What are the customs in Yuzhong County?

The New Year in Yuzhong usually begins on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the 16th of the first month.

Yuzhong is located in the middle of the Loess Plateau, to the right of Longshan and to the east of Lanzhou. The Silk Road runs through its middle. Historically, it has been ruled alternately by many ethnic minorities. It has a long history and rich multi-ethnic cultural elements, and is influenced by various religious cultures, among which Taoism and Buddhism have the deepest influence. So there are many customs. Among them, there are many customs of Chinese New Year, which are unusual.

Clean up and send it to the stove.

The 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as off-year. On this day, we should thoroughly clean the front and back of the house, indoors and outdoors, and steam a pair of steamed buns. Then, there is a grand ceremony to send the kitchen god. At night, kill a rooster. On the stove, the men in the family offered plates (steamed buns), roosters, fruits and snacks, lit three incense sticks, knelt on the ground and whispered to the kitchen god, "Heaven speaks well and the land is safe." The incense will burn until midnight.

Kill pigs and sheep, steam steamed bread, buy new year's goods to make new clothes.

Every household used to have the habit of raising pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it entered the preparation stage of the New Year. Kill pigs and sheep, steam steamed bread, bake cakes, buy new year's goods and make a new suit for everyone. Especially steaming steamed bread and baking cakes are very important. It takes two or three days to steam a lot of steamed buns, bake a lot of cakes, and even fry oil cakes and fried fruit. These should be prepared enough to eat until the fifteenth day of the first month. However, if beginning of spring (also called Da Chun) is in the twelfth lunar month, spring will come early, the weather will get hot early, and steamed bread will go bad. Therefore, there is a saying in Yuzhong that "the twelfth month comes in spring, and there are fewer steamed buns in the New Year".

Relatives go home to paste couplets and burn incense and paper to worship their ancestors.

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, all family members, no matter what they do, will go home for reunion, and all their belongings will be sent home. There is a saying in Yuzhong that "Sweep the broom and go home on the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month". In the morning, I began to clean and put couplets on the window grilles. In the afternoon, men will burn paper to worship their ancestors on their ancestral graves, and when they return home, they will set up ancestral tablets in the main room and burn incense to worship their ancestors. In the evening, we will have a family reunion dinner, set off firecrackers, set off fireworks and fry Nian (a legendary monster with long horns) to celebrate. Then, the whole family will stay up until midnight for the New Year, and then set off firecrackers before they can have a rest. If a married woman can't go back to her husband's house for 30 nights, she must leave her family at midnight, otherwise it will bring unknowns to her family and herself.

Celebrate the New Year with social fire.

On the first day of the first month, men get up early. Generally, when the rooster crows three times (about five o'clock in the morning), they wash and put on new clothes, and set off by offering offerings (steamed buns), fruits, snacks and other tributes at the ancestral memorial tablet, the god memorial tablet (in the middle of the yard), the kitchen god memorial tablet (in the kitchen) and the god of wealth memorial tablet (outside the gate) in the main room. After dawn, the men first went to the ancestral temple or temple to burn incense to worship their ancestors. I also want the whole family to chew ribs and eat jiaozi. Then the younger generation puts on new clothes and kowtows to the elders to pay New Year's greetings, and the elders send lucky money to the younger generation. Then the younger generation goes door to door to pay New Year greetings to their elders. On New Year's Day, don't move the broom, or you will sweep away all the blessings of the year. On this day, I only turned to my family, not my relatives.

Jubilant, playing a social fire.

In the past, rural cultural life was monotonous, but during the Spring Festival, most people played a social fire. Therefore, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, we will set up a community fire, burn incense in the ancestral temple or temple, and then play a lively and jubilant community fire for the villagers. There are gongs and drums, lion dance, dragon dance, boating, yangko, donkey running, core singing, folk singing, martial arts performances and so on.

Visit relatives and friends and say goodbye to each other.

The second day to the fourteenth day (except the fifth day) is the day to visit relatives and friends. Relatives walk around each other, visit relatives and friends and celebrate the New Year. In the meantime, we should also watch (perform) social fires and watch (sing) traditional operas. Celebrate the Spring Festival with excitement.

On the fifth day, I met the god of wealth and blew up five poor people.

According to folklore, the fifth day of the first lunar month is the "birthday of the God of Wealth", so it is necessary to "greet the God of Wealth" on the fifth day.

On the fifth morning, men still have to get up early to open the door. Ancestor tablets in the main room, tablets of God (in the center of the yard), tablets of Kitchen God (in the kitchen) and tablets of God of Wealth (outside the gate), and offerings such as plates (steamed buns), fruits, candy, tea and so on. Sacrifice and burn incense everywhere, especially at the memorial tablet of the god of wealth outside the gate. You should take back the god of wealth, do more exhortations and pray for his blessing. Then, we should set off more firecrackers, blow up five poor people and set off firecrackers at night. The so-called "five poverty", also called "five ghosts", refers to five kinds of poor ghosts, such as "intellectual poverty, academic poverty, literary poverty, life poverty and social poverty". (See Han Yu's Seeing Poverty). Everyone in this poem says that "these five ghosts are my five worries", so I'm going to send them away.

Generally, don't go out on the fifth day, otherwise it will bring unknowns to others.

No sewing, no shaving.

From the first day to the fifth day of the first month, you can't move or do needlework, otherwise it will be unlucky. In fact, this is also a tradition of giving women a holiday for the New Year. Throughout the first month, men didn't shave their heads. Legend has it that shaving your head in the first month killed your uncle.

Eat Yuanxiao, solve riddles on the lanterns, light a torch, jump into the fire and send the New Year.

The fifteenth day of the first month is the traditional Lantern Festival. On this day, to celebrate the Lantern Festival, men hang lanterns and tie torches in the afternoon. In the evening, the whole family eats Yuanxiao together, which indicates the last big reunion in the New Year. During this period, the elders of well-off and well-educated families will have to play charades. Everyone will guess, and elders will also give red envelopes and reward money. Later, a young man lit a torch in the middle of the yard, burned it inside and outside the house (symbolically), lit the haystack at the gate, jumped over the fire, and sent the torch to the village as far as possible, which means to send the New Year (the legendary head is long and sharp, and the monster is fierce), also known as sending torches (in some places, torches are sent on the sixteenth night of the first month). Everyone in the family has to jump around the fire at the gate, which means that everyone has to live a unlucky, safe, smooth and healthy year. After jumping out of the fire, you have to lift the ashes of the fire with a wooden elevator to see what shape Mars is. If it is like wheat, it means that wheat will have a bumper harvest. If Mars is like Xiaomi, it means that Xiaomi will have a bumper harvest. If Mars is like corn, it means there will be a bumper harvest of corn. And so on.

In a word, people expect health, safety, smoothness and good harvest.