Legend of the Spring Festival
So there are many folklore and stories, including:
Fight for flowers to rule the world, drive away New Year's animals, close the door after dinner, paste the door gods of Spring Festival couplets, and paste the blessings upside down.
The Spring Festival embodies the alternation of the old and the new in natural time and space, and has a beautiful meaning of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, praying for blessings, being grateful and having a family reunion.
? 1, Legend of Spring Festival: Fighting for Flowers to Rule the World
In Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province, there are legends about the Spring Festival.
According to legend, the Jade Emperor sent Maitreya from Heaven to earth in order to rule the world. When the Tathagata knew this, he thought: I am the Buddha, why not let me go? So, I went to the Jade Emperor Theory. The Jade Emperor was speechless and had to say, "Let's discuss it." Taking advantage of the discussion, the Jade Emperor thought of a solution.
He invited Maitreya and Tathagata, put two pots of flowers in front of them and said:
"You two serve one pot of these two pots of flowers, and whoever blooms first will come down to earth to manage the world."
Tathagata is thoughtful and thoughtful, knowing that the Jade Emperor must be partial to Maitreya, because he guessed that the Jade Emperor was afraid that what he said was unacceptable, so he used offering flowers as an excuse to do it. I'm afraid the jade emperor secretly arranged these two pots of flowers, so he also came up with a subtotal.
He took the opportunity of Maitreya's closing his eyes to thank him and quietly changed the position of the two pots of flowers.
The next day, the Tathagata bloomed, so Maitreya took care of the world for one day, which was the first day of the first month.
Legend has it that Maitreya has a kind heart. On this day, he told people to eat, dress and sleep well, so on the first day of the first month, people spent the day happily. Later, in order to commemorate Maitreya, people called the moment when the two Buddhas handed over in early spring "Spring Festival".
Some people say that because the Tathagata was deceived by stealing flowerpots, until now, there are still thieves in the world.
? 2. Legend of the Spring Festival: Drive away the Nian beast.
According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face.
Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people.
Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.
On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man?
Only an old woman in the village east gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid the "Nian" beast. The old man said with a smile, if my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive the Nian beast away. The old woman looked at him carefully and found that he was handsome, energetic and different. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.
At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman at the east end of the village had red paper on her door and the room was brightly lit. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. When we were near the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further.
It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly.
Villagers flocked to the old woman's house, only to find that red paper was stuck on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo was still exploding in the yard, and several red candles in the house were still shining ... The ecstatic villagers put on clothes and hats to celebrate the auspicious arrival, and went to relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast.
Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year.
In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
? 3. Legend of the Spring Festival: Close the door when eating New Year's Eve.
In Jiangnan, China, every family has to close the door when eating New Year's Eve, and they can't talk loudly or knock on bowls and chopsticks. Eat the dishes and chopsticks for the New Year's Eve before opening the door. This is called making money behind closed doors.
According to legend, this practice is to play a trick on Tie Guai Li. It is said that on the last day of every year, the Jade Emperor wanted to know the living conditions of the people, so he sent Tie Guai Li to visit them. Tie Guai Li, one of the Eight Immortals, is a cripple named Hua Xian, so he limped along the street with a basket of beggars to beg for food during the New Year's Eve dinner on earth.
After begging, Tie Guai Li showed what he got to the Jade Emperor, who was very poor. Anyone who has money can tell at a glance. Accordingly, the jade emperor asked the rich to suffer disasters several times a year, not to be too rich; If you are poor, let him make some money, not too poor.
This matter spread to the whole world slowly. After a shrewd businessman knew this situation, he quickly thought of a solution.
On the New Year's Eve, the door of this family was tightly closed, and no one in the family was allowed to speak loudly. When Tie Guai Li came to beg, he opened the door and there was nothing on the table. When Tie Guai Li saw this, he thought that his family was too poor to even afford the New Year's Eve dinner, so he was merciful and quietly put some gold ingots at home and left. In this way, the family is getting richer and richer.
There is no windtight wall. Other families also saw the reason why his family made a fortune, so they all followed suit.
Later, when Tie Guai Li saw that every household was eating New Year's Eve dinner with the door closed, he knew that his exploration on the earth had been noticed, so he stopped coming to this world to beg and inspect the rich and the poor. However, the habit of eating New Year's Eve dinner behind closed doors has been handed down and continues to this day.
? 4. Post Spring Festival couplets and door gods.
In ancient myths and legends of China, there is a ghost world, in which there is a mountain, a big peach tree covering three thousand miles, and a golden rooster at the top of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghost who travels at night will rush back to the ghost domain.
The Gate of Ghost Domain is located in the northeast of Peach Tree District. There are two gods standing by the door, named Shen Tu and Lei Yu.
If the ghost does something unnatural at night, Shen Tu and Lei Yu will immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of Miscanthus and give it to the tiger. So all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Lei Yu.
So people carved them into peach trees and put them at their doorsteps to ward off evil spirits and prevent harm.
Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the mahogany board, thinking that this could also eliminate disasters.
This kind of red board was later called "peach symbol", and later formed the traditional habit of sticking doors during the Spring Festival.
? 5, the legendary story of the Spring Festival: upside down.
During the Spring Festival, every household should put the word "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels.
The word "fu" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "good luck" and "good luck".
Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. No matter now or in the past, the word "Fu" posted in the Spring Festival has pinned people's yearning for a happy life and wishes for a better future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply turn the word "blessing" upside down, indicating that "blessing has fallen" and "blessing has arrived"
There is also a legend that the word "fu" is posted upside down among the people. Ming Taizu used the word "Fu" as a code word to prepare for murder.
In order to eliminate this disaster, kind Ma Huanghou asked all the families in the city to put "Fu" on their doors before dawn. Naturally, no one dares to go against Ma Huanghou's will, so the word "Fu" is posted on every door.
If one of the families can't read, turn the word "fu" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent people to the streets to check and found that every family had posted the word "Fu", and another family had posted the word "Fu" upside down. When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the body guard to cut down the house.
Ma Huanghou a look at things bad, busy to zhu yuanzhang said:
"The family knew that you were visiting today and deliberately reversed the word' Fu'. Isn't this the meaning of "blessed road"? "
When the emperor heard the truth, he ordered his release, and a great disaster was finally eliminated.
Since then, people have turned the word "Fu" upside down for good luck and in memory of Ma Huanghou.
Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as birthday girl, peach blossom, carp yue longmen and so on. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, every family wrote big characters". The word "fu" used to be handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops.
The above is the legend and story sharing of the Spring Festival! The Spring Festival is a long time from the year before to the end of the year.
The warm atmosphere of the festival permeates not only every household, but also the streets and alleys around the country. During this period, the city was full of lanterns and the streets were full of tourists. It was very lively and unprecedented, and the Spring Festival didn't really end until after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.
The Spring Festival has passed, and everything goes well in the new year! ! !