Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang New Year customs
New Year customs in Northeast China
The Spring Festival is the most solemn festival in China. There are many customs passed down from ancient times. In the Northeast, there are many particular things about it.
In the old days, almost all celebrations to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and pray for blessings and welcome the good fortune were held on New Year's Eve. The whole family needs to change into new clothes.
First of all, the whole family worshiped our ancestors together, burned incense and candles, and presented offerings widely. According to the seniority and seniority of the elders and young, they bowed to the gods of the three generations of the clan to express their farewell to the New Year. Afterwards, a family banquet was held, with the elders sitting at the top of the table, and the younger generations sitting together, meaning "closing the table and reunion". The rice and fruits must be rich to give people a sense of fulfillment, which indicates that the coming year will have plenty of food and clothing and a prosperous career.
This meal is the first taste of New Year's dishes, and you can serve meat and vegetables together. Usually necessary are braised pork, stewed mutton, rice flour meat, braised elbow strips, Yuanbao pork, Nanjian meatballs, Sixi meatballs, chicken jelly, fish jelly, pork jelly, bean sauce, soybean sauce, soybean bean curd, mustard dumpling, spicy mustard, stir-fried cucumber and other New Year's Eve dishes.
During the banquet, young and old wished each other, brothers pushed cups and changed cups, and enjoyed the joy of family life. After dinner, the children spread sesame stalks all over the courtyard and walked on them, making a creaking sound, which was called "stepping on the New Year"; then they lit the spring lanterns hanging indoors and outside together to illuminate the New Year pictures and spring strips on the four walls. Inside and outside, the lights were bright.
On the "Heaven and Earth Table", there are "Three Places, Three Realms, Eighteen Buddhas and Buddhas" or "Baifen"(album of the gods of heaven and earth) printed on large yellow paper. There are large cakes, honey offerings, fresh noodles, fruits, vegetarian vegetables, rice cakes, New Year's rice cakes are used as offerings, and red candles with gold characters and mid-moon incense are used to welcome the blessings of the gods from the lower world.
In order to cherish the past years, men, women and children must stay up all night and engage in different recreational activities, which is called "keeping the New Year". Children have always played as they please, shaking diabolo, pulling top tops, twirling official figures, rolling dice, playing bull cards, blowing glass trumpets, harmonica, playing cinematographers, lighting lanterns, playing "Didi Jiner","Mouse Poop","Yellow Smoke with Cannon"... Old ladies sit together to fight cards, play mahjong, and play ten Hu.
Enjoy the entertainment with fresh fruits, candies, dried fruit mixes, warm greens, fried red fruits, candied crabapple, etc., eat and play, and enjoy until you "catch the gods".
At midnight, the sound of firecrackers shook the night sky. "Silver flowers rust all over the sky, and smoke is thick all over the street." Families gathered at the table of heaven and earth to burn incense and kowtow, and served vegetarian dumplings to welcome the gods to the lower world.
After the ceremony, it was announced that the old year had passed and the New Year was coming. This was the solemn moment of "five watches divided into two years". The whole family celebrates "New Year's Eve" to each other. The younger generations will go to the hall to bow and pay New Year greetings to the elders. The elders will introduce "New Year's money" to the underage children one by one.
Finally, the whole family ate vegetarian dumplings, called "Wugan Dumplings" and "Reunion Dumplings".
Among the hundred dumplings, only one has a coin in it, which means that the person who eats the dumpling will ensure that everything goes smoothly throughout the year.
Nowadays, people in Northeast China still retain many ancient traditional customs during the New Year.
The Spring Festival of the Manchu Dynasty
The traditional festivals of the Manchu people are basically consistent with those of the Han people. As the saying goes,"the old customs of the Manchu and Han Dynasties are different, and they have been assimilated for a long time, and most of them have become similar"(Fengtian Tongzhi, Volume 98). However,"the old customs of the Manchu and Han Dynasties are different", and the Manchu New Year Festival has a special style.
Spring Festival: Before the festival, a traditional Manchu pastry-Saqima should be made, and couplets, window grilles, hanging notes (red, yellow, orchid and white according to the flag category), and Fu characters (there is a peach wood seal board printed with Fu characters in Guarjia's home in Liaobinta Village, Xinmin County, Shenyang City). The Manchu people like to wear purses. Before the Spring Festival, the court routinely rewards princes and ministers with "safe years" purses, and the people also give gifts to each other. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve and on the morning of New Year's Day, there are sacrifices to ancestors and heaven. On New Year's Eve, you should receive the gods. After receiving the gods, you should place a horizontal tree at the gate to prevent ghosts from entering. Door gods are also hung on New Year's Eve to ward off evil spirits and avoid ghosts. This is the result of absorbing Han customs. Door gods are roughly divided into "General Door God","Fulu Door God","Pinzi Door God","Baby Door God", etc. Today's Shenyang Forbidden City contains the palace door god. "Divine Paper" was distributed on New Year's Eve, and then younger men went to various families in the tribe to "bid farewell". At midnight on New Year's Eve, every family eats dumplings, and they have to secretly put a few copper coins in the dumplings. Those who eat them will "end the year happily." You need to set off firecrackers to receive God and bid farewell. Lantern poles are erected in every courtyard on New Year's Eve, with high red lights. From New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the lunar new day, lantern poles are erected every night. The "sky lantern" was hung in the court on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and it was put on every night until the third day of February of the following year.
On New Year's Day, commonly known as the first day of the New Year, people get up early, wear new clothes, and congratulate each other on the New Year, which is called "New Year greetings".
Eating dumplings is called "Chuai Yuan Bao" to enjoy the Manchu Spring Festival
The Manchu Spring Festival was called "New Year's Day" in ancient times, and it was called "Aniye Nengye" in Manchu language. It is a grand festival in the Manchu tradition. It is held on the first day of the first lunar month every year. The festival period is generally three to five days. In the old days, some areas extended to the 15th of the first month. Popular in Manchu areas across the country.
The Manchu Spring Festival originated from Han customs. After Nurhachi established the Later Jin regime, he marched into Liaoyang and Shenyang areas in the third year of Tianming (1618). Under the influence of the Han economy and culture, the development of Manchu society changed greatly. Especially after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, the Qing army entered Shanhaiguan in the first year of Shunzhi (1644) and established the capital in Beijing. A large number of Manchu residents moved within the pass and lived together with the Han people. They exchanged and influenced each other in economy and culture, and had close relations. Over time, many customs and cultures of the Han people were absorbed by the Manchu people, and the Spring Festival became a traditional festival shared by the Manchu and Han people.
Before the festival, people actively buy New Year's goods, clean the courtyards, post couplets, hang notes (also known as hanging flags), window grilles and blessing characters, steam rice cakes, and stick water spoons. In the early morning of the first day of the first day, every household sets off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. At the same time, offerings were placed under the ancestral board on the west wall of their home, Tartar incense was lit, and the ancestors were bowed to them, praying for the gods to bless the whole family in peace and security and all the best in the new year. At the beginning of the new year, the whole family reunites to eat reunion dumplings, commonly known as "carrying the treasure". While cooking dumplings, the main household shouted: "Are you up for the small day?" The others replied at the same time: "Get up!" They compared the floating of dumplings from the bottom of the pot to the rising of the day. Then let the child climb onto the cabinet and jump three times to show that he "jumps high" in the new day.
On this day, the younger generation has to kowtow to their elders to pay New Year greetings (in the old days, women knelt down and stroked their temples). Parents have to give their children money to keep the New Year. Close relatives of the clan also pay New Year greetings to each other, while relatives and friends invite each other for a banquet to reminisce and talk about new things together. Groups of boys set off fireworks and firecrackers, played with wooden sledges, or skated happily; girls and young women dressed in costumes played with Galaha (toys made of pig or cow knee bones).
Song and dance are an important part of festival activities. According to records in the Book of Bohai Kingdom, officials and people gather for music during the year, and they first order those who are good at singing and dancing to move forward several generations. The scholars and women follow each other and sing harmoniously. They are called "Tachu". Chasing means stepping on stilts. To this day, this custom still persists. From the first day to the fifth day of the lunar new day, people gather together to sing, dance, walk on stilts, and entertain themselves. In some places, young people also spontaneously organize performance teams to perform through villages to celebrate the New Year, making the festive atmosphere more intense.
During the New Year, the Manchu people are accustomed to using raw materials such as refined flour, eggs, sugar, sesame seeds, green red and melon kernels to make "Saqima". It has beautiful color, fragrant taste and delicious. It is a popular holiday product with a unique national flavor.