As early as ancient times, our ancestors began to worship their ancestors and pray for blessings on the first day of the first lunar month, as a cultural symbol of Chinese civilization that has been inherited for thousands of yearsThe Spring Festival has been designated as a "United Nations holiday" by the United Nations General Assembly on December 22.
However, just as the whole world is about to start celebrating the "Year of China", a series of signals of "changing customs" have appeared in my country.
According to online news, it is a foregone conclusion that the five customs of setting off firecrackers, pasting Spring Festival couplets, killing New Year's pigs, going to the grave to sacrifice, and eating reunion dinners have been "stopped", and many netizens have called it outrageous.
So, is this rumor of "changing customs" true?
According to public information, China has had a policy of banning fireworks and firecrackers since the Spring Festival in 1993.
However, due to the very lenient punishment policy at that time, not only did the people not take the "ban on burning" seriously, but even government agencies, enterprises and institutions would set off fireworks and firecrackers during the Spring Festival to celebrate the New Year.
Although the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Fireworks and Firecrackers" issued in 2006 is indeed the policy basis for many local departments to formulate "fire bans", it is the "air pollution prevention and control action" launched in 2013 that really put fireworks and firecrackers into the "cold palace".
As we all know, with the new generation of decision-makers starting to exert their strength in 2012, the development concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" has officially begun to guide China's economic and social development.
In order to govern PM25 air pollutants, the state promulgated in 2013 in the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan".It has been made clear that it will take five years to reduce air pollutant concentrations by more than 10%.
Since many experts at the time believed that the "PM25. The problem of "explosion of the table" is inseparable from the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers, so the important content of the "air pollution prevention and control action" is to prohibit or restrict the use of fireworks and firecrackers.
It is particularly noteworthy that in November 2013, the national discipline inspection department also issued a special notice to prohibit the purchase of fireworks and firecrackers by "iron rice bowls".
Under the assessment system of "one-vote veto on environmental protection", the local authorities have successively issued the "urban version of the ban on burning", and some areas have even made a fuss about the phenomenon of "setting off firecrackers for a while, and squatting for seven days with a 'bracelet'".
The ban not only aroused public outrage among netizens, but also attracted the attention of the legislature.
According to the report, the People's Working Committee made it clear that the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Fireworks and Firecrackers" does not have a comprehensive ban on burning, and some places forcibly prohibit residents from setting off fireworks and firecrackers in order to complete environmental protection tasks.
It even used coercive means to promote a "comprehensive ban on combustion", which obviously violated the basic spirit of governing the country according to law.
From the early "peach charm" to today's Spring Festival couplets, this kind of peaceful New Year's custom culture symbolizes the precious intangible cultural heritage of Chinese civilization.
Although sticking Spring Festival couplets has been a particular New Year's custom activity since ancient times, after we entered the era of "creating a city", sticking Spring Festival couplets has become an "uncivilized behavior" that has been severely cracked down by the urban management department.
According to public information, "Chuangcheng" is a "spiritual civilization competition project" with a three-year selection cycle, and almost all provincial capitals, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities in the country can sign up to participate.
In the 7th edition of the "City Creation" selection from 2021 to 2023, 447 cities were included in the nomination list.
Even in the sixth session, which has the largest number of civilized cities, only 133 cities were on the list, so the 447 "players" of the seventh "Chuangcheng" naturally did not dare to slack off.
In the process of actively renovating the city's appearance and environment, the citizens' "freedom to paste Spring Festival couplets" has been deprived.
According to ** reports, many cities have included Spring Festival couplets in the official definition of "urban psoriasis".Even in cities where the "city creation" is not too strong, there will be special regulations prohibiting merchants along the street from posting Spring Festival couplets containing commercial advertising content.
For example, the Spring Festival couplets that are randomly given by many companies cannot be posted outside the store.
What is particularly noteworthy is that some cities have even extended the "eradication of Spring Festival couplets" campaign to the homes of ordinary residents.
Many friends like to put some "window flowers" or paper-cuts on the windows, which has been passed down for thousands of years, and has been said by the urban management department to "destroy the city's appearance".
"Creating a city" is of course a good thing, after all, every citizen hopes that the city they live in can become more civilized and harmonious, but the practice of "creating a city" for the sake of "creating a city" is difficult to accept.
Filling blood sausages, smoking bacon, and eating pig-killing rice are many friends' New Year's memories, although the current living conditions no longer require us to stay up until the New Year to eat pork, but the ritual sense of "killing pigs" is still very important.
However, with the full promotion of the "fixed-point slaughter" policy, "killing pigs" will gradually become a thing of the past.
According to the Regulations on the Administration of Pig Slaughtering, all pigs used for sale purposes must be transported to a state-designated slaughterhouse for processing, and must also pass the pre-slaughter quarantine inspection process. The cost of "fixed-point slaughter" is much higher than that of farmers' self-slaughter, and this additional cost can only be borne by farmers themselves in today's pig price plummet.
"If you eat meat at home, don't you need to slaughter it at a fixed point?"In theory, this is true, but in practice, there is a phenomenon of layer by layer.
According to ** reports, in the "Proposal for Thrifty Killing New Year Pigs" issued by many counties in Lijiang, the official "suggests" that farmers slaughter New Year pigs as soon as possible before the Chinese New Year, and pork is not allowed to be sold or given away outside the county.
The fundamental purpose of the "fixed-point slaughtering" policy launched by the state is to ensure food safety in the field of pigs. However, when this policy was extended to the practice of ordinary farmers killing pigs, there were two major drawbacks.
First,The pig industry is gradually moving towards the development of capital monopoly.
In fact, many farmers raise pigs not only for their own consumption, but also the pork business between relatives and friends has become an important channel for farmers to increase their income.
Under the blow of the "fixed-point slaughter" policy, the profits of the pig industry have been fully occupied by industrial capital, and ordinary farmers can only make a living by working for these large factories.
Second,New Year's tourism has been suppressed.
In many areas of Northeast China, "pig killing vegetables" are an important business project of farmhouse tourism, and many southern "small potatoes" come all the way to the ice and snow outside the pass, just to taste the taste of pig killing vegetables.
After the pig industry entered the era of "fixed-point slaughter", tourists could only eat "feed pigs" from industrial breeding.
Many rural areas in China have the custom of worshipping ancestors during the New Year, and burning paper and offering incense are essential steps in this process.
This ancient tradition of praying for the blessing of the family has now become a "key area of change of customs" that the government has cracked down.
In a number of "No. 1 documents" issued in recent years, civilized sacrifices are the top priority in the field of "agriculture, agriculture, and agriculture", and many places have also issued special regulations to regulate the funeral industry. Recently, Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province has been on the hot search because of "confiscation of burning paper".
It is understandable that officials have banned paper burning for environmental and fire safety reasons, but it is not appropriate to confiscate and fine them blanketly.
What is particularly ironic is that the sacrificial supplies such as dead money and paper money, which have been widely suppressed in China, have caused a consumption frenzy abroad.
According to foreign media reports, many foreign Internet celebrities regard China's "paper burning" behavior as a mysterious "Oriental Blessing Ritual".
These foreigners not only burn paper when worshipping their ancestors, but also burn paper for their own transport.
Many well-known domestic "paper-burning villages" are forced to open up overseas markets, and this strange phenomenon of "mothers don't love stepmothers" is obviously not conducive to the inheritance and development of Chinese civilization.
Burning paper on graves can be carried out under the reasonable supervision of the relevant authorities, and a blanket ban will only lead to a credibility crisis.
According to the official notice, China's Spring Festival holiday this year does not include Chinese New Year's Eve, although the relevant departments have issued a "call for holiday" signal, but this will indeed affect the Chinese New Year's Eve arrangements of some friends.
If you can only leave work two or three hours early on Chinese New Year's Eve, let alone rush back to your hometown thousands of miles away to reunite with your parents, I am afraid that you will not even have enough time to prepare ingredients for the reunion dinner.
Especially in the case of today's "wave of unemployment", I am afraid that the vast majority of workers do not dare to choose a "tough" boss to fight for a holiday on Chinese New Year's Eve for a reunion dinner.
Even more uncomfortable than the migrant workers are the peasants, who are subject to official restrictions on even eating.
According to the "Risk Reminder for Rural Group Dinners" issued by Yunnan officialsAny gathering of more than 5 tables must be reported to the village committee 10 days in advance, and all personnel involved in the production of catering must be certified to work.
Many Yunnan netizens said that it seems that rural people have to go to the city to book banquets for dinner this year.
In other regions, there are similar "dinner rules", and in addition to food safety constraints, farmers must also ensure that there is no extravagance and waste.
If the peasants are eating and drinking, this official constraint is understandable;However, it is obviously too much to use administrative means to deprive the peasants of their "freedom of reunion dinner."
The reunion dinner may seem like an ordinary dinner party, but it can really release the unhappiness in the hearts of people who have worked hard for a year.
Rather than trying to fight online abuse, we should let people have a good year.
Conclusion
"Ruling by inaction" is an ancient management wisdom, and in today's deepening reform of China's economy, we must not abandon this culture of allowing the people to develop freely.
No one is perfect, even the most shrewd "iron rice bowl" cannot be exhaustive, the shortcomings of the concession policy and the reform of the policy that hinders the development of people's livelihood are the hope of China's economic recovery in 2024.
So what do you think are the policies that need to be reformed on the issue of the Chinese New Year?Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss, like our article, please pay attention!