What are the customs during the Spring Festival?
Everything is based on heaven, and people are based on ancestors, praying for the elderly, respecting the ancestors of heaven, and returning to the original. The origin of the Spring Festival contains profound cultural connotations, and it carries rich historical and cultural connotations in its inheritance and development. During the Spring Festival, various activities will be held all over the country to celebrate the Spring Festival, which has strong local characteristics.
The customs of the Spring Festival include: offering sacrifices to stoves, boiling sugar, sweeping dust, receiving the Jade Emperor, sticking up gates, sticking up Spring Festival couplets, watching the Spring Festival Gala, and giving lucky money.
Sacrifice to the stove: In ancient times, people believed that the good words spoken by the kitchen god in front of the Jade Emperor would bring happiness to the family and bless the family's peace in the coming year. So every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household will worship the Kitchen God and ask him to say more beautiful and auspicious words after last week.
Sugar: A kind of maltose, also called sesame sugar, is very sticky. Those that grow into strips are called "Kwantung Sugar" and those that grow into oblate circles are called "cantaloupe". Put it outside in winter, because the weather is cold and the melon is strong, and there are some tiny bubbles inside. It tastes crisp and sweet and has a unique flavor.
Sweeping dust: There is a folk saying that "the house is swept with dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month". After the kitchen sacrifice, we officially began to prepare for the New Year. Cleaning is year-end cleaning, which is called "cleaning" in the north and "dust removal" in the south. Cleaning the dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of China people. On the day of dust removal, the whole family began to clean the house and yard, scrub pots and pans, remove and wash bedding, and greet the New Year cleanly. In fact, people use the homonym of "Chen" and "Chen" to express their will to destroy the old.
Meet the Jade Emperor: Both old and new customs believe that when the Kitchen God went to heaven, the Jade Emperor in heaven personally came down to earth on the 25th day of the fifth lunar month to observe the good and evil on earth, which indicates good or bad luck in the coming year. Therefore, every family offers a blessing, which is called "Welcome to the Jade Emperor". On this day, you should be careful in your daily life and words, strive for good performance, win the favor of the Jade Emperor, and bring happiness for the coming year.
Gatekeeper: At first, gatekeepers were carved out of peach wood and hung around people. Later, I drew a portrait of the door god and posted it on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Lei Yu are both related to ghosts. They guard the door, and evil spirits, big and small, are afraid to enter. After the Tang Dynasty, portraits of Qin Qiong and Wei Chijingde, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei appeared. One for each household and one for the left and right households. Later generations often painted a pair of door gods as martial arts, which pinned the good wishes of the Han working people to ward off evil spirits, eliminate disasters and welcome happiness.
Sticking Spring Festival couplets: Spring Festival couplets, also known as "door couplets", "couplets" and "peach symbols", are a kind of couplets, named after being posted during the Spring Festival. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. During the Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door.
Keeping the Year: China people have the habit of keeping the Year on New Year's Eve, commonly known as "keeping the Year". New Year's Eve begins on New Year's Eve. Take your time with this dinner. The Lantern Festival is about to start. Some families have to eat late into the night. Celebrating New Year's Eve is the most important activity.
Happy New Year: An important activity in the Spring Festival is to visit relatives and friends and neighbors, which used to be called Happy New Year. Since the Han Dynasty, the Han people began to pay New Year greetings. After the Tang Dynasty, it was very popular. If it is inconvenient for you to go in person, you can express your congratulations with a famous card. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn".
Watch the Spring Festival Gala: Variety shows have become a large-scale media cultural form. It provides the most basic model and blueprint for the development of China TV variety culture. New Year's Eve is a time for family reunion. Friends and relatives can get together and sit in front of the TV and watch the Spring Festival Gala happily! With the bell ringing at 12 in the TV series, the whole family is reunited to welcome the new year.
Lucky money: it is given to the younger generation by the elders. In some families, everyone is not allowed to leave the table after New Year's Eve. After everyone has finished eating, the elders will give it to the younger generation to encourage future generations to learn and grow up in the new year and be a good person. Some people will put the lucky money under the pillow after their children fall asleep at night, which shows the love 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 ethics.