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Traditional Chinese Festival - Spring Festival

The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year is the New Year of the Chinese lunar calendar. Among Chinese traditional festivals, this is the most important and lively festival. Because the Lunar New Year is celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, people also call this festival "Spring Festival".

Chinese people have many traditional customs during the Spring Festival. Starting from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people begin to prepare for the New Year. During this period, every household has to do a general cleaning, buy New Year's goods, put up window grilles, hang New Year pictures, write Spring Festival couplets, steam rice cakes, prepare various foods, and prepare to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.

The eve of the Spring Festival is called "New Year's Eve". New Year's Eve is a time for family reunion. The whole family sits together, eats a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, talks and laughs until dawn, this is called staying up late. As soon as the bell rings at midnight on New Year's Eve, people still eat dumplings. In ancient times, zero o'clock was called "Zi Shi". Zi Shi on New Year's Eve is the time when the old and new years turn over. People eat dumplings at this time, which means "Geng Sui Jiao Zi". This is also the origin of the name "dumplings".

After New Year’s Eve, it’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, people visit relatives, see friends and pay New Year greetings to each other. New Year greetings are an important custom during the Spring Festival. When paying New Year greetings, everyone should say some auspicious words to wish happiness and health.

Spring Festival custom - setting off firecrackers

When midnight comes, the New Year's bell rings, and the sound of firecrackers rings across the entire land of China. In this "three yuan" moment of "the yuan of the year, the yuan of the month, and the yuan of the time", some places still build a "vigorous fire" in the courtyard to show that the energy is strong and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and jumped happily. At this time, there were bright lights inside the house, brilliant sparks in front of the court, and loud noises outside, pushing the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to the climax. .

The sound of firecrackers is a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and an expression of festive mood. Business family. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a lot of money in the new year. However, according to old customs, you should be the first to honor the God of Wealth, and the last to set off firecrackers. Legend has it that if you want to make a fortune, the firecrackers should be fired until the end to be considered sincere. In the old days, when the Wealth Gate opened at midnight during the Spring Festival, people would send gifts to the God of Wealth. Holding a piece of paper printed on the door, the God of Wealth would shout: "Here comes the God of Wealth!" At this time, the owner of the house, in order to express his welcome, The God of Wealth will give the reward to the visitor, and of course he will inevitably say some auspicious words when giving it to the God of Wealth. For example: "The gold and silver treasures are rolling in"! "There are a pair of golden lions on the left and a pair of golden phoenixes on the right"! And so on and so on. Another way is to dress up as the God of Wealth, wearing a red robe, a gauze hat, a fake beard, and a yellow bag for collecting money, followed by a few gongs and drums, going from house to house. Distribute statues of the God of Wealth in order to collect rewards. Every time I go to someone's door, I sing: "The left compartment is full of gold and silver, and the right side is full of treasures." A lot of auspicious words are uttered, until the owner happily takes the red paper statue of the God of Wealth. , gave them some money, and these people who pretended to be the God of Wealth, thanked them repeatedly, beat hard for a while, and moved to another house amidst the sound of gongs and drums.

The first thing everyone does after setting off firecrackers and returning home is to worship heaven and earth, welcome gods, and worship ancestors. In ancient times, this kind of custom was very popular. Due to the different etiquette and customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to visit their ancestors' tombs, some go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and most of them place the ancestor's tablets in the main hall in sequence at home, display the offerings, and then the worshipers press the long The younger ones offer incense and kneel down in order. After paying homage to their ancestors, southerners check the auspicious direction of the year recorded in the almanac, light lanterns and torches, carry pots of wine, offer incense and blast firecrackers, open doors and go out to welcome the God of Joy, which is called "Chutian Fang" or "Travel", Zhejiang It's called "Chu Xun", and in Shanghai it's called "Dou Xi Shen Fang". This custom is to seek good luck and pray for the gods to bless everything smoothly in the year. Staying up all night on New Year's Eve means staying up all night. It's night, and the housewives are busy hanging lanterns, posting Spring Festival couplets, cutting window grilles, and pasting New Year pictures. They decorate the house with red and green flowers, adding a rich atmosphere to the festival. Perhaps the thing that children look forward to most is New Year’s money. New Year's money is given by the elders to the younger ones. In some families, after the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone sits at the table and is not allowed to leave. When everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger ones and encourage their children and grandchildren to make the best of it in the new year. Learn to make progress and be a good person. In some homes, parents wait for their children to fall asleep and put them under their pillows at night. In other homes, children gather in the main hall, shout Happy New Year to their grandparents, parents and moms, line up and kneel down, and then reach out for red envelopes. They even went to the grandparents' bedroom and ran to the edge of the bed together, shouting: "New Year's money, New Year's money!" The old man didn't think it was lively enough, so he pretended to be stingy, went from bargaining to besieging and groping, and finally dug out the ancestor's red envelope. After everyone looted everything, they dispersed. The old man was overjoyed when he saw this scene, thinking it was a good sign that everything would go well in the new year.

People’s traditional concept is that they always like to seek more good luck during the Chinese New Year and hope that everything will go well. There are many old customs in this. For example, there is a custom in various places that prohibits the use of brooms. It is believed that using a broom during the New Year will sweep away luck and wealth, making it difficult to have good luck in the new year. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside. In order to make this custom popular, the first day of the first lunar month is also designated as the "Broom Birthday". You should not scold your children during the New Year, and you must pay special attention to what you say.

If a child accidentally smashes his or her job, no one will scold him. Instead, he will be said to be "safe and sound every year" because "broken" and "year old" are homophonic to create an ominous atmosphere. During the New Year, adults are most afraid of children slipping up and saying unlucky words at the beginning of the new year. In addition to paying attention horizontally and vertically, some places also use a piece of red cloth or straw paper to wipe the children's mouths, which means to wipe their mouths. As a butt, even if you say something unlucky, it is equivalent to farting. Some people put oranges and lychees next to their pillows, calling them "lucky fruits." Oranges and lychees are homophonic for "auspiciousness", which means good luck in the coming year. There is also a custom in some areas that is to steal the statue of the God of Wealth and hide it in the crotch of the trousers after stealing it, so as to take the meaning of the idiom "The God of Wealth goes into the treasury (trousers)". Buried in these whimsical customs are the good intentions of many hardworking people throughout the ages to flatter the God of Destiny.

On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with red, as bright as clouds and brocade, which was called "Man Tang Hong". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.

Spring Festival custom - window grilles

During the Spring Festival, people in many areas like to put various paper-cuts - window grilles one by one - on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also bring people beautiful enjoyment, integrating decoration, appreciation and practicality.

Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art and has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly pasted on windows, people generally call it "window flower".

Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art and has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly pasted on windows, people generally call it "window flower". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles vividly express auspicious things and good wishes, decorating the festival with prosperity and joy.

Spring Festival custom - pasting the word "福"

Every Spring Festival, every household must paste the word "福", large and small, on the door, wall and lintel. Posting the word "福" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in my country. According to "Meng Liang Lu" records: "On the first day of the new year, I shop for department stores, paint door-god peach charms, and welcome the Spring Festival..."; "Every family of scholars and common people, big or small, sweeps the door, removes dust, cleans the courtyard, and The door god hangs a bell, nails peach charms, puts up spring signs, and offers sacrifices to the ancestors." The "spring card" in the article is the word "福" written on red paper

The word "福" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "blessing" and "luck". ". Posting the word "福" during the Spring Festival, whether now or in the past, expresses people's yearning for a happy life and their wishes for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply paste the word "福" upside down, which means "happiness has fallen" and "blessing has arrived". There is also a folk legend about the word "福" being pasted upside down. Zhu Zhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, used the word "福" as a secret sign to prepare for murder. The kind-hearted Empress Ma decided to avoid the tragedy of killing, so she ordered everyone in the city to put a label with the character "福" on their doors before dawn. Naturally no one dared to disobey Queen Ma's will, so every door with the word "福" was posted. One family among them was illiterate and actually pasted the word "福" upside down. On the next day, the emperor sent someone to go to the street and found that every family had pasted the stickers with the character "福", and one family had the character "福" upside down. The emperor was furious after hearing the report, and immediately ordered the imperial guards to kill the entire family. Empress Ma realized what happened and told Zhu Yuanzhang, "that family knew you are coming today, so had purposely turned the label with the character "福" upside down. Doesn't that mean "luck arrives"?" The emperor heard that it made sense, and gave the order Let him go, and a catastrophe is finally eliminated. From then on, people began to paste the character "福" upside down, firstly to bring good luck, and secondly to commemorate Queen Ma.

There are also folk people who carefully draw the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity stars, longevity peaches, carps jumping over dragon gates, good harvests, dragons and phoenixes, etc. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, every family wrote big characters". The word "福" used to be mostly handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops.

Spring Festival Customs - Staying New Year's Eve

Chinese people have the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve. Staying up all year long starts with the New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting from the time when the lanterns are turned on. Some people have to eat until late at night. According to Zong Mao's "Jingchu Years' Records", the custom of eating New Year's Eve dinner has existed at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Staying up late at the age of thirty is commonly known as "staying up late". Why is it called "staying through the year"? There is such an interesting story that has been passed down from generation to generation among the people: According to legend, in the ancient prehistoric times, there was a ferocious monster, and people called him "Nian". Every New Year's Eve, the Nian beast will crawl out of the sea to harm people and animals, destroy farmland, and bring disasters to people who have worked hard for a year. In order to avoid the Nian beast, people would close their doors early on the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month before it gets dark. They would not dare to sleep and wait for dawn. In order to kill time and strengthen their courage, they drank alcohol. Wait until the Nian beast stops coming out in the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year before you dare to go out. When people meet, they bow to each other, congratulate each other, and are glad that they were not eaten by the Nian beast. After many years of this, nothing happens, and people relax their vigilance against the Nian beast. One year on the eve of the 30th, the Nian beast suddenly rushed to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. Almost all the people in the village were eaten by the Nian beast. Only a newlywed couple wearing red curtains and red clothes were safe. There were also a few children who lit a bunch of bamboos and played in the courtyard. The fire was bright red, and the bamboos made a "pop-pop" sound after burning. The Nian beast turned here and turned around and ran away when it saw the fire.

Since then, people have known that the Nian beast is afraid of the color red, light, and noise. At the end of each year, every household would put up red paper, wear red robes, hang red lanterns, beat gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers, so that the Nian beast would not dare to come again. . After the ancients burned the bamboo poles, the air in the bamboo joints expanded, and the bamboo cavity burst, making a crackling sound. This is the origin of "firecrackers". But in some places, villagers don't know that the Nian beast is afraid of red, and they are often eaten by the Nian beast. This incident later spread to Ziweixing in the sky. In order to save people, he determined to destroy the Nian beast. One year, when he waited for the Nian Beast to come out, he knocked it down with a fireball, and then locked it to a stone pillar with a thick iron chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Ziweixing to come down to the next world to ensure peace.

On this night of "two years in one night, two years in the fifth hour", the family reunites and gathers together happily. The whole family sat together, and the table was filled with refreshments and fruits. When making offerings during the New Year, a large plate of apples is indispensable. This is called "peace and peace". In the north, some families also provide a bowl of rice, which is cooked years ago and served during the New Year. It is called "every other year's rice". It means that there are leftovers every year and can't be eaten all year round. This year, they still eat the old rice. This pot of rice and millet is usually cooked with a mixture of rice and millet. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "two rice rice" because it has yellow and white. This is called "gold and silver, and the pot is full of gold and silver". The cakes, fruits and pastries prepared in many places during the observance of the New Year are all intended to bring good luck: eating dates (early spring), persimmons (all goes well), almonds (happy people), longevity fruit (immortality) ) and eat rice cakes (which get higher every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family ate, had fun, talked and laughed. There are also ordinary people who play pai gow, throw dice, bet on stud, and play mahjong. The noise and laughter form the climax of New Year's Eve joy.

Spring Festival customs - New Year greetings

New Year greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to bid farewell to the old year, welcome the new year and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "bainian" was to congratulate the elders on the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders, giving wishes, wishing them a happy new year, and greeting them with good life, etc. When you meet relatives and friends of the same generation, you should also give congratulations.

New Year greetings usually start at home. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders, wishing them good health, longevity and all the best. After the elders are worshiped, they should distribute the "New Year's money" prepared in advance to the younger generations. After paying New Year greetings to the elders at home, people should also greet each other with a smile on their faces when they go out to congratulate each other on the New Year. They should also say auspicious words such as "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "Blessed Seasons", "Happy New Year", etc. Neighbors, relatives and friends also visit each other's homes. New Year greetings or invitations for drinking and entertainment.

In ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood and it was difficult to visit them all, servants would be sent to bring business cards to pay New Year greetings. This was called a "flying post". A red paper bag was posted in front of each house with the words " The two words "receive blessings" are used to express flying invitations. To this day, giving out New Year's cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is a legacy of the ancient tradition of sending flying messages to each other.

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings has constantly added new content and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous methods of New Year greetings, people have also developed ceremonial New Year greetings via telegrams and telephone calls.

Traditional Chinese Festival - Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival. Because the first lunar month is also called Yuan Yue, the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the first full moon night in the year, and "xiao" means "night", so the festival on the fifteenth night of the first lunar month is called the Lantern Festival.

During the Lantern Festival, Chinese people have the custom of admiring lanterns and eating Lantern Festival. As the saying goes, "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there are lanterns." Therefore, the Lantern Festival is also called the Lantern Festival.

The custom of viewing lanterns during the Lantern Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years. On the day of the Lantern Festival, lanterns and colorful lights were everywhere, and it was very lively. As soon as night comes, people flock to watch the lanterns. Colorful palace lanterns, wall lanterns, character lanterns, flower lanterns, revolving door lanterns, animal lanterns, toy lanterns... merge into a sea of ??lanterns. Some lanterns also have riddles written on them, causing lantern watchers to rush to guess.

Eating Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival is a traditional custom of the Chinese people. This kind of food existed as early as the Song Dynasty more than 1,000 years ago. Yuanxiao is a small round ball made of glutinous rice flour, filled with fillings made of sugar and various nuts. After being cooked, it tastes sweet and delicious. Because this food was eaten on the Lantern Festival, people later called it Lantern Festival. Chinese people hope that everything will go well. They eat Yuanxiao on the first full moon night of the year, hoping that their families will be reunited, harmonious, happy and complete.

Chinese traditional festival - Qingming Festival

Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms in China and an ancient traditional festival in China. Qingming Festival falls in the third month of the lunar calendar (around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar). This is the season when spring is bright and the air is clean. Therefore, this festival is called "Qingming Festival".

On Qingming Festival, people have the custom of sweeping tombs to worship ancestors and going outing to plant willow trees.

Chinese people have the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly, and they cherish and revere their deceased ancestors even more. Therefore, every Tomb Sweeping Day, every household has to go to the countryside to pay homage to their ancestors' graves. People remove weeds from the graves, add new soil, light incense and place food and paper money in front of the graves to express their longing for and respect for their ancestors. This is called visiting the grave, also called tomb sweeping.

During the Qingming Festival, the grass in the mountains sprouts, the willow trees by the river grow leaves, and there is fresh green everywhere. It is a good time for outdoor play. The ancients had the custom of going for a walk in the countryside, which was called "outing"; they also had the custom of breaking off a willow branch and wearing it on the head, which was called "inserting willows."

It is said that planting willow branches can drive away ghosts and disasters, so people wear willow branches one after another to pray for peace and happiness.

Nowadays, funeral methods have changed a lot. After cremation was introduced and burial was abolished, there were fewer and fewer graves in the fields. However, it is a traditional Chinese custom to worship ancestors and go on an outing during Qingming Festival. On this day, people still remember their ancestors in various ways. They also go to the countryside to breathe fresh air and enjoy the blue sky, green trees, and small trees. Grass and flowers.

Traditional Chinese Festival - Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the traditional Chinese folk Dragon Boat Festival, also called the "May Festival". During the Dragon Boat Festival, people eat rice dumplings and race dragon boats. It is said that these activities are held to commemorate Qu Yuan, the great patriotic poet in ancient China.

Qu Yuan was a native of Chu during the Warring States Period. During the Warring States Period, among the seven kingdoms of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin, Qin was the strongest and always wanted to annex the other six countries and dominate the world. Qu Yuan was a very talented official in the State of Chu. He advocated reforming the politics of Chu State, uniting other countries, and resisting Qin together. However, Qu Yuan's idea was opposed by bad people. The King of Chu listened to the words of these bad guys, and not only did not adopt Qu Yuan's ideas, but he also drove him out of the Chu capital. After Qu Yuan left the capital, he was still concerned about the fate of his motherland. Later, when he heard the news that Chu was defeated by Qin, he was very sad and felt that he had no power to save his motherland, so he jumped into the Miluo River and committed suicide. This day is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC.

After people heard the news that Qu Yuan jumped into the river, they all rowed boats to salvage his body, but they never found it. In order to prevent the fish and shrimp from eating Qu Yuan's body, the people put food into the river to feed the fish. From now on, people will do this on the fifth day of May every year. Over time, people changed to using reed leaves to wrap glutinous rice into rice dumplings and put them into the river. then. This formed the custom of eating rice dumplings and racing dragon boats during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Chinese Traditional Festival - Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

According to the Chinese calendar, the third month of the lunar calendar is autumn. August is the middle month of autumn, and August 15th is the middle day of August, so this festival is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese people have the custom of admiring the moon and eating moon cakes.

In autumn, the weather is clear and cool, there are few clouds in the sky, and the moon in the night sky looks particularly bright. The night of August 15th is the night of the full moon, which has become the best time for people to appreciate the moon. People regard the full moon as a symbol of happy reunion, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival".

According to traditional customs, when Chinese people admire the moon, they also put out fruits, moon cakes and other foods and eat them while admiring the moon. Because mooncakes are round and symbolize reunion, they are also called "reunion cakes" in some places. There are many varieties of Chinese mooncakes, and the preparation methods vary from place to place. Mooncake fillings can be sweet, salty, meaty or vegetarian, and there are various patterns and words on the mooncakes, which are really beautiful and delicious.

Chinese traditional festival - Double Ninth Festival

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival. This is a very ancient festival with a history of more than 1,700 years.

In Chinese numerals, one, three, five, seven, and nine are yang numbers, and two, four, six, and eight are yin numbers. Therefore, the ninth day of September is called the Double Ninth Festival or the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient China, the Double Ninth Festival was an important festival. Various activities were held on this day, such as climbing mountains, admiring chrysanthemums, planting dogwoods, eating Double Ninth Cake, etc.

Climbing high is the main custom of the Double Ninth Festival. The ancients believed that on the Double Ninth Festival, climbing high can avoid disasters. Later, climbing mountains during the Double Ninth Festival gradually evolved into a sports and tourism activity for people to relax and exercise.

Putting dogwood and admiring chrysanthemums are also traditional customs of the Double Ninth Festival. Cornus officinalis is a plant with edible fruits and medicinal stems and leaves. Chrysanthemums bloom in September and are known as the "longevity flower". In order to avoid the plague and drive away evil spirits, on the Double Ninth Festival, people wear dogwood and chrysanthemums on their bodies, watch the chrysanthemums, and drink chrysanthemum tea and chrysanthemum wine.

Double Ninth Cake is a food made of flour. You can add dates, ginkgo, pine nuts, and almonds to make it sweet, or you can add meat to make it salty. If you are particular about it, it should be made into nine layers. Then make two lambs on top to harmonize with the sound of "Double Ninth Festival (sheep)".

Nowadays, during the Double Ninth Festival, customs such as planting dogwood are no longer seen, but many people still climb high to admire the chrysanthemums and enjoy the beautiful scenery of autumn on this day. In recent years, this ancient festival has added new content and become the annual "Respect for the Aged Day". Whenever the festival approaches, people hold various activities to respect the elderly and wish them good health and longevity.