Waxing Moon is probably the most special month of the year,
When the time sequence arrives at the waxing moon, when we remember the time, we will subconsciously remember the lunar calendar and no longer remember the solar calendar. Waxing moon is to go according to the lunar calendar, the lunar calendar means hope, for example, when reading a waxing moon, it means that it is almost winter vacation, and the lunar calendar is also the default of the plan, such as when to do what to do, it is clear in the chest.
Among them, the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon is a very important node, and this day is a small year. The Little Year is the prelude to the Spring Festival and a wonderful prelude. At the beginning of this day, the streets and alleys had a strong smell of the New Year, and the faces of the people were obviously full of joy. At the beginning of this day, people who are still wandering outside and have not yet returned home will step up their journey, cross thousands of mountains and rivers, and rush to their homes, just like the sunset is setting at night, making a final sprint to the western horizon.
01
Today is the twenty-third lunar month, which is a small year in the north, and tomorrow it is a small year in the south. Why aren't the years of the North and the South on the same day? According to folklore experts, in ancient times, there was a tradition of "officials, three people, four boats, and five boats" in the small year, that is, the small year of the official family was the twenty-third month of the WaxIng Moon, the people's family was the twenty-fourth month of the Waxing Moon, and the water people's home was the twenty-fifth of the Waxing Moon. Before the Southern Song Dynasty, the north was a political center, so it was heavily influenced by the official customs, and the small year was the twenty-third day of the WaxIng Moon, on the contrary, the South was far from the political center, and the small year was the twenty-fourth of the Waxing Moon. Although the specific time is different, many customs are roughly the same. Xiaonian is known as Xie Stove, Sacrifice Stove Festival, Stove King Festival, Sacrifice Stove, as a traditional festival of the Han people on the mainland, there are many customs in the Small Year.
Sacrifice to the god of Vesta to eat for the sky, vesta god lord lived above the stove platform for a year, the buddha shrine statue on both sides of the couplet, the upper link wrote "the heavens say good things", the lower link wrote "netherworld to ensure peace" or "return to the palace to descend auspicious", the banner is "the head of the family", it can be seen that Chinese has always regarded the stove king as the family god.
In the small year, the stove master wanted to go to heaven to "report on his duties", and it was inevitable to report to the Jade Emperor that the family's deeds and deeds of the year, good and evil, and people attached great importance to the important annual activity of sacrificing the stove. In the past, even a poor family, for the sake of the family's good fortune in the new year, had to dedicate themselves to the most abundant sacrifices on this day.
Eat stove sugar "twenty-three, sugar melon sticky", sugar melon also has a name: stove sugar. The "sugar" in the north includes sugar melon, Kanto sugar, and shortening. The sugar melon is round and rolling, the heart is empty, and there is a stripe on the shell, which is sour and sweet to eat. Kanto sugar is made from malt and millet, long stick-shaped, hard and sour in the mouth.
Stove sugar sticky teeth sweet, when sending the stove king, the family will be stove sugar on the stove jun tablet, while wiping while chanting "say more good words" and the like. There is also a saying that the mouth of the stove prince is glued with stove sugar, and when he reaches the heavenly court, he cannot speak, and he cannot report. Today, you may wish to take a bite of the sugar melon and relive the long-lost sticky, sweet, crispy and crispy flavor.
The custom of cutting and pasting window flowers to welcome spring began to rise after the Song and Yuan dynasties. Window cutting is a craft, a pair of scissors, a stack of window paper, a pair of dexterous hands, in the rapid and rapid changes of the eyes, as soon as it is unfolded, it is a beautiful picture of a beautiful picture.
In the old days, people's windows were mostly simple lintel windows, lattice windows and other styles, and the panes were pasted with white paper, transparent lighting, and blocked the wind and cold. On the occasion of the New Year's Festival, the window flowers with various patterns are cut into colored paper and posted in the center or four corners of the window, which is eye-catching and beautiful, which not only decorates the environment, but also creates a happy and peaceful atmosphere, pinning on the New Year's meaning of retiring the old and welcoming the new and receiving the blessings of Naxiang. Nowadays, glass has long replaced window paper, but the window ties on the new year are also beautiful and festive.
Writing Spring League When I was a child, the Spring League, which was not printed, was handwritten by people who were familiar with brush writing, and some communities today also hold spring league writing activities. Red paper, pen and ink, the table is fully prepared, the writer of the Spring Festival is full of thick ink, round pen sharpening, pen stroke, Han ink fragrance, next to the natural there are many breathless onlookers, in addition to appreciating the skills of calligraphy masters, will also enthusiastically help to pull paper, dry spring union, the scene atmosphere is red and warm, full of new year flavor.
The Spring Festival, which symbolizes the festive festival, and the auspicious blessing characters, are not only well written, but also pasted well, because when visiting relatives and friends next, the Spring Festival League is the façade of the family.
Sweeping dust According to the Song Dynasty Wu Zimu's "Record of Dream Liang", at the end of December, the Shishu family, no matter how big or small, sprinkled sweeping doors, removing dust and purifying the garden, in order to pray for the safety of the new year. "In the small New Year's Season, every household will get up early, sweep the room and wipe the windows, remove dust and dirt, wash clothes, brush pots and pans, and carry out a clean and thorough sanitation cleaning. The north is called "sweeping the year" and "sweeping the house", and the south is called "dusting". "Dust" and "Chen" are harmonious, and the small year sweeps dust in order to remove the old and welcome the new, and to remove the ominous. Sweep out all the old things out of the door, remove the old dirt in the courtyard and room, and also remove the troubles and unhappiness in the old years, and hope that everything will go well in the coming year. The home is refreshed, the windows are clear, and the mood will be bright, to rejoice and celebrate the New Year.
Bathing and haircuts In the old days, people's living conditions were inconvenient, but at the end of the year, no matter how busy they were, they had to take a bath, and adults and children had to bathe to remove filth, wash clean, refreshing, and greet the new year with a new look. Of course, in addition to bathing, there is also a saying that "there is no money, shave your head for the New Year", so the activities of bathing and haircuts are mostly concentrated around the beginning and after the small year. An allegory from the beginning, it contains people's simplest wishes.
Folk believe that after twenty-three, when the gods go to heaven, there is no taboo, there is no need to choose a date for anything, and there is no need to deliberately choose a good and auspicious day for marrying relatives, of course, they will grasp the big things, which is called "chaotic marriage." So the folk song has a know: The year Yan rural marriage busy Yichun post teased the spring light lamp before the sisters whispered to keep the year this year is the cave house
02
Many small new year customs have been passed down through the years. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the sacrificial stove was more solemn, and the literati sacrificed the stove and left many recorded poems.
I like the Small Year written by the Literati of the Ming Dynasty in the Kelu, with a little bit of poignant poetry:
The years refuse to live, look at the small years. ——Lin Guang's "Four Songs of the Guest's Middle School • One" The horse's hooves traverse the snowflake days, and the Kelu is thrilling and small. ——Huang Gongfu "Wugang Dao Zhongnian" Guest side selling wine every remnant, welcoming spring to small year in the rain. —— Li Zhishi, "The Second Year of the Boat"
I like the excitement of the Song people's feast on the stove:
Having been fortunate enough to hang the car to show off to his descendants, he is about to sacrifice the stove and ask for neighbors. When the customs are passed down for a long time, the guests and hosts laugh and laugh. ——Lu You's "Sacrifice Stove and Neighbor Qu Sanfu" The north ship is less than a meter like a pearl, drunk and depressed for half a month. Tomorrow the owner knows the stove, and only the chicken bucket wine is fixed. ——Su Shi, "Three Songs of Vertical Pen , One of them"
03
The deepest impression of the young year is the memory related to the grandmother, the old man more follow the tradition, more emphasis on the taste of the year, since the young age, it reminds the younger generations, in turn, what to start busy with, many of the lack will also be reminded and pointed. For example, the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon will remind you to peel off the New Year painting in front of the stove and burn it, and when Chinese New Year's Eve change the New Year painting, you will advise you not to stick it too high.
When I was a child, I understood the persistence of the old man, but I was alert, afraid that if I did something wrong, the gods would protect us a few points less. Now when I returned, only the busy figure of my parents pushed open the door, and I could no longer see my white-haired grandmother who was guarding the house, and I could no longer see the waddling back of the warm hut. With the passage of time, our reverence for vesta seems to have faded, but the nostalgia for the ancestors has not diminished by half a point.
04
Approaching the New Year, it seems that in the era of material scarcity, whether children or adults, the enthusiasm and expectations for the New Year are higher, the happiness index is unprecedented, and the children can be happy for several days to eat more delicious meat, for a new dress, for a little money.
With the abundance of material life, the acceleration of the pace of life, the taste of the year has become more and more weak, only because when we grow up, we no longer have the simple expectations of childhood, all people are in the storms of the times, tired of running for their lives, striving to move forward.
05
Now, because of the epidemic, the New Year has added more trouble, and everything has become extremely unfree. But the meaning of "going to the new year" in our life course has not changed, and even so, why not adjust our mentality, according to the rhythm, and prepare for the New Year?
The folk "Wax Moon Song" has clouds: twenty-three, sugar melon sticky (sacrificial stove official); twenty-four, sweeping the house; twenty-five, grinding tofu; twenty-six, to cut meat (stewed stewed meat); twenty-seven, slaughtering roosters (killing stove chickens); twenty-eight, putting the noodles hair; twenty-nine, steaming steamed steamed buns; staying up all night at thirty nights, twisting and turning at the beginning of the New Year!
Today's little year, the prologue of the year, the beginning of the blessing. May you have a small family reunion!
-Author-
The stream and the moon bend, willing to use heavy paper, light as a pen, writing flowing years.