Text/Wang Zhong's
(The author Wang Zhong's, special commentator of Litchi News, well-known commentator; this article is an exclusive draft of Litchi News Client and Litchi Network, please indicate the source when reprinting.) ）
With the approaching of the Spring Festival, topics such as "how to look at the taste of the New Year is getting weaker" and "how to have a New Year's taste" have rushed to the hot search list. So, what exactly is the "taste of the year"? How did the "taste of the year" fade?
When I was a child, the taste of the new year was always associated with eating. New Year means being able to eat "delicious food" that you don't usually have the opportunity to eat.
I remember that before the New Year, the city would hold an annual annual exhibition of goods. Taking a special car to the New Year goods fair to purchase New Year goods and stuffing the refrigerator is a tradition of the family. Some foods that seemed "novel" at the time could only be bought at the New Year fair. For example, the fried shrimp slices that expand in the oil pan are the New Year flavor that impressed me. On the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, there is a traditional custom of offering stoves in my hometown. A bag full of sacrificial stove fruits is the "welfare" left to the children after the sacrificial stove. Chinese New Year's Eve meal is the climax of the New Year in every household. I have left a few memories of eating, because there are so many delicious dishes, so much so that indigestion, vomiting up and down diarrhea...
The memory of "eating" makes the new year particularly strong. Now, many people say that the taste of the year is lighter, in fact, because the usual taste is more "strong". With the improvement of living standards, people can eat as much as they want, and they have a lot less expectation of food.
In addition, the pursuit of ritual in our generation of young people is often not as strong as that of their parents. Or rather, in our upbringing, there is no "muscle memory" enough to produce a sense of ritual, and we have bid farewell to the era of anxious expectations for "what to eat".
With the change of Chinese family structure, the large family has become a small family, and the lively reunion atmosphere of the New Year is difficult to achieve. This year, due to the epidemic, many people responded to the call for the Local New Year. In fact, even if there is no epidemic, with the death of the ancestors, the spiritual bond that can connect the extended family gradually disappears. Over the years, families with young people as the core have also become accustomed to their own New Year, such as choosing to travel abroad.
Unlike some civilizations, which are based on religion and calendar formation, the Chinese year is closely related to the rhythm of agricultural society. The Spring Festival is in the period of agricultural leisure, and in such a festival, people have time to take stock of the harvest of the year and prepare for the next year's cultivation. Echoing the rhythm of nature and enjoying the joy of harvest is the core value of the Chinese New Year.
As the traces of agricultural society fade, the connotation of the year naturally changes. For office workers, the main significance of the New Year may be a 7-day long holiday. Unlike other holidays, the vast majority of businesses also enter a period of low-speed operation around the New Year, and do not disturb employees with extra work. Employees end a year of intense work and can finally enjoy a break.
In a sense, it is a sign of the development of the times and the progress of living standards. We don't have to wait for the special annual node to eat delicious food and put on newly purchased clothes. Similarly, there are more and more convenient means to achieve emotional connection with relatives and friends, and the substantive meaning of "New Year's Greeting" can also be replaced by daily sincere greetings.
However, as a traditional culture, "Nian" still has irreplaceable value. The times are changing, people's lives are changing, and the meaning contained in the New Year has not changed. Reunion, inheritance and vision for the future are still the unique genes and fascinating attributes of Chinese civilization. No matter how the form of the New Year changes, this spiritual pursuit will never change.
Picking up the precious taste of the Year requires sincere exchanges and communication. After a year, temporarily relieved from the busy and tired work, it is better to take off the mask and show your truest side. The New Year should be lively, should be reunited, and should enjoy the joy and freedom of communication. This communication can be between relatives or friends. New Year's Day, for all the people you care about, reveal the softest part of your heart, and eliminate misunderstandings and contradictions. Life changes, but the beautiful human touch never changes.