A brief introduction to the origins of New Year’s Eve

A brief introduction to the origin of New Year’s Eve: New Year’s Eve comes from the custom of expelling people from the country in the pre-Qin period. According to "Lu's Spring, Autumn and Winter Records", the ancients used drumming on the day before the New Year to drive away the "ghosts of plague". This is the origin of the "New Year's Eve" festival.

New Year’s Eve is the last night at the end of the year. The last day at the end of the year is called "Sui Chu", which means that the old year is removed and a new year is replaced. Chu means to remove; Xi means night. "New Year's Eve" means New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, etc. It is the last night at the end of the year.

There are only four widely circulated theories about the origin of New Year’s Eve, but there are quite a lot of customs on New Year’s Eve. By the way, I will introduce two New Year’s Eve customs. Let’s take a look with me:

1. ?The origin of New Year’s Eve?

?One of the origins of New Year’s Eve: the evolution of Zhuchu?

The festival of New Year’s Eve evolved from the Zhuchu in the pre-Qin period. The so-called "driving away" refers to the way the ancients used drumming on the day before the New Year to drive away the "ghosts of plague". The earliest mention of the name "New Year's Eve" in the existing literature is the local customs "Fengtu Ji" written by Zhou Chu in the Western Jin Dynasty. Later, the day before New Year's Eve was also called Xiao New Year's Eve, that is, Little New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve was called Big New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve.

The Jiaxing Museum now has a picture album from more than two hundred years ago. This picture album was painted by Huzhou painter Shen Zongqian. On page 4, there are four children playing drums on New Year's Eve. Three of them play a big drum and one plays a small drum. The picture is lively and cute, and the characters are unique. There is a child with three locks of hair on his head. The four people have different expressions, and the picture is lifelike. Explanation of the scene: "Expulsion. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals of Ji and Dong" note: "Beating drums on the day before the new year to drive away the evil spirits of epidemics and disasters is what the "Tokyo Fu" calls Ping Sui Da Nuo."

New Year's Eve is usually called New Year's Eve. However, due to the lunar calendar, the date of New Year's Eve may be December 30 or December 29, but no matter what, it is the end of the lunar year. .

?The second origin of New Year’s Eve: Shichiro shoots Xi?

A long time ago, there was a monster named "Xi" who specialized in harming people and especially liked to eat beautiful girls. The people hated it so much, but there was nothing they could do about it. There was a hunter named Qilang who was extremely powerful and could shoot arrows very well. He also had a very powerful hunting dog. Qilang saw that the people were suffering from "Xi" and wanted to get rid of it. He took his hunting dog everywhere to look for "Xi", but couldn't find it.

It turns out that "Xi" only comes out to harm people on the night of the 30th of the twelfth lunar month. It is never seen and no one knows where it lives. Qilang has been looking for "Xi" for a year, and it's the thirtieth of the twelfth lunar month again. He came to a town and saw people happily preparing for the New Year. He thought to himself: "This town is big and there are many girls. Maybe Xi will come here, and I will wait for her here." It told the town People: "Xi is most afraid of noises. Don't sleep at night. Find something that can knock loudly next to you. Once you find "Xi", knock it hard. Then I will get rid of Xi."

< p>At night, "Xi" came as expected. It was discovered as soon as it broke into a house. The family immediately started knocking pots and pans, and when the family started knocking, the whole town started knocking too. Xi was so frightened that she ran around, but Qilang saw her. The hunting dog bit "Xi"'s hind leg. Qilang took the opportunity to shoot fiercely with his bow, and finally shot "Xi" to death. Since then, people have called the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month "New Year's Eve". On this night, every household will watch the New Year's Eve and set off firecrackers to drive away bad luck and welcome happiness and auspiciousness.

?The third origin of New Year’s Eve: burning wood to keep the New Year’s Eve?

According to legend, in ancient times there was a scholar named Han Wenyu. When Han Wenyu was young, his family was very poor. One year, on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, all the neighbors celebrated the New Year happily, but Han Wenyu was so poor that he had no meat to eat. The neighbor's child came out to play, holding greasy chicken and bacon in his hands to chew. Han Wenyu's child saw it and went home crying and asked Han Wenyu for meat. Han Wenyu's wife had no choice but to borrow two lumps of meat from a neighbor's house to cook. Unexpectedly, as soon as the meat was cooked, the neighbor's head came back. He was afraid that the Han family would not be able to pay back the money in the future, so he forced Mrs. Han to pick up the meat. Han Wenyu coaxed the baby, and the family managed to spend the Spring Festival.

It is getting dark, and the neighbors have already lit up the New Year lanterns. The whole family gathered around the fire, talking and laughing, and began to keep the New Year's Eve. At this time, Han Wenyu was still chopping firewood on the mountain to light the fire and keep the New Year's Eve. Han Wenyu's wife sewed the rags all afternoon, and then went to the back of the house to collect firewood for cooking. A kind-hearted old woman saw it and said to Mrs. Han: "We still have a bunch of chili sticks for you, which can be used to cook for a few days." She thanked the kind old woman and went to carry the chili sticks back. At this time, Han Wenyu also dug a big tree head on the mountain and brought it back. Mrs. Han burned chili sticks to cook rice. The smoke was very choking. After eating, she lit a fire to keep the New Year's Eve. She also used the chili sticks as kindling. At this time, it was Haishi. The fierce gods in the sky followed the orders of the Jade Emperor and went to the human world to bring disasters. The impermanent ghosts in the underworld also followed the orders of Lord Yama to come to the human world to determine life and death for human beings. The evil god left the Nantian Gate and just arrived in the mortal world. The smell of chili pepper made them sneeze and make them burst into tears. The evil god said: "Mortals are so crooked! I haven't gone down yet, but I have been tortured enough. If I really go down, I wonder if I still have enough legs to go back to heaven!" Thinking of this, he was so frightened that he hid in the sky and did not dare to come down. The ghosts of Impermanence also huddled in the underworld and did not dare to come out.

As for the tree head that Han Wenyu dug, it turned out to be a ten thousand-year-old agarwood tree. It was on fire, and the fragrance overflowed, reaching straight to the heaven. The Jade Emperor was overjoyed when he smelled the agarwood, and praised the mortals for burning such a strange incense as an offering. He sent good gods to come down to earth, and reduced the sins of the people in the world by seven points, and spread nectar all over the world to bless the world. At the same time, Wenquxingguan was sent down to earth to secretly help Han Wenyu pass the first prize.

In the second year, the world was indeed in good weather, the grain was plentiful, human beings lived a good life, and Han Wenyu also passed the first prize. From then on, every time when people celebrate the New Year and stay up late for the New Year, they always burn chili pepper stalks for a while, hoping to drive away evil spirits and avoid disasters. Then they burned the agarwood tree heads, hoping that the good gods would bless the world.

?The fourth origin of New Year’s Eve: Staying up until the end of the year?

There is also a legend that “staying up until the end of the year”. This is also the most commonly heard legend. Every New Year's Eve, in ancient times, there was a ferocious monster that lived scattered in the deep mountains and dense forests. People called them "Nian". It has a ferocious appearance and a ferocious nature. It specializes in eating birds, beasts, and scale insects. It changes its taste every day, ranging from kowtowing insects to living people, making people talk about "New Year". Later, people gradually grasped the activity pattern of "Nian". It would rush to crowded places to taste fresh food every three hundred and sixty-five days, and its appearance time would always be after dark, until the rooster crows and dawn. , they returned to the mountains and forests. ?

Having calculated the date when the "New Year" would be rampant, the people regarded this terrible night as a critical moment, called it "New Year's Eve", and came up with a whole set of ways to celebrate the New Year: Every night on this day, every household prepares dinner in advance, turns off the heat and cleans the stove, fastens all the chicken pens and cattle pens, seals the front and back doors of the house, and hides in the house to eat "New Year's Eve dinner", because This dinner has the meaning of bad luck, so it is very sumptuous. In addition to having the whole family eat together to express harmony and reunion, you must also offer sacrifices to the ancestors before eating, pray for the blessing of the ancestors' gods, and live in peace. That night, after dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat huddled together chatting and building up their courage. Gradually, we formed the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve. ?

The custom of keeping the year old arose in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Many literati in the Liang Dynasty wrote poems about keeping the year old. "One night lasts two years, and the fifth watch divides two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil plagues and diseases, and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been passed down to this day.

People regard the night when the "year" is raging as a gateway to pass the time. The family gathers to talk and pray for a safe passage through the night. After a long time, the custom of staying up late on New Year's Eve became formed.

2. What is the custom of New Year’s Eve?

One of the customs of New Year’s Eve: eating New Year’s Eve dinner with the door closed?

But in some areas in the south, it is necessary to close the door It is also a long-standing custom to have New Year's Eve dinner at home. It is said that it is still related to Tieguai Li, one of the Eight Immortals.

When I was a child, I heard my grandfather tell a story about it. It said that in many places in the south, when having New Year’s Eve dinner, the door should be closed, and only after the meal is finished and the dishes and chopsticks are put away can you put it away. The door opens. And this also has a meaning. Grandpa said that this means "making money behind closed doors and making money with open doors".

Grandpa also said that the folk legend of eating New Year’s Eve dinner behind closed doors was to deceive Tieguai Li. We all know that Tieguai Li is a well-known immortal figure and one of the Eight Immortals. Although this man is lame, he is a god, and the Jade Emperor also arranged a task for him, asking him to check the public sentiment on the last day of every year. So every New Year's Eve meal, Tieguai Li would transform into a beggar and go begging from house to house. Then the beggars were shown to the Jade Emperor one by one, so that it would be clear at a glance who was poor and who was rich. The Jade Emperor is also very fair. For some wealthy families, the Jade Emperor will let them receive certain punishments, such as disasters, to prevent them from becoming too rich. As for the poor families, the Jade Emperor would show great mercy and let them make a few more fortunes to avoid becoming too poor.

Later, this matter spread among the people, and one of them was a very shrewd businessman. He thought of a way, that is, to close the door during the New Year’s Eve dinner, and the family members Don't talk loudly, wait until you have finished eating and cleaned up before opening the door. At this time Tieguai Li came and had already eaten everything. There was nothing on the table. When Tieguai Li came in, he realized that the family was too poor, so he showed great mercy and gave the family several more opportunities to make a fortune. So after many people learned about this method, they started to learn it one after another. Therefore, this method spread and everyone learned it one by one. The custom of closing the door for New Year's Eve dinner was passed down and continues to this day.

However, the farmer believes that the reason why there is a custom of having New Year's Eve dinner behind closed doors in the south is mainly because a lot of food is cooked on New Year's Eve, and the weather is relatively cold in winter. If you leave the door open, the food will be easily cooled by the north wind, which will affect the taste and deliciousness. Secondly, it is not good for your health and can easily cause stomachaches!

? The second custom of New Year’s Eve: Paste New Year’s red?

On the 30th, every household “pastes New Year’s red” (New Year’s red is Spring couplets, door gods, New Year paintings, blessing characters, horizontal batches, and window grilles) Because these are red festive elements posted during the New Year, they are collectively called "New Year Red").

Pasting New Year red is a traditional Chinese New Year custom. It reflects the customs and beliefs of the people, adds to the festive atmosphere, and expresses people's good expectations for the new year and new life.

Posting Spring Festival couplets: According to literary works such as "The Jade Candle Collection" and "Yanjing Chronicles", the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Peach Talisman". Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients often posted the word "Yichun" on the first day of spring, and later gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets are also called door-to-door couplets, spring posts, couplets, antithetical couplets, peach charms, etc. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words. It is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, every household, whether in urban or rural areas, selects a red Spring Festival couplet and pastes it on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the festival. ?

Posting New Year pictures: Posting New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The rich and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and joy to thousands of households. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs and reposing their hopes for the future. With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful.

Window grilles and the word "福": Folks also like to paste various paper-cuts - window grilles - on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. At the same time, some families have to paste the word "福" (福) in large and small sizes on their house doors, walls, and lintels. Folks also use the word "Fu" to make various patterns in detail, such as longevity stars, longevity peaches, carps jumping over dragon gates, good harvests, dragons and phoenixes, etc.

New Year's Eve is a day for New Year's Eve, family reunion, and ancestor worship. It is a traditional ancestor worship festival in China along with Qingming Festival, July Half and Double Ninth Festival. New Year's Eve has special significance in the hearts of Chinese people. This is the most important day at the end of the year. No matter how far away you are, you have to rush home to reunite with your family. On New Year's Eve, you say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year.