New Year: the collective memory of rural children in northern Jiangsu

"The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households always replace old talismans with new peaches." Wang Anshi's "Yuan Ri" wrote about thousands of years of history. The joyful atmosphere of the common people celebrating the New Year, and the strong flavor of the New Year are also vividly reflected in the poem.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people. Every Chinese, no matter adults or children, no matter where they are, must have strong memories of the Chinese New Year, great expectations, and best wishes!

The New Year is celebrated after Laba Festival, and the New Year is celebrated only after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. My hometown is in a mountain village in Xuzhou, northern Jiangsu. My New Year memories are mostly in the 1980s and 1990s. In that era, living conditions were relatively poor and meat dishes were rarely available, so rural children were particularly looking forward to having a delicious meal during the New Year.

When I was a child, I only had a rough memory of the Chinese New Year. I always seemed to like counting down with my fingers. As the week before the Spring Festival approaches, every household begins to chop the dumpling fillings and prepare to make the dumplings. It’s such a steaming scene!

On New Year’s Eve, writing Spring Festival couplets is a meaningful thing that we children like to do. My two sisters and I used the "three-legged cat" calligraphy skills we learned in school to scold Fang Qiu on the Spring Festival couplets. According to hometown customs, Spring Festival couplet paper comes in three colors: red, yellow, and blue. If a relative of the same ethnic group passed away during this year, blue Spring Festival couplet paper should be used; if a relative of the same ethnic group passed away last year, yellow Spring Festival couplet paper should be used to express condolences to the deceased relative.

In addition to Spring Festival couplets, we also write many small characters for "福", "青龙", "白虎", etc. There was no glue at that time, so we used rice grains and water in porridge, or flour and water as glue. After pasting the Spring Festival couplets, I pasted the small "Fu" characters one by one on the bed legs, table legs, furniture, etc., pasted the "green dragon" on the belly of the pressure well, and pasted the "white tiger" on the stone. On the nest, it seems that all the belongings in the house should feel the blessings of the New Year together!

After putting up the Spring Festival couplets and setting off firecrackers, we had lunch, which seemed to be mainly dumplings.

In the afternoon, smoke from cooking was floating in the sky over the mountain village. Many families began to burn oil pans and fry the must-eat New Year food - "fried fruit" (local pronunciation za guo)! It is made of flour dough, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and then fried in a pan. It is fragrant and crispy. It carries the classic memory of rural children in their hometown about delicious New Year food! During the Spring Festival, when visiting relatives and friends, the hosts will always bring out fried fruits to entertain the guests. Although the living conditions in our hometown have improved now, and the snacks eaten during the New Year have gradually become "in line" with the snacks eaten by people in the city, we always think of its taste every time during the New Year! I think it is a classic and indelible presence in the New Year memories of our generation.

The New Year’s Eve dinner must be the most sumptuous of the year. But this is imaginary after all. In fact, many rural families’ New Year’s Eve dinner would be good if they had a few big fish and meat dishes. Because there is no comparison, it doesn’t matter how many dishes there are. What’s important is that this New Year’s Eve dinner carries all our imaginations about delicious meals in a year, and we feel very happy for this! Among the big meals, braised chicken nuggets (called "ground pot chicken" in Xuzhou cuisine) is my favorite. I never get tired of eating it since I was a snack. Why is it so delicious? In addition to good ingredients, there is also the warmth of firewood and the taste of hometown!

In the evening, most adults stayed in front of the TV to watch the Spring Festival Gala. At that time, with the spring breeze of reform and opening up blowing into the mountain villages, the living conditions of the people were getting better and better. Gradually, they also had televisions, so it was also fashionable and rural to watch the Spring Festival Gala in front of the television. A rich spiritual and cultural feast for everyone.

For children, especially boys, the happiest thing is to set off firecrackers. As the New Year's bell rang, I went to set off firecrackers. There seems to be only one brand of firecrackers in my hometown, called "Dadi Hong", and the name is also very loud. A firecracker is about 3 cm long and the fuse is about 1.5 cm long. Its discharge speed is very fast, with the potential of being as fast as lightning. In rural areas in the 1980s and 1990s, the styles of firecrackers were also very limited. Therefore, for children who like to set off firecrackers, as long as there are firecrackers, they will not let them go easily. In order to solve the problem that the fuse burns quickly and is easy to explode, I also adopted what I thought was a smarter method, which is to put the firecrackers on the paper, and then burn a corner of the paper. When the paper burned to the fuse, I was already standing far away. The place is waiting for it to bloom! Or use paper to increase the length of the fuse, so you don't have to worry about it blowing up.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the children almost got up and went to pay New Year greetings. The earliest time I remember was when I was about five or six years old. With great expectations for the new year's money, I came to my grandparents' house respectfully. I still remember that it was about 20 meters from the main door to the main room. When I got to the door of the hall, I knelt down, kowtowed, and wished my grandparents a happy New Year! My grandparents gave me five yuan as a lucky gift. This is the most historic lucky money memory that I have a deep impression on. The moon waxes and wanes. When I was in the third grade of elementary school, my grandma left us early due to cerebral hemorrhage. Kowtowing to my grandparents to say New Year greetings is one of the few impressions my grandma left on me.

The New Year expectation of rural children may not be a new dress, but to buy a favorite toy at the Lantern Festival. It may be more luxurious to buy new clothes, but it is more realistic to use your small New Year's money to buy a favorite toy at the Lantern Festival gathering. On the day of the Lantern Festival, we usually have a half-day class, and then after school at noon, we can go to the Dongji Market, which is a 40-minute walk away (the name of the market is Luliang Market, because it is located to the east of our hometown, so it is called "Eastern Collection"). The rally was crowded with people, the vendors were shouting, and there were all kinds of toys in front of them. Rural children at that time didn’t know what shopping malls and supermarkets in cities looked like. The gathering at that time was the annual destination where we looked forward to using our New Year’s money to buy our favorite toys! To this day, the Lantern Festival gathering in my hometown is still so exciting! It carries the memories and expectations of generations after generations! Many people who work outside usually pack their bags after attending the Lantern Festival gathering and head off to distant cities with their New Year memories in their hometown.

Each generation has its own Long March, and each generation has its own memories. Regarding the Chinese New Year, each generation also has its own unique memories. But this beautiful New Year memory is passed down from generation to generation.

The years are like a song. With the development of society, many things are changing. For example, the New Year’s food is more abundant and the New Year’s activities are more diversified. But the best wishes for the New Year and the most sincere blessings for loved ones will never change!

Just like the two Spring Festivals in 2020 and 2021, due to the need for new crown epidemic prevention and control, many Chinese people, including us, cannot return to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year, but as long as there is love, it is Chinese New Year wherever you go!

As the saying goes, "The bright moon rises over the sea, and the end of the world is at this moment!"

I only hope that the love of the motherland will be boundless and that the mountains and rivers will be safe! I wish my parents in my hometown can live longer than Nanshan and be happy and healthy!

Yao Dong

February 3, 2021