A folklore story about the Spring Festival in Chenzhou

According to legend, many years ago, there was a small village at the foot of the beautiful Dingyang Mountain. On the hillside at the head of the village, there is a small stone house where a young man named Wannian lives. He comes from a poor family and makes a living by collecting firewood and digging medicine. The season was very chaotic at that time, making it impossible for farmers to farm. Wannian is a scheming young man who wants to determine the correct seasons. But where to start?

One day, Wan Nian went up the mountain to collect firewood and sat under a tree to rest. The movement of the tree shadows inspired him, so he made a sundial to measure the shadow of the sun and calculate the length of the day. However, the sky was cloudy, foggy, and rainy, which affected his measurements, so he wanted to make another timekeeping instrument to make up for the shortcomings of the sundial. That day, he went up the mountain to dig medicine and came to the spring to drink water. The rhythmic ticking of the spring water on the cliff caught his attention. He looked at the spring water in a trance, thought for a while, returned home, drew and tried, and made a five-layer clepsydra.

From then on, he measured the shadow of the sun and looked for water leaks, working diligently. Slowly, he discovered that every three hundred and sixty days, the length of the day would repeat itself from the beginning. The shortest day is on the winter solstice.

The emperor at that time was called Zu Yi. The irregularity of the seasons made him very anxious, so he summoned all officials to discuss the reasons for the irregularity of the seasons. The festival officer's name was A Heng. He didn't know the laws of the sun and the moon, so he said that people had offended the gods by doing things carelessly. Only by kneeling down and offering sacrifices sincerely could they get forgiveness from the gods. Ancestor Yi Zhai took a bath, led hundreds of officials to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices, and told the whole country to set up a platform to offer sacrifices to Heaven.

But the sacrifices came and went without any results, and the seasons remained chaotic. People everywhere had to serve and donate in order to build the altar. Wannian couldn't bear it anymore, so he took his sundial and clepsydra to see the emperor.

Wannian met with the emperor and talked about the winter solstice and the cycles of the sun and the moon. After hearing this, Zu Yi was overjoyed and immediately ordered a large-scale construction project to build the Sun and Moon Pavilion, the sundial platform and the Leaky Pot Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven. Twelve boys were assigned to guard the clepsydra, record carefully and report on time.

One day, Zu Yi asked A Heng to go to the Riyue Pavilion to inquire about the calendar making situation. Wan Nian pointed to the cursive calendar and said: "The sun rises and sets three hundred and six times, and the cycle starts from the beginning again. The withered grass and trees are divided into four o'clock. Years are twelve rounds long." When A Heng heard this, he felt that it made sense, but he felt uneasy in his heart. He thought to himself: If Wannian had set the festivals accurately, the emperor would be happy and reuse Wannian, who would still listen to me, A Heng? Ah Heng thought and thought, wanting to get rid of Wan Nian.

That day, Ah Heng found out about an assassin who was good at shooting, so he sent someone to invite him to his home, held a banquet, explained the reason, and promised him a lot of courtesy. The assassin promised to kill him that night.

At the end of the day, the assassin took advantage of the drunkenness to leave Aheng and ran towards the Sun and Moon Pavilion. Unexpectedly, there were guards guarding the Sun and Moon Pavilion around the Temple of Heaven. The assassin could not get close, so he drew his bow and shot an arrow at Wan Nian, who was watching the stars on the Sun and Moon Pavilion. Unexpectedly, the assassin's eyes were blurred due to drinking too much, and the arrow only hit Wan Nian's arm. Wannian fell to the ground with an ouch, and all the boys cried out to catch the thief. When the guards heard the cry, they mobilized to catch the assassin and bring him to the emperor.

Zu Yi asked for the truth, sent an order to put A Heng in prison, and then left the palace in person to visit Wannian in the Sun and Moon Pavilion. Wan Nian was very moved. He pointed at Shen Xing and said: "Shen Xing has caught up with the Silkworm Star, and the stars have recovered. At the end of the night, the old year is over and spring has begun again. I hope the emperor will set a festival."

Zu Yi said: "Spring is the beginning of the year, so let's call it the Spring Festival. Aiqing entered the cabinet and could not come out for three years. She worked hard and worked out the lunar calendar based on the full moon. It is really a great achievement. Now Aiqing is being The traitor is plotting, please follow me to the palace to recuperate."

Wannian said: "Although the lunar calendar is crude, it is not very accurate. There is still a little time at the end of the year. At the end of the day, the sun and the moon will fly by, and the calendar will be wrong again. I am grateful to all living beings, and I am deeply favored by the emperor. I am willing to be fascinated by the Sun and Moon Pavilion, and make careful calculations to determine the correct calendar."

In this way, Wannian spent his time in the Sun and Moon Pavilion, carefully observing the growth and decline of plants, wheat, and bean sprouts, and carefully deduced the accumulated days and months at the end of the year. In May of that year, Zu Yi went to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices to the gods. Then he went to the Sun and Moon Pavilion and gave the fresh peaches in May to Wan Nian. Wannian presented the lunar calendar. Zu Yi looked at Wannian who worked hard day and night, his eyebrows and beard became white. He was deeply moved, so he named the lunar calendar Wannian calendar, and named Wannian as the sun, moon and longevity star.

Therefore, people later also called the Spring Festival the New Year. During the New Year, they would hang a picture of the longevity star in the house to symbolize the new year and longevity, so as to commemorate the ten thousand years of great merit and virtue. feeling.

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