A look at the weird customs during the Spring Festival in various places in China
The Spring Festival custom is actually an indelible folk culture. It means the warmth of family reunion and the ease and expectation of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. When it comes to celebrating the Spring Festival, people usually think of customs such as eating dumplings for New Year's Eve dinner, pasting Spring Festival couplets, hanging New Year pictures, setting off firecrackers, and New Year greetings. But as the saying goes: "Different winds are different in a hundred miles, and different customs are different in a thousand miles." During the same Spring Festival, the festivals are different in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Many places have their own unique Spring Festival customs, many of which continue to this day.
Old Beijing: Most people in Beijing pay special attention to the New Year, especially the New Year's eating method. In the past, there was a folk song in old Beijing: "Children, don't be greedy. After Laba is the New Year. Laba porridge, drink it for a few days, and it will be miles and miles; 23. The sugar melons are sticky; 24. Sweep the house; 25. Deep-fried tofu; 26. Stewing mutton; 27. Kill cocks; 28. Spread the noodles; 29. Steaming steamed buns; Stay overnight on the 30th night, and twist on the first day of the New Year..."Laba porridge, fried tofu, stewed mutton, etc. listed in this folk song are all delicacies in old Beijing during the Spring Festival. Today, these are already common food for people, but in the 1950s and 1960s, they could only feast during the New Year.
There are only a few kinds of food above during the Spring Festival, which is certainly not abundant. Some well-off Beijingers used to have the custom of eating fish on New Year's Eve. The fish must be carp. It was originally used in the name of offering sacrifices to the gods, but later it was connected with the auspicious saying of "auspicious celebrations". Fish are both delicious food and offerings.
As for the dumplings on New Year's Eve, the vegetarian dumplings are used to worship the gods, and everyone eats meat filling; for people who are not wealthy, they use a mixture of meat and vegetables as the filling. Even the poorest families have a lot of procedures to eat dumplings during the New Year. In addition to well-known delicacies such as dumplings and rice cakes, old Beijingers also make "bean sauce"-a cold dish made of meat skins, dried tofu, soybeans, green beans, water mustard, etc., with the color of amber, similar to "meat jelly". There is also "mustard dune", which is a cold dish used to accompany wine and appetizer. During festivals, people eat a lot of greasy food, which is easy to "make fires" and "produce phlegm." These cold dishes can make up for this shortcoming.
When all kinds of meat and vegetarian dishes are ready, Beijingers also need to prepare candies, dried fruits, melon seeds and "mixed cakes". The so-called "mixed cakes" are what is now called assorted preserved fruits. At that time, these snacks were delicious food when people sat around the stove and waited for the New Year to say goodbye.
: Unforgettable blood sausages in rural Liaoning, as soon as the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household begins to prepare for the New Year. They make rice cakes and steam sticky bean buns. Many families will also kill pigs and treat guests, invite neighbors and relatives and friends to have a banquet. After eating and drinking well, the enthusiastic host will also distribute the filled blood sausages to the guests and take them home. The children will try their best to help at home these days, but married daughters are not allowed to spend the New Year at their parents 'homes, otherwise this year will be unfavorable to their brothers. The so-called "you are not allowed to look at your family's lanterns" on New Year's Eve is actually what it means. Of course, this custom with feudal superstitions has been slowly forgotten with the progress of society and the changes of the times.
Many Liaoning people point longevity lights on the 30th of the New Year, which are bright all night long. From the Lunar New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month, every family must hang red lanterns. On the evening of the Lunar New Year's Eve, lanterns must be lit up, and the lights must not be turned off, which means longer life.
Heilongjiang: Eating dumplings with coins for good luck during the New Year is a custom among northerners. On the evening of New Year's Eve, you must eat dumplings, but Heilongjiang people also need to wrap a few peanuts or other nuts with coins in the dumplings.) Whoever eats such dumplings indicates that there will be good luck and good luck in the new year. In addition, Heilongjiang must eat dumplings on the fifth day of the lunar new day, also known as "breaking the fifth day", which means biting the dumplings, which means destroying all unlucky things and meaning dispelling disasters and avoiding evil spirits.
: Eat frozen pears after New Year's Eve. Due to the cold weather in Northeast China, some fruits will have a different taste after being frozen. The most common ones are iced pears and frozen persimmons. It is understood that the purest one is frozen autumn pear. There is a kind of pear in Jilin called autumn pear. This kind of pear is sour and astringent when first picked, so people pick this kind of pear and place it directly under the tree and cover it with a layer of leaves. After freezing, the autumn pear is sweet and sour, and has sufficient juice. Frozen pears should be thawed in water before eating. Eating this kind of pears after New Year's Eve can relieve hangover and relieve greasy feelings.
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Jiangsu: Gathering wealth everywhere to find "ingots" Suzhou people put cooked water chestnuts in New Year's Eve and dig them out when eating. This is called "digging ingots." When visiting relatives and friends, two green olives should be put in when making tea, which is called drinking "Yuanbao tea", which means "congratulating you on wealth".
Changzhou people are not allowed to sweep the floor from home during the New Year. They are afraid of sweeping away the "wealth" and "Ruyi". They can only sweep from the outside to the inside, meaning to accumulate wealth. During the Spring Festival, there are still many taboos in Jiangsu, such as not using scissors on the first day of the Lunar New Year to avoid disputes between words and tongues; not using kitchen knives to avoid death; not eating porridge for fear of encountering rain when going out; not sweeping the floor for fear of sweeping away wealth, etc.
Jiangning people have the custom of "beating the divine drum" during the Spring Festival. The main flag opens the way, and the gongs and drums players beat the drums with all their strength to add to the fun. On the third day of the third day, the seventh day, and the "shirtless drums" are played from the thirteenth to the fifteenth day. The atmosphere is warm.
People in Nantong have the custom of planting sesame stalks, holly, and cypress branches at their doorsteps or in front of their halls. They mean that life blooms steadily and is green all year round.
Huaiyin people also have the custom of giving their children a "barbecue style" on the sixth day of the lunar new day. It was night that I took the child to the open space at the head of the field to light a torch to dispel the evil diseases for the child. While roasting, I sang: "Roast the head to wake up, roast the brain, roast the feet, keep the steps straight, roast the belly without diarrhea, roast the whole body, and the disease will never be seen."
Shandong: Eating wonton on the first day of the New Year is in Ningyang County, Shandong Province. On the first day of the New Year, we pay attention to eating wonton, which is called "cramming."
In Huangxian and Penglai areas, getting up early on the first day of the lunar new year has to take advantage of waste. The hostess held a red candle and illuminated every corner of the house, which meant using light to drive out darkness, and then placed various window grilles made of flour before the New Year on the windowsill. After children get up, they have to climb the latch and play three swings. It is said that they can grow up quickly.
In some rural areas, sesame stalks are used to make dumplings, which means that the new year will rise steadily like sesame blossoms. After meals, steamed buns must be placed in the pot, which means that there is "surplus head".
The new daughter-in-law in Jiaodong has to pay New Year greetings to her husband's maternal grandfather's house in the first year, which is called "taking root". It is said that once you arrive at your maternal grandfather's house, you can take root and there will be no divorce or early widowhood.
Zhejiang: On the first day of the New Year,"Qingtian Silkworm" In Wucheng County, Zhejiang Province, on the first day of the New Year, put a long pole on the grass, set fire, and beat gongs and drums, called "Qingtian Silkworm". He lit the sky lantern on the pole until March 3.
Ningbo needs to eat bean porridge on the first day of the lunar new year. Put off the "closing gun" again at night before closing.
Shaoxing New Year treats guests with a "tea bowl", which also contains olives and kumquins, and tea eggs are used to treat guests. This is called "holding gold ingots".
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: No talking during New Year's Eve dinner is rare in Shanxi nowadays, but the rule of not talking at dinner on New Year's Eve has been preserved. The first meal during the Spring Festival is to eat dumplings. When cooking dumplings, set off firecrackers. In order to drive away evil and seek good luck, sesame stalks are used to cook dumplings in some areas, which means that the new year is like sesame blossoms, and the days are getting better and better. If you want to cook more dumplings, you must have more than enough to make them more. When dining, in addition to one bowl per person, one or two more bowls should be served in order to hope that the population will prosper.
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: When to eat New Year's Eve dinner depends on your surname. In many places in rural Hubei, the time to eat New Year's Eve dinner varies due to different surnames. You may never imagine this custom. For the person surnamed Wang, family reunion begins at around five o'clock in the morning; for the person surnamed Gao, the banquet usually starts at around twelve o'clock in the afternoon; what about the person surnamed Yu? New Year's Eve dinner is set at six o'clock when it is almost dark; for those surnamed Yang, it can only be after twelve o'clock in the evening... There is a legend here: after Qin Shihuang unified China, the original Chu State reached the point of "thousands of paths disappeared", and the Chu people had been hunted down and turned into mourning. Seeing the sharp decline in the population of Chu, Qin Shihuang ordered immigrants from Jiujiang (now Jiangxi) to live in Chu. Some people arrived in the morning, some arrived at noon, and some in the afternoon... In order to commemorate themselves coming to Chu, they used the time when they arrived at their new residence when eating New Year's Eve.
Guangdong: New Year greetings is an orange exchange movement. People in Chaoshan area of Guangdong will bring a big bag of oranges before going out to pay New Year greetings. Every relative they visit, they will send big oranges. No matter how many, it must be plural and then say some blessings. After sitting down, relatives will entertain them with Chaoshan Kung Fu tea, and return Daju to them before leaving. "So, at the end of the day, you will find that there are still a few Chaozhou oranges you bring back in the morning." Because Cantonese sends big oranges as "good luck", giving them back is a courtesy. At the same time, in the first month, everyone should watch their pockets tightly and avoid letting others take them out."Being dug out of your pockets means that the year will be 'hollowed out'."