Huzhou New Year theme

■The Winter Solstice and Spring Festival are the most important festivals of the year, so there are many taboos. For example: on the first day of the new year, you are not allowed to eat porridge, but to eat dry rice... etc. What do you know? ■ After the winter solstice of the twelfth lunar month, the twelfth month of the lunar calendar enters, commonly known as the twelfth lunar month. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, you eat Laba porridge. Laba porridge is made from glutinous rice, red beans, longan, dates, chestnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, ginkgo, and pine nuts and is cooked into a sweet porridge. It is said that Laba porridge originated from India. After the Buddha Sakyamuni sat alone under the bodhi tree for six years and practiced asceticism, he finally became enlightened and became a Buddha on the night of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In order not to forget the suffering before his enlightenment, later generations ate it on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Making the last tooth (the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month) is a way of thanking the land god for blessing the believers’ crops and business success, so it will be more solemn than usual, and the bosses of each company will Employees will be rewarded at work, at home or in a restaurant as a token of appreciation for their hard work over the past year. Farewell to the Gods ("Farewell to the Gods" on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is also an important day when the Kitchen God and other gods, who used to observe people's words and deeds in the human world, return to heaven once a year to report the good and evil in the world to the Jade Emperor. ▲ Kitchen god porridge is made as a commemoration. The 16th day of the twelfth lunar month is the end of the year. On this day, businesses will entertain employees on that day. If the boss wants to fire an employee, he just needs to point the head of the white chopped chicken at the employee, and it will be tacitly understood. The special food on this day is "Guabao", which is sacrificed to the Kitchen God on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Legend has it that the Kitchen God is sent from heaven. Those who come to live in each house will return to heaven at the end of the year to report the good and bad deeds of the family during the year, and the Emperor of Heaven will give good and bad fortune respectively. In order to make the Kitchen God say good things, people bribe him with rich sacrifices and stick his mouth to prevent them from letting go. He made a small report. ■On New Year's Eve, every family who traveled far away or separated from their families returned to their hometowns to celebrate the reunion night. The most important thing in the New Year's Eve dinner was a big fish, but it should not be eaten to symbolize the family reunion. "Every year has more than enough." After the New Year's Eve dinner, the eldest elder in the family sits in the main hall, and the younger ones pay New Year's greetings in turn. During the New Year greetings, New Year's money is given out. Usually, after the New Year's money is given out, people usually allow small money to be gambled. Regardless of whether they gamble money or not, they usually do so. We should stay up until twelve o'clock at night, and when the firecrackers are set off, the new year will officially begin. We should also go to a nearby famous temple at midnight to prepare for "grabbing the first incense". ■The opening time is determined according to the zodiac signs. When the time comes, firecrackers are set off, and sweets—red dates, winter melon, sugar, peanut candy and other candies—are offered in front of the gods, and gold paper is burned to worship together. At dawn, spring couplets are posted on the door, candles and incense are burned, and tea is served. , sweet tea, peanut candy, honey, rice, rice cakes, sweet cakes, chicken, duck and fish are used as offerings. After worshiping the gods, Buddhas and ancestors, the whole family worships together after setting off firecrackers. This is the beginning of spring, also known as the beginning of spring. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, in addition to worshiping the gods and Buddhas at home, you can also go to the temple where you believe in to worship. In addition, the first day of the Lunar New Year is the beginning of the year. In order to have good luck, the family should not say unlucky words, rebuke, or preach. You are not allowed to use knives and forks, let alone destroy things. The whole family, men, women, old and young, all wear new clothes, or go to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends, or go for an outing in the countryside, or participate in various games and gambling. Vegetable soup and sweet cakes. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, you should eat vegetarian dishes, and neither eat meat nor cook them. Steam the food from the day before yesterday. Instead of drinking vegetable soup, you can only drink rock sugar tea. Taiwanese people believe that if you drink vegetable soup, you will be better off when traveling. When there is heavy rain, some people do not eat sweet cakes from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year. They can only eat them on the second day of the Lunar New Year. The barley must be fried in a pot. There is a proverb in Taiwan: "Fry red, red, red." ”, meaning “poor”. □ Disposal of household garbage. From the first to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, household garbage must not be taken out and thrown away. Therefore, even the garbage should be kept at home. ■A daughter who gets married in the second year of junior high school can go back to her parents' home any day, but it is believed that returning to her parents' home in the first year of junior high school will lead to poverty, so she must wait until the second day of junior high school to return to her parents' home. There is a saying that returning to one's parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year is a rigid social norm. In the past, women's status was not high, and they were worried that after getting married, they would encounter an evil mother-in-law, who might not allow her to return home for the rest of her life. Therefore, this custom was established. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a married woman, her husband and children bring some gifts back to her natal home to pay New Year greetings. After returning to her natal home, she first pays New Year greetings to her grandparents and parents, and then gives them red envelopes. These elders also give red envelopes to the grandchildren brought back by their daughters. . If there are younger siblings in the family, of course they should give red envelopes. Therefore, every year on the second day of the first lunar month, my parents’ house is filled with joy and excitement.

■The third day of the Lunar New Year ▲The rat marries a girl (paper-cutting art of the Northern Shaanxi Plateau) The third day of the first lunar month is popularly believed to be the day of the red dog. The pronunciation of the word "red" in Taiwanese is the same as the word "deficit" for extreme poverty. It is an unlucky day, so it is not suitable to go out or entertain guests. According to another folk legend, the night of the third day of the Lunar New Year is the wedding day of the rat. On this day, people should avoid lighting lights in the middle of the night. Everyone should go to bed early and sprinkle some food in the corner of the house to express that the year's harvest will be shared with the rat. Early farmers believed that being associated with rats on this day could reduce the losses caused by rats. ■On the fourth day of the first lunar month (the fourth day of the first lunar month), the gods go to heaven to report their duties and report the good and evil in the world. They will return to the human world on the fourth day of the first lunar month to continue to accept sacrifices and monitor the good and evil in the world. Therefore, you must be very careful to welcome the gods on this day. He descended to earth, so it was called "the day to receive the gods". The fourth day of the first lunar month is the day to welcome the gods, and the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month two years ago is the day to send off the gods. When sending off the gods, all the gods in the lower world ascend to heaven to pay New Year greetings to the Jade Emperor and report the good and evil of human behavior. They descend to earth again on the fourth day of the first lunar month. As the proverb goes: "It's early to send the gods off, and it's late to receive the gods." Therefore, it is necessary to send the gods early in the morning, but to receive the gods around four o'clock in the afternoon. Every household prepares fruits and vegetables as gifts, burns incense, burns gold paper, and sets off firecrackers to show their respect. . It is said that during the period from the 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the fourth day of the first lunar month, the heaven sent other gods to patrol the lower realm, monitor everything and then report to the gods. ■Welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the lunar month (opening) Because this day is also the birthday of the "Five Gods of Wealth", welcoming the god on the fifth day of the lunar month will bring you more good luck and good luck, and we hope that your business will be more prosperous and your wealth will increase in the coming year. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, merchants usually start their business to welcome the God of Wealth, which is called opening the market or opening. First choose an auspicious time, open the door and set off firecrackers. In addition, sacrifices are made to worship "Master Guan", who is called the God of Wealth by businessmen. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is separated by a period of Chinese New Year. The New Year holiday usually ends on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and everything returns to normal. ■The sixth day of the Lunar New Year The sixth day of the first lunar month is the day to start work by cleaning up water and fertilizer at home and irrigating crops in the fields. Although there is no need to pump fertilizer anymore, industry and commerce are still open today. This is a traditional evolution. In addition, the sixth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the Patriarch Qingshuiyan. On this day, all the Patriarch temples will decorate with lights, prepare sacrifices or perform performances to offer sacrifices. ■The first day of the seventh day of the first month is Rooster Day, the second day is Dog Day, the third day is Pig Day, the fourth day is Sheep Day, the fifth day is Ox Day, the sixth day is Horse Day, the seventh day is Human Day, and the eighth day is Grain Day. . Legend has it that the Creator created human beings today and ate seven kinds of vegetables as soup. In order to expel evil spirits and diseases, Japan learned from China and ate seven kinds of vegetables on the seventh day of the first lunar month. The seven herbs on the seventh day of the first lunar month came from this, but Taiwan no longer has them. This is the trend. ■Tiangong is born on the ninth day of the first lunar month (the ninth day of the first month of the lunar calendar). The folk proverb says: "Heaven is in the sky and maternal uncle is on the ground." This shows the nobility of God's deity. The ninth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, which is called Tiangongsheng in Taiwanese. The Jade Emperor is called "Emperor" in Buddhism, "Yuanshi Tianzun" in Taoism, "Haotian God" in Confucianism, and "Tiangong" in folk belief. He is considered to be the creator of all things and the greatest god. The festival is held from midnight to four in the morning. During worship, heavenly gold is burned. Heavenly gold is commonly known as Tai Chi gold. It is a very noble gold paper and is used when worshiping God and the three realms. ■15 Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Festival) The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival". In ancient times, it was a festival that continued the lively atmosphere of the Lunar New Year, so it is also called the "Little New Year". Worshiping Tianguan Dadi (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month) Since Tianguan Dadi’s status is as revered as the God of Heaven, the worship methods and the offerings prepared are similar to those of worshiping the God of Heaven. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is Shangyuan, also known as Yuanxiao. It is also the birth day of Emperor Tianguan. Emperor Tianguan is one of the three emperors. The three emperors refer to Shangyuan to bless Tianguan Ziwei and Zhongyuan to pardon the sins of the earth official Qingxu. The Great Emperor, the Great Emperor Dongyin of Xia Yuan Jie E Shuiguan. The whole family reunites and eats glutinous rice balls on Lantern Festival night to signify that the New Year holiday is over. Glutinous rice balls are also called Yuanxiao. In general stores, because of the large quantity, they are usually made by shaking them, which is called Shake Yuanxiao. On the evening of the 15th, there is an activity of guessing lantern riddles. This is a noble game in ancient Taiwan, popular among scholars and students, and now it is popular all over the world. In addition to guessing lantern riddles, there are also activities to welcome the lanterns▲ Lantern Festival In the early years of agricultural society, the Lantern Festival activities included stealing onions. In ancient times, people used to say: "Steal onions, marry a good husband. Steal vegetables, marry a good husband." Therefore, unmarried girls It is a good sign to steal onions or vegetables grown by others on Lantern Festival night. Other traditional activities include wearing lamps and listening to incense.