The custom of Chinese New Year in Northeast China

Spring Festival is the biggest festival in China.

There are many customs handed down from ancient times, and there are many exquisite ones in the northeast.

In the past, almost all celebrations to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year and pray for good luck were held on New Year's Eve. The whole family should put on new clothes. First of all, the whole family worships their ancestors, burns incense and candles, and makes extensive offerings. According to their seniority, they bowed to the three generations of gods and resigned. Later, a family dinner was held, in which the elders sat on the table and the younger generation sat on the table, which meant "the first reunion".

Food and fruit must be rich, making people feel full, which indicates that they will have plenty of food and clothing and a prosperous career in the coming year. This meal is the first time to taste new year's food, and both meat and vegetables are acceptable. Usually, there should be Chinese New Year dishes such as braised pork, stewed mutton, rice noodles, braised elbow strips, Yuanbao meat, southern fried meatballs, Four Joy Meetballs, frozen chicken, frozen fish, frozen pork, bean paste, fermented bean curd, mustard tuber, spicy mustard, fried pickles and wax gourd.

During the dinner, the young and the old wished each other, and the brothers pushed a cup for a change and enjoyed family happiness.

After dinner, the children scattered sesame stalks all over the yard and walked on them, which was called "stepping on the old"; Then the spring lanterns hanging indoors and outdoors are lit together, and the New Year pictures and spring strips are illuminated on the four walls, and the indoor and outdoor lights are brilliant. On the "Heaven and Earth Table", there are "Eighteen Buddhas in Three Places, Three Boundaries" or "Hundred Books" (photo album of the gods of heaven and earth) printed with rhubarb paper. There are cakes, honey, fresh noodles, fruits, vegetarian dishes, rice cakes and rice as offerings, as well as high golden red candles and meridian incense to welcome the blessings from the gods below. In order to cherish the past years, men, women and children have to stay up all night and engage in different recreational activities, which is called "guarding the old age". Children have been playing at will, shaking diabolo, spinning top, twisting promotion plan, throwing dice, playing cow card, playing glass horn, playing harmonica, playing shadow play, lighting lanterns, playing "Didi Jiner", "mouse excrement" and "yellow smoke belt"

The old ladies sit together to play cards, mahjong and ten basketballs. In entertainment places, there are fresh fruits, sweets, dried fruits, warm and simple, fried red fruits, candied begonia and so on. They are all added, and you can eat and have fun until you are "inspired".

At midnight, firecrackers rang through the night sky. "Silver flowers are rusty all over the sky, and the streets are thick with smoke." Every family gathered at the table of heaven and earth to burn incense and worship, and offered vegetarian dumplings to welcome the gods down to earth. After the ceremony, it was announced that the old year had passed and the new year was coming. This is a solemn moment of "five minutes and two years". The whole family says "Happy New Year" to each other, and the younger generation will kowtow to their elders in class. The elders will introduce the "lucky money" to underage children one by one.

At last, the whole family had a vegetarian meal in jiaozi, which was called "jiaozi" and "jiaozi Reunion". Only one of hundreds of jiaozi has coins, which means that people who eat this jiaozi will have a good year. Today, people in Northeast China still retain many ancient traditional customs of Spring Festival.