SPRING FESTIVAL
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Happy Spring Festival
Full Word Count: 3158 words Reading time: 10 minutes
*This paper is the joint result of the high-quality undergraduate course "Archives Management" in Beijing universities and the postgraduate excellent course "Frontiers of Foreign Archives Management Theory and Method" of Renmin University of Chinese
SPRING FESTIVAL
Xiaowen: The Spring Festival is coming! Readers and friends, are you all ready to buy New Year's goods at home?
Xiao Cha: I believe that all families are in full swing to prepare! Here, I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year and a prosperous Year of the Dragon!
Xiaowen: Xiaocha, when I helped my family prepare New Year's goods, I listened to the elders talk about the New Year's goods in the early years, which is really different from now.
Today, let's go through the New Year's goods file and observe the changes of the times together~
1
The "food" taste of the New Year's goods in the archives is of high quality
01 Wuhan time-honored brands in the memory of the archives, the list of Wuhan people's New Year's goods is quietly changing, and the advertisements of "time-honored brands" 91 years ago are like this
Time: 2024-01-09
Source: Jimu News
https://www.163.com/dy/article/IO21GV1C053469LG.html
In 1933, in the "Hankou Western News", the advertising list of Guanshengyuan, a "time-honored brand" in Wuhan, listed a variety of "New Year's goods" of Guanshengyuan: European candy, colorful gummies, Guangdong cured goods, Western ham, Guangxi Shatian pomelo, etc. These were indeed the "hard currency" of the Chinese New Year, which could be put on the dining table at home or carried when visiting relatives and friends. In China, which was economically backward at the time, these goods had a unique seasonal taste only during the Chinese New Year.
Nowadays, Guanshengyuan is mainly engaged in pastries, and the taste is gradually "younger". At the same time, there are also many childhood memories of Wuhan people in today's pastries, such as vanilla cakes wrapped in paper and hawthorn balls wrapped in sugar grains.
Fig.1 Advertising leaflet for Guansheng Garden in an old newspaper in 1933
(Source: Jimu News)
02 Those things about New Year's goods in the file
Date: 2020-01-19
Source: Shaanxi Archives Information Network
http://www.sxdag.cn/Article/View?id=2013
The archives in the collection of the Shaanxi Provincial Archives record the supply of New Year's goods during the Spring Festival from the 50s to the 80s after the founding of the People's Republic of China, from which it can be seen that the habits of the people of Xi'an hoarding New Year's goods have changed for decades.
It can be seen from the 1957 Xi'an Railway Branch's "Spring Festival New Year's Goods and Key Materials Shipment" that the largest reserve of New Year's goods that year was meat, and grain was not in the list of New Year's goods. The report also highlighted the shortage of liquor and the shortage of coal for heating in the winter due to the decline in coal production due to heavy snowfall.
Fig.2 Shipment of Spring Festival Goods and Key Materials by Xi'an Railway Branch in 1957
(Source: Shaanxi Archives Information Network)
In 1955, the Xi'an Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Report on Inspecting the Preparation and Supply of Non-staple Food for the Spring Festival in Xi'an", which showed that the supply of the Spring Festival market was basically stable, and pigs, sheep, beef, oil, fungus, daylily, tobacco and alcohol, fruits, sugar, etc. could be fully supplied, but there were still some thorny problems, which were solved by changing the supply and procurement methods of pork in the suburbs, increasing the supply points of live pigs for Chengguan residents, and clarifying the daily supply.
Fig.3 Report on the Preparation and Supply of Non-staple Foods for the Spring Festival in Xi'an, 1955
(Source: Shaanxi Archives Information Network)
From the New Year's goods distributed by a company to employees in 1988, it can also be seen that the trend of the supply of New Year's goods has changed. The status of traditional meat, eggs, tobacco and alcohol remains unchanged, yellow flowers and vermicelli have been replaced by seafood, and the report also mentions the distribution of red tofu, sugar, peanuts and melon seeds, and snacks to employees. It can be seen that after the reform and opening up, the people's living standards are improving day by day, and the requirements for the New Year are getting higher and higher.
Fig.4 1988 "Spring Festival Employee Material Supply Distribution Schedule" of a company
(Source: Shaanxi Archives Information Network)
Xiaowen to comment
The newspaper files, freight reports, food supply inspection reports, material supply distribution tables and other files in the two news are all original records of the production, sales and supply of New Year's goods, showing the refinement and diversification of fashionable New Year's goods in different eras. From the newspaper archives in the first news, it can be glimpsed that the "food" taste of Wuhan's "time-honored brands" has changed from the scarcity of desserts and snacks in the past to the rejuvenation of modern pastries, and at the same time accompanied by the return of traditional pastries. The documents and archives in the second news reflect that the "food" taste of Xi'an's New Year's goods has changed from meat reserves to the gradual optimization of the supply chain and material distribution, and then to people's pursuit of diversity and quality of New Year's goods. These changes not only reflect the improvement of people's economic conditions, the improvement of living standards, the increasing expectations and needs for the New Year, but also reflect the progress of the times of integrity and innovation, and represent the diversified development direction of society.
2
The purchase method of New Year's goods in the file is simplified
New Year's Goods Archive|Chengdu New Year's Flavor in Memory
Time: 2021-01-28
Source: Chengdu Archives
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI2ODQxOTY2Mg==&mid=2247496508&idx=1&sn=3c7739a7ef47d471e014c1b6ac50ef99&chksm=eaed641ddd9aed0ba4d1ef49d546294863d02354da9619d2dd9deb5b947512e86f333d5b6283&scene=27
01 In the seventies, prepare New Year's goods with "tickets".
In the 70s of the 20 th century, the lives of the common people in Chengdu were inseparable from one key word -- "tickets"! Eating rice required food stamps, meat stamps for cutting meat, salt stamps, sugar stamps, wine stamps, cigarette stamps, and even lit cigarette matches also required stamps. These tickets are supplied according to the head of the household registration, which can be said to be the "lifeblood" of the family. The food stamps used on the market at that time were mainly denominations of one tael or half a catty, and even half a tael denomination. The above 10 catties (5,000 grams) of grain stamps issued by the "Chengdu Grain Administration" was considered a "large" bill at that time, basically an adult man's "rations" for half a month. Every Chinese New Year, the adults in the family will find out all kinds of supply tickets that they have worked hard to accumulate this year, and then carefully sort them out one by one, and then queue up all night at the door of the store, just to buy New Year's goods early in the morning.
Fig.5 Chengdu grain supply ticket
(Source: Chengdu Municipal Archives)
02 New Year's market in the 80s and 90s
In the late 80s and early 90s, with the advancement of reform and opening up, the wallets of the people of Chengdu became more and more bulging, the material life was gradually enriched, and the flavor of the New Year became stronger and stronger. Meat has become a common item on the daily table of ordinary families, and buying food with tickets has become a thing of the past. Whenever the end of the year is approaching, buying New Year's goods has become a major event for every family. At that time, the Chengdu Municipal People's Government also held a special New Year's goods fair, Chengdu Municipal Archives collection of 1991 "Chengdu Municipal People's Government General Office on the Chengdu Spring Festival Goods Exhibition and Quality Service Exhibition Notice" archives, recorded the Chengdu Spring Festival New Year goods exhibition and sales at that time.
The venue of the Spring Festival New Year's goods exhibition and sales activities is set in the front and back squares and both sides of the passage in the provincial exhibition hall, and the exhibition and sales time is from January 6 to 31, 1992, for a period of 26 days. The products supplied include famous and special non-staple foods, grain and oil products, daily necessities, etc., and are readily available for food and clothing.
Figure 6 Notice of the General Office of the Chengdu Municipal People's Government on Holding the Chengdu Spring Festival Goods Exhibition and Quality Service Exhibition
(Source: Chengdu Municipal Archives)
Small review of the news
With the help of physical archives of food stamps and official government documents, Chengdu is the "point" of the development and progress of the whole country. With the deepening of reform and opening up, the people of Chengdu have entered the "online shopping era" of the market economy from the "ticket era" of the planned economy. Solving the problem of food and clothing is no longer a luxury, and thousands of households are embracing a beautiful era of material abundance and abundance. The popular purchase method of New Year's goods has gradually become convenient, efficient and diversified, which is one of the important manifestations of the projection of scientific and technological development and progress into the lives of ordinary people.
3
The daily necessities of the New Year's goods in the archives are technological
01 The enamel cup that went away! This former New Year's goods are the memories of many Ningbo people?
Time: 2024-01-25
Source: Ningbo Archives
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ZO9ksGeiC9LzbWLA1ZAZLw
The Haishu District Archives of Ningbo City treasures a special New Year's gift from 39 years ago - an enamel cup, with the red words "condolences to sanitation workers" written on the surface of the cup. The issuer is the Ningbo Municipal People's Government, and the payment was made during the Spring Festival of 1985. The overall body of the cup is well preserved, and the slight paint stripping at the bottom is the traces of time left by the bump of the "enamel". At that time, the enamel trophy printed with "XX Award", "XX Commemoration" and "XX Unit" was a different kind of business card of the times, representing an identity, an honor, and an experience, carrying rich cultural meanings and recording specific cultural information. The eye-catching red lettering on the teacup is soaked with the unique charm of that era, full of enthusiasm and vigorous vitality.
Fig.7 Commemorative enamel cup
(Source: Ningbo Haishu District Archives)
02 The Chinese Taste in the New Year's Goods|Times Images: Record the popular style in the New Year's goods
Date: 2019-01-25
Source: Cover News
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1623626868831852809&wfr=spider&for=pc
Officially launched in 1983, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala covers sketches, songs, songs and dances, acrobatics, magic, opera, cross talk dramas and other art forms, which greatly enriches the spiritual life of the people. Therefore, before the holiday, "rush to buy" TV has become a New Year's scenery, and a large number of domestic brands such as pandas, Venus, Peony, and Feiyue have become sought-after goods. In 1985, China's television production reached 16.63 million units, surpassing the United States and second only to Japan, becoming the world's second largest television producer. However, due to the limitations of China's television market in terms of structure, price, and consumption capacity, the penetration rate of television sets is still very low, with only 17.2 and 0.8 television sets per 100 households in urban and rural areas.
Figure 8 TV shopping scene in the 80s
(Source: Cover News)
Xiaowen has something to say
The physical archives and photo archives intuitively present the memories of the New Year's goods in the 80s, reflecting the development trajectory of the times when the scientific and technological content of New Year's goods and household goods has gradually increased. In the first news, printing technology is used to print specific information, blessings and other contents on the surface of the cup, adding cultural connotation, commemorative significance and the brand of the times to the enamel cup of New Year's goods. The second news is that the prevalence of Chinese entertainment and the development of science and technology have all prompted television sets to enter ordinary homes as New Year's goods, enriching people's spiritual life. Whether it is the production of enamel cups or the production of televisions, the continuous development of science and technology has brought more choices to people's New Year's goods, and also reflects people's demand and pursuit of scientific and technological products, as well as their enthusiasm for enriching spiritual and cultural life.
Let's sum it up
The New Year's goods archives carry the memories of the Spring Festival in different eras, which can reflect the development of the times and social changes. The archives department can develop New Year's archives in a variety of ways, showing the development and changes of the city from a perspective close to the lives of the people, and inheriting traditional cultural customs.
The first is to plan the exhibition of archives to show the changes of the times. Through the display of various New Year's goods archives such as physical objects, documents, photos, etc., the varieties of New Year's goods, purchase methods, consumption habits and social backgrounds of different ages are presented. It can not only allow exhibitors to intuitively feel the atmosphere of the Spring Festival in different periods, but also let them feel the vertical development and progress of the country and society.
Second, archival activities can be held to experience the times shuttle. The archives department can develop archives to organize "New Year's Flavor Retrospective" activities, such as leading participants to experience ticket purchases, market purchases, etc. In this way, the elderly can reminisce about the past, and the young people can experience the customs of the year across the era, and understand the changes of the urban era in the changing New Year's goods.
Third, it can collect New Year's goods files online and offline. Collect oral archives of the public about New Year's goods, special physical archives of New Year's goods, etc., and open special columns on websites, WeChat public accounts and other platforms to push, so as to take advantage of the festival opportunity of purchasing New Year's goods to present the memory of social development more comprehensively from the perspective of unique New Year's goods.
Wonderful in the past
2023-01-24
The former "rabbit" is like a brocade, and archives empower the inheritance of traditional culture
*The pictures in this article are all from the Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact the author to delete
Copywriter: Wu Yanjie Yu Fanglu
Typesetting: Yu Fanglu, Wu Yanjie