Today
The twenty-ninth day of the lunar month
Chinese New Year's Eve
Xiaobian to give you a New Year's greeting!
Chinese New Year's Eve refers to the last night of the lunar month every year, which is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month). Chinese New Year's Eve means "the end of the month", so the activities during this period are centered on removing the old and the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings. Below, Xiaobian takes stock of Chinese New Year's Eve customs for you, to take you to find the taste of the Year!
01
Dinner
the Chinese New Year's Eve meal on Chinese New Year's Eve night is also called the reunion meal, and according to historical records, at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was already a custom of eating Chinese New Year's Eve rice. Northerners often Chinese New Year's Eve dishes include dumplings, fish, rice cakes, and long-term dishes. Because dumplings resemble gold yuanbao, it has the meaning of wealth; the dish of fish must not be eaten, because in Chinese," "fish" and "Yu" are homophonous, and have the auspicious meaning of "every year there is more than enough"; rice cakes have the meaning of "rising every year"; eating long-term dishes has the meaning of longevity.
02
ancestor worship
Ancestor sacrifice is the first major event of Chinese New Year's Eve. In many parts of the mainland, on this day, everyone will put a rich meal in their home, light incense candles, and parents lead their children and grandchildren to prostrate. Chinese New Year's Eve evening, in front of the ancestral statue, incense candles are lit, fine wine is poured, dishes are placed, and the whole family holds a solemn sacrifice ceremony to express the feeling of "cautiously chasing the distant future". After the ancestors had eaten Chinese New Year's Eve, people began to enjoy it.
03
Paste Spring League
Chunlian, also known as "door pair", "spring paste", "couplet", "pair", belongs to a kind of Yanglian and is a unique literary form. The folk custom of the Spring Festival of the people began to prevail from the Ming Dynasty, and the birthplace of the trend was Nanjing. At present, the people in the Jiangnan area pay attention to pasting the Spring Festival League in the morning of the Chinese New Year's Eve.
04
Money
The ancients were very particular about pressing old money. The copper coins used should be large and new, and then worn into various shapes with red rope. Some wear hundreds of copper coins, taking the meaning of "long life and 100 years"; some wear auspicious shapes such as carp, ruyi, and dragon shape, taking the meaning of "money dragon" and "money yu", in order to bring auspicious wishes. With the development of the times, the current "pressing money" is more direct and pure, generally using exquisite red packaging on red tickets, and then distributed to children, begging for a red and hot good head.
05
Keep the age
Chinese New Year's Eve night watch is also a long-standing custom. Legend has it that the purpose of keeping the age is to prevent the invasion of a unicorn, and this unicorn is most afraid of fire, red and sound, so Chinese New Year's Eve people wear red clothes, light red lights, paste red paper, set off fireworks and firecrackers, burn incense and pray, and stay up all night, and there is a custom of "keeping the age". On this night, both adults and children must say auspicious words, not obscure words, dirty words and disrespectful words, otherwise they will be unlucky for a year. Therefore, rejoicing, harmony, and reunion are the biggest themes of Chinese New Year's Eve Night.
06
Turn on the lights to sleep
Chinese New Year's Eve when you go to bed at night, you can't turn off the lights, and you can only turn off the lights until dawn on the first day of the New Year. Chinese New Year's Eve the whole night, the lights are generally not turned off in the home, especially the house that supports the ancestors.
Finally, I would like to say goodbye to everyone in the early years
May your Year of the Tiger be auspicious and lively
Bless the country and the people, prosperity and strength