What is the first day of January?
Spring Festival is commonly known as "New Year's Day", formerly known as "New Year's Day". Du Taiqing in the Sui Dynasty said in the Five Candles Collection: "The first month is the end of the month, and one day is the Yuan Day, which is also a cloud and a cloud." The original meaning of "yuan" is "head" and later extended to "start" Because this day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring and the first day of the first month, it is called "Sanyuan". This day is also called "Three Dynasties" because it is still a year old, a month old and a day old. Because it is the first Shuori, it is also called "Yuanshuo". On the first day of the first month, there are other nicknames such as Shangri-La, Zheng Chao, Sanshuo and Shisan, meaning that the first day of the first month is the beginning of the year, month and day.
New year greeting custom
New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other.
In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.
New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After paying New Year greetings to the elders at home, people should greet each other with smiles when they go out to meet, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors or relatives and friends also pay New Year greetings to each other or treat them to drinks and entertainment.
In the sixth volume of Chinese Dream in Tokyo, the veteran Meng described the time of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and said, "On October 1st, Kaifeng Prefecture was opened for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellaneous Notes on Gardens: "On New Year's Day in the capital, people who travel to Shu Ren for several days from court officials are called' New Year greetings'. However, Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. " When dealing with North Korean officials, they are more caring than experts ... "... Gu Tieqing, a native, described in Lu," Men and women pay homage to their parents, and the Lord leads their humble children to worship their neighbors or stop sending their children congratulations, which is called' New Year greetings'. For those who don't meet at the end of their lives, this is also a time to worship each other ... "
In ancient times, the literati in the upper class used the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuanyou of the Song Dynasty, people were often stabbed with servants in the name of Chinese New Year." . At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described this in his poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world is too simple and empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.
From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the master of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make a routine group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "every year, we must book guests, discuss the value of new year's goods, eat and drink, and have a happy day".
With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.
Pay new year's call
An important activity of the Spring Festival is to congratulate the New Year at new friends and friends' homes and neighbors, which used to be called New Year greetings. The wind of the Han people's New Year greetings began in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who don't have to go in person can use famous cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people put up a red paper bag at the door to collect famous posts, which was called "Menben".
According to their social relations, the forms of folk New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:
One is to visit relatives. On the first day, you must go to your father-in-law's house and bring gifts. After entering the door, first bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow down to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and play.
The second is a courtesy visit. If you want to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha statue three times when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you just need to bow down. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow your head. The host should get down from his seat to help you, or even say that he is not polite to show his humility. This situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so leave after a few pleasantries. After the host worships, he should pay a return visit another day.
The third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes money to others (such as lawyers and doctors) in the past year will buy some gifts and send them to express their gratitude by taking the opportunity to pay a New Year call.
The fourth is a series of visits. For neighbors, we didn't have much contact in the past, but we can get along well when we meet. On New Year's Eve, we just go to the yard and say "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Shun Shun Bai Shun" when we meet, and just sit in the house for a while, without much etiquette.
In ancient times, there was a difference between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to knock on elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".
Old New Year greetings
New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.
In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. People call it "flying mail", and let servants take their business cards to pay New Year's greetings. There is a red paper bag in front of every house with the word "Fu Jie" written on it, which is the purpose of airmail. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, Yantai's Order of Last Month described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. A large family set up a "door book" to record the guests' communication and flight photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door: one is a centenarian living in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.
Scholars in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuanyou of the Song Dynasty, people were often stabbed with servants in the name of Chinese New Year." . At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described this in his poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world is too simple and empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.
From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Hat on the Side", the master of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make a routine group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "every year, we must book guests, discuss the value of new year's goods, eat and drink, and have a happy day".
With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.
However, from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, which is called "taboo". It's just that men want to go out to pay New Year greetings, and women can't go out to visit until after the sixth day of the first month. New Year greetings will last for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. Visiting relatives and friends in the evening is called "night worship", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after October of the lunar calendar. So there is a joke that "it's not too late to have a cold meal".
If for some reason, we can't follow the routine ceremony and make up for it later, it is called "paying homage to our old age".
Open the door and set off firecrackers.
When the door is opened in the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door to set off firecrackers". After the firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is called "full house". At this time, the streets were full of anger and joy.
Zhansui
In the old society, due to the sunny weather in the first few days of Xinzheng, people put this year. Its theory began in Dong Fangshuo's "Year", that is, eight days after the Year, one day is rooster day, two days is dog, three days is pig, four days is sheep, five days is cow, six days is horse, seven days is great man and eight days is valley. If it is sunny, things that belong to it will breed, if it is cloudy, the days that belong to it will not last long. Later generations follow their habits and think that the weather is sunny from the first day to the tenth day, and there is no wind or snow for good luck. Later generations developed from the occupation era to a series of sacrifices and celebrations. There is a custom of not killing chickens on the first day, dogs on the second day, pigs on the third day ... and not executing the death penalty on the seventh day.
Tiehua chicken
In ancient times, during the Spring Festival, chickens were painted on doors and windows to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. The book Xuan Zhong Ji in Jin Dynasty mentioned the pheasant on Dushuo Mountain mentioned above, saying that it crowed when the first ray of sunshine shone on this big tree just after rising. When it crows, chickens all over the world crow with it. Therefore, the chicken cut during the Spring Festival is actually a symbol of pheasant. However, in ancient mythology, there is also a saying that chickens are deformed birds. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, friends on the other side paid tribute to a bird that could ward off evil spirits. Everyone welcomes the arrival of birds, but the messengers who pay tribute don't come every year, so people carve a wooden bird, cast it in bronze and put it on the door, or paint on the doors and windows to scare away monsters and make them afraid to come again. Because birds look like chickens, they will gradually draw a chicken or cut window flowers and stick them on doors and windows, which will become the source of paper-cutting art in later generations. China paid special attention to chickens in ancient times and called them "birds with five virtues". "Biography of Korean Poetry" says that a crown on the head is Wende; There is a distance behind the foot to play, which is martial arts; It is brave for the enemy to dare to fight before; It is benevolence to have food to welcome the same kind; Vigilance and dawn are beliefs. Therefore, people not only cut chickens during the Chinese New Year, but also set the first day of the New Year as Chicken Day.
Jucai
It is said that the first day of the first month is broom's birthday. You can't use a broom on this day, otherwise it will sweep away luck, ruin money, and bring "broom stars" and bring bad luck. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep it from the outside to the inside. Don't throw water on the garbage on this day, for fear of breaking the money. Today, many places still have the custom of cleaning up New Year's Eve. On the first day of New Year's Day, there was no broom or garbage, and a large barrel of wastewater was prepared to avoid splashing outside that day.