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New Year customs in the history of Chengdu
Yang Xiangfei
During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the 23rd and 24th months of the Waxing Moon were sacrificed to the King of The Stove. The streets sell vesta statues, stove horses and stove candy. Every household beats rice pastry, mixes it with rice flour and sugar, and beats it repeatedly in a wooden box with a small hammer, similar to today's rice dumplings.
After the twenty-fourth day of the Waxing Moon, every household cleans the courtyard, which is called "dusting".
on the day of Chinese New Year's Eve, clean the house, paste the Spring Festival, and change the door. During the day, the family eats together, which is called "Eating New Year Rice"; at night, the ancestors are sacrificed first, and then they eat and drink together, which is called "Tuan Nian Wine". The juniors kowtow to the elders, which is called "resignation year", and the elders give the juniors money. Lighting candles in kitchens, wells, toilets, bathrooms, etc., and not extinguishing them all night is called "illumination". After dinner, the family sits around the fire and chats, and does not sleep all night, which is called "keeping the age". That night, the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers continued throughout the night, called "Noisy New Year".
After burning the incense of the son at night, Chinese New Year's Eve the ancestors are first sacrificed, and the incense candles and offerings are laid out in front of the ancestral shrine in the middle hall, and then, the elders lead the whole family, old and young, divided into men, left and right, dressed neatly, standing on both sides, burning incense and burning paper to the ancestral god's seat; according to the order of generations, they kneel to the ancestors in turn and offer wine and food. After the worship of the family god, in the early morning of the first day of the New Year, according to the auspicious direction contained in the almanac, lanterns, torches, incense, and the auspicious side of the god of joy recorded in the almanac travel and worship, called "out of the heavens". The door god who has been sacrificed with chicken blood is pasted, and then prays in the direction of the god of joy; some people burn incense paper in the direction of the god of joy.
The first day of the first lunar month is popular to visit the temple, and in the Song Dynasty, the main activity of this day is the Deng'an Fu Temple Pagoda. Fan Chengda said: "The story of Chengdu's one-year-old began with this tower. "Anfu Temple Pagoda, commonly known as the Black Pagoda, was built during the Middle Ages of the Tang Dynasty, with a total of thirteen levels, in the west of Chengdu, is one of the important religious and tourist places. Later, the pagoda was destroyed during the rebellion of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun during the Song Zhenzong period, and was rebuilt during the Xiangfu years, and still has thirteen levels, which is equivalent to the original scale. On this day, Chengdu people visit the Anfu Temple Pagoda with a small colored banner in the morning, and glue the colored banner to the pillar to express the chengdu people's desire for peace and war aversion. In the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, the first day of the first lunar month was just dawned, and the god of vesta was sacrificed, called "receiving the stove". Then the big cut out of red paper is attached to the lintel of the gate, which is commonly known as Chicken Day because of the first day. Early in the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, generally eat tangyuan and noodles, which means family reunion, also known as "golden thread fishing gourd", and then go out to the temples in the direction of Xishen to incense, most of them like to go to Wuhou Ancestral Hall, Wangjiang Tower, Ding Gong Ancestral Hall, called "travel". After liberation, people also followed this custom. On that day, people go out of the south gate to Wuhou Temple, then from the small road to Baihuatan, and then to the Qingyang Palace.
During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was abolished as a feudal capital repair. Since the reform and opening up, the custom of pilgrimage to the temple has re-emerged. In the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, there is an endless stream of people who go to Wenshu Monastery and Daci Temple to burn morning incense and make wishes.
On this day, friends and relatives also have to come and go to visit the New Year. During the Tang and Song dynasties, people would either paste pieces of paper with their names on the door of the master's house or throw it through the cracks in the door. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, a red or white piece of paper was used to write his name and address and paste it on the door of the owner's house. In the early days of liberation, this wind of worship disappeared. After the reform and opening up, relatives and friends congratulated the New Year by sending New Year's tablets before the Spring Festival.
On the second day of the first lunar month, the Song Dynasty period was the day to sweep the graves of ancestors. In the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, on this day, women had to return to their mother's home (the second day of the first lunar month to the sixth day of the first lunar month), and if it was a new marriage, the husband and wife went together, called "Worshiping the New Year". People with wells prepare incense candle paper money to worship the god of the well, and the ceremony is to draw water, which is called "opening the well".
On the third day of the first lunar month, the Song Dynasty wanted to sacrifice Dongjun. Dongjun is the god of the sun, and people worship the god of the day and beg for the wind and rain to be smooth in the new year. This day, like the second day of the first month, is also the day of the tomb sweep.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, during the Republic of China period, there were families who raised horses, and on this day they should ride horses to the mule and horse market to visit and bless the safety of the mules and horses.
On the fifth day of the first month of the first month, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was called "Breaking the Fifth", also known as "Cow Day", each family cleaned their own firecrackers, incense ashes, etc. (from the Chinese New Year's Eve, all the garbage in the home was not cleaned, until the fifth day of the first month), fell on the street, let the people who came and went trampled, called "sending five poor". At the same time, at home, incense candles, money paper, and firecrackers are set off to drive out the "poor ghosts" hiding in the home. Then, carrying people on their backs, they quietly picked up a pebble by the river, called "Please return to the Yuanbao". On the fifth day of the first month, it was also the day when Chengdu's "silkworm market" opened, and in the Song Dynasty, the silkworm market was opened in the southwest gate and dexian gate. The four farmers' markets outside the door are all held on this day, and farmers from the four townships come to catch the market. On this day, the shops in the city also opened their doors. On this day in rural areas, men in their families are also allowed to dig three times in their own fields with a hoe, indicating the meaning of breaking the soil in the New Year and harvesting grain. After the "breaking of the fifth", families began to ask for spring wine, and they exchanged greetings with each other and invited them to eat spring wine.
▲ "Breaking the Five Days"
The seventh day of the first lunar month is the day of the people, and since the Tang Dynasty, there has been a custom of visiting the grass hall, and it is still endless.
The eighth day of the first lunar month is the valley day, and folklore says that if this day is sunny, the wind and rain will be smooth in the year; if it is cloudy, the harvest will be bad that year.
The ninth day of the first lunar month is called "Shangjiu", and it is said that this day is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, and many people go to the Jade Emperor to burn incense and pray for blessings. From this day until the fifteenth day of the first month, it is called the Festival of Lights. Beginning that evening, the streets were hung with various lights, including lions, dragons, bamboo horses, walking horses, Aoshan Mountain, lotus boats and other names. The newlywed wife must return to her mother's house before the ninth day of the first year, which is called "hiding the lamp". Parents-in-law give their son-in-law a lamp called "sending lamps."
On the fifteenth day of the first month, the Song Dynasty is the Shangyuan Festival, the lantern display activity is very popular, and the street lights will be very lively, especially the Daci Temple, Zhaojue Temple, and Wumen, which are the three most concentrated. In the Tang Dynasty, chengdu put on the scale of lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month. In the Song Dynasty, Chengdu put on lights on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth days of the first month. Later, Zhang Yong of Yizhou Zhizhou thought that three days was not enough time, and added one night on the thirteenth day of the first month. Later, on the evening of the seventeenth day, the "Residual Lantern Society" was added, mainly for the soap officials on duty patrol during the lantern festival to play, in recognition of the hard work of those who stuck to their posts during the festival. At that time, the Government of the Northern Song Dynasty stipulated that it was "three night lights", and the only one in the whole country may be "five night lights". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the fifteenth day of the first month was the Lantern Festival, and the people gave each other homemade tangyuan. After eating tangyuan in the evening, people burn incense paper in front of the door to worship the gods, commonly known as "sending the New Year". The whole city is full of lights, and at night, the lights are bright as day, and everyone competes to guess the riddle, and the guesser will receive a betel nut as a reward. On this day, women greet the purple goddess (i.e., the toilet god) and ask him for good luck.
After the fifteenth day of the first month, even after the new year, people began to work normally.
▲ "Playing Spring"
In addition, there is another important activity during the Spring Festival, that is, "playing spring". On the day before the spring, the supreme administrator of Chengdu led officials to the spring factory in the eastern suburbs to worship the god Ofumang, prepare spring cattle (cattle made of soil, such as cats), and there were songs, dances, acrobatic performances, etc. The people watched such as blocking, called "watching spring". On the day of the spring, the earth cattle are whipped with colorful spring whips, which is called "beating spring", also known as "whip spring". The earth cow is then smashed to pieces, and the onlookers scramble to grab the pieces of the earth cow, which is rumored to keep the family safe. The custom has a long history in Chengdu, starting from the Tang Dynasty and not being abolished until 1931.
Source: Sichuan Provincial Local History Work Office
Author: Yang Xiangfei (Office of Chengdu Local History Compilation Committee)
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