The 2024 Lunar Year of the Dragon is approaching, and many migrant workers have taken the train home for the New Year.
Chinese New Year's Eve, as the most important lunar festival in China, has many customs to observe, in order to bless next year's financial prosperity, peace and joy!
China's Chinese New Year's Eve has the custom of "1 does not go, 2 is not appropriate, 3 is not empty, 4 must be done" since ancient times, so why is the Spring Festival the most important festival in ChinaWhat exactly do these customs mean, what do they mean, and why do they have to be observed?
The Spring Festival has been the most important festival in our country since ancient timesThe origins of the Spring Festival can even be traced back to the agricultural period of antiquity.
China has settled in the Yellow River Valley as early as BC, living a life of male farmers and female weavers. The harvest of cultivated crops is a barometer of each family's life in the second yearIn Japan, we believe that the deceased ancestors will play a role in protecting future generations, so there are frequent ancestor worship activities.
The Spring Festival coincides with the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and it is a new stage of recovery of all thingsIt represents the prosperity of the next year's harvest and the hope of the family's life, so it is highly valued.
The customs of the Spring Festival include ancestor worship activities to celebrate the harvest and bless the good harvest of next year's crops; setting off firecrackers to dispel evil spirits, etc.
And since ancestor worship is often a gathering of relatives of a large family, the New Year is given the meaning of reunion.
Chinese New Year's Eve, as the most important festival for family gatherings and family and friends in the Spring Festival stage of China, has many customs and habitsWhat does "1 not go, 2 not appropriate, 3 not empty, 4 to do" in the process of Chinese New Year's Eve refer to?
Don't go
The so-called "1 not to go" on Chinese New Year's Eve means not to visit the door on Chinese New Year's Eve.
During the Spring Festival, isn't it a very common behavior to visit the New Year?Why can't you visit the door on Chinese New Year's Eve?
This is because Chinese New Year's Eve, as the end of the year, is a day for families to count the harvest of a year of hard work and reunite. Therefore, if it is Chinese New Year's EveChinese New Year's Eve to visit the door when eating, then it has the implication of breaking the wealth.
The second is that Chinese New Year's Eve is a day for families to reunite, and a sudden visit by an outsider at this time is not suitable for both parties.
On the one hand, for visitors, the time to eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is not to eat at home honestly, but to wander around, which will be considered a lonely person.
For the visitees, it is the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner that is disturbed, and the visitors are "stepping on the New Year's dinner", which means that the wealth is leaking out, and there will be signs of wealth destruction in the next year.
Finally, on Chinese New Year's EveFamilies are so busy that they don't have time to deal with visitors. Therefore, visiting the door on Chinese New Year's Eve is also a situation of not looking at things, and it should be avoided as much as possible.
Not advisable
The second taboo on Chinese New Year's Eve is "2 unsuitable".
"2 inappropriate" refers to the fact that it is not appropriate to pour water and curse on Chinese New Year's Eve.
As mentioned earlier, the Spring Festival is a festival throughout the ages to celebrate one year's harvest and look forward to the next year's harvestTherefore, every household will fill all the containers on Chinese New Year's Eve, symbolizing this year's abundant harvest and pleasing a good meaning.
The most common way for ordinary families is to fill pots, kettles, and buckets with water, which symbolizes the joy of a good harvest and indicates a wide range of wealth.
Even on Chinese New Year's Eve, many families will seal the well, and will not draw water from the well that night, implying that wealth will not leak.
Another inappropriate of "2 inappropriate" is that it is not appropriate to scold people on Chinese New Year's Eve, and not to use foul language.
Chinese New Year's Eve is also called auspicious night, and the old people believe that on Chinese New Year's Eve, the heavenly officials are mortal, and the heavenly officials can also hear what ordinary people sayIf you give good fortune to those who are blessed, you will be healthy and prosperous in the coming year. Therefore, on Chinese New Year's Eve, we must say healthy words and blessings.
And if it is swearing, then it is polluting the ears of the heavenly officials and causing the dissatisfaction of the heavenly officialsThis led to the resentment of the heavenly officials, and it became a dream to be rich and happy in the second year.
Not empty
Chinese New Year's Eve also pays attention to "3 not empty", 3 not empty refers to the room is not empty, the pot is not empty and the lamp is not empty.
Chinese New Year's Eve is a day of blessing from the heavenly officials, so every family will stay at home, and paste couplets and blessing characters to dress up the house prosperousAttract the attention of the heavenly officials, so that their families will be more blessed next year.
So if there is no one in the house, it will look dilapidated and desertedLet the blessing heavenly official go away, and naturally he will not be able to obtain the blessing of the Spring Festival.
Therefore, whether it is a person who works in the **, during the Spring Festival, they often rush home to eat Chinese New Year's Eve, enjoy the atmosphere of the Spring Festival, and do not let the house be empty.
And especially for rural areas, with the increasing number of migrant workers, the Spring Festival is almost the only opportunity for childhood playmates to get together.
And the lights of the family on Chinese New Year's Eve are also displayed to the surrounding neighbors, proving that the people of their family are prosperous, and the elderly can be more proud when chatting in the village.
In addition, on Chinese New Year's Eve, you also need to make sure that the pot is not empty. The most classic custom is that there should be fish in the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and the fish cannot be eaten yet, and there must be a part left, which means that there is more than every year.
The pot is a container that carries human food, and the pot is similar to the pocket that holds money, and it is the guy who ensures that ordinary people eat.
Therefore, the pot on Chinese New Year's Eve is not empty, which means that the pocket of the owner's house is not emptyIt means that the work of the master's family in the second year can have a better harvest and the wealth will be extensive.
The third object that should not be empty is that the lamp is not empty. In the past, children would have the habit of keeping the New Year and not sleeping on Chinese New Year's Eve.
The reason for this is closely related to the origin legend of Chinese New Year's Eve in our country, and in the legend of the New Year, Nian is a terrible beast.
And in order to scare away the New Year beasts, the residents during the New Year,Decorate the room with bright red, set off firecrackers and lanterns to drive away the beasts.
The year beast is regarded as a bad omen of evil and diseaseThe process of expelling the New Year Beast is also considered to be the removal of ominous luck from the family and the blessing of happiness for the coming year.
To do
The custom of Chinese New Year's Eve is "4 things to do".They refer to worshipping ancestors, pasting Spring Festival blessing characters, eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and issuing pressure money.
Ancestor worship is a very important activity in China's traditional culture, and there are many ancestor worship festivals in China throughout the year, such as Qingming Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Xia Yuan Festival and so on. Chinese New Year's Eve is also one of them.
The reason why our country is so happy and respectful of ancestor worship activities is because our country has been an agrarian society since ancient timesCrops depend on the weather, and ancestor worship is to seek the blessing of ancestors and bless a good harvest next year.
Secondly, ancestor worship is also a continuation of China's filial piety culture. Ancestor worship activities are the remembrance and remembrance of deceased relatives, and it is a way for our children to express their thoughts and memories to their deceased relatives.
Although the customs of various parts of our country are different, there is a tacit understanding of the ancestor worship on Chinese New Year's EveBecause Chinese New Year's Eve is the grandest festival, the scale of the Chinese New Year's Eve ancestor worship is also the largest.
When worshipping ancestors on Chinese New Year's Eve, it is often necessary to prepare rich tributes, generally chicken, duck and fish meat need to be complete, in addition, it is also necessary to prepare New Year goods, so that the ancestors can know under the spring, and you can also feel the cheerful atmosphere of the New Year in the underground.
In addition, the Spring Festival couplets also need to be pasted during the New Year. The Spring Festival couplets are divided into upper and lower couplets and horizontal batches, and the Spring Festival couplets prepared for the New Year are generally auspicious prayers, implying happiness in the second year.
Moreover, the time of posting the Spring Festival should also be particular, and it is generally required to be completed before 12 o'clock at noon on Chinese New Year's Eve. There are two main purposes for this.
The first is to take the beautiful meaning of "the plan of the day lies in the morning, and the plan of the year lies in the spring", and the second is that in the afternoon, it is necessary to prepare activities such as hanging lanterns for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and there is no longer time to post the Spring Festival.
In addition, sticking blessing characters is also one of the activities of Chinese New Year's Eve. Moreover, the word "Fu" also pays attention to the blessing, which means blessing.
The third thing to do on Chinese New Year's Eve is to eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.
Eating has always been the most common way to celebrate an event and a festival, both ancient and modern. Whether it is the reunion dinner of turkey on Christmas Eve in the West, or the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve in China, the meaning behind it is reunion.
According to the different regions of our country, the types of meals on the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner are differentBut generally chicken, duck and fish heads are the main components of it, and in the seaside area, seafood is also a frequent guest on the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.
In addition, the north is dominated by pasta, and dumplings are indispensable for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner; In the south, rice is the staple food, and the staple food of Chinese New Year's Eve rice is generally rice cakes.
The fourth thing to do on Chinese New Year's Eve is to give money for the New Year.
The New Year is generally given by the elders in the family to the juniors in the family. Because in the ancient legend of the New Year, the New Year is an activity to expel the New Year beast, and children are fragile and easy to be bewitched by the New Year beast.
And copper coins have the role of driving away evil and suppressing evil in historyGiving New Year's money can help children ward off evil spirits and pray for healthy growth in the following year.
Not only do you need to give money to your children on Chinese New Year's Eve, but also the elders of the family need to prepare money for your children during the New Year's Greeting on New Year's Day.
In the past, when children received New Year's money, they would kowtow to their elders and pray for their happiness and health, which was a two-way blessing.
It's just that with the development of modern society, kowtowing to the New Year has gradually been canceled, and giving New Year's money has become an activity for relatives to compare with each other, causing economic burden and pressure to the family elders, which is contrary to the essence of a safe and joyful reunion of the family during the Spring Festival.
Chinese New Year's Eve is one of the most important traditional festivals in China, and Chinese New Year's Eve, as a beautiful festival for family reunion, has many customs and habits.
Only by observing the customs of Chinese New Year's Eve can we bless the four sides of the second year and the second year's career "smooth weather".
What do you want to say about the customs that need to be observed on Chinese New Year's Eve? Do you think that on Chinese New Year's Eve, in addition to "1 does not go, 2 is not appropriate, 3 is not empty, 4 should be done", what customs and habits need to be observed? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.