The year 2008 is a transitional ceremony of time renewal.
Say goodbye to the old year and enter the new year, and the time for a new cycle of four seasons will be regained, and human life will also enter a new journey. As the saying goes in China, "Nian" is called "Nian Guan", which inevitably reveals the meaning that it is not such an easy time threshold to pass the Chinese New Year.
China is rich in old customs, and there are also many taboos, which need people to treat and practice respectfully. Old people will say, "Chinese New Year is done day by day". The following "Chinese New Year’s Guide" is to take you through the Chinese New Year and teach you how to make the "Year" go by day.
New Year’s Eve: Say goodbye to the old, get rid of the special, and keep the lights on.
New year’s eve dinner The original hand-drawn painting is from the National Festival Handbook, Shanghai Museum (ed.), published by East China Normal University Press in April 2016.
The "year" of the ancients is more like a time pass that needs to be handled carefully than our current "year". According to Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals and Ji Dong Ji, during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, people used drums to drive away "ghosts of epidemic diseases" on the day before the New Year to ensure the safety and health of the next year, which was called "eviction", so the evening (evening) of this day was called "New Year’s Eve". The earliest mention of the name "New Year’s Eve" is the "Notes on Local Customs" written by Zhou Chu in the Western Jin Dynasty, in which it is said: "Late years are related to feedback, which is called feedback. Wine and food are invited for another year. On New Year’s Eve, Da Dan didn’t sleep, which was called keeping the year. " Therefore, the so-called "New Year’s Eve", the old year will be removed this evening, and the new year will be replaced tomorrow. Its core words are "farewell to the old" and "removing the special". Su (su), that is, ghosts and demons.
Posting blessings, couplets and New Year pictures. The source of original hand-drawn drawings is the same as above.
During the day of New Year’s Eve, we will start to do the work of "removing the old and creating the new": we should go to the house to clean up the family; Adults and children bathe in turn, which is called "washing the old"; There are also "changing door gods, hanging clocks, nailing peach symbols and sticking spring cards", which means that door couplets, New Year pictures, blessings and the like must be replaced with new ones; If there are patients at home, the leftover dregs need to be thrown out, which is called "losing all diseases".
In the evening, when everyone sits together to have a New Year’s Eve dinner, it pays more attention to auspicious meaning. The essential food for northerners is jiaozi, which means "making friends at a younger age" when the new year and the old year alternate. Southerners eat spring rolls, rice cakes and the like, and the meaning of rice cakes is "high every year". There are also some auspicious foods, such as "fish with more than one year", "Nostoc flagelliforme" and water chestnut, which are also popular among people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces because they look like ingots.
Step on the age. Original hand drawingThe source is the same as above.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, "Shounian" is not just sitting around, but also some interesting activities for recreation. For example, the popular "stepping on the old" in the northern region is to sprinkle sesame stalks on walking places such as courtyards, so that children can crush them and crack them, and the ghosts around them will be scared away. "Stepping on the old age" is actually "stepping on the precious". Similarly, the lucky money is actually "precious". In the era of using copper coins, lucky money should be threaded with brown rope, braided into a dragon shape and placed at the foot of a child’s bed.
On New Year’s Eve, one thing needs to be noted: the lights of vigil should stay on all night. As the folk saying goes, "Thirty fires, fifteen lights", it is the best way to drive away evil spirits with light!
From the first day to the fourth day: welcome the new year and celebrate the New Year, and keep taboos.
On New Year’s Day, we should get up early to welcome the new year. Because we have to set off firecrackers, go out to meet XiShen, and there are good men and women who want to go to the temple to burn incense at the age of four.
When the cock crows, firecrackers are set off first, and its intention, according to the "Record of the Age of Jingchu", is "to make the mountain ashamed of evil spirits". And "welcoming XiShen" means walking and worshipping Kyrgyzstan as mentioned in the almanac, and asking XiShen to bless himself at the age of one. In Shanghai, it’s also called "Happy God’s Prescription".
Happy new year. The source of original hand-drawn drawings is the same as above.
"Happy New Year" is an important theme at the beginning of the year. There is an order for New Year greetings. As far as folk families are concerned, the first is to worship the gods and ancestors, the second is to worship the elders and elders, and then the members of the family worship each other.
There are two points worth noting about New Year greetings. First of all, the traditional custom is to pay New Year greetings only at home on the first day, and not to go out to visit relatives and friends until the second day. Secondly, don’t make a mistake in the "bowing hand" ceremony in New Year’s greetings-China culture respects the left and takes the left as the yang, so when bowing, you need to make a fist with your right hand, palm your left hand, or wrap or cover your right fist. This bowing gesture is "Jibai"; On the contrary, it is fierce worship and can be used for mourning.
The first day is the first day of the new year, and people all hope that everything will go smoothly at the beginning of the year, which is a good sign. Therefore, there are many taboos on this day, and they often can’t be broken until the fifth day:
1. Avoid saying unlucky things. In case children spill the beans, many families put up a red note saying "Children’s words are unbridled" to crack it.
2. Avoid sweeping the floor, splashing water outside and taking out the garbage, because it is easy to sweep away the wealth at home. If the ground is dirty and must be swept, then sweep it inward, symbolizing that the treasure enters the door. After sweeping, put it in the trash can and keep it.
3. Avoid bathing, shampooing and washing clothes, so as not to wash away the good fortune of the year.
4, avoid breaking the cups and bowls. If you accidentally break the dishes, quickly say "peace".
5, when eating, avoid using boiled water to soak rice, and avoid using soup to soak rice, otherwise you will be lucky in the New Year.
"Mice Marry" paper-cut.
As the saying goes, "the first day is early, the second day is early, and the third day is full." The Chinese New Year is very busy and tiring these days. On the third night, people need to give themselves a reason to go to bed early, that is, "a mouse marries a woman". Everyone turns off the lights and goes to sleep early, so as not to disturb the happy event of mice marrying women. People often sprinkle some rice grains or cake crumbs on the corner of the house as a wedding gift to show that they can share a year’s harvest with mice. Therefore, New Year pictures and paper-cuts of "Mice Marry Women" and "Mice Marry" are also regarded as mascots among the people, and can be posted on walls or windows during the New Year.
The fifth day and the sixth day: break the ban, send the poor and welcome the god of wealth.
Set off firecrackers to welcome the god of wealth. The source of original hand-drawn drawings is the same as above.
In Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, there is a very important god to meet on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, that is, the God of Wealth, also known as the "Road Head God" or "Five Road God". "Five roads", as the name implies, are rich in things, north and south. Everyone loves the god of wealth, and it is very popular. The sooner you receive it, the more effective it will be. Therefore, it is said that the fifth day is the day to meet the gods, but people want to "grab the road" early on the fourth night.
Gu Lu, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, described this great event in Wu in Qing Jia Lu: "The fifth day of the first month is the birthday of Lu Tou Shen. Golden gongs and firecrackers, which are sacrificed to the past, are eager to make a profit, and they must get up early to meet them, which is called the end of the road. " After receiving God, everyone still has to eat road wine, often until dawn.
Shanghai welcomes the god of wealth with carp, also known as "silver ingot fish", and fishmongers call it "sending silver ingot fish". These customs, Yuan Zuzhi’s "Poems of Bamboo Branches on the Sea" wrote: "Yuanbao shouted to send it in, and Caidong made a fortune again tonight; Carps don’t jump into the dragon gate, but also offer gold and silver to Taiwan. “
There are also secular reasons for welcoming the god of wealth on the fourth night and the early morning of the fifth day. In the old days, Chinese New Year shops closed their doors on New Year’s Eve and reopened on the fifth day of the first month. This is connected with the god of wealth, so that we can "open the door to see wealth" and "make rich resources" smoothly and profitably.
Go poor. The source of original hand-drawn drawings is the same as above.
On the fifth day of the fifth day, the more popular customs in northern China are "breaking the fifth day" and "sending the poor", which belong to taboo and blessing activities. "Breaking Five", that is, those taboos in the past few days, can be lifted after this day. And "sending the poor" is also related to this. The garbage that was not dumped in order to accumulate wealth before was just cleaned up on this day, and this attention became "sending the poor".
There are many ways to send the poor. It’s simply that firecrackers are ringing in the morning and the garbage is dumped out of the door. The more complicated thing is to cut a villain ("poor daughter-in-law") with paper, and even let her carry a paper bag filled with garbage outside the door and burn it. In Han Yu’s "Send the Poor", it is mentioned that it is necessary to "make a car out of willows, bind grass as a boat, carry grain, tie the ox under the yoke, and sail on the pole" for the poor. That is to say, when sending the poor, it is necessary to prepare vehicles, boats and dry food for the poor and send them away quickly.
The ceremony of "seeing the poor off" can also be held on the sixth day of the sixth day, even on the dark day of the first month. Han Yu’s "sending the poor" is in the dark days. Dark day, that is, the last day of each month in the lunar calendar, and the dark day in the first month of the year, that is, "the first dark day", is particularly valued.
The seventh day: "People’s Day", Dai Sheng, seven dishes soup.
The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is "People’s Day", and the previous six days are "Livestock Day". The Chronicle of Jingchu’s Age quoted Dong Xun’s Asking about Etiquette and Custom as saying: "On the first day of the first month, you will be a chicken, on the second day, a dog, on the third day, a pig, on the fourth day, a sheep, on the fifth day, a cow, on the sixth day, a horse, and on the seventh day, you will be a human being. Zhengdan painted a chicken on the door and posted it on the account on the seventh day. " Therefore, "Today, no chickens, no dogs, no pigs, no sheep, no cattle, no horses, no execution, and no execution."
Dai Ren wins. The source of original hand-drawn drawings is the same as above.
The important custom of "People’s Day" on the seventh day of the seventh day is "wearing people to win", so "People’s Day" is also called "People’s Victory Festival". Human victory is a kind of ornament. Women cut the ribbon for flowers, or cut the ribbon for people, or carve gold foil for people, stick it on screens, bed curtains, or wear it in their hair to pray for blessings and avoid disasters. "Chronicle of Jingchu’s Years Old" explains the meaning of "Dai Ren Sheng", which means that "those who cut the ribbon will enter the New Year, and the description will be changed from the new one", that is, the New Year will take on a new look. This custom has been popular since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it has been paid more and more attention since the Tang Dynasty. On every "People’s Day", the emperor gave the ministers colorful decorations to win, and gave them a big banquet to compose poems for the holidays, while the people cut the ribbon and gave them to each other. In Li Yuan’s poem "Cut the Ribbon" in the Tang Dynasty, there is a poem "A gift of money is given to a blind date, and a silver hairpin is decorated with a phoenix; Two birds in a row, two bridge people ".
The festive food of "People’s Day" is "seven-dish soup", which is a soup made by chopping seven kinds of vegetables and cooking them together. If you eat them, you can pray for the New Year and prevent all diseases. This food custom has declined in modern times. But interestingly, Japan will eat "seven grass porridge" on January 7th. This custom has been popular among Japanese people since the Edo period. In Japanese haiku, there is praise for seven grass porridge "The porridge tastes good and the intestines are longing for the Soviet Union". In fact, this custom was introduced from the ancient and popular seven dishes soup in China.
