The beautiful tradition of New Year's Day

Opening the door and firecrackers

On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door opens, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door and firecrackers." Putting three pieces is called "Three Yuan in a row"; putting four pieces is called "Fu Lu Shou Xi"; putting five pieces is called "Five Blessings"; putting six pieces is called "Liu Liu Dashun"... After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with red and bright colors. Ruoyun Brocade is called "Man Tang Hong". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness.

Worship God

The first day of the first lunar month is also a day to worship God. Friends with religious beliefs can go to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings to ensure a smooth and safe year. On the first day of the first lunar month, Guangzhou neighbors will worship their ancestors and gods early in the morning, get up, burn incense and set off firecrackers, which means "grabbing spring". Haikou people are also very particular about worshiping gods and ancestors on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They must first place wine and tea, and prepare chicken, chicken blood, squid, pork and other food in advance. The chicken blood must be placed on the chicken. After placing three sticks of incense on the ancestor statues, you can start worshiping the ancestors. After worshiping the ancestors, the new year begins in full swing.

Eating fast

After eating big fish and meat on New Year’s Eve, the whole family eats vegetarian food for the first meal on the first day of the Lunar New Year. "Zhai" and "disaster" have the same pronunciation, and "eating" also means "eating disaster". It means "eating" all the disasters in the new year and keeping the family safe. For lunch on the first day of the Lunar New Year, we cook a pot of "Luo Han Zhai" with vermicelli, yuba, nostoc, mushrooms, etc., which means that all the vegetarian dishes that should be eaten this year are eaten on this day, and we can eat fish and meat in the future, praying for good luck in the coming year. There is a saying that "it is better to fast on the first day of the new year than to fast for a whole year".

Drink Tusu wine

Tusu wine is a medicinal wine. In ancient customs, the whole family drank Tusu wine on Yuan Day to dispel unhealthy energy. In ancient times, the way to drink Tusu wine was very unique. Most people always start drinking from the oldest ones; but when drinking Tusu wine, it is just the opposite, starting from the youngest ones. Probably the younger ones grow up day by day and drink first to show their congratulations, while the older ones drink later to show their retention as each year passes.

Eating rice cakes

Eating rice cakes on the first day of the Lunar New Year is a Chinese tradition, which means "higher and higher". The styles of rice cakes include square yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver and convey the meaning of getting rich in the new year.

Eating dumplings

Eating dumplings on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is a custom for northerners, but now many southerners have also joined the ranks of eating dumplings. Eating dumplings on New Year's Eve means "Geng Nian Jiao Zi" (good luck in the coming year). Eating dumplings on New Year's Day means good luck in the coming year.

Eating glutinous rice balls

The breakfast glutinous rice balls on the first day of the Lunar New Year must have a special meaning. Its meaning is: everything goes well and the whole family is reunited happily. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, glutinous rice balls are not called "tangyuan" but "yuanbao". Eating glutinous rice balls is not called "eating glutinous rice balls" but "getting ingots". Because in the local dialect, "getting into trouble" is often referred to as "getting into trouble."

Eat noodles

Long noodles, also called longevity noodles. Eating longevity noodles on the first day of the Lunar New Year means "longevity every year" and wishes for a hundred years of life. Many Elderly people still maintain this custom.

Drink "Yuanbao Tea"

The so-called "Yuanbao Tea" means that the tea used here is a higher grade than usual, and a "golden" is added to the tea jar at home. "Orange" or "green olive" refers to "Yuanbao", which symbolizes the New Year. "Yuanbao comes in and makes you rich." Secondly, there is a "Yuanbao" cut out of red paper on the teapot, which roughly means "recruitment." Wealth comes in treasure."

Drink chicken soup

Drinking chicken soup on New Year’s Day symbolizes “peace”. In addition, the main labor force in the family also eats chicken feet, which means "making money in the New Year".

New Year's greetings

An important activity during the Spring Festival is to go to new friends' homes and neighbors to wish them a happy New Year, which was formerly known as New Year's greetings. New Year greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to bid farewell to the old year, welcome the new year, and express their best wishes to each other. New Year greetings usually start at home. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after the younger generation gets up, they should first pay New Year greetings to their elders, wishing them good health, longevity and all the best. After the elders are worshiped, they should distribute the "New Year's money" prepared in advance to the younger generations. After paying New Year greetings to their elders at home, people go out to pay New Year greetings.

Accounting for the New Year

In the old days, the weather was cloudy and sunny in the first few days of the New Year to predict the success of the year. The theory begins with "Sui Zhan" written by Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty, which states that eight days after the end of the year, one day is the chicken day, the second day is the dog day, the third day is the pig day, the fourth day is the sheep day, the fifth day is the cow day, the sixth day is the horse day, and the seventh day is the horse day. One day is a great man, eight days is a valley. If the day is sunny, the object will flourish; if the day is cloudy, the object will not prosper. Later generations followed this custom and believed that the weather from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month was auspicious with clear weather, no wind and no snow. Later generations developed from accounting for age into a series of sacrifices and celebrations. There is a custom that no chickens are killed on the first day of the lunar month, dogs are not killed on the second day of the lunar month, pigs are not killed on the third day of the lunar month... no executions are carried out on the seventh day of the lunar month.

Give lucky money

It is a traditional Chinese custom to give some lucky money to children during the New Year. New Year's money is full of blessings from the elders to the younger ones. In China, there are some widely circulated stories about the origin of New Year's money. For example, in ancient times, there was a evil spirit named "Sui" who came out to harm children every New Year's Eve. So people would light up lights and stay up all night, and put copper coins next to their children's pillows to ward off evil spirits. This was called "keeping evil spirits" or "suppressing evil spirits".

No killing

Every Chinese New Year, there are many customary habits that need to be observed, commonly known as New Year prohibitions.

Because the first month is the beginning of the year, people often regard it as a sign of fortune for the new year, so there are many "taboos" during the New Year.

For example, it is forbidden to kill animals on the first day of the Lunar New Year, because killing animals is believed to lead to disasters such as knife disasters, military disasters, and blood disasters. Do not use a broom on the first day of the first lunar month, otherwise you will sweep away luck and lose money. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside. It is also not allowed to break furniture during the New Year. Breaking it is a sign of bankruptcy. You must quickly say "Every year (broken) is safe" or "Flowers bloom, wealth and prosperity".