What is the taste of the New Year in your memory? The Spring Festival is approaching, do you remember how you learned the customs of the New Year from your elders when you were a child?
When I was a child, around the Spring Festival, I always followed my mother to understand the folk customs. For example, on the 24th day of the lunar month, we Naxi people must do three things: First, we must do a good job of personal hygiene, and we must not wear dirty clothes into the house. In addition, it is necessary to go to the mountains to pick a slender pine branch with pine needles and use it as a cleaning tool; At the same time, the front and back of the house had to be 'filled' to level the caves around the house that had been eaten by animals over the past year. "InBai Gengsheng, member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, and president of the Chinese Documentary Literature Research AssociationIn the depths of memory, the "taste of the year" is full of the mother's hard-working figure, the people's love and expectation of life, and the respect and awe of the Chinese for the "gods" in their bones.
On the 24th day of the lunar month, among the few simple customs we must complete, we can feel the edifying significance behind the traditional Chinese culture. For example, we choose pine trees as cleaning tools because of the Chinese's yearning for 'integrity' and 'uprightness';We choose to clean ourselves and our homes because of the Chinese's pursuit of 'neatness' and 'hard work'. ”
In Bai Gengsheng's view, it is these "sense of ritual" around the Spring Festival every year that allows him to learn how to behave and behave, and also prompts him to form a sense of awe for the rotation of time. These customs lead us to prepare for the arrival of the new year from different dimensions of time and space. It is highly symbolic and prompts us to face a new life with a new look. ”
Today, with the rapid improvement of the quality of life and the rapid popularization of information technology, does it mean that the festival customs of the past have become "outdated"? To be forgotten in the long river of history?
Bai Gengsheng did not directly respond to the reporter's question, but instead introduced the "spiritual story of the Chinese" behind these customs to the reporter - why do ordinary people do this on the 24th of the lunar month? Because on this day in the people, it is regarded as sending the 'Stove Prince', and the Stove Lord wants to go to heaven to help people report peace to the Jade Emperor. Therefore, the common people should send this 'god' full of fireworks to heaven in a clean and tidy manner, and then on Chinese New Year's Eve, they will bring back the Lord of the Stove with the blessing and blessing of the Jade Emperor. ”
It is true that the times and perceptions have changed, but the educational significance behind traditional Chinese culture cannot be forgotten. "Today, it seems that the stories of these stove princes and Jade Emperors are all superstitious. But it is this kind of value logic that has influenced our Chinese sons and daughters for thousands of years. More importantly, behind it is the truth, goodness and beauty of Chinese people's diligence, hard work, yearning for a better life, and reverence for nature. No matter how time passes, the spirit behind the customs still needs to be vigorously promoted. ”Bai Gengsheng said earnestly.
Now many people live in high-rise buildings. Every day is 'the holiday', every day wears new clothes, there is no need to 'fill in the soil', and there is no need to wait for a certain day to take care of yourself. Times have changed, and so have lifestyles. But those customs of the past, whether as a nostalgic memory or as our spiritual provision, should not be forgotten. "New era and new folklore. We should inherit in innovation and innovate in inheritance.
Towards the end of the interview, Bai Gengsheng said sonorously: "We must avoid the two manifestations of 'resting on our laurels' or 'forgetting our ancestors'. We must lead the younger generation and the common people to treat our traditional culture with a broad mind. In the review of festival customs, comprehend the wisdom of the ancestors, such as the accurate grasp of the season, respect for the logic of the cycle of life, and so on. It is our mission and responsibility to inherit and carry forward the excellent cultural genes of the Chinese nation.
This article was originally published on the 9th edition of the People's Political Consultative Conference Daily on February 7, 2024.
Reporter: Zhu Yingjie.