The custom and origin of the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is one of the four traditional festivals in China. Lunar New Year, the traditional "New Year Festival", is set on the first day of the first lunar month every year. The Spring Festival refers to the traditional Chinese New Year in the cultural circle of Chinese characters, and it is also a common festival for Chinese people at home and abroad. It embodies the life pursuit and emotional sustenance of China people and is highly valued by China people.

The customs of the Spring Festival include: preparing new year's goods, putting up new year's red, offering sacrifices to stoves, removing dust, hanging New Year's pictures, stick grilles, putting up blessings upside down, New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers, wearing new clothes, eating jiaozi, celebrating New Year's Eve, dancing dragons, hanging lanterns, getting lucky money, eating jiaozi, setting off firecrackers, worshiping New Year's Eve, watching social fires, walking on stilts, playing lanterns and dancing lions.

The origins of the Spring Festival include: the theory of the origin of the Spring Festival, the theory of witchcraft, the theory of "Nian" beast, the rise of worship of heaven in Yu Shun period, the word "harmony" in ancient Chinese characters, the theory of "lucky money", the theory of the statute after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, and the theory of door gods.

In my opinion, among the many customs and origins of the Spring Festival, five are most worth mentioning. Let's take a look:

First,? What is the origin of the Spring Festival?

One of the Origins of the Spring Festival: the "Year" Animal Theory

Legend has it that in ancient China, there was a monster called Nian, with a long, pointed head and extremely fierce. Nian beast has lived under the sea for many years. Every New Year's Eve, it crawls ashore to devour livestock and kill people. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people help the old and take care of the young and flee to the mountains to avoid the harm of Nian beast. It is said that Nian beast has a big head and a small body, and it is more than ten feet long. Its eyes are like two bells, coming and going like the wind. When it is called, it sounds "year after year", hence the name Nian Beast.

A fierce monster called Nian goes from one house to another every year1February 30th, foraging for human flesh and killing creatures. On the night of the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Nian came to a village. It happened that two cowboys were fighting for a whip. Nian suddenly heard the sound of whipping in mid-air and ran away in fear. It fled to another village and saw a bright red dress drying in front of the door. It didn't know what it was, so it turned around and ran away. Later, he came to a village, looked into the door of a family, and saw that the lights were brightly lit and dizzy, so he had to slip away again, with his tail between his legs. As a result, people realized that Nian was afraid of noise, red and light, and thought of many ways to resist it, so it gradually evolved into the present Chinese New Year.

The second origin of the Spring Festival: the theory of creating calendar in the New Year

According to legend, in ancient times, there was a young man named Wannian. Seeing that the festivals were chaotic at that time, he had an accurate plan. But he couldn't find a way to calculate the time. One day, he was tired of chopping wood up the mountain and sat in the shade to rest. The movement of the shadow inspired him. He designed a sundial to measure the time of the day. Later, inspired by the dripping spring water on the cliff, he began to make a five-layer clepsydra to calculate the time. Over time, he found that every 360 days, the four seasons would cycle once, and the length of the weather would be repeated.

On one occasion, Zu Ti went to learn about the progress of the perpetual calendar. When he boarded the altar of the sun and the moon, he saw a poem engraved on the stone wall next to the Temple of Heaven: "Sunrise and sunset 360, start all over again. The vegetation is divided into four seasons and there are twelve laps a year. " Knowing that the perpetual calendar was created, I personally boarded the Sun Moon Pavilion to visit the perpetual calendar. Wan Nian pointed to the astronomical phenomena and said to Zu Ti, "It's been twelve months now, the old year has passed and the new year has begun again. Please make a festival for you. " Zu Ti said, "Spring is the first year of a year, so let's call it Spring Festival". It is said that this is the origin of the Spring Festival.

After years of long-term observation and careful calculation, he worked out an accurate solar calendar. When he showed his successor the solar calendar, he was covered with silver whiskers. The monarch was deeply moved. In order to commemorate the achievements of 10 thousand years, he named the solar calendar "perpetual calendar" and named it the birthday star of the sun, moon and moon. In the future, people will hang up the Shou Xingtu during the Chinese New Year, which is said to commemorate the venerable ten thousand years. In memory of him, the beginning must be "Year".

The third origin of the Spring Festival: Yu Shun's theory of offering sacrifices to heaven

There are many legends about the origin of the Spring Festival, but it is generally believed that the Spring Festival began in Yu Shun.

In the era of historical legends, Zhucheng and Juxian were one of the active areas of Dongyi. After Dongyi became Shao Hao, it was one of the earlier tribes in China. Therefore, Xu believes that Chiyou is the leader of Dongyi tribe, Chiyou was defeated in the battle of Zhuolu, and the culture of Yanhuang tribe moved eastward to the Yao and Shun period.

However, the worship of Mount Tai is different from the general worship of heaven, but the worship of heaven by emperors or tribal alliance leaders, such as Yu Shundong visiting Mount Tai to worship heaven; The pottery found in Lingyang River in Juxian County may be a sacrifice to heaven at the local clan level. Wen Tao unearthed in Qianzhai, Zhucheng is a sacrifice to heaven at the tribal level. From the rich connotation and complex stratigraphic relationship of Qianzhai site, we can see that the ancestors there were a relatively advanced tribe, who worshipped birds and the sun and were also the cultural center of the tribe at that time. It is worth noting that this place is not far from the legendary "Fengshi" and belongs to the Weihe River Basin. It is quite possible that Yu Shun lived here before he was elected as the tribal leader, or he belonged to this tribe. Of course, the site of Lingyang River in Juxian County is also related to Yu Shun. Even Yu Shun once made a small-scale and tribal sacrifice to heaven in Qianzhai or Lingyanghe, and after he was elected as the tribal leader, he brought the custom of worship to Mount Tai in Qianzhai of Zhucheng, rising to the imperial level.

One day more than 2000 BC, Shun became emperor and led his men to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the beginning of a year. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival used to be called New Year's Day. The month in which the Spring Festival is held is called January.

The fourth origin of the Spring Festival: the evolution of the word "He" originated from ancient calligraphy.

It is said that the word "Nian" was first seen in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Yin Ruins. Oracle Bone Inscriptions's glyph is "He", and below it is "Man". The whole looks like a person carrying the harvested grain, which means a bumper harvest, and "person" is also a sound. Oracle Bone Inscriptions often says "pray for the year" and "accept the year", which means to pray for a bumper harvest of crops.

Because in the Shang dynasty, crops were planted once a year and harvested only once a year, the "year" was also extended to the time unit, that is, 12 months. There are some sayings in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, such as "seven years" and "five years".

Shuo Wen Jie Zi was originally written. Gu Shuye. Thousands of voices from the grain. The opening of seal script makes the writing of "nian" in regular script, which directly affects the writing of "nian" in this grass. Many contemporary calligraphers only imitate the handwriting of the ancients and do not go deep into the source of cursive script.

In ancient China calligraphy, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year. From the original meaning and extended meaning of the word "Nian", we can know that China has been an agricultural country based on agriculture since Shang Dynasty at the latest.

The fifth origin of the Spring Festival: the theory of competing for flowers to rule the world

In Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province, there are legends about the Spring Festival. According to legend, the Jade Emperor sent Maitreya from Heaven to earth in order to rule the world. When the Tathagata knew this, he thought: I am the Buddha, why not let me go? So, I went to the Jade Emperor Theory. The Jade Emperor was speechless and had to say, "Let's discuss it." Taking advantage of the discussion, the Jade Emperor thought of a solution. ?

He invited Maitreya Buddha and Tathagata Buddha, put two pots of flowers in front of them, and said, "You two should each handle one pot of these two pots of flowers. Whoever blooms first will come down to earth to rule the world." Tathagata is thoughtful and thoughtful, knowing that the Jade Emperor must be partial to Maitreya, because he guessed that the Jade Emperor was afraid that what he said was unacceptable, so he used offering flowers as an excuse to do it. I'm afraid the jade emperor secretly arranged these two pots of flowers, so he also came up with a subtotal. He took the opportunity of Maitreya's closing his eyes to thank him and quietly changed the position of the two pots of flowers. The next day, the Tathagata bloomed, so Maitreya took care of the world for one day, which was the first day of the first month. Legend has it that Maitreya has a kind heart. On this day, he told people to eat, dress and sleep well, so on the first day of the first month, people spent the day happily. Later, in order to commemorate Maitreya, people called the moment when the two Buddhas handed over in early spring "Spring Festival".

Second,? The custom of the Spring Festival?

One of the Spring Festival customs: eating New Year's Eve dinner behind closed doors.

In some places in the south, it is a long-standing custom to have New Year's Eve dinner behind closed doors, which is said to be related to Tie Guai Li, one of the Eight Immortals.

When I was a child, I heard my grandfather tell such a story, saying that when eating New Year's Eve in many places in the south, the door should be closed, and the door can only be opened after eating and cleaning up. This also has a meaning. Grandpa said that this means "closing the door to make money, opening the door for business".

Grandpa also said, behind closed doors to eat New Year's Eve, folklore is to play tricks on Tie Guai Li. We all know that Tie Guai Li is a famous immortal, and he is one of the Eight Immortals. Although this man is lame, he is a fairy, and the Jade Emperor has arranged a task for him to check the people's feelings on the last day of each year. So every New Year's Eve dinner, Tie Guai Li will become a beggar, and then go door to door begging. Then show the jade emperor the begging things one by one, so that you can see at a glance who is poor and who is rich. The Jade Emperor is also fair. For some wealthy families, the Jade Emperor will make them accept certain punishments, such as disasters, so as not to make them too rich. For poor families, the Jade Emperor will be merciful and let them earn several times more money to avoid being too poor.

Later, the story spread among the people, including a shrewd businessman. He thought of a way, that is, when eating New Year's Eve, close the door and the family will not talk loudly until he finishes eating and cleans up. At this moment, Tie Guai Li came, having eaten clean, and there was nothing on the table. When Tie Guai Li came in, his family was too poor, so he was merciful and gave them more opportunities to get rich. So many people have learned this method one after another, so this method has spread, and everyone has learned it one by one. The custom of closing the door to eat New Year's Eve has been handed down and continues to this day.

However, farmers believe that the custom of eating New Year's Eve in the south is mainly due to the fact that many meals are cooked on New Year's Eve and the weather is cold in winter. If the door is left open, the food will be easily cooled by the north wind, which will affect the taste and delicacy. Secondly, it will be bad for your health and easy to cause stomach pain!

The second custom of the Spring Festival: Sticking the Year Red.

On the 30th, every household posted "Nian Hong" (Nian Hong is the general name of Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year pictures, blessings, banners and window grilles. Because these are all red festive elements posted during the Chinese New Year, they are collectively called "Year Red"). Sticking New Year Red is a traditional New Year custom in China, which reflects people's customs and beliefs, adds festive atmosphere and places people's good expectations for the new year and new life.

Sticking Spring Festival couplets: According to literary works such as Jade Candle Collection and Yanjing Year, the prototype of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Fu Tao". Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" every day when they were in beginning of spring, and later they gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. Sticking Spring Festival couplets is also called sticking couplets, Spring Festival couplets, couplets and peach symbols. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. ?

New Year pictures: It is also common to hang New Year pictures in urban and rural areas during the Spring Festival. Colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy holiday atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful.

Window grilles and the word "Fu": In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. At the same time, some people have to write "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

The third custom of the Spring Festival: hanging lanterns

Every household has the custom of hanging lanterns for 30 years. Hanging red lanterns on New Year's Eve symbolizes reunion and creates a festive atmosphere. Later, lanterns became a symbol of happiness for the people of China. Through the inheritance and development of lantern artists in past dynasties, colorful varieties and exquisite craftsmanship have been formed.

Legend has it that after Jiang Ziya was blocked, there was no post from himself, only a fairy walked in the travel era. On New Year's Eve, the gods returned to their places, but Jiang Ziya had nowhere to go. Seeing his pity, people lit a lamp on the head of a high club and let him spend the night under the lamp. Over time, the custom of hanging lanterns was formed.

The fourth origin of the Spring Festival: observing the year and enduring the year.

The custom of "staying to the old age" comes from a legend. This is also a legend that people often hear. On New Year's Eve, in Archaean, there was a fierce monster scattered in the mountains, which people called Nian. Its appearance is ferocious, its nature is ferocious, and it specializes in eating birds, animals and insects. It changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Later, people gradually mastered the activity law of "Nian", that is, every 365 days, people go to places where people live in concentrated communities to taste fresh food. The haunting time is after dark, and when the rooster crows at dawn, they return to the mountains.

After determining the date of the ravages of 2008, people regarded this terrible night as a gateway, and came up with a set of methods to close the New Year's Day: every family prepared dinner in advance, turned off the fire, cleaned the stove, then tied all the cowpeas, sealed the front and back doors of the house, and hid in the house to eat the "New Year's Eve" because this dinner was uncertain. In addition to inviting the whole family to have dinner together to show harmonious reunion, we should also worship our ancestors before eating and pray for their blessing to spend the night safely. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and chatted with courage.

People regard the night of "Nian" as a portal of patience. In order to kill time, the whole family get together and talk about everything, which means praying for a safe night. After a long time, it formed the custom of not sleeping for a year on New Year's Eve.

The Fifth Origin of the Spring Festival: Setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve

The custom of setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve originated from a folklore. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was an evil beast with four corners and four feet-Xi. When the mountain was closed by heavy snow, Xi gathered around to hurt neighbors and look for food. At the end of the twelfth lunar month, people packed their bags to help the elderly and take care of the young, and went to the nearby bamboo forest to avoid Xi.

This year, when the villagers were preparing to take refuge, a kind mother-in-law rescued the starving child by the roadside and took it to the bamboo forest to escape the dusk. Mother-in-law told the child that she chased here at night and left in a hurry when she saw someone chopping bamboo. As soon as the child thinks about it, he tells everyone that he has a way to get rid of the evening and let everyone cut more bamboo knots with him. When I got home, every door was covered with red cloth.

When Xi attacked again, the children came forward to attract Xi's attention and asked the villagers to throw the broken bamboo joints into the fire, but everyone froze with fear. At this moment, "Xi" picked up the child with his horn and threw it to the ground. The villagers responded to the sound of children falling to the ground and threw bamboo joints into the fire. Because it was cut down not long ago, the wet bamboo joints burst in succession when they met the prosperous fire, and they kept ringing! "Xi" turned and ran away after hearing the sound, and did not destroy anything in the village again.

Scared away at night, the residents' home was saved because of the red bar hanging in front of the door, but the clever child who saved the village died. This day is the first day of the first month. This clever boy, his name is Nian.

Because "Xi" is not dead, everyone is waiting to break the bamboo festival on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, hoping to get rid of "Xi" as soon as possible. However, a year has passed and no one has seen "Xi" again. Only people set off firecrackers to prevent the arrival of "Xi", but the legend of setting off firecrackers was left to us.

Of course, these are just legends, but from these orderly and rule-based legends, it can be reflected from the side that in ancient farming society, people's fear of nature is highly abstract, but it also tells us that they are not powerless in the face of fear, and the myths and legends of "punishing evil and promoting good" always pray for good weather and let people live and work in peace and contentment!