Spring Festival, that is, the first day of the first lunar month. Since ancient times, the Spring Festival has been the most important traditional festival for the Chinese. But in fact, the name "Spring Festival" has only been used for 100 years so far. **In the past, Chinese always called the first day of the first lunar month "Xinzheng", "New Year's Day", and "Zhengdan". After entering, Beiyang adopts the Western A.D. chronology, because January 1 in the Western calendar is the beginning of the year, it is called "New Year's Day", and the first day of the first lunar month is called "Spring Festival" because it is close to the beginning of spring. This "renaming" was drafted on January 21, 1914, and officially promulgated on January 23, 1914.
* When the firecracker shop).
The Spring Festival in a broad sense actually starts from the "sacrificial stove" on the 23rd day of the lunar month and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. For many years, the custom of the Spring Festival has been continuing, it is the liveliest day of the year for a family, and it is also the happiest day of the year for Chinese.
On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, it is an ancient custom to "sacrifice to the stove". The sacrificial stove was first called "Ji Zao" to commemorate the ancestors who used fire to cook food, and later it gradually evolved into a sacrifice to the god of the stove. The sacrificial stove was originally held in the summer, until the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a yin Zi Fang, in the early morning of the day when he saw the appearance of the stove god, he bowed to it, and killed the yellow sheep to sacrifice, since then, his family is rich and prosperous. After people learned of this, they rushed to sacrifice the yellow sheep to the stove in Lari, which became a custom for thousands of years.
Sticking to the door god. The position of "door god" is generally dominated by Qin Qiong and Wei Chi Jingde. ）
Since modern times, this custom has gradually evolved into the "sugar melon sacrifice stove". People believe that the Lord of the Stove is a god sent by the Jade Emperor to the world to supervise good and evil, and the Lord of the Stove will report to the Jade Emperor on the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month every year. In order to prevent the Lord of the Stove from saying bad things about himself, people used rice sugar or maltose to seal his mouth when they saw off the Lord of the Stove on the twenty-third night of the lunar month. At that time, every year after the dinner on the 23rd day of the lunar month, a fire was lit in the house, and men, women, and children gathered together, and at this time, Kanto sugar, sugar melon, cold water, and forage were usually placed on the table, and there would also be incense burners, wax skewers and other offerings for sacrifice. After the sacrifice, all the sugar is chopped up, and a part of it is put into the incense burner to "stick to the mouth of the king of the stove", and the rest of the sugar is shared by the whole family.
The day before New Year's Day is called Chinese New Year's Eve. On this day, sticking the door god, sticking the Spring Festival couplets, and respecting the ancestors are indispensable items. On the night of this day, the whole family gathers together to set off firecrackers, eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and observe the New Year. Speaking of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, this is the highlight of Chinese New Year's Eve. Dumplings are the theme of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in many places across the country, and many families will eat dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve or New Year's Day to express people's good wishes for the old and the new. According to the ancient Chinese timekeeping method, from 11 o'clock on the first night to 1 o'clock in the morning of the second day, the first hour is called Zichu, and the next hour is called Zizheng, so 12 o'clock is exactly the time of "Jiaozi". Dumplings are homophonic to "Jiaozi", so eating dumplings is also considered a symbol of good luck. Moreover, the shape of dumplings is like ingots, making dumplings means enveloping blessings, and eating dumplings symbolizes a rich life. There are also many places where there will be hot pot and fish in the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and the hot pot is steaming and prosperous; "Fish" is the same as "Yu", symbolizing auspiciousness and happiness.
Old man selling incense and candles. There will also be the word "Fu" on the incense candle to seek auspiciousness. ）
On the first day of the first lunar month, every household wants to pay New Year's greetings. The custom of New Year's greetings originated very early, at least in the Song Dynasty. New Year's greetings are a major event in the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month. In ancient times, all officials wore brand new court clothes, entered the palace to salute the emperor, and after retiring from the court, they would also greet each other. The common people are limited to men to pay New Year's greetings, and if they go to the homes of ordinary friends, they only bow to the Buddha statue three times. If the host and guest are of the same generation, they only need to be replaced; If the host is older than the guest, the guest is required to bow down. Most of the guests say goodbye after a few pleasantries at the host's house, and the host should return after a few days.
With the introduction of the Western calendar, people also began to celebrate the New Year's Day in the West. ）
* During this period, traditional New Year's greetings were gradually replaced by group worship, banquets, evening parties or tea parties. Unlike the late Qing Dynasty, women gradually stepped onto the stage during the ** period, and the opportunities to participate in social activities greatly increased. In folk New Year's greeting activities, little girls often wear cute images such as butterflies and grasshoppers made of paper and bow to their elders three times. When visiting relatives and friends, you should also give gifts as much as possible, such as refreshments, fruits, drinks, etc. Postal New Year's greetings or New Year's greetings also rose from time to time during the ** year. People write letters to send New Year's greetings to distant relatives or friends, and the other person sees the handwriting on the letter as if they saw the person who wrote the letter. At that time, the popularity rate was still relatively low, and generally only official eunuchs and wealthy families could afford it**. For some people who are busy with work, it may not be enough time to pay New Year's greetings in person, so it is also a good choice to give a New Year's greeting to let the other party hear their voices and feel their sincerity.
The people were always full of curiosity and strangeness about the festival of New Year's Day in the Western calendar at the beginning, and they stood on the street and stopped.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the last climax of the entire Spring Festival, and it is also a symbol of the imminent end of the Spring Festival. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is known as the Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival. Eating Lantern Festival on the Lantern Festival is a custom that has been passed down for many years, and it is still inherited in **, but it is much richer than in the past in terms of methods and ingredients. As far as the dough is concerned, there are Jiangmi noodles, sticky sorghum noodles, yellow rice noodles, etc., and the fillings are all kinds of materials. The sweet ones are osmanthus sugar, hawthorn sugar, assorted pieces, bean paste, black sesame seeds, the salty ones have various meat fillings, and the vegetarian ones have mustard greens, garlic, leeks, etc., and the tastes are different in the north and south. In terms of production methods, there are also differences between the north and the south. The Lantern Festival in the north is mostly shaken by rolling with a basket, also known as "shaking the Lantern Festival", while in the south, it is more kneaded into a ball with the palm of the hand. The Lantern Festival can be eaten with soup or steamed, and the eating methods are different, but they are all to express a celebration of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and take the meaning of reunion and harmony.
The more well-known custom of the Lantern Festival is the "lantern viewing". Lantern viewing has been around since the Han Dynasty, but at that time the lanterns were lit for only one day. In the Tang Dynasty, the lighting time was extended to three days, and no matter in the capital or in the place, colorful lanterns were hung everywhere, which was quite lively. In the Song Dynasty, the lighting time was increased to five days, and the styles of the lamps became more complex and diverse. In the Yuan Dynasty, the tradition of hanging lamps was continued. On the big tree outside the main gate of Yuan Daduli, there are often colorful lanterns, which are very beautiful. The scale of the hanging lamp in the Ming Dynasty has reached the highest in history, from the eighth day of the first month to the seventeenth day of the first month, as long as ten days, and there is also a special "lamp market" outside Dong'anmen in Beijing, specializing in the sale of lamp business. In the Qing Dynasty, the "lamp" and the "city" were separated, and the ** like the Ming Dynasty no longer existed. The time it takes to hang the lights has also been greatly reduced. The thirteenth day of the first month is called "on the lamp", the fourteenth day of the first month is "test light", the fifteenth day of the first month is "the main light", and the seventeenth day of the first month is "off the light". The main character of the "Flower Viewing Lantern" is made of bamboo, wooden strips, paper, silk and other materials. At that time, the lanterns mainly included horse lanterns, lotus lanterns, lotus leaf lanterns, palace lanterns, rabbit lanterns, Western lanterns, etc., and the patterns on the lanterns were ancient stories, strange flowers and plants, rare birds and beasts, which were really colorful. Later, many businesses made puzzles on the lanterns to attract the people, and those who guessed won were rewarded, and this kind of "guessing the lantern riddles" activity became another major custom of the Lantern Festival, coupled with the accompaniment of fireworks, a perfect Lantern Festival was shown in front of everyone.
* During the Lantern Festival, the lanterns set off a peaceful atmosphere. ）
Unexpectedly, during the ** year, the Lantern Festival once became the "object of disruption". The establishment of China** on January 1, 1912, due to the change to the Western calendar, caused many traditional festivals to be confused and confused. The newspaper called on the people to celebrate the new "Lantern Festival" and held a Lantern Festival celebration on January 15, 1912, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. But on that day, people found that the moon was not round at all, and they didn't have any intention to go to the Lantern Festival. It is no wonder that that day was the 27th day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar, and the moon was the crescent moon, not at all the "full moon day" in the traditional sense. Similarly, for the "New Year's Day" of the Gregorian calendar, the people also do not recognize. At that time, the common people called the first day of the first lunar month the "old new year", and the first day of January in the Gregorian calendar as the "new year". In 1913, the government that should have been sealed on the 23rd day of the lunar month was working as usual in the "Old New Year", and on the previous "New Year" day, they were particularly lively; On the other hand, most of the ordinary people are dumbfounded by the "New Year". Approaching the wax moon, the big guy is still thinking about the "old New Year". "The reform of the calendar has disrupted the living habits and festival traditions of the Chinese for thousands of years", * finally realized this and agreed with the "coexistence of the old and new calendars", so that the "fifteenth day of the first month" Lantern Festival returned to people's lives normally. It is also stipulated that the three days before and after the Lantern Festival are the "Lantern Festival", the 14th day of the lantern, the 15th day of the main lamp, the 16th day of the residual lamp, this custom later spread in **, until now there are still some places still in use.
However, after all, it is a country with a new atmosphere, and the "new calendar" should continue to be practiced as a major focus of reform. **In order to set an example, the new calendar has been used to date the year. In Beijing, every January 1 of the Gregorian calendar, there will be lanterns in front of the ** mansion. Shanghai's elite also exchanged greeting cards to celebrate "Happy New Year". But for ordinary people, this is a "matter of the official family" after all, and they still only recognize their "lunar calendar". At that time, someone said: "The New Year of the new calendar is the New Year of politics; The New Year of the old calendar is the New Year of society. It can be seen that the changes in the calendar and festivals in the early years have produced a very strong response in people's minds. And in the end, the "calendar compromise" may be the most suitable choice for everyone in that era.