New Year Customs in Hunan

Hunan people believe that the Spring Festival is the most important festival among traditional festivals, commonly known as the Chinese New Year, which lasts the longest. That is, from the 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th of the first month of the following year.

Let's talk about the 24th of the previous year, the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "off-year" or "children celebrate the New Year". On this day, wealthy families will give their children gifts other than lucky money. No wonder "Xiyazi" is looking forward to the New Year. It is said that the kitchen god, who is "the eyes and ears of heaven and the fireworks of the world", will return to heaven to report his work and ask him to resign from the kitchen. In order to make him "speak well in heaven and bring good luck on earth" and "don't talk nonsense, play the jade emperor with good words", housewives light candles around the stove at night to "see him off" People should do a general cleaning on the day before the Lunar New Year, which is called "dust removal". This kind of cleaning is generally not done, but when the Spring Festival comes, the room should be thoroughly cleaned, which is called "dust removal" in Hunan dialect. "Dust" now not only refers to cleaning cobwebs, walls or roofs, but also becomes synonymous with cleanliness. In the past, firewood was burned in the countryside, and the roof was covered with dark dust. With the improvement of domestic water, firewood is rarely burned in rural areas and cities, but a general cleaning is still necessary.

The last day of the Lunar New Year is New Year's Eve, or New Year's Eve in China. Every household cuts ribbons and sticks Spring Festival couplets, and the whole family gets together to drink. If there are too many dishes left, it's called having a reunion dinner. The time of eating is uncertain, from 12 am to 8 pm. During this time, firecrackers will be heard everywhere, indicating which family has started to have a reunion dinner. Speaking of firecrackers, setting off firecrackers in the Spring Festival is an ancient folk custom with a history of 1000 years. In the old society, flogging has two meanings: one is to drive away ghosts to meet God and pray for a bumper harvest; The other is to increase the festive atmosphere. Now more is to increase the festive atmosphere. However, the ban on flogging in many cities has virtually weakened the atmosphere of the New Year, but flogging has never been banned in many places in Hunan. As we all know, Liuyang firecrackers are one of Hunan specialties, which are well-known all over the country and at home and abroad. At the founding ceremony of New China, firecrackers exploded in Liuyang. (Hehe, selling advertisements) For this reason, during the Spring Festival in Hunan, the whole city is full of noise and smog. There are also many stresses on setting off firecrackers. When firecrackers are set off at different times, they have different meanings. On New Year's Eve, firecrackers will be set off three times: once, when having a reunion dinner, it means telling people to have a reunion dinner; Thirdly, when the New Year bell rings, it means to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new; The other time is when the door opens in the morning, which means a brand-new and beautiful year. The size and time of setting off firecrackers are decided by each family, but one thing is that firecrackers cannot be interrupted. If there is an interruption, something may happen in the coming year, which everyone does not want to see. So when setting off firecrackers, people are very careful and try to avoid disturbing them.

Let's get down to business. Hunan people will definitely eat chicken, meat, fish and pork elbows on New Year's Eve, and it must be big fish and big meat. Stew the whole chicken, choose the rooster, and put the head of the chicken on it after stewing; Sprinkle red pepper on the steamed fish. Don't finish the fish for 30 nights until the first day of the month. This symbolizes that there is enough food every year, and pepper certainly represents prosperity. Pig elbow is called "Tuannian elbow". In some families, chicken feet will appear on the dining table. The name "grasping the feet of money" means that there will be money and vegetables in the coming year, which means that the whole family will be harmonious and prosperous in the new year. Generally speaking, the longer the dinner, the better. I don't remember the specific meaning. There are many taboos on this day. At that time, grandma always told us not to talk nonsense like "dead", "rotten" and "broken". In case of a slip of the tongue, adults will immediately explain: "If the child says something, nothing is possible.". If you accidentally break something, say "send it away"; If the glass drops, say "the wine is red." Avoid the unlucky things caused by this. The first day also has these taboos. After dinner, everyone will start to clean up again, ready to retire at night or go out for a walk. After dinner, a tree burns on every stove in the countryside, and men, women and children surround the stove. As for the city, it is naturally surrounded by electric ovens. Why do you have to be around this thing? Because it's very cold in Hunan during the Spring Festival! The family played chess, cards and watched CCTV Spring Festival Gala. The elders gave the children lucky money, and the family ate it and sat together happily waiting for the arrival of the New Year. When the New Year bell rings, firecrackers and fireworks are everywhere in the streets and lanes, which is deafening and filled with a strong atmosphere of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. The children went to their neighbors in droves with lanterns and said, "Please resign." . Every household happily went out to meet them, holding snacks such as snacks and candy in their hands and stuffing them into the children's pockets. Some children go home to unload their pockets and quickly join the resignation team, and they can get one or two delicious porcelain pots in one night. There is a saying: "Children look forward to the New Year." "Perhaps this is the reason.

It's grade one. Get up in the morning and set off firecrackers, then have some snacks, and prepare rice wine cooked the day before, also called sweet wine, which is what Sichuan people say, "NAO (this word can't be typed) is not good." Extremely delicious, sweet and a little fragrant. If you drink too much, you will really get drunk for people who can't drink well. On New Year's Day, people pay attention to and have many taboos. On New Year's Eve, someone posted red paper "Wealth" on the seam of the gate, and posted auspicious words such as "Open the door" and "Make money for me" on the eyes. When they open the door, they recite it aloud, which is called opening the door to see happiness. A lot of firewood was piled on the terrace and Chai Wan, which was harmonious and rich. On New Year's Day, when you need to sweep, sweep Chai Wan with a broom and don't go out. Some places don't go out to pay New Year's greetings on the first day and stay at home, but some places pay attention to "the first day, the second day and the third day." This proverb says that a son should take his wife and belt to see his parents on the first day of the lunar new year; On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the family went back to their parents' home to pay New Year greetings to their parents-in-law. On the third and fourth day, the neighbors paid New Year greetings to each other. As the saying goes, "A distant relative is better than a close neighbor". Hunan people pay special attention to etiquette and are often kind to others. These days, neighbors have left home and wished each other "a lively year". I forgot what our home was like. It seems that both of these situations have happened. It is particularly noteworthy that the fifth day of junior high school is not a new year, so people call it "worshipping the fifth middle school". On this day, the married daughter returns to her family, and the family's economy will not prosper this year. It won't be a happy thing if the married daughter goes back to her parents' home or visits other people's homes. Another taboo is to see if the person who wants to worship has got up when visiting the New Year. If people haven't got up, don't pay New Year's greetings before going to bed. Older people think that worshipping the dead is to worship at the bedside, which is regarded as a taboo.

On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, many businesses will choose this day to open their doors, and some people who work in other places will also choose this day to go out to work. The folk proverb says, "Go out on March 369", so the passenger flow of civil aviation, railways, highways and other transportation systems will increase greatly these days. On the eighth day of the seventh day, Hunan people pay attention to "seven don't go (reading Ke, pronunciation of hometown dialect) and eight don't return", which means that they don't go out on the seventh day and don't go home on the eighth day. On the eighth day of the eighth day, "eight" means "fat". The factory started to work, the enterprise started to operate, and all activities returned to normal. Later, acquaintances met and said to each other, "Please pay one year late!" 15, generally not mentioned in New Year's greetings.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, it was called Shangyuan Festival in ancient times, also called Lantern Festival. There is a saying: "the fire of thirty nights is the light of midnight snack." Lantern Festival lanterns are mostly made of various kinds of paper, some are hung on the top of the door, and some are held in their hands for shopping. On this day, every household will light candles at the corner of the stove and cook Yuanxiao dumplings. At night, it will be very lively. No matter adults or children, they will take lanterns to the streets to catch up with cultural activities such as temple fairs, singing dramas, lion and dragon dances, riding bamboo horses and so on, and solve riddles on lanterns, which will usually be noisy all night, hence the name Lantern Festival. Among them, dragon dancing lanterns are the most common, and there are the most dragon dancing teams in rural areas. People think that playing with dragons can keep them lucky, so wherever the "dragon" goes, there are drums and music, and there are firecrackers, and everyone will give red envelopes. Moreover, married and childless women often let the "dragon" revolve around their own bodies, or let the "dragon" condense into a circle on the bed, ride a child, and send the child by a unicorn. In addition to celebrating the New Year, watching dragon lanterns and setting off firecrackers, Hunan people also sing ancient paintings. As for eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, it is the same all over the country, so I won't say much.

This is probably some customs of Hunan people for the New Year.