It is said that the Spring Festival is the collective memory of China people. What are the places in your hometown full of Spring Festival memories?

Some Chinese New Year customs in Wenzhou, my hometown, may no longer be popular or only popular in some areas with the progress of the times, but as a way of life, we can take the opportunity to learn about the folk culture in traditional festivals and tell them to our children during the holidays. Thank you for your collection.

Wuma Street, Zen Street, is filled with the breath of Chinese New Year.

Evening on the 29th or 30th of New Year's Eve.

At the end of December of the lunar calendar, Wenzhou is called "Thirty", which is the last day of the year. However, because1February in the lunar calendar is either 29 days or 30 days, and New Year's Eve is not fixed, it usually floats in these two days, so people generally call it "the evening of the 29th or 30th".

The taste of middle age is very strong in a different year.

After "returning to winter", the whole family will have a feast, or invite relatives and friends to eat and drink as much as they like, which is called "Fenjiu".

Because New Year's Eve is the dividing line between the new year and the old year, it means that the old year and the new year are divided from this night. Therefore, no matter rich or poor, every family should try to make this meal as rich as possible.

Zhu's corner bowl is filled with special food.

Wenzhou people are very particular about "vintage wine", which is also the most auspicious. Generally, ten kinds of cold dishes should be served in ten scarlet bowls on the table, which is called "eating all". In addition to chicken and meat, there should be peanuts (called fruit), oranges (called good luck), carp (called jumping the dragon gate), tofu (called innocence at home) and so on. And the top of each bowl should be covered with a carrot disc to show appreciation. In addition, "taro" and "fish" are generally indispensable in the big plate served in the middle. These two dishes indicate that the family will make ends meet and gradually become rich. The first dish on the table must be rice cake, which means "high every year".

When the elders eat Fenjiu, they will also take the opportunity to sum up the success or failure of the whole family for a year and strive for new progress in the new year. This bamboo branch poem records the whole family's drinking at the age of seven:

Wife and children are reunited in a room,

Fish, melon and eggplant mixed fruit bowl.

Often teach confessions,

Family happiness at home.

Hold the child down for copper.

On New Year's Eve, elders string copper coins with red paper and give them to the next generation, or put them under children's pillows, which is called "lucky money". "Wenzhou Ci" Day: "The child is as happy as a fairy in the sky. Buy firecrackers under the eaves and celebrate the New Year with a smile.

New Year's Eve is full of lights and candles.

On New Year's Eve, the lighted red candle should be placed in front of and behind the house, in every room, such as a water tank and a barn. This is called "Chinese New Year Lantern", which makes the home look bright and warm and full of Chinese New Year ceremony. A cultured family uses a small tin lampstand, and most people cut carrots and insert red candles. This custom is still circulating today.

This little red candle can be used to make lanterns.

Stay up all night waiting for the Spring Festival.

When people drink too much, they seek their own entertainment, such as go, chess, jigsaw puzzles, solving the nine-linked puzzle, rolling dice, playing five levels and other activities. People often stay up all night, commonly known as "keeping watch" or "watching the night before".

Meng Haoran, a poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, came to Wenzhou in the twelfth month of Kaiyuan (73 1). On New Year's Eve that year, he had a New Year's Eve dinner with his fellow countryman friend Zhang Zirong, and also wrote "Yuecheng Zhangshaofu, New Year's Eve", in which "continue to draw candles, and then have a long banquet after the old age. The phrase "old plum blossoms sing, new cypress wine spreads" can be seen in Wenzhou thousands of years ago, and has formed some old customs that are still adhered to.

Today's New Year's Eve, the whole family can watch TV Spring Festival Gala, or grab red envelopes on WeChat to welcome the arrival of the first day of the first month.

On the first day of the first month, I was busy visiting relatives and friends.

The Spring Festival is a whole festival. From New Year's Eve to the first day to the tenth day to the Lantern Festival, there are basically theme activities. There is a folk saying in Wenzhou that "worshipping the temple gate on the first day and the father-in-law on the second day", which shows that visiting relatives in the New Year is the main activity in the first month. The first day of the first month is one of the most important days. Old Wenzhou has formed a set of rules for eating, talking and doing things.

Eating and drinking is sweet and colorful.

Breakfast on the first day of the first month is the most important, and most housewives dare not neglect it.

In Wenzhou, many families steam muffins (a kind of cake cooked with glutinous rice flour). When eating, cut the sponge cake into thin slices, and then cut the fat in the sauce meat into thin slices, sandwiched between two sponge cakes, sweet and salty; Some people eat jiaozi, or cook vermicelli or longevity noodles with boiled eggs. These foods all contain the symbolic meaning of "growing taller every year" and "reunion". Some people will cook the special "Chinese New Year's dinner" left over on New Year's Eve and eat mashed cakes and muffins.

The jubilant "red" is the color of the New Year.

In Wenzhou counties (urban areas), although the focus of breakfast on the first day of the first month is different, the meaning of "auspicious vegetable head" is almost the same.

For example, in Ruian and Pingyang, some people eat steamed rice cakes dipped in sugar, and some people have to drink a bowl of brown sugar soup first, then eat longevity noodles and eggs; In Taishun, housewives also make sugar tea, steamed sugar cakes and served the head of vegetables (salted radish) to their families first. "Sweet mouth, good color": relatives reward, auspicious words give birth to fragrance.

Dongtou also has the custom of "worshipping tea" in the first month, that is, cooking sweet tea with red dates, longan and rice cakes is called "jujube tea", which means auspiciousness; After drinking tea, we should burn "longevity noodles" for good luck and wish the whole family a long life.

In Yueqing, most people also eat auspicious food, such as red dates and glutinous rice balls for breakfast. Only in Yandang area, on the first day of the first month, they eat zongzi: on New Year's Eve, every family cooks a pot of rice zongzi, and the whole family will eat zongzi early on the first day of the New Year. It is said that eating zongzi is because of the homonym of "Zongzi" and "Zongzong", which means remembering ancestors; Second, because Zongzi has the same sound as the word "Zhong", it got the meaning of fame.

In urban areas, during the Spring Festival, guests also have the custom of offering "Yuanbao tea", that is, putting two fresh olives in the tea, which not only smells fragrant, but also floats in the yellow-green tea soup, which looks like Yuanbao, commonly known as "Yuanbao tea", and contains the lucky and rich color head of the New Year.

Always say "good" when sending ingots in the first month.

On the first day of the first month, someone will take a "gold ingot" made of brown sugar rice cakes, wrap red ropes and evergreen branches and leaves, and "send gold ingots" from door to door. Generally speaking, "sending a gold ingot" is composed of two people, one is auspicious and the other should be "good". After a few auspicious words, the host often presents rice cakes or change. Wenzhou people also have a popular saying for this: "On the first day of the first month, send ingots and say yes." In addition, various counties (urban areas) in our city also have various forms of sending auspicious words, such as "Buy Skills", "Lotus" and "Tao Qing".

It's not too late to celebrate the New Year.

Wenzhou people say "Happy New Year", some call it "Happy New Year", and Cangnan calls it "exploring the first month". Wencheng is called "the year of appearance". In the past, if children under one year old were taken to "see" their grandparents, they had to choose the date of March, 1969 for good luck.

According to the old custom, Wenzhou people don't visit relatives on the first day of the first month. Zhang Fu, the magistrate of Ruian County, also recorded in his diary that on the first day of the New Year's Day, he generally did not go to relatives except to burn incense. In the second day of junior high school, he visited more than a dozen in one breath.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, families will visit each other to celebrate their New Year's Eve. If they meet on the road, they will congratulate each other for a long time (today, they nod and shake hands to say hello), and some people will cross their chests and say "Happy New Year". This way is not unique to Wenzhou. According to "Diary of Chennai", during the Chinese New Year (1942), Chennai rushed back to Wenzhou from other places and stayed out due to traffic problems. He spent New Year's Eve in a small hotel in Ganzhou. On the first day of the first month, he wandered the streets of a foreign land. When he saw pedestrians wearing brand-new clothes, he bowed and shouted "congratulations, congratulations" when he met acquaintances. he had a broad grin on his face.

Mr. Wang always pays New Year's greetings to the scene.

There are rules for "New Year greetings". Generally, the younger generation goes out to their elders' homes to pay New Year greetings, and then the peers pay New Year greetings to each other. The first time a newlywed goes to Yue's home, it's called "Happy New Year", and the younger generation goes to the funeral home to call it "Happy New Year". The time for New Year greetings is generally from the second day to the tenth day or extended to fifteen. However, Wenzhou people also have a saying that it is not too late to celebrate the New Year with a heart.

When visiting relatives, you usually bring gifts on the first day of the first month. Before the 1950s, the gifts were relatively simple, mostly longan, litchi, red dates, yuan dates, brown sugar, dried persimmons and so on. They are wrapped in special papyrus paper and red paper (some of them are printed with lace words to express New Year greetings), so they are called "paper Bao Peng", also known as "Gaobao" and "red envelopes".

During the Spring Festival, most relatives and friends who come to visit the New Year will stay for drinking and tasting wine, commonly known as "Nianjiu", or Spring Banquet. During the Spring Festival, Xia Nai's diary also recorded many times that he went to a relative's house for a spring banquet.

According to the old custom, if relatives don't even go to pay New Year's greetings, it means "breaking off relatives" (meaning no more contacts), so some old relatives (relatives of the previous generation) have to take turns to pay New Year's greetings. Although there is no contact in the four seasons and eight festivals, they must pay New Year's greetings during the Spring Festival.

"Ten Days Festival" in the Spring Festival

On the first day, the rooster is a bird with five virtues.

On the second day, dogs raise everything.

Memorial archway of fat pig in grade three

The fourth day, Yang Ri San Yang Kaitai.

The fifth day, Niurigen, Niu Geng Spring.

On the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, the horse day breaks five pounds.

On the seventh day, people light up and shine on people.

On the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, the warehouse was opened and lights were lit in ancient times.

On the ninth day, I will make a wish to heaven every day.

On the tenth day, the earth, the sun and the places where dimensions depend.

In the Song Dynasty, Taiping Yulan recorded that Nu Wa created other creatures before shoveling the earth to create human beings. She created chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows and horses on the first day of the first month. On the seventh day, Nu Wa made some small clay figurines in her own image with loess and water. Therefore, the first day to the sixth day is the day of six animals. In fact, Nu Wa's luck is just a beautiful legend, and the spread of "Six Livestock Day" is also an expression of the common people's hope that "Six Livestock Flourish and Family Business Flourish".

People regard chickens as mascots, so the first day of the New Year is designated as "Chicken Day". Chickens are called "birds with five virtues", and The Biography of Hanshu Poetry says: A red crown on the head is virtue; There is a distance behind the foot to play, which is martial arts; It is brave to dare to fight in front of the enemy; It is kind to have food that summons the same kind; Dawn is faith.

As for the dog days, according to the theory of the Book of Rites, dogs are "beasts on the sun" and can keep everything; "Fat Pig Arch" is an auspicious language about grade three, symbolizing good luck in the coming year. On the fourth day of the first month, people can't kill sheep. If the weather is good, it means that sheep will be raised well this year and sheep farmers will have a good harvest. Mari was called "fattening" in ancient times. On the sixth day of the sixth day, there is a custom of going to the fields to prepare for spring ploughing and "being poor" to send people out. People usually start working or doing business on this day.

A fat pig at the door means good luck and happiness.

However, some folklore experts say that in Wenzhou, the festival of cattle and sheep is on the sixth day. In rural areas of Wenzhou, such as Ruian and Wencheng, there is a custom of arranging lights. That is, on this day, in addition to feeding the livestock well, candles are lit and incense is inserted in the cattle and sheep stalls at night to pray for the prosperity of the six livestock.

The seventh day of the first month is "People's Day", and there are some lights in Wenzhou. For example, in Wencheng and other places, every room will be lit that night to pray for prosperity. In the old society of Yongjia, people went to temples to light candles and burn incense with incense baskets in their hands, praying for God and Buddha to protect the population.

On the eighth day of the first month, it was called "Valley Day" in ancient times, which was a bit like the custom of lighting a barn. In the past, in the mountainous area of Wenzhou, people opened the warehouse to light lights and burned incense in front of the warehouse that night, wishing the crops a bumper harvest.

In ancient times, the ninth day of the first month was called "the sun". In Dongtou, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to gods, usually from late at night to early morning on the ninth day of the first month. Usually, those who make a wish to heaven will also make a wish on this day, commonly known as "thank you for your wish"

One day, there will be land. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, people think it is the birthday of the earth. On this day, the traditional folk custom in China is to light lamps, burn incense and worship paper in the corners of houses and water tanks, and prohibit moving stones and grinding, grinding, mortar and other stone tools, believing that this will harm crops.

Some people say that "Six Livestock Day" is not a festival, but it also expresses the good wishes of the old farmers. Therefore, in the first few days of the first month, the custom of sticking red notes and lighting incense on pigsty, sheepfold and cowshed is still popular.

Taboos related to the old Spring Festival

"It's unlucky to have a rest on the first day of New Year's Day, and the kitchen doesn't need a kitchen knife, and the dishes are all ready on New Year's Eve, and there's no need to sweep the floor with a broom"-Diary of Chennai1February 5, 943.

Fu is very popular in the Spring Festival.

During the Chinese New Year in Wenzhou, there is also a saying among the people that "eat at the age of 30 and have fun on the first day of the first month". In other words, on New Year's Eve, restaurants strive to be rich, and generally do not do housework on the first day of the first month. This is also one of the taboos of the old New Year or the first day of the first month.

During the Chinese New Year, there are also taboos such as no quarrel, no knife and axe, no killing, no debt collection (even asking parents for change). It is said that quarreling will fade; The knife and axe is a murder weapon, which is unlucky to move; And you can't say unlucky things, beat and scold or anything.

In Rui 'an and Yongjia areas, children who are beaten and scolded by their parents in the New Year are called "opening the year", and a year will not be smooth. In Pingyang, there used to be taboos such as not picking feces, emptying toilets and knocking on construction sites for five days, but now these customs have basically disappeared. In the past, there was a custom of "the first month is slow" in rural areas, but now the atmosphere has changed and this traditional custom is about to be broken. In some areas, people go out to work collectively on the second day of the first month (some even send their families out); Some shops also break the convention and open their doors on the second and third days of junior high school.