Western Fujian Hakka New Year customs

Western Fujian Hakka New Year customs

□ SongKe

"Headed by a hundred festivals", this is a festival that removes the old cloth and the new cloth, and places unlimited hopes on the new year, so the folk new year is also particularly solemn and warm. "The sound of firecrackers in the old age, the spring breeze sends warmth into the Tu Su. Thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old charms. "A poem by Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Yuan Ri", describes the happy New Year's life in traditional society. Set off firecrackers, change peach charms, and renew everything in Vientiane year after year.

New Year Reunion (Photo by Lin Xiangren)

The New Year is the happiest time in the villages of western Fujian, but also the time when the spread of family affection is the most intense, or the most important node of inheriting culture, and the ancient Spring Festival folk customs bloom in the society of the villages in western Fujian.

1． Winter solstice wine

Every year on the winter solstice, the countryside begins to brew wine and stew wine in preparation for the New Year. According to folklore, the well water on the winter solstice day is particularly beautiful and cold, and the wine brewed is better collected and the shelf life is longer, so it is called "dongyang wine". The winter solstice is the most important festival of the year, and after the winter solstice, the yang rises and everything begins to slowly recover. Drinking alcohol and brewing on the winter solstice have also become one of the most important folk activities.

The main methods of household winemaking: prepare a number of glutinous rice, soak for 5 hours, so that the glutinous rice is soft; drain the water, pour the soaked glutinous rice into the rice bowl; cover the rice bowl, put it in the big wok, put water at the bottom of the big wok; make a fire at the bottom of the wok, steam for 2-3 hours, until the rice becomes a soft cooked rice grain; loosen the steamed rice grains and pour them into a very clean large water tank; add a small amount of clean water to the water tank, and dig a thumb-sized "small well" in the center of the rice; add an appropriate amount of wine cake (yeast) to make it ferment; cover the wine tank tightly. You can use a quilt, a coat, etc. to keep warm tightly, and wait for 6-8 days in winter to make winter wine. At this time, the wine brewed is raw wine, called wine lady, in order to facilitate preservation, it is necessary to boil the wine, use a funnel-shaped bamboo filter to filter out the wine, and then inject the wine into the sealed wine altar, and then put the jar into the smouldering chaff and sawdust to heat it for 24 hours, and the raw wine boils and slowly cools down, which is "stewed wine".

"Stewed wine" is not only drunk in the New Year, but also drunk until the following year's Dragon Boat Festival, and the villages at higher altitudes can be preserved for a longer time, or even for several years.

2． Send stove jun

On the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, the people sent the stove king. In some places, the twenty-fourth day of the waxing moon sends the stove king, also known as "sending the stove king", "sending the stove god" and "sending the stove god gong". Legend has it that the Jade Emperor sent him to the people to understand the gods of good and evil in the world, lived in the human world for many years, and went to heaven to repay on the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, as the basis for the Jade Emperor to reward good and punish evil. "Twenty-three, burn the stove sparsely, the stove king bodhisattva goes to heaven, the whole year a family affair, the jade emperor has no privacy." On that day, people wash the stove, a few cases, pots and pans, and then paste a new statue of the god of the stove, or write the honorific name of the god of the stove on red paper, "Nine Heavens East Kitchen Si Ming Stove Jun" and "Si Ming Stove King's God Seat" pasted on the stove wall, the gods or honorific names on both sides of the sticker with the words "Heaven says good things, the Nether realm keeps peace" and "The heavens say good things, the nether realm descends auspicious" Couplets, and then place vegetarian products such as orange cakes, citrus oranges, sugar cane, winter melon sugar, persimmon cakes, etc., and then burn incense, light candles, burn paper money, set off firecrackers, and pray for the stove god to say good things in front of the Jade Emperor. Bless the whole family with "big New Year" and full of food. After dinner on the Lantern Festival, the same method is to bring the stove back, commonly known as "receiving the stove".

3． Enter the year

The twenty-fifth day of the waxing moon is "entering the year boundary", also known as "entering the annual leave" and "entering the new year frame", every household is cleaned, and the long bamboo broom is cleaned all over the house, called "bomb coal" (referring to the dust after the fire is smoked), also known as "dust removal", "dust" through "Chen", which means to remove the old cloth and the new, to welcome the New Year. "Enter the house, love to sweep the house, wipe the shrine back to the blessings." Tables and stools, beds, mosquito nets, and bedding in the home should be washed. On that day, some villages have to hang the same ancestral statue for several generations (three or five generations) until the twentieth day of the first month. In addition to hanging portraits, it is also necessary to paste spring leagues, paste "happy posters", paste New Year paintings, and paint auspicious pictures. According to legend, from this day to the fifth day of the first lunar month ("annual leave"), the gods do not care, and the people can do red happy things without the interference of the gods.

4． Go to the New Year's Market

Folk call the last ruins of the Waxing Moon "Nian Ruins", in order to complete the New Year goods, they must go to the New Year's Market, buy clothes, dishes, firecrackers, incense candles, paper money, candy, vermicelli, water chestnuts, sugar cane, tea, tobacco, wine, sauce vinegar and meat, etc., and pick them home with a full load.

In addition, it is also necessary to kill the New Year pigs, and every household makes tofu, fried dumplings, fried tofu, stuffed tofu, beaten meat balls, etc., rejoicing and celebrating the New Year.

5． Too big a year

Worship the ancestors and worship the gods. The New Year is also known as the Chinese New Year's Eve. Early in the morning, every household kills chickens and ducks (when cutting roosters, it is also necessary to "hit flower paper", that is, to drop chicken blood on a large stack of soil paper for sacrifice to ancestors and sacrifice to the king), and to blanch the original chickens and ducks that were killed (wood + sheng, Hakka dialect, chanting can) to pick up the gods of heaven and earth, the ancestors (ancestral hall sacrifices or family sacrifices), the king of the land (the god of the land), the king of the land (uncle of the bridge, the uncle of Tian Que, the bodhisattva of the heavenly lantern "Tim Ding", etc.), thank the ancestors for their blessings, the heavens love, give the world the wind and rain smooth, and get a good harvest. At the same time, pray for a new year and a new hope.

Write a couplet. on Chinese New Year's Eve day, write couplets and paste spring couplets. "Heaven increases the age of people to increase life, spring is full of Qiankun and fu man", "Spring, summer, autumn and winter are good luck, east, west, south and north meet nobles", a pair of bright red auspicious couplets waved from the hands of scribes dipped in ink, and people watched and commented around the table. Then the whole family pasted couplets, paper display, paper cutting, spoons, escalators, postings, corrections, chanting, church unions, room unions, kitchen unions, stable links, suddenly full of brilliance, festive and warm. At the staircase, beside the aisle, and in the cloister, three or five small red notes are sometimes pasted to show auspiciousness and auspiciousness.

Eat a reunion dinner. At noon, the children began to take a bath, put on new clothes, put on new hats, hung auspicious bags, and avoided scolding, fighting, crying, and saying unlucky words. Adults are busy Chinese New Year's Eve meals. In the evening, the whole family sat around the table to eat a reunion dinner, toasted to the seniors, and gave the children chicken legs.

Red packet moraine (Hakka, pronounced "smash") years. After the meal, put a firecracker to symbolize the end of the old year, called "resignation". Send red envelopes to the elderly and children in the family, called "moraine age" and "pressure age", wish the elderly health and longevity, and hope that children will grow up healthily.

Keep the years. Chinese New Year's Eve night, the lights are bright all night, which is called "illuminating the years". The whole family sat around the fireplace and gathered together to share the joy of the world. Elders tell the stories of ancestors who gave good deeds, started a business, made a fortune, and cultivated heirlooms to the next generation, inspiring family ideals. It also tells folklore stories, educates future generations to learn etiquette, do not forget the book, know the gratitude map newspaper, and carry the goods of virtue. The whole family drinks tea and smokes, summarizes the experience of the year, and looks forward to the New Year's vision; children are playing and playing, setting off firecrackers; the home is stocked with peanuts, melon seeds, candy, cakes, oranges, sugar cane, water chestnuts, etc., while eating and chatting, it is called "keeping the age". Open the door late at night to welcome the New Year.

6． The first day of the first year

Open the door. "On the first day of the New Year, open the door early, put firecrackers, and be happy. Light candles, install incense lamps, worship like a front, burn paper money. Lights and fires, morning and night, candlesticks, rows on both sides. Inside the incense burner, the sandalwood pile, the table belt, hang up. The table is served fresh, and the soup is fried in oil. Tofu rice dumplings, bowls and plates are complete. Winter melon line red mandarin, longan lychee cake soft. Teaspoon teapot teapot, orange cake light tea and then eat tobacco. Lin Baoshu, a Wuping juror during the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, vividly described the scene of Hakka society welcoming the New Year in his "One Year using miscellaneous characters".

Open the door. Every time, every family opens its doors, burns incense, lights candles, and sets off firecrackers to welcome the arrival of the New Year. In some villages, they also want to worship their ancestors, to comfort the ancestors for their long life and prosperity, auspicious and prosperous, and to pray for another blessing and a blessing of peace and smoothness.

Bye bye. As soon as the sky dawned, the rural society greeted each other and spoke auspicious words. Some people send winter melon candy, orange cakes, kway cakes, cut cakes and other desserts to the elderly. Changting, Liancheng and other places celebrate the Custom of Setting Off Firecrackers for the New Year, that is, when going to the New Year, they should put a firecracker in front of the owner's house to wish the new year good luck. When the host sees someone coming to pay homage to the New Year, he should also put a firecracker in front of the door to show his return salute, warmly welcome the guests and congratulate each other. In some villages, there are also dragon dances, lion dances and other New Year customs, gongs and drums are sonorous, sheng gong drum music, the atmosphere is warm, lively and extraordinary. It is night, and some people also want to put a firecracker, which means the end of the first day of the first year.

7． Go outside the home

On the second day of the New Year, go to relatives. The sister-in-law returned to her mother-in-law's house to meet her parents-in-law. "A chicken in the left hand, a duck in the right hand, and a small doll on his back" is an excellent portrayal of the rural areas of western Fujian returning to his mother's home and visiting relatives. Daughters are grateful for their parents' nurturing grace and usually give them fresh clothes and cloth shoes, as well as soft and delicious food. The parents felt sorry for their daughter and gave back their grandchildren's clothes, food and red envelopes. Parents pray for their daughters and husbands, love and harmony, entrepreneurship and hard work, a better life, a healthy growth of grandchildren, a safe family, and a beautiful family. (Source: Cultural Tourism Longyan)