Debate on Traditional Festivals in China

Setting off firecrackers

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Now, most of us think that setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere, is a kind of entertainment in festivals, and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi and Wenzhou in Zhejiang are the famous "hometown of fireworks" in China. The firecrackers they produced not only sell well all over the country, but also are exported to other countries and regions in the world. People not only set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new in the Spring Festival, but also set off firecrackers to celebrate major festivals and happy events, such as Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, marriage, building houses and opening businesses.

lucky money

When visiting the New Year during the Spring Festival, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be put under the child's pillow by parents when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve. Nowadays, the custom of elders giving lucky money to younger generations is still prevalent, and the money spent on birthdays is also different. Most of these lucky money are used by children to buy books and school supplies, and the new fashion has given new content to the lucky money.

Bian Xiao said: The happiest thing in the Spring Festival is to collect lucky money! According to folklore, children can use lucky money to resist the harm of "Nian beast". Ha ~ ha ~ _ *

dragon dance

Playing with dragon lanterns, also known as "Dragon Dance" and "Dragon Dance", is a unique folk entertainment activity in China. From the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, China has the custom of playing dragon lanterns in both urban and rural areas. After thousands of years of inheritance and development, playing dragon lantern has become a kind of folk dance with lively form, beautiful performance and romantic color. Playing with dragon lanterns originated from people's superstition about dragons and has a history of more than two thousand years. In ancient times, people used dragon dancing to pray for the blessing of dragons, in order to have good weather and abundant crops. The custom of dragon dancing is carried forward by overseas Chinese. Whenever people in China have traditional festivals and major celebrations, they will dance lions and play dragon lanterns, showing a strong oriental spirit.

Bian Xiao said: Unfortunately, few places still have such a good custom of dragon dancing ~ ~

Stick the words of blessing backwards.

During the Spring Festival, every household should put the word "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. 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. Seeing that something was wrong, Ma Huanghou quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "My family knew that you were visiting today and deliberately put the word' Fu' upside down. 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.

Bian Xiao said: No wonder, I said the word "fu" is good, why should I post it backwards? +_+

Eat rice cake

During the Spring Festival, many areas in China pay attention to eating rice cakes. The rice cake, also known as "rice cake", is homophonic with "high year by year", which means that people's work and life are improving year by year. There are many kinds of rice cakes, such as the white rice cakes in the north, the yellow rice cakes of farmers in Saibei, the Shuimo rice cakes in the south of the Yangtze River, and the red turtle rice cakes in Taiwan Province Province. Rice cakes have different flavors from north to south. There are steamed rice cakes and fried rice cakes in the north, both of which are sweet; In addition to steaming and frying, southern rice cakes are also sliced and cooked in soup, which is both sweet and salty. It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used to worship gods and ancestors on New Year's Eve, and later became food for the Spring Festival. The rice cake is not only a kind of holiday food, but also brings people new hope with the passing of a year. As a poem in the late Qing Dynasty said, "People's hearts are high, and food is harmonious, so that the year is better than the year to pray for the year."

Yao Chun

Eating spring cakes every day in beginning of spring is called "biting spring". People in beginning of spring should eat some fresh vegetables on this day, not only to prevent diseases, but also to welcome the Spring Festival. Tang's "Four Seasons Baojing" records: "beginning of spring eats reed, spring cake and lettuce, and there is no' dish'." It can be seen that people in the Tang Dynasty have begun to try spring vegetables and eat spring cakes. The so-called spring cake, also called lotus leaf cake, is actually a kind of hot flour cake-two small pieces of water, oiled in the middle, rolled into pancakes, and peeled into two pieces when cooked. Spring cakes are used to roll vegetables, including cooked vegetables and stir-fried dishes. In the past, when eating spring cakes, we paid attention to going to a box restaurant called "Pan Su" (also called box lunch). Box hotel is a sauce meat shop, and the store sends people to deliver food to your door. Put smoked pot belly, pine nut pot belly, oven meat, sauce meat, smoked elbow, sauce elbow, sauce mouth strip, smoked chicken, sauce duck, etc. In the box. When eating, change the knife and cut it into filaments, and add a few home-cooked dishes (usually fried pork with leeks, fried pork with spinach, boiled with mung bean sprouts vinegar, fried noodles with vegetarian ingredients, and spread eggs). ).