Primary school students’ Spring Festival compositions focus on the New Year’s Eve, the first day of the Lunar New Year and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
New Year's Eve on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month
New Year's Eve refers to the night of the last day of the twelfth lunar month every year. It is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month). The word "Chu" in "New Year's Eve" means "to go; to change; to change". The meaning of New Year's Eve is "the end of the month and the end of the year." People have to get rid of the old and replace the old with the new. means, it is the last night of the whole year in the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around eliminating the old and bringing in the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.
At the end of each year during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, a "Dan Nuo" ceremony would be held in the palace to beat the drums to drive away the ghosts of plague and disaster, which was called "Zhuchu". Later it was also called the day before New Year's Eve. It is the Little New Year's Eve, that is, the Little New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve is the Great New Year's Eve, that is, the New Year's Eve.
There is a custom of sticking to the door god during the New Year in various parts of our country. The original door god was carved into a human form of mahogany wood and hung next to the person. Later, the portrait of the door god was painted and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Yu Lei specialize in controlling ghosts. With them guarding the door, evil spirits big and small dare not come in to cause harm. After the Tang Dynasty, there were paintings of the fierce generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde as door gods, and there were also paintings of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. There is one door god statue on the left and right door respectively. Later generations often painted a pair of door gods as civil and military. There are three types of door gods: the first type is the "door god", which is usually posted on the car door or the entire door. It is about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second type is the "street door god", which is usually posted on the small street door. It is about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two gods, one with a black face and one with a white face. White left and black right, white good and easy, black ferocious and evil, each holding a yue. The third category is the "house door god", which is slightly smaller and more limited than the street door god. It also has two gods, black and white, but there are also two gods, black and white, who are seated. The most common thing on the door of the house is a picture of "Qilin delivering his son", two dolls painted with powder and grease and combed with crowns of princes, each riding a Qilin. This kind of door god was supposed to be posted on the door of the newly married house to bring good luck, and later it became a New Year decoration on ordinary street doors.
When midnight strikes, the New Year’s bell rings, and the sound of firecrackers rings across the entire land of China. In this "three yuan" moment of "the yuan of the year, the yuan of the month, and the yuan of the time", some places still build "vigorous fires" in the courtyard to show that the energy is strong and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and jumped happily. At this time, there were bright lights inside the house, brilliant sparks in front of the court, and loud noises outside, pushing the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to its climax. . Poets and writers of all ages have always praised the coming of the New Year with their most beautiful verses. Wang Anshi's poem "Yuan Ri": The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households are as bright as the sun. Always replace old talismans with new ones.
Set a heaven and earth table, which is a temporary offering table specially designed for New Year’s Eve. Generally, homes that do not have a large Buddhist hall attach great importance to the Heaven and Earth Table, because they usually make less offerings to the Buddha, and at the end of the year a large reward is given to the gods and Buddhas. In addition, this table is mainly used to receive the gods. The content of the Heaven and Earth Table is different from that of the permanent Buddhist hall. In addition to the usual hanging money, incense candles, five offerings, and large offerings, most of the idols enshrined there are also temporary, such as: "hundred percent", It is a woodcut album of god statues; "Eighteen Buddhas and Gods in the Three Realms of Heaven and Earth" is a full deity code printed with watercolor woodcut on large yellow edge paper; portraits of the three stars of fortune, longevity and longevity, etc. Some of the above statues were burned immediately after receiving the gods, such as "100%". Some have to wait until Powu or even the Festival of Lanterns to burn them. The location of the heaven and earth table is not uniform. If the main room has a wide space, it can be placed in the house. If there is no space in the house, it can be placed in the courtyard. Legend has it that this night is when the gods from the sky descend to the realm, so there is a custom among the people to receive the gods.
Chinese people have the habit of staying up late on New Year’s Eve, which is commonly known as “staying up late”. Staying up all year long starts with the New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting from the time when the lanterns are turned on. Some people have to eat until late at night. According to Zong Mao's "Jingchu Years' Records", the custom of eating New Year's Eve dinner has existed at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The custom of keeping the year old includes not only a feeling of nostalgia for the passing years, but also a good hope for the coming New Year.
Setting off firecrackers depicts the festive scene of our people celebrating the Spring Festival. The sound of firecrackers is a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and an expression of festive mood. Business family. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a lot of money in the new year. However, according to old customs, you should be the first to honor the God of Wealth, and the last to set off firecrackers. Legend has it that if you want to make a fortune, the firecrackers should be fired until the end to be considered sincere.
When the children are playing and setting off firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for the housewives in the kitchen. The New Year dishes have been prepared a few days ago, and the New Year’s Eve dinner must be cooked on New Year’s Eve. Make it. In the north, dumplings for the New Year's Day are also made on the 30th night. At this time, every chopping board was busy chopping meat and chopping vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards came from every house, the sound of firecrackers came from the streets and alleys, the "crackling" sound of abacus and the mellow sound of accounting reports came from the small shops, mixed with the laughter everywhere, one after another. , filled with ears, intertwined into a cheerful New Year's Eve movement.
Eating New Year’s Eve dinner is the most lively and happy time for every household during the Spring Festival. New Year's Eve. The table is filled with sumptuous New Year dishes, and the whole family is reunited. Sitting around the table and having the reunion dinner together, the sense of fulfillment in my heart is really indescribable. People not only enjoy the table full of delicacies, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold basins, hot stir-fries, and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot. The second is fish.
The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is prosperous; "fish" and "yu" are homophonic, symbolizing "abundance in auspicious celebrations" and "abundance every year". There are also radish, commonly known as cabbage, which is used to wish good luck; lobster, fried fish and other fried foods are used to wish prosperity for the family, just like "fire cooking oil". The last part is usually a sweet dish, wishing you a sweet life in the future. On this day, even if you don’t know how to drink, you can drink a little.
There are many types of New Year’s Eve dinners, which vary from north to south, including dumplings, wontons, noodles, yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own specialties. Northerners are accustomed to eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year, which means "Geng Sui Jiao Zi" (Geng Sui Jiao Zi), the transition between the old and the new. And because the white flour dumplings are shaped like silver ingots, serving them on the table symbolizes "making a fortune in the new year, and the ingots rolling in". When making dumplings, some people also wrap a few coins that have been sterilized in boiling water, saying whoever eats them first will make more money. The custom of eating dumplings was passed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing saw that the ears of the poor were rotten by the frost during the twelfth lunar month of winter, so he made a "Quhan Jiao Er Decoction" to treat frostbite for the poor. He used mutton, chili peppers and some cold-warming medicinal materials, wrapped them in dough to make ear-shaped "Jiao Er", cooked them in a pot, and distributed them to the poor. After eating, people felt their whole body warm and their ears warm. Later, people followed suit and it has been passed down to this day. Eating wontons during the New Year means taking the beginning of the new year. Legend has it that the world was in a state of chaos before it was created. Pangu created the world, and then there were four directions in the universe and long noodles, also called longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the New Year is a wish for a hundred years of longevity.
New Year's money is given by the elders to the younger ones. In some families, after the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone sits at the table and is not allowed to leave. When everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger ones and encourage their children and grandchildren. In the new year, learn to make progress and be a good person. In some homes, parents wait for their children to fall asleep and put them under their pillows at night. In other homes, children gather in the main hall, shout Happy New Year to grandparents, parents, and mom, kneel down in line, and then reach out for red envelopes. They even went to the grandparents' bedroom and ran to the edge of the bed together, shouting: "New Year's money, New Year's money!" The old man didn't think it was lively enough, so he pretended to be stingy, went from bargaining to besieging and groping, and finally dug out the ancestor's red envelope. After everyone looted everything, they dispersed. The old man was overjoyed when he saw this scene, thinking it was a good sign that everything would go well in the new year. Giving lucky money during the New Year reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethical relationships.
The time of receiving gods is to distinguish the old and new years, but the time of receiving gods is not uniform. Some ceremonies begin as soon as Zizheng arrives, some begin to receive the gods at "Zizheng" time, that is, at midnight, and some begin after "Zizheng". After offering sacrifices to the stove, all the gods returned to the heavenly palace and ignored the secular affairs of the human world. At midnight on New Year's Eve, that is, when the new year came, they came to the human world to take care of affairs. The ceremony of receiving the gods is held in front of the heaven and earth table, and is presided over by the eldest member of the family. Because the directions in the heaven where the gods live are different, the directions from the lower world are naturally different. As for which god to pick up and where the god comes from, you must check the "Constitution" in advance, and then lead the whole family to hold incense and pick up the god according to the direction in the courtyard. . For example, the "Constitution" in the Xinwei year states: "The God of Wealth is due east, the God of Fortune is due south, the God of Gui is northeast, the God of Joy is southwest, the God of Taisui is southwest, etc." After kowtowing according to the direction, stand still until the incense is gone, kowtow again, and finally remove the incense roots, idols, ingots, etc., and put them into the money and grain basin that has been prepared in the courtyard for burning. When burning, burn pine branches, sesame straw, etc. together. Firecrackers went off during the reception, and the atmosphere was extremely intense.
After receiving the god, sesame straw is spread from the street door to the house door, and people walk on it and make a crackling sound, which is called "stepping on the new year" or "stepping on evil spirits". Since "broken" and "haunted" have the same pronunciation, it means starting to drive away evil spirits in the new year.
In ancient times, ancestor worship customs were very popular. Due to the different etiquette and customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to visit their ancestors' tombs, some go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and most of them place the ancestor's tablets in the main hall in sequence at home, display the offerings, and then the worshipers press the long The younger ones offer incense and kneel down in order. When the Han people worship their ancestors, they usually make fish and meat bowls, which are served in high bowls, which is quite similar to eating with bells and cauldrons. For southerners living in Beijing, ancestor worship is particularly grand. Most of them are eight bowls of dishes, with a hot pot in the middle and cups and chopsticks according to the spiritual position. On New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and New Year's Eve, the hot pot is fanned out and the dishes can be changed at any time. Banner people worship their ancestors, which is different from Manchuria and Mongolia. Mongolian Banner people offer yellow rice noodles fried in butter, which are fried in sesame oil and dipped in white sugar when they are removed, which gives them a different flavor. Manchurian bannermen worshiped their ancestors and offered walnut cakes, hibiscus cakes, apples, and plain wax sandalwood, which was extremely quiet and solemn. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, vegetarian dumplings are served, and on Yuan Yuan night, Lantern Festival is served. Every morning and evening, incense is burned, kowtow is offered, and new tea is offered. Although there are different forms of ancestor worship, most of them are hung on New Year's Eve and the offerings are withdrawn on the night of the Lantern Festival. Relatives and friends who are close to you must also visit the ancestor hall when paying New Year's greetings. Not only should they be careful to follow the distant past, but they will never forget their intentions, because of the virtue of respecting their ancestors. , also saved by this.
Tusu wine is a medicinal wine. In ancient customs, the whole family drank Tusu wine on Yuan Day to dispel unhealthy energy. The method of making Tusu wine is: use one penny of rhubarb, one penny and five cents of platycodon, and one penny and five cents of Sichuan pepper, one penny and eight cents of osmanthus heart, one penny and two cents of dogwood, and one or two pieces of saposhnikovia. Take it up at Yinshi and boil it for four or five times with wine. In ancient times, the way to drink Tusu wine was very unique. Most people always start drinking from the oldest ones; but when drinking Tusu wine, it is just the opposite, starting from the youngest ones. Probably the young ones grow up day by day and drink first to show their congratulations, while the older people drink later to show their retention as each year passes. The Song Dynasty writer Su Che's poem "Chu Ri" said: "I drink Tusu at the end of the year, and I am more than seventy years old before I know it." This is the custom.
This unique drinking order often evoked various emotions in ancient times, so it left a deep impression on people.
In the north, some families also provide a bowl of rice, which is cooked years ago and served during the New Year. It is called "every other year's meal". There is leftover rice every year, and they can't finish it all year round. They still have to eat it this year. It means to eat the food of the past year. This pot of rice and millet is usually cooked with a mixture of rice and millet. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "two rice rice" because it has yellow and white. This is called "gold and silver, and the pot is full of gold and silver". In many places, the pastries, melons and fruits prepared during the observance of the year are all intended to bring good luck: eating dates (early spring), eating persimmons (all goes well), eating almonds (happy people), eating immortality fruit (immortality) ) and eat rice cakes (which get higher every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family ate, had fun, talked and laughed.
The first day of the first lunar month
The Spring Festival is commonly known as "New Year", formerly known as "New Year's Day". Du Taiqing of the Sui Dynasty said in "Five Candles": "The first month is the Dragon Moon, and its first day is the Dragon Boat Festival." Yuan Day, Yiyun Zhengchao, Yiyun Yuanshuo. "The original meaning of "Yuan" is "head", which was later extended to "beginning", because this day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring, and the first day of the first month. , so it is called "Three Dynasties"; because this day is also the dynasty of the year, the dynasty of the moon, and the dynasty of the sun, it is also called the "Three Dynasties"; and because it is the first lunar day, it is also called "Yuan Shuo". The first day of the first lunar month is also known as Shangri, Zhengchao, Sanshuo, and Sanshi, which means that the first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the year, month, and day.
China is an ancient multi-ethnic country. Different nationalities in different historical periods have determined their own New Year's Day based on their own cultural traditions and customs, that is, changing it to "Zhengshuo" and correcting the time of the first day of the lunar month. Emperor Zhuanxu and the Xia Dynasty both used the first lunar month of Mengchun as the Yuan Dynasty, that is, using the Xia calendar of the Jian Yin period, the first day of the first lunar month was New Year's Day; the Shang Dynasty used the Yin calendar, and the Yin calendar Jian Chou took the first day of the twelfth lunar month as the New Year's Day; the Zhou Dynasty used the Zhou calendar, and the Zhou Dynasty used the Zhou calendar. The first day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar was used as New Year's Day; the Qin Dynasty used the Qin calendar, which marked the first day of the 11th lunar month as New Year's Day; the Qin calendar was still used in the early Western Han Dynasty, and was switched to the first year of Taichu in the Han Dynasty (AD 104). The Taichu calendar created by Sima Qian and Luo Xiahong reused Jianyin's Xia calendar, with the first day of the first lunar month as New Year's Day. From then on, except for Wang Mang and Emperor Ming of Wei who once switched to the Yin calendar of Jian Chou, and Empress Wu and Su Zong of the Tang Dynasty switched to the Zhou calendar of Jian Zi, all dynasties used the Xia calendar until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with red, as bright as clouds and brocade, which was called "Full of Red". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.
An important activity during the Spring Festival is to go to new friends’ homes and neighbors to wish them a happy New Year, formerly known as New Year greetings. The custom of paying New Year greetings among the Han people has been around since the Han Dynasty. It became very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties. Some people who did not need to go there in person could send congratulations with name cards. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was called "thorn", so the business card was also called "name thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many families put a red paper bag on their door to collect name cards, called a "door book".
New Year greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and to express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "bainian" was to congratulate the elders on the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders, giving wishes, wishing them a happy new year, and greeting them with well-being. When you meet relatives and friends of the same generation, you should also give congratulations.
In ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood and it was difficult to visit them all, servants would be sent to bring business cards to pay New Year greetings. This was called a "flying post". A red paper bag was posted in front of each house with the words " The two words "receive blessings" are used to inherit flying posts. This custom began in the upper class society of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Yantai Moon Order" describes the Beijing New Year: "It's the moon, the movies are flying, and the empty carriages are driving away." It became fashionable. Rich families have a special "door book" to record the comings and goings of guests. There are four virtual "visitors" on the front page of the door book: one is an old man who lives a hundred years, and lives in Baisui Fang Lane; the other is a rich man named Yu. , lives in Yuanbao Street; one is called Mr. Gui Wuji, who lives in the Grand Scholar Archway; the other is Mr. Fu Zhaolin, who lives in the Wufu Building. In order to seek good luck and seek luck. To this day, giving out New Year's cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is a legacy of the ancient tradition of sending flying messages to each other.
It is a custom for upper-class scholar-bureaucrats to congratulate each other with name cards. Zhou Hui, a native of the Song Dynasty, said in "Qingbo Magazine": "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to carry famous thorns to celebrate the New Year." At that time, the scholar-bureaucrats had many contacts, and it would take time and energy to visit people from all over the world to pay New Year greetings. Therefore, some friends who were not close to each other did not go there in person. Instead, they sent servants to bring them a two-inch wide, three-inch paper cut from plum blossom paper. An inch-long card with the name, address and congratulatory words of the congratulatory person written on it is sent to express New Year greetings on your behalf. In the Ming Dynasty, people paid homage instead of paying New Year greetings. Wen Zhengming, an outstanding painter and poet of the Ming Dynasty, described it in his poem "New Year's Greetings": "I don't ask for a meeting, but for a visit. Famous papers come from the dynasty and fill the house. I also throw in a few papers with others. The world hates them for being simple but not for being empty." The "Ming Ci" and "Ming Ye" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year's cards. New Year's cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings. They are convenient and practical and are still popular today.
Since about the Qing Dynasty, New Year greetings have added the form of "group worship". Qing Dynasty native Yi Lanzhu said in "Side Hat Yu Tan": "At the beginning of the year, the capital routinely performs group worship to connect the New Year. "Friendship, to strengthen the nostalgia", "Every year, guests are booked by the New Year's Book Red Book, and there are meals and banquets to enjoy the day."
With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings has constantly added new content and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous methods of New Year greetings, people have also developed ceremonial New Year greetings via telegrams and telephone calls.
However, from the first to the fifth day of the first lunar month, most families do not accept women, which is called "taboo". Only men can go out to visit the New Year, while women must wait until after the sixth day of the first lunar month to visit. The New Year greeting activities will be extended for a long time, until around the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Visiting people to pay New Year greetings in the evening is called "Ye Bao Festival", and after the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, it is called "Lantern Festival", so there is a joke that "it is not too late to eat cold food if you are willing to pay New Year greetings".
If for some reason you fail to perform the rituals in time and make up for it in the future, it is called "Worship the New Year"
In the old days, the weather in the first few days of the New Year was considered to be cloudy and sunny to mark the year. harvest. The theory begins with "Sui Zhan" written by Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty, which states that eight days after the end of the year, one day is the chicken day, the second day is the dog day, the third day is the pig day, the fourth day is the sheep day, the fifth day is the cow day, the sixth day is the horse day, and the seventh day is the horse day. The sun is a human being, and the eighth day is a grain. If the day is sunny, the object will flourish; if the day is cloudy, the object will not prosper. Later generations followed this custom and believed that the weather from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month was auspicious with clear weather, no wind and no snow. Later generations developed from accounting for age into a series of sacrifices and celebrations. There is a custom of no killing of chickens on the first day of the lunar month, no killing of dogs on the second day of the lunar month, no killing of pigs on the third day of the lunar month, and no execution on the seventh day of the lunar month.
To gather wealth, it is said that the first day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the broom. You cannot use a broom on this day, otherwise it will sweep away luck, lose money, and attract the "broom star", causing bad luck. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside. It is also not allowed to pour water or take out garbage outside on this day, for fear of losing money. Today, many places still have a custom of cleaning up on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day, no brooms are taken out, no garbage is taken out, and a large bucket is prepared to hold wastewater, and no spilling is allowed on that day.
The second day of the first lunar month
In the north, the God of Wealth is worshiped on the second day of the first lunar month. On this day, both commercial shops and ordinary families will hold activities to worship the God of Wealth. Every family offers sacrifices to the God of Wealth they received on New Year's Eve. In fact, they burned the crude prints they bought. We will eat wontons at noon today, commonly known as "Yuanbao Soup". Sacrificial offerings include fish and mutton. Big business houses in old Beijing hold large-scale sacrificial activities on this day. The sacrifices must be made from the "five major offerings", namely whole pigs, whole sheep, whole chickens, whole ducks, red live carp, etc., in the hope of making a fortune this year. There are different opinions on who the God of Wealth is, mainly as follows:
The God of Wealth is a Taoist secular god, and Yue Zhao Gongming is the official God of Wealth. The Sun God of Spring and the Moon God of Wealth are called "Spring Blessings". The two gods of the sun and moon are often posted on the door during the New Year.
According to legend, the surname Yue Zhao was named Gongming, and he was also known as Marshal Zhao Gong and Zhao Xuantan. In "Zhen Gao", Zhao Gongming is one of the five gods, that is, the god of the underworld. Later, in Taoist mythology, he became the patron saint of Zhang Ling's elixir cultivation. The Jade Emperor awarded him the title of Marshal of Zhengyi Xuantan. Therefore, he is regarded as the God of Wealth by the people. It looks like a black face with thick beard, wearing an iron crown on its head, holding an iron whip in its hand, and standing astride a black tiger, so it is also called the Black Tiger Mysterious Altar. The god of wealth worshiped by Chinese people.
However, books from the Tang and Song Dynasties and before, such as Qianbao's "Sou Shen Ji", "Zhen Gao", "Tai Shang Dong Yuan Shen Curse Sutra", etc., are all regarded as one of the five plagues (see "Plague God" in this volume) 》). It wasn't until the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty's "Dao Zang·Sou Shen Ji" and "Three Religions Sou Shen Encyclopedia", which were slightly edited in the Ming Dynasty, that he was called the God of Wealth. Volume 3 of "The Encyclopedia of Searching the Gods of the Three Religions" says: "Marshal Zhao, whose surname is Zhao Taogongming, was born in Zhong (end) Nanshan. He took refuge in the mountains during the Qin Dynasty and practiced Taoism intensively. Later, in Taoist mythology, he became Zhang Ling's elixir practitioner. The patron saint, the Jade Emperor granted him the title of Marshal of Zhengyi Xuantan, and became the god of rewards, punishments, lawsuits, protection from illness and disasters, and the pursuit of wealth through business, so he is regarded by the people as the god of wealth with a black face and thick beard. , wears an iron crown on his head, holds an iron whip in his hand, and stands astride a black tiger, so it is also called the Black Tiger Xuantan.
The Moon God of Wealth is divided into the main God of Wealth, the auxiliary Cai Bo Xingjun and the auxiliary Fan Li. p>
On the third day of the first lunar month
Burn the door god paper. In the old days, on the third day and night of the first lunar month, the pine and cypress branches during the New Year festival and the door god paper hanging on the festival door were burned together to indicate that the new year has passed. It’s time to make a living again. As the saying goes, “Burn the door god paper and seek health.”
Folks believe that on the first day of the first lunar month, rice is celebrated and people pray for good luck.
< p>The Xiaonian Dynasty is a court festival in the Song Dynasty. In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhenzong issued an edict and designated the third day of the first lunar month as the Tianqing Festival, and officials and others took five days off. . Later it was called the Xiaonian Dynasty. It did not sweep the floor, beg for fire, or draw water, which was the same as the Sui Dynasty.The fifth day of the first lunar month is commonly known as Powu. Many taboos in the past can be broken on this day. According to the old custom, "water dumplings" were eaten for five days. Nowadays, some people only eat them for three or two days, and some eat them every other day. But there is no such thing. Not eating. This is true from the prince's mansion to the small households in the streets. Women no longer stay away from guests and start to visit each other to pay New Year's greetings and congratulate each other on this day. It is not advisable to do anything during this year, otherwise things will be ruined. In addition to the above taboos, the custom of breaking five is mainly to send away the poor, welcome the God of Wealth, and open the market.
According to folklore, the God of Wealth is the God of Wealth. The so-called five roads refer to the east, west, south, north, and middle, which means that you can get money by going out on any five roads.
Gu Lu's "Qing Jia Lu" in the Qing Dynasty said: "The fifth day of the first lunar month is the road." The birthday of the head god. There are golden gongs and firecrackers, and the food and wine are ready to go. In order to be the first to benefit the market, we must get up early to welcome them, which is called connecting the road. "He also said: "The head of today's road is the walking god among the five sacrifices. The so-called five roads should be the east, west, south, north and middle ears. "There is a custom of jostling for traffic in Shanghai during the old calendar year.
On the midnight of the fourth day of the first lunar month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, fruits, incense and candles, etc., and worship with gongs, drums and incense, piously and respectfully to the God of Wealth. According to popular legend, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the God of Wealth. In order to compete for market profits, it is first received on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, which is called "grabbing the road head", also known as "receiving the God of Wealth".
The five sacrifices are the household gods, kitchen gods, earth gods, door gods, and walking gods. The so-called "Lutou" refers to the gods among the five sacrifices. When receiving the God of Wealth, one must offer a sheep's head and a carp. Offering a sheep's head means "auspiciousness", and offering carp is a homophone of "fish" and "yu" in the picture. The poem is auspicious. People firmly believe that as long as they can get the God of Wealth to appear, they can get rich.
Therefore, every Chinese New Year, people open their doors and windows at 50:00 on the first lunar month, burn incense, set off firecrackers, and light fireworks to welcome the God of Wealth. After receiving the God of Wealth, everyone also eats Lutou wine, often until dawn. Everyone is full of hopes of getting rich, hoping that the God of Wealth can bring gold and silver to their homes and make them rich in the new year.
Lutou God is a god of wealth believed in by Wu. It is customary to regard this day as his birthday, and it is quite spectacular to offer sacrifices and greet him.
Lutou is also known as the "Five Road God". It is said that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was He Wulu, who died fighting against foreign invaders. Therefore, people worshiped him as a god and named him "Five Road God". But this Five-way God seems to have nothing to do with the Lutou Five-way God who is the God of Wealth. Or the Five Roads God is actually the Five Holy Gods, or the Wutong God. During the Kangxi period, after Tang Bin destroyed and banned the Wutong Temple in Fangshan Mountain, the people did not dare to worship the Wutong God, so they changed its name to Lutou and worshiped it. . Generally speaking, this road head is regarded as the walking god in the ancient Five Sacrifice. The so-called five roads refer to the east, west, south, north, and middle. Wealth all travels along the road. Therefore, people regard the walking god as the god of wealth and offer sacrifices to it in the hope that it will bring money to the door. Or travel for profit. When the ancients traveled, they worshiped the road god in order to seek peace. This was the custom of "ancestral customs"; Wu customs connected the road and worshiped the road god, and the road god became the god of wealth. The God of Road became the God of Wealth because of the development of commerce and the intensification of the circulation of goods. Goods travel between land and water. People intuitively believe that the road controls the goods.
It is commonly believed that the sooner you pick up the road head, the better. The earliest one to pick up the road head is the true god, which is particularly effective, so it is called "grabbing the road head". In some places, people really "rush to grab the road" on the fourth day of the first lunar month, and it has become a custom. Now that the road god is no longer the protector of travel, people no longer worship it when traveling.
As for the fact that people worship the Lutou God on the fifth day of the first lunar month and use this day as his birthday, this is because the "five" among the five Lutou gods is related to the "five" on the fifth day of the lunar month. The same goes for the "Five Poor" worshipers in the north on this day. In the first month instead of other months, it is to take the new year and new atmosphere, so that the year will be auspicious and the financial resources will be prosperous. From east to west, south, north, and center, wealth will advance in five directions.
"Giving away the poor" on the fifth day of the first lunar month is a very distinctive custom among ancient Chinese people. On this day, women in each household are made of paper, called "Sweeping Qing Niang", "Five Poor Women", and "Five Poor Women". They carry paper bags, sweep the dirt from the house into the bags, and send them outside to blast them with cannons. This custom is also known as "sending the poor to the poor" and "sending the poor daughter-in-law out". In the Hancheng area of Shaanxi Province, people are not allowed to go out on the fifth day. Fresh meat must be roasted in a pot, and madou must be stir-fried to make it crackle and make a sound. It is believed that this can eliminate poverty and bring wealth. In addition, in the old days, people had to eat particularly well on New Year's Eve or the fifth day of the first lunar month, which was commonly known as "filling the poor hole." The widely popular folk custom of sending the poor away reflects the traditional psychology of the Chinese people who generally hope to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, bid farewell to the old poverty and hardship, and welcome a better life in the new year.
It is an old custom that during the Spring Festival, large and small shops close together from the beginning of the new year and open on the fifth day of the first lunar month. The fifth day of the first lunar month is regarded as the holy day of wealth. It is believed that choosing this day to open the market will definitely attract wealth.
The seventh day of the first lunar month
Human Day is also known as "Human Victory Festival", "Human Festival", "Population Day", "Human Seventh Day", etc. Legend has it that when Nuwa created the world, she created humans on the seventh day after creating animals such as chickens, dogs, pigs, cows, and horses, so this day is the birthday of humans. The Han Dynasty began to have the custom of human day festivals, and it began to be taken seriously after the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In ancient times, people had the custom of wearing "rensheng". Rensheng is a kind of headdress, also called caisheng or huasheng. Starting from the Jin Dynasty, people cut ribbons for flowers, people, or engraved gold foil for people to put on screens. They were also worn on on hair. In addition, there is also the custom of climbing high to compose poems. After the Tang Dynasty, more emphasis was placed on this festival. Every year, the emperor would give the ministers colorful ribbons to win, and he would also hold a banquet for the ministers. If the weather is fine on the seventh day of the first lunar month, the population will be safe and the going in and out will be smooth.
On this day, people eat spring pancakes and roll "box dishes" (cooked meat food), and spread pancakes in the courtyard to "smoke the sky".
Qibao soup, a soup made from seven kinds of vegetables, is eaten during the day to get good omens. It is also said that this soup can remove evil spirits and cure all diseases. Different regions have different products, different fruits and vegetables, and different meanings. Guangdong Chaoshan uses mustard, kale, leeks, spring vegetables, celery, garlic, and cloves; Hakka people use celery, garlic, green onions, coriander, leeks and fish, meat, etc.; Taiwan and Fujian use spinach, celery, onions, garlic, Leeks, mustard greens, shepherd's purse, cabbage, etc. Among them, celery and onions indicate intelligence, garlic indicates good calculation, mustard indicates longevity, and so on.