"Spring Festival in Beijing"
author
Lao She (full)
Kyoguchi Studio
Guiyang Traffic Radio Host Li Ming
It is said that in the first month of 1951, Mr. Lao She wrote "The Spring Festival in Beijing" to record the Spring Festival at that time. Now, let's walk into Mr. Lao She's text together, and follow the host Li Ming to listen to the Spring Festival in old Beijing.
As an authentic Beijing flag person, Mr. Lao She uses a delicate and kind narrative, in chronological order, to show us a picture of the folk customs of the old Beijing Spring Festival, I don't know which section is still preserved in your place?
According to the old rules of Beijing in the early years, the Spring Festival began almost at the beginning of the Waxing Moon. "La-la On the day of Lapa Ba, everyone boiled Lapa Ba porridge. Porridge is made with a variety of rice, all kinds of beans, and a variety of dried fruits. This is not porridge, but a small agricultural exhibition.
In addition, this day is also soaked with eight garlic. Put the garlic cloves in vinegar and seal them for dumplings for the New Year. By the end of the year, garlic is soaked like emerald, vinegar also has some spicy taste, color and taste are beautiful, so that people can't help but eat more dumplings. In Beijing, during the Chinese New Year, families eat dumplings.
When children prepare for the New Year, the first big thing is to buy miscellaneous mixes. This is made by mixing dried fruits such as peanuts, dates, hazelnuts, chestnuts and candied fruit. Kids love to eat these bits and pieces. The second big thing is buying firecrackers, especially for boys. I'm afraid the third thing is to buy all kinds of things - kites, empty bamboo, harmonica, etc.
The children rejoiced, and the adults were busy. They must prepare what they eat, drink, wear and use for the New Year, so that the New Year will show the atmosphere of renewal in Vientiane.
The twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon is a small year, which is almost the "rehearsal" of the Spring Festival. As soon as it gets dark and firecrackers sound, it has the smell of the New Year. On this day, it is necessary to eat sugar, there are many people selling maltose and rice candy on the street, sugar-shaped or rectangular or melon-shaped, sweet and sticky, children's favorite.
After twenty-three, everyone was busier. It must be cleaned once, and meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, rice cakes and so on must be prepared - most shops close from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, and do not open until the sixth day of the first month.
Chinese New Year's Eve really lively. Families rush to cook New Year dishes, and the aroma of wine and meat is everywhere. Men, women and children all wore new clothes, red couplets were pasted outside the door, and various colored New Year paintings were pasted in the house. Chinese New Year's Eve the lights of the house are lit all night, no interruption is allowed, and the sound of firecrackers is endless day and night. People who are working outside, unless they have to, must rush home for the reunion dinner. On this night, except for very small children, no one slept, and they had to keep the age.
The first day of the first lunar month is very different from Chinese New Year's Eve: the shops are covered with boards, the firecracker paper skins that were fired last night are piled in front of the doors, and the whole city is resting.
Men go to relatives' homes and friends' houses to pay their respects before noon. Women receive guests at home. Many monasteries inside and outside the city hold temple fairs, and vendors set up stalls outside the temple to sell tea, food and various toys. Children especially love to visit the temple fairs, so that they have the opportunity to see the wild scenery outside the city, ride donkeys, and buy toys that are unique to the New Year. There are horse racers and camel racers at the temple fairs. These competitions are not about who is first and who is second, but about the beautiful posture and skill of horses, camels and riders in front of the audience.
Most shops open on the sixth day of the first lunar month, but they are not very busy, and the guys in the shops can also take turns to visit temple fairs, overpasses and listen to plays.
The Lantern Festival is on the market, and another climax of the Spring Festival has arrived. On the fifteenth day of the first month, lights are everywhere, and the whole street is like a happy event, red and beautiful. The famous old shops have to hang out hundreds of lamps, all kinds of colors, some are all glass, some are all horns, some are yarn lamps, and some paint all the stories of "Dream of the Red Chamber" or "Water Margin". At that time, it was also a kind of advertising. As soon as the lights are hung, anyone can enter the shop to visit. At night, candles are lit in the lights, and there are more viewers.
Children buy all kinds of fireworks to set off, even if they don't run to the street to be naughty, they can still play at home. There are also lights in the house: marquee lamps, palace lamps, various colored paper lamps, and yarn lamps, which have small bells in them, and when the time comes, they will clang. On this day, everyone must also eat the Lantern Festival! It was indeed a good and happy day.
In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the temple at the end of the lantern, and the Spring Festival ended on the nineteenth day of the first month. Students should go to school, and adults should go to business as usual. Waxing moon and new month, in the countryside is the most idle time for everyone. After the Festival of Lights, the weather warmed up, and everyone went to work again. Although Beijing is a city, it also follows the countryside for the New Year, and it is very lively.