring incense and paper, to the merchant's home to sacrifice to the God of Wealth, congratulations on business prosperity, the host will be entertained with wine and food, to express gratitude.
Stringing relatives
Stringing relatives is an important activity of the Spring Festival. Crosstalk order of New Year's Eve varies from place to place, Linqing is: the second day, aunts and grandmothers, aunt's home, married soon sister's home, sister's home, grandchildren to the grandmother's home; the third day, to pay respects to the father-in-law, commonly known as the "walk in the family of the father-in-law"; on the fourth day, the aunt's home and the farther away from the home of the relatives. Eastern Jiaodong and Laiwu and other places on the second day of the father-in-law's family, unmarried young men and women can replace their parents to visit their grandparents and grandparents. Spring Festival to visit relatives, are to bring some gifts. Newly married son-in-law to his father-in-law's gift is very delicate, Laiwu is generally four-color, six-color, some even eight-color, ten-color. Four colors are wine, meat, pastries, steamed buns. Chicken, fish, sausage, canned food, noodles, doughnuts are counted as a color. In addition, cigarettes and sugar cubes are essential, but they do not count as one color. Chicken to bring two, fish to bring two, each color gifts, are to be even, do not count singular. Imo in the third or fourth to the in-laws to pay homage to the New Year, but the first five can not go. As the saying goes, "worship four not worship five, worship five dead mother-in-law." The order of Laixi family tandem is "first look at the aunt, after looking at the uncle, in-laws in the back". Yue's family on the aunt, especially the newly married aunt to be received with great hospitality. Laiwu and other places on the banquet, in addition to chicken, fish, meat, eggs, generally have to set "four top four", that is, four fruit plate, four fried dishes, four small bowls, four large bowls and four large plates. The accompanying guests take turns to toast to the uncle. The Yue family to the aunt's return gift is about 10 pounds of big buns and big cake each one. Jiaodong's new daughter-in-law in the first year to her husband's grandfather's family visit, called "rooting", it is said that to the grandfather's family can be rooted, there will be no divorce and early widowhood. Roots, grandfather, uncle, aunt, etc. to give the bride money, the newlyweds in southwest Luzhi kisses are generally in the double day, meaning that pairs, great luck. In the old days, Linqing in the first month before the fifteenth generally do not string relatives, after the fifteenth to string relatives.
Entertainment activities
Entertainment activities during the Spring Festival are extremely common in Shandong folk. Rice-planting songs, dragon lanterns, lion dances, running boats, martial arts performances, ball games and other forms. The second to the sixteenth day of the first month, the city of Qufu Drum Tower door will be, and open the Confucian Temple. At the meeting, there are flower drums, blind cavity and other local theater performances, there are opera performances, there are selling toys, selling firecrackers, selling flowers, selling fried cakes and other kinds of vendors. This will be the 14th for the most prosperous, many people in the countryside into the city to catch up with the meeting, commonly known as "catch up with the meeting". Miss, Mrs. Kong House for viewing the bustling scene in the meeting, inside the gate of the Kong House wall built platforms and scaffolding, hanging lanterns and colorful, hanging bamboo curtains on the side of the platform near the street, curtains sightseeing