What do people do during Chinese New Year? The customs of Chinese New Year
There are many folk customs during the Spring Festival, among which the most popular and the most popular are The common ones are cleaning, sticking Spring Festival couplets, sticking blessing characters, keeping the year old, setting off firecrackers, and paying New Year’s greetings.These are also things people do every year, and have even been passed down for thousands of years.
The origin of the Spring Festival
Although there was a custom of the Chinese New Year in ancient my country, it was not called the Spring Festival at that time.Because the Spring Festival referred to at that time refers to the "Li Chun" in the twenty-four solar terms.The Southern and Northern Dynasties generally refer to the Spring Festival as the whole spring.It is said that the official name of the Lunar New Year as the Spring Festival was after the Revolution of 1911.Since the Gregorian calendar was to be used at that time, in order to distinguish the two festivals of agriculture and yang, in July 1913 (the second year of the Republic of China), Yuan Shikai approved the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival, and agreed that the Spring Festival would be a regular holiday, which began to be implemented in 1914.Since then, the beginning of the Lunar New Year has been changed from the previous "New Year" to "Spring Festival".
Folk customs of the Spring Festival
1.Dust sweeping
“On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house.” In the times of Yao and Shun, there was the custom of sweeping away the dust during the Spring Festival.According to the folk saying:because "dust" and "chen" are homophonic, the New Year’s sweeping dust has the meaning of "removing Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep out all the poor luck and bad luck.This custom entrusts people’s desire to break the old and establish the new and the prayer to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.When the Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, clean all kinds of utensils, dismantle and wash bedding and curtains, sweep Liulu courtyard, brush dust and cobwebs, and dredging open canals and culverts.Everywhere is filled with a happy atmosphere of hygienic, clean and welcoming the new year.
2.Paste Spring Couplets
Spring couplets are also called door pairs, spring stickers, couplets, pairs, and peach symbols.Good wishes is a unique literary form in our country.Every Spring Festival, whether in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a big red Spring Festival couplet and stick it on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the festival.This custom originated in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty.In the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic qualities of the Spring Festival couplets have been greatly improved.
3.Paste the window grilles and upside down the word "Fu"
People also like to paste various paper-cuts on the windows - window grilles.The window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality.Paper-cut is a very popular folk art in my country, and it has been loved by people for thousands of years.Because it is mostly pasted on windows, it is also called "windows".With its unique generalization and exaggeration, the window grilles express the auspicious mascots and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate the festivals prosperously.
4.Keeping the New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is one of the most important New Year’s activities, and the custom of keeping the New Year’s Eve has a long history.The earliest records were found in the "Fengtu Zhi" of the Zhou Dynasty in the Western Jin Dynasty:on New Year’s Eve, each phase and gift is called "Feishui"; the invitation to drink and eat is called "Bie Sui"; "Seize the year"; everyone stays up all night, waiting for the dawn, called "Shou Sui".
5.Firecrackers
There is a saying in Chinese folk that "firecrackers open the door".That is to say, when the new year comes, the first thing every household does when opening the door is to set off firecrackers, and welcome the new with the sound of firecrackers.Firecrackers are a Chinese specialty, also known as "explosive battles", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers".Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than 2,000 years.Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere.It is an entertainment activity in festivals, which can bring joy and auspiciousness to people.
6.New Year’s greetings
On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and say New Year’s greetings to each other, Best wishes for the coming year.There are various ways to pay New Year’s greetings.Some are with the patriarch leading several people from house to house to pay New Year’s greetings; some are colleagues invited several people to pay New Year’s greetings; some people gather to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".Since it was time-consuming and laborious to visit the door to pay New Year’s greetings, some upper-level figures and scholar-officials used various stickers to congratulate each other, and the later "New Year’s card" was developed.
微信扫码关注
更新实时通知