【Editor's Note】Folklore related to festivals and festivals has been passed down for thousands of years and contains the wisdom and culture of ancestors. In modern society, we are gradually drifting away from traditional folk customs, but at a certain moment, we will still be amazed by the names of the 24 solar terms such as Qingming and Guyu, and will be moved by the Lantern Festival's "flower market lights like day", and will go to our hometown from a distant hometown during the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Folklore is the memory of Chinese that flows in the blood.
At the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, The Paper, in cooperation with the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University, launched a column on traditional folk festivals to introduce festivals that are very important in traditional Chinese culture and related folk customs, which have not disappeared and are still in our daily lives.
Nowadays, the people have begun to consciously post "Yichun"
"Li Chun" is the "first year" of the Dry Branch Chronology, the beginning of the twenty-four solar terms, and was once a very important festival. So, on the day of Lichun, what kind of traditional customs are there?
"Standing spring is an ancient custom. The so-called 'Yichun' refers to the old ribbon cutting for swallows, pasting the word 'Yichun' to show the spring, taking the meaning of 'adapting to spring', and also the meaning of spring well. Tian Zhaoyuan, a professor at the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University, called on everyone to restore the tradition in "Lichun" and post "Yichun".
The custom of "Yichun" has a long history and is spread all over the country. The custom of cutting the ribbon and pasting the word "Yichun" to "decorate spring" first appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. In the "Jingchu Chronicle", it is written, "The day of the spring." Xi cut the ribbon for Yan to wear, post (paste) the word 'Yichun'. ”
The account of "Yichun" in the Jingchu Chronicle
In the Tang Dynasty, on the day of spring, people often hung spring flags, dai sheng, and pasted the word "Yichun" to celebrate the arrival of spring. Wei Zhuang's "Li Chun" poem Yun: "The snow garden has just opened a red cabbage armor, and the color banner is new and green poplar silk." For the sake of making a spring song, the inscription is embroidered with a flower note. Cui Daorong's "Spring Girl" wrote, "If you want to cut the word Yichun, spring cold into scissors." Where is Liaoyang, don't forget to send the spring robe. ”
In the Song Dynasty, Yan Shu also wrote about the custom of posting "Yichun" in the "Xin Chun Ri Ci Dong Gong Ge (Part I)": "Qing Ha Cha Ti Yi Chun Character, Cui Xu Chu greeted the law wind." ”
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, various local chronicles and literary collections recorded the people's praise for spring, and the custom of "Yichun" was revealed in the tip of the literati's pen. The "Beijing Chronicle of the Years" has: "First Chinese New Year's Eve day to know the small removal, people put wine and banquets, back and forth to the spoken word of the other year." Incense is burned outdoors. Where the three days end, the thesis is spring, and the children write well. ”
Folk customs in various places have flourished for a long time. The custom of Lichun sticking to Yichun has become the core custom of the entire Spring Festival. Wanli's Chuyang Zhi has a record of "Chinese New Year's Eve: more peach fu, paste Yichun character"; Qianlong's "Hejian Fu Zhi" has a record of "Lichun: Guan Tu Niu, Ti Yi Chun Zi, Ru Chun Cake, And Yu Chun Pan"; Guangxu's "Shouyang County Chronicle" has a record: "New Year's Day of the First Month: Paste Yi Chun Character"; "Shaanxi Mizhi County Chronicle" records: "Except for the day: paste Yi Chun characters, and use fireworks to replace firecrackers to ward off evil spirits." ”
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Dianshizhai Pictorial published a painting entitled "Other Years", mentioning the custom of posting "Yichun", and the scene of "Yichun" was painted on the top right of the picture.
The magazine "Teenager", which was printed in Shanghai in 1918, depicted li chun wrote the word "Yichun" on the lintel, and women cut the ribbon for Yan Daizhi. This is the last picture of "Yichun" that can be seen so far.
"This is the last picture of Yichun we have seen in the past." Tian Zhaoyuan sighed that in the early years of the Republic of China, the Spring Festival was still an important festival for celebration, but after 1920, there were few records of the "Yichun" custom, "Why was this custom lost all at once?" It is related to the revision of the calendar of the Republic of China, which destroyed the inheritance of the Lichun custom, and the weakening of the 24 solar terms culture in the last century. One of them, the custom of Tieyichun has been lost for a hundred years. ”
Tian Zhaoyuan called on everyone to re-establish the custom of posting "Yichun" in spring and continue the disappeared tradition, "Cutting the ribbon for swallows and pasting 'Yichun' is one of the core images of the Lichun custom and the most auspicious passage for spring blessings." The word 'Yichun' is also very elegant, more ancient than the "Good New Year" commonly used today. ”