What are the customs of Nanning Spring Festival?

There are 12 permanent ethnic minorities in Guangxi, among which the main ethnic minority is Zhuang. Influenced by Han culture, Zhuang people also celebrate the Spring Festival, but the Spring Festival of Zhuang people is mixed with more national characteristics. Different from the Spring Festival of the Han nationality, Zhuang people have to spend another "old age" on the 3th of the first month besides the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, it is necessary to cook more rice, commonly known as "pressing the new year's rice", which indicates that the next year will be full of grain and rice. On the other hand, the first day of the Lunar New Year is the most grand festival of the Zhuang people, because the activities on this day are the most abundant. On the first day of the New Year's Day, every family's eldest girl and daughter-in-law should carry buckets, hold three sticks of incense and sing songs, and go to the river to carry water. When they get to the river or the water intake, they should first insert the incense, put coins wrapped in red paper into the water as a "profit market" and pick up the first load of new water in the New Year. On this day, the Zhuang people will never drink the water saved last year, because they believe that the water on the first day of the New Year's Day is the purest. Put the fresh water into brown sugar, ginger and bamboo leaves to make "smart water", so that everyone in the whole family can drink a bowl. It is said that children will become smart after drinking smart water; A girl will have a sweet voice; Old people will get rid of illness and live a long life. On the first day of the lunar new year, every family eats zongzi, and the children and young people at home have already gone out to set off firecrackers and dance spring cattle. The "spring cow" is not a real cow, but is actually woven with bamboo pieces and covered with cloth to make it look like a cow. One man supported the bull's head and the other supported the ox's tail. Next to him, someone led the way with grass in his hand, and some people sang the song of Spring Cattle loudly, followed by a large group of people, and the gongs and drums were loud. "Spring Cattle" goes door-to-door to pay New Year greetings to people with their heads wagging on drums, wishing them a happy birthday. Wherever the spring cattle dance, joy and celebration will be brought. In the Zhuang area around Nanning, there is also the custom of grabbing a duck and carrying a paper dog to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of New Year's Day. The vast majority of Zhuang families don't visit on New Year's Day. They eat glutinous rice balls during the day and meat dishes at night. It is said that they can eliminate disasters and get sick. On the second day of the lunar new year, women took their children, accompanied by their husbands, and returned to their parents' homes with gifts. The Spring Festival of the Zhuang people is novel and lively. It is the Lantern Festival, and after the ancestor worship again, every family will withdraw their offerings. This is called "the year of scattered". "San Nian" means that the eldest daughter of the family helps her parents or the oldest person in the family to sit in the middle of the hall, then peels off the "mother zongzi" (super-large zongzi) and distributes it in an orderly manner according to the age of the family. Everyone must respectfully accept it and finish it. This is "eating mother zongzi". After eating "Mother Zongzi", the whole family urinated with Zongzi leaves and incense, and went to the fork road or the river to burn incense and stand upright, singing "songs to ward off evil spirits" and throwing Zongzi leaves as a way to "send bad luck". Zhuang people do not have the custom of bowing, bowing and shaking hands, but express their holiday greetings directly through language and rich expressions. Therefore, Zhuang people will not kowtow or bow to their elders during the Spring Festival. Acquaintances meet on the road and congratulate each other on "congratulations on getting rich", which is not an ordinary polite word! This is the most sincere blessing of Zhuang people

customs and habits in Nanning

Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional festival in China. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, Nanning citizens will prepare many Chinese New Year foods. Among them, rice cakes, zongzi and vermicelli are the traditional foods necessary for Nanning people to celebrate the Spring Festival, which is commonly known as the "three heads" of Chinese New Year foods. According to my grandfather's legend, among the people, the "three-headed" food of rice cake, zongzi and fenli has a good omen. Rice cakes and zongzi mean "high (cake) and middle (zongzi) every year"; Fenli, on the other hand, is combined with potted oranges placed on both sides of the portal during the Spring Festival to form the meaning of "auspicious (orange) benefits every year". And pots of oranges are placed on both sides of the gate, which also contains the good color of "Open the door (orange)" in the New Year. Nanning people are particular about making the "three heads" of Spring Festival food. To make rice cakes, the soaked glutinous rice should be ground into slurry by adding water, filtered into wet rice flour, brown sugar boiled into syrup and stirred with wet rice flour to form a thick slurry, put into a copper tray or antimony tray (a container for steaming rice cakes) which has been oiled, steam it in a boiling water pot, take it out and brush a layer of raw oil on the cake surface. Many people, in order to celebrate the New Year's cake, steam it, and stamp it with edible pigments on the cake surface with wooden seals carved with animals of the Chinese zodiac, showing vivid images of the Chinese zodiac, such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, so as to enhance the atmosphere of the New Year's Festival and attract people's appetite. The zongzi eaten by Nanning people in the Spring Festival is often larger than usual, generally weighing 25 grams, which is called "big zongzi", and some weigh several kilograms or even more than ten kilograms, which is called "pillow zongzi". Others are as big as pigs, commonly known as "pig dumplings". Among the counties and districts in Nanning, Hengxian Pillow Zongzi is the most famous. There are many kinds of rice dumplings in Nanning, including chestnut, mung bean, rice bean, shrimp, crab, sausage, beef and so on. Among them, mung bean dumplings are the most popular. Fenli is to grind the soaked rice into slurry with water, filter it into wet rice flour, put it in a boiling water pot and cook it until it is half cooked, while constantly stirring it in the same direction with a big shovel. It takes a lot of effort to stir when the slurry is almost cooked. Until the powder is cooked, take it out and knead it into various shapes, then put it on a chopping board and knead it until it is tough, knead it into a round strip with a diameter of 4.5 cm, cut it into sections, and steam it in a steamer. After the steamed vermicelli is dried, soak it in cold water to prevent it from cracking. When eating, it is sliced into pieces, and mixed with various meats to make "fried rice noodle soup" or "scalded rice noodle soup". The rice noodle is tough and refreshing, and it tastes delicious. It is a delicious food for family gatherings during the New Year. In the past, Nanning people had the custom of "paying homage to their aunts and uncles on the first day, the second day, and the fourth day of the third day", that is, the junior students on the first day paid tribute to their elders, the new son-in-law on the second day paid tribute to their parents-in-law, and after the third day, the married women returned to their parents' homes with their children and husbands. In New Year's greetings, in addition to carrying a big capon, you must also send "three heads" of rice cakes, zongzi and rice flour, with the intention of giving good omen to relatives and friends. In some Zhuang townships, there is also the custom of "betrothal zongzi". A few years ago, I have seen some young Zhuang men and women betrothed with zongzi. Five days before the betrothal ceremony, the man used 15 kilograms of fragrant glutinous rice and 1.5 kilograms of strip meat at home, with mung bean and peanut stuffing, and several people wrapped them into a huge "betrothal zongzi". The wrapped giant zongzi is hung in a large iron pot, soaked in cold water for one day, and then cooked for three days and three nights. The cooked zongzi weighs about 3 kilograms. After a day's airing, it is carried to the woman's home by two girls of her own family for betrothal. The woman's family first offered giant zongzi as an offering in front of the ancestral memorial tablet. When drinking betrothal wine in the evening, the woman's father cut it into several pieces according to the number of uncles and brothers of the family, one for each household, and took it home, which was called "eating Lianxin Zongzi". In the first three years of marriage, during the Spring Festival every year, the man also needs to bring a giant zongzi to visit his parents-in-law, which is called "Mother Zongzi". Such a custom is a wonder in Guangxi. I asked the local elders that the custom of "betrothal zongzi" has a history of three or four hundred years.

The Spring Festival is the biggest festival in Nanning in a year. Every family will set off firecrackers from : on the first day of junior high school to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. On the second day, relatives and friends brought gifts to exchange visits to "New Year". Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival, night. Temple fairs and "fireworks grabbing" were held in rural areas of sixteen counties. According to the unique custom of the Zhuang family during the Spring Festival, we should also carry out activities such as picking new water, drinking clever water, dancing lions, chickens and spring cows. Before the dawn of the New Year's Day, the wives of the Zhuang nationality had already gone to the river to pick up new water for the whole family. When picking fresh water, we should also pick up a few stones similar to domestic animals to go home, and imitate the sounds of six domestic animals all the way. When I got home, I put these stones in pigsty and cowshed to pray for the prosperity of the six animals. Then, boil New Year's tea with new water for the whole family to drink. Strong women want to drink smart water, that is, before drawing new water, they compete to drink the clear water given to them by the village's recognized "smart sister-in-law". They believe that this will make them smarter, and the girls to be married will take this opportunity to make up for finding the right husband in the new year. Dancing chickens and dancing spring cows in the west of Guangxi are unique. On the first day of New Year's Day, young people who danced chicken carried two doors of chicken made of wood and papaya and went to every household to celebrate the New Year with gongs. They sang a humorous chicken dance song, which made the main family smile. The main family pulled a few chicken feathers from the "chicken" and put them in their own chicken cages to pray for the prosperity of the six animals. Dancing cows is even more interesting. Cattle dancers use the department as a delicate "Spring Cattle" performance, with one supporting the bull's head in front and one bending over the back and swinging his tail in the back; Behind him, a man with a plow frame drives the "Spring Cattle", and there are also people who beat gongs and drums and sing the songs of Spring Cattle, which are vast and jubilant.

Dancing Spring Cattle

In some areas of western Guangxi, the activities of dancing chicken and spring cattle, which have been passed down from generation to generation, have added a festive atmosphere to the Spring Festival. Young people dancing chickens carried two cockfights made of wood and papaya and went to every household in the village to celebrate the New Year with gongs. Dancing chickens and singing auspicious and humorous songs makes the main family smile. Give a red envelope to the New Year's chicken dancer, pull a few chicken feathers from the "cockfighting" and put them in their own chicken cages to pray for the prosperity of the six animals. Dancing spring cattle is more interesting. "Spring Cattle" is skillfully woven with bamboo pieces. The cow's head and horn are pasted with tissue paper and painted with cow's eyes. The cow's body is a black cloth or gray cloth. Cattle dancers beat gongs and drums to perform in the village. Two people got into the bottom of the cloth, one supporting the bull's head in front, the other bending over the back and swinging his tail, followed by a man with a plow frame. In addition, there are people who beat gongs and drums and lead the singing of Spring Cattle. Wherever they go, there are songs and laughter. After the dance, I went to the village and went to the next village, from the first day to the Lantern Festival. The people who danced the Spring Cattle brought festive joy to the farmers, at the same time, they also pinned their wishes for a bumper harvest and peace to the farmers.

Holding a pole for the New Year

"The hall was closed in the first month, and this year there are abundant crops everywhere." This is an old proverb circulated by Zhuang families in Mashan, Du 'an, Shanglin and Xincheng, Guangxi. In the Tang Dynasty, Liu Xun vividly recorded the dance rhyme of Chong Tang in his "Notes on the Ridge Table": "Those who are in the Spring Hall are carved with deep wood, and on both sides of a groove, lemons are arranged. Men and women stand on the rice beam and knock on the side of the groove, all of which are beat all over, and the groove sounds like drums, which is heard in a few miles. Although they think of women's ingenuity in making autumn anvil, they can't be brighter than it. Today, instead of bamboo, the farmer's pole is used, and the wooden board replaces the big wooden trough. The ancient hall is full of vitality in the form of playing pole. From New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first month every year, the light and pleasant sound of "Deng Deng Da, Deng Deng Da, Deng Deng Da Du Da" is heard all over the Zhuang nationality. Playing the pole is a traditional self-entertainment activity. Every Zhuang family member is an actor in the hall. Women's movements are light and graceful, while men's movements are strong and powerful. The self-entertainment "playing the hall" places the Zhuang people's desire for a bumper harvest. The dance forms of carrying pole are duet, four people wearing flowers, many people wearing flowers and so on. Dancers are mostly even numbers. The performers hold the pole in their hands, surround the bench or rice-tumbling trough, and beat the bench rhythmically, sometimes hitting the pole with each other. The shoulder pole can be used freely in the hand, or it is knocked on the front, back or side, and the sound is crisp or heavy, and the sound is different, forming a rhythm with bright rhythm and ups and downs. When the pole keeps hitting each other, the performer keeps spinning through the flowers, which is even more dazzling. Skillful movements can be easily completed in the sound of the sound of the shoulder pole. The activities of carrying poles in the festive season are even more lively. Long bamboo tubes and gongs and drums were accompanied on the field, and the onlookers heard singing from time to time. The festive atmosphere was particularly warm. Among the people carrying pole, you can find old people with gray hair and childish children. Some families are carrying pole, and some mothers and children are carrying pole in the same field. The whole pole-carrying activity is filled with joyful laughter. On the way to the fair, the villagers were tired of walking on their legs, so they put the burden down and hit the pole, and soon the fatigue disappeared in the sound of the pole. The pole-hitting activities on the road to catch the market started impromptu and broke up. Carrying pole is really a light and convenient cultural and sports activity in Zhuang nationality. The dance vocabulary of "carrying pole" is rich in farming culture, and the dance modeling is closely related to farming work. The performances include: harrowing fields, transplanting rice seedlings, scooping up water and plowing fields, harvesting and threshing fields, and tasting new rice. The life-oriented and labor-oriented characteristics of artistic image are extremely prominent. It is firmly rooted in the soil of a strong family and will surely last forever.

There are many Chinese New Year customs in Nanning.

The Spring Festival, a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, is coming, and the flavor of the year in the streets is getting stronger and stronger. Old Nanning people still have some unique traditional customs during the Spring Festival.

The local Chinese New Year custom in Nanning needs all kinds of vegetables with special meanings.

1. Tell the meaning of buying lotus roots (love is like oxygen)

2. Carrots are thriving, symbolizing that they are thriving and have a head and a tail

3. Buying lettuce with a head and a tail means that (the coming year) will be full of vitality, and a well-intentioned head will make a good end of the year

4. Celery, garlic and onions indicate that children at home are diligent and smart and will count

. Good luck! Sugarcane with this implication and round flour profit have become the darling of the old Nanning people's food basket.

(Why are some Fenli red?) It is also a symbol of prosperity. People in Nanning should print words when buying rice cakes.

In old Nanning, besides preparing cakes and vegetables symbolizing auspiciousness, happiness and peace, such as door gods, kitchen gods, couplets and some articles for ancestor worship are also necessary choices.

6. Long-lived lanterns

have been ordered since the 3th night of (New Year's Day)

And the door god Kitchen Jun, all of which should be posted before the new year, so as to bless the prosperity of the family and the safety of the distinguished people in the coming year.