Investigation on Spring Festival Customs in Northern Jiangsu

My hometown is in northern Jiangsu, and the customs of celebrating the New Year are not much different from those in other parts of the country. Generally speaking, the New Year begins with Laba in the first year, climaxes with New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival, and ends with the second dragon raising its head in February of the lunar calendar. The past two months have been a long time, which sounds funny, but this is the essence of the country passed down by our ancestors, and you have to live like this no matter how you think about it. But what I want to talk about is the Chinese New Year when I was a child. Somehow I always felt that Chinese New Year had a flavor then.

To talk about the New Year, we have to start with Laba. Laba is the most important festival in the twelfth lunar month and is the prelude to the Spring Festival. According to custom, every family has to drink Laba porridge on this day. Laba porridge is also called Qibao and five-flavor porridge. Used to offer sacrifices and pray for wealth. Rich people are very particular and make things very complicated. My family is not rich, and in my impression it is just a meal of sweet porridge. There are not many details left in my memory, but I have a deep impression of the busy New Year after Laba. Probably a boy? What I like most is watching people kill pigs. In those days, there was a large collective, and the pig-killing scenes in the team were the most spectacular. Whenever it was time to kill a pig, the whole village would go to the team room, and they would see more than a dozen strong men "sharpening their knives and attacking the pigs and sheep." As soon as the captain gave the order, there was a lot of howling in the pig pen, with three strikes, five divisions, two strikes, headbutts and kicks. When a few men exerted their strength, the pigs fell on their backs and became trapped beasts on the door panel, unable to resist. The underhand brought the basin, and the stool was placed under the pig's neck. The chef in charge held a bright butcher's knife, muttering something in his mouth, aiming at the square inch below the pig's throat. The white knife went in and the red knife came out, killing the pig with one knife. I twitched a little and couldn't move anymore. As the gurgling blood flowed into the basin, bursts of cheers erupted from the watching crowd. Of course, some were timid and turned their faces away, not daring to take a closer look. A swordsman is a respected man in the countryside. If a swordsman cannot become popular with one sword, he will be laughed at, and even throw away the glory he has won over the years and stay aside. After the pig is dead, the knifeman will use the butcher's knife to make a slit on the pig's calf, find an iron bar and penetrate it all over the pig's body from the knife edge. If he finds a lucky one, he will blow hard and the pig will swell like a rubber ball. When the pig is swollen, pour it with hot boiling water and run the iron scraper along the hair roots, and the pig will be killed. As the killing continued, more than a dozen pigs came down, and people gradually got tired of the taste and just waited to divide the meat. Confucius would say: "Food and color are the nature of food." He also knew the pain of "not knowing the taste of meat in March". People are busy all year long and just wait for this day. Wouldn't it be better to have meat to celebrate the New Year?

The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day to send the stove. In the days before and after, wanderers in other places, no matter how far away from home, rich or poor, will rush home, because the pace of the new year is getting more and more urgent. With a wandering heart floating on the journey home. If you go around the town at this time, you will see the hurried footsteps of people. When we talk about sending stoves, we have to talk about the Stove King. The Kitchen God is the god in charge of food and drink. Every year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, he goes to heaven to report his work to the Jade Emperor. People are afraid that he will make a report, so they have to provide him with food to take with him and save it for the journey. Regardless of whether you are an official or a citizen, since the Stove Lord is going to heaven, you have to pay him a farewell ceremony, which is commonly known as "sending the Stove". It's a bit of a bribe, but it's harmless. I just want to ask him to say a few nice words and pray for God to be more merciful in the coming year, with good weather and a good harvest. What's the big deal? Scholars pay attention to being well-dressed and make up the four words "food, clothing, housing and transportation" to put dressing and grooming first. In fact, eating is always the first thing in people's minds. Think about it, if you can make do without clothes, how big a deal is it to have bare buttocks? Try not eating for three days? "Food is the most important thing for the people." Is it okay not to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God? When I was a child, I was very surprised to see the respectful way the adults presented the stove, but I didn’t dare to say anything, so I pretended to be pious and worshiped the Stove Lord with the adults. I wished I could send it away as soon as possible, because there were many offerings on the stove. Those things have long been in my sight.

After the stoves were presented, every family was busy with New Year's goods, and the market began to bustle. In the countryside, there is usually a small market for three days and a large market for five days, and there is a market almost every day. This area in northern Jiangsu has never been considered wealthy, but the scene of the crowded market will still amaze you. Yes, there are all men, women and children who don't go to the market, especially those big girls and young wives who come in groups, dressed in red and green, swaggering through the market, which is very eye-catching. On the other hand, those of us who are half-grown-up don’t care about that, we only know how to hump in people’s crotches, without buying anything, just for fun. Yes, what can you buy if you don’t have money? Most of the people who actually buy things are men who are in charge of the family, because no matter how poor they are, every family has to take advantage of the New Year to weigh a piece of meat and carry some noodles back for the tooth ceremony.

"Singing over wine is the difference in life." Meng De's famous saying has almost become a derogatory meaning since it was used by the little devil Hatoyama. In fact, New Year’s Eve, also known as New Year’s Eve, isn’t it a time for people to eat, drink and have fun? People in the north like to eat dumplings, and people in the south like to eat rice cakes. My hometown is on the Huaihe River, located on the dividing line between north and south climate and flora and fauna. I can have both bear paws and fish, and I have the right time and place. Dumplings are called "Wanwanshun" and rice cakes are homophonic to the word "gao" in the year, both of which are good omens of good luck and good luck. I was young at the time and just wanted to eat well, so I didn't pay much attention to these things. I mainly focused on playing.