Why do you give lucky money for the New Year? What is the custom? Is there a legend?
Here is a widely circulated story. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a small demon with black hands and white body named Chong who came out to harm people every New Year's Eve. It touched the head of the sleeping child three times with its hand, and the child cried with fear. Then he had a fever, talked nonsense and got sick from then on. After a few days, the fever subsided, but the clever child became a dementia fool. People are afraid that fetishism will harm children, so they sit up with lights on, which is called "fetishism".
In Jiaxing, there is a family named Guan, and the husband and wife have a son in their later years, which is regarded as the apple of their eye. On New Year's Eve, I forced them to play for fear that they would harm the children. The child wrapped eight copper coins in red paper, opened them, opened them again, and played until he fell asleep. Eight wrapped copper coins are placed on the pillow. The couple didn't dare to close their eyes and stayed with their children all night. In the middle of the night, a strong wind blew the door open and blew out the lights. When the little black boy touched the child's head with his bare hands, a light broke into the child's pillow. Chong hurriedly withdrew his hand and ran away screaming. Mr. and Mrs. Guan told everyone that wrapping eight copper coins in red paper was to scare away those special people. Everyone also learned to wrap eight copper coins in red paper and put them on pillows after the children's New Year's Eve. Sure enough, I never dare to hurt children again. It turned out that these eight copper coins were exchanged by the Eight Immortals, which helped the children secretly scare away the admirers. Therefore, people call this kind of money "lucky money", and because of the homonym of "worship" and "year old", it is called "lucky money" over time.
In the history of our country, there were lucky money very early. The earliest lucky money is also called "winning money" or "winning money". This kind of money is not the currency circulating in the market, but a coin-shaped exorcism product specially cast for wearing and appreciating. This kind of wearing article in the form of coins first appeared in the Han Dynasty. Some coins have characters on them, and all kinds of auspicious characters are cast on the front, such as "Long live the Millennium", "Peace in the world" and "Eliminating disasters and eliminating evil". On the back, dragons and phoenixes, turtles and snakes, Pisces, swords and stars are cast.
In the Tang Dynasty, the court was in vogue for issuing money in spring. At that time, the Spring Festival was "beginning of spring Day", and it was a day of mutual worship in the palace. There was no such custom among the people. Twenty-six volumes of Zi Tong Zhi Jian record that Yang Guifei gave birth to a child. "Xuanzong personally saw it and gladly gave her gold and silver money to wash the child." The money for washing children mentioned here is not only a congratulatory message, but also an amulet given to newborns by their elders to ward off evil spirits.
After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, beginning of spring was replaced by the first day of the first month, which was called the Spring Festival. Many customs originally belonging to beginning of spring have also been transferred to the Spring Festival. The custom of giving money in spring has evolved into the custom of giving children lucky money. The Chronicle of Yanjing written by Dunchong, Fu Cha in the Qing Dynasty recorded the lucky money in this way: "It is called lucky money to wear money with colored ropes, weave it into a dragon shape and put it at the foot of the bed. Children are given by elders. Also called lucky money. "
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most lucky money was given to children with red ropes. After the Republic of China, it evolved into wrapping 100 copper coins in red paper, which means "long life" and giving lucky money to adult generations. Red paper is wrapped in an ocean, symbolizing "abundant financial resources" and "millions of profits". After money is changed into paper money, parents like to choose new paper money with related figures for their children, because the homonym of "Lian" and "Lian" indicates that future generations will "get rich again and again" and "get promoted again and again".
From the above description, we can easily find that the custom of lucky money has a long history. It represents a good blessing from the elders to the younger generation. It is an amulet given to children by elders. I wish them good health and good luck in the new year.
Sending "red envelopes" is the custom of Chinese New Year. China people like red because it symbolizes vitality, happiness and good luck.
Giving red envelopes to underage children (according to the concept of China, married people are considered adults) means bringing them wishes and good luck. The money in a red envelope is just to make children happy. Its main meaning is in red paper, because it symbolizes good luck. Therefore, it is impolite to open red envelopes in front of the elders who issued them.
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 "expensive" 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.
Folks believe that giving children lucky money, when evil spirits or "Nian" hurt children, children can use the money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. A Qing Wu Manyun's poem "Lucky Money" said: "The hundred-dollar colored thread is long, and then it is collected from the pillow. On the price of firecrackers, Joule has been busy all night." From this point of view, lucky money is tied in children's hearts, and children's lucky money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candy and other things needed for holidays.
At present, the custom of elders giving lucky money to younger generations is still prevalent, and the amount ranges from tens to hundreds. 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.
Lucky money has an interesting source! Legend has it that there is a little demon named Chong who touches the head of a sleeping child every 30 nights, and the child will become stupid. It is thirty nights again, and "Chong" comes as scheduled. A family's children put the "winning money" wrapped in red paper on the pillow when they sleep. When Chong approached him, the red paper suddenly gave off a light, and Chong ran away in panic. So everyone is called lucky money, and the pronunciation of "old" and "precious" is the same, called lucky money.