1. The origin of the Spring Festival:

Legend has it that there is a beast called "Nian", which comes out to eat people when winter is approaching, making people uneasy. When people were fighting "Nian", this ferocious beast was afraid of fire and noise, so people thought of a way. When "Nian" appeared, they lit a fire, threw in bamboo joints, and ignited a raging fire." Nian" heard the sound of firecrackers and ran away. Later, people began to celebrate the New Year by "hanging red lanterns, setting off firecrackers, and eating New Year's dinner."

2. Preparations before the Spring Festival (after the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, various annual activities will gradually begin)

1. Sacrifice to the Kitchen God: The Kitchen God, also known as the "Kitchen God", is commonly known as the "Kitchen Lord". Every year on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, he returns to the palace to report the situation to the Jade Emperor. Return to the human world on New Year's Eve. People were worried about slandering the Jade Emperor, so they held sacrifices for him when he went to the Heavenly Palace, hoping that he would "speak good things to heaven and keep peace on earth."

2. Other preparation activities: writing Spring Festival couplets, preparing meat, preparing pasta, haircut, bathing, and cleaning.

3. Folklore activities - static folklore

3. Spring couplets: (1) The origin of Spring Festival couplets: It was called "Taofu" in ancient times. It is said that in Wang Chong's "Lunheng Dinggui Chapter" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the two gods Shen Tu and Yu Lei lived in the big peach tree and dealt with ghosts. They feed the evil spirits who do evil things to the tigers. Therefore, people think that ghosts are afraid of Shen Tu and Yu Lei, as well as peach trees. So every Chinese New Year, people always hang peach charms or peach wood figures at the door to ward off ghosts, ward off evil spirits, and bless peace. (2) The earliest Spring Festival couplets: In 965 AD, Emperor Meng Chang of the Later Shu Dynasty wrote on the peach symbols on the inner door of the palace: The New Year is full of joy, and the festival number is Changchun. This is the earliest known Spring Festival couplet in my country. Since then, Spring Festival couplets have become one of the most representative folk activities during the Spring Festival. Some people also like to paste the word "福" upside down. Because the word "inverted" is homophonic to "arrive", the word "福" posted upside down means "blessing has arrived".

4． New Year paintings: (1) The origin of door god paintings: there are three theories. One theory is that it originated from the myths and legends of Shen Tu and Yu Lei. The ancients hung the statues of the two gods at the door to drive away ghosts. One originates from Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordering Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong to guard the gate to drive away ghosts, and painted the two generals on the palace gate. It originated from a dream by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty that Zhong Kui was catching ghosts for him. When he woke up, he ordered a painter to paint Zhong Kui on the door. (2) The origin of the Kitchen God paintings: According to folklore, the Kitchen God returns to the earth from the Heavenly Palace on New Year’s Eve, so people always buy new paintings of the Kitchen God and stick them on their doors at this time, hoping that they will bring good luck and happiness. (3) Other common New Year pictures.

5. The word "福" is the earliest. Legend has it that it dates back to Jiang Ziya, also known as Jiang Taigong, in the Zhou Dynasty. When Jiang Taigong consecrated her to a god, he named his wife the god of poverty and said, "You can't go to blessed places." People put the word "福" on them during the Chinese New Year. This history dates back to Cixi. Every year, the Empress Dowager has the habit of blessing ministers. One year after blessing, Prince Gong Fujin took down the blessing and committed the crime of beheading. Li Lianying came to his rescue: "Lao Buddha is as blessed as the East Sea, and his life span is as long as the Southern Mountains. If you are blessed this year, the blessing will really come." Cixi was very happy when she heard this, and even said: "Luck has arrived..." When word spread among the people, the word "blessing" was also pasted upside down.

6. Window grilles: Window grilles are paper-cut works affixed to windows to celebrate the New Year. There are two ways to make window grilles. The first is scissor cutting. A skillful woman can use a pair of scissors to cut out many patterns from colored paper. The second type is engraving, which is usually performed by professional folk artists. Forty or fifty window grilles can be carved at a time and supplied to the market.

4. Spring Festival Folklore--Dynamic Folklore

1. New Year's Eve: 1) What is New Year's Eve: New Year's Eve is the last night of the year. Since the lunar months have different sizes, the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month is New Year's Eve in some years, and the 29th night of the twelfth lunar month is New Year's Eve in other years. 2) Keeping the year old on New Year’s Eve: An important activity on New Year’s Eve is keeping the year old. Because after the Qin and Han Dynasties, our people basically regarded midnight as the starting time of the day, which is equivalent to 23:00 to 1:00 in the modern timekeeping method. Midnight on New Year's Eve is a critical moment to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. For this reason, people have to stay up all night waiting for this moment to arrive. The whole family got together, making dumplings and waiting patiently.

2. Setting off firecrackers: 1) What are firecrackers: Firecrackers, also known as "firecrackers". As soon as the New Year's bell falls, firecrackers burst out in the streets and alleys to welcome the arrival of the New Year. 2) The origin of firecrackers: According to the Records of the Years of Jingchu by Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, "On the first day of the first lunar month, the cock crows. Firecrackers are fired in front of the court to avoid the evil spirits from the mountains." This means that people were there at that time. After getting up in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, first put the bamboo in the fire. The loud noise made by the bamboo bursting can scare away monsters and evil spirits and protect the safety of the whole family. Around the Tang Dynasty, people filled bamboo tubes with gunpowder, ignited the gunpowder, and made explosions. Later, people used paper rolls instead of bamboo tubes, forming the same firecrackers as today. 3) Types of firecrackers: There are various types of firecrackers. People in the Song Dynasty slightly improved firecrackers and invented fireworks. Fireworks: also known as "fireworks" and "fireworks". It emits extremely brilliant light when it explodes. Therefore it is deeply loved by people. Many countries around the world now use fireworks to decorate their festive night skies.

3. Lion dance: Bai Juyi's "Xiliang Biography": a masked barbarian with a fake lion, carved wood for the head and silk tail. Gold-plated glasses, silver-tinted teeth, Fenxun sweater hanging on both ears. As if he had traveled thousands of miles from quicksand, he has a purple beard and deep eyes. Dancing Liang came to deliver a speech, as if Liangzhou had not yet fallen into the sun. When Protector Anxi came in.

Lion dance originated from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which was the era when Buddhism emerged.

4． Other folk activities: dancing yangko, walking on stilts, and beating gongs and drums.

5. Worshiping gods and ancestors: Among the traditional Spring Festival activities, the most important thing is worshiping gods and ancestors. Superstitious families have special shrines to worship various gods, as well as images of the tablets of their ancestors. On the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, people respectfully offer offerings (including the first bowl of freshly cooked dumplings) and light incense in front of the shrines and ancestral tablets. I sincerely thank the gods and ancestors’ spirits in heaven for protecting me in the past year and pray for their blessings for happiness in the coming year.

6. New Year greetings: After offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, children and grandchildren begin to pay New Year greetings to their elders and relatives. The traditional New Year greeting ceremony is to kowtow three times to elders and relatives, but now most of them have been changed to three bows. While saluting, I wish the elders good health and all the best. The elders sit upright, receive New Year greetings from their children and grandchildren, and then give a red envelope to their children and grandchildren. This is "lucky money". Generally used as pocket money for children during the Spring Festival. Other relatives pay New Year greetings to each other one after another, which can last for many days. When friends meet, they say "Congratulations on getting rich" or "Happy Spring Festival" to each other to express their congratulations. The New Year greetings reflect the respect and filial piety of the younger generation for their elders; the love and care of their children and grandchildren from the elders. New Year greetings between relatives and friends also greatly promote the deepening of mutual feelings. Therefore, since ancient times, people have attached great importance to New Year greetings. Song Dynasty poet Dai Fuxu's "New Year's Day Clan Party Meeting": "We worship the New Year's Day with clothes and hats, and the bottles are facing Fangchen. There are two hundred people above and below, five generations of people. The trees in the row are ancient, and the water shines in the early plum blossoms. The cold weather will subside, The scenery is new again. "The event of more than 200 people from a large family paying New Year greetings to each other is vividly written.

7. Ren's Day: The seventh day of the first lunar month, also known as "Ren's Day". Sui Dynasty poet Xue Daoheng's "People Think of Returning Every Day" has only been seven days since spring, and it has been two years since I left home. After returning to the wild geese, my thoughts are in front of the flowers. Why is the seventh day of the first lunar month called "Human Day"? This is related to ancient Chinese mythology. The myth says that God created chickens on the first day of the lunar month, dogs on the second day of the lunar month, sheep on the third day of the lunar month, pigs on the fourth day of the lunar month, oxen on the fifth day of the lunar month, horses on the sixth day of the lunar month, and humans on the seventh day of the lunar month. Therefore, The seventh day of the lunar month is the day when human beings are born. Therefore, the ancients called this day "Human Day". In order to commemorate the birth of human beings, during the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, people would cut out colorful paper figures and paste them on screens or wear them on their heads. It is used to symbolize that people have a new look in the new year. In the Tang Dynasty, the content of Renri paper-cutting also developed and changed. Yu Yanshou, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Ribbon-cutting on the Ribbon Day": "The lady is sitting with a knife, pitying herself and cutting new leaves. The leaves are accelerating, and the flowers are in the hands and become spring. The swallows are posted on the door, and the chickens are stuck to wait for the payer. Qinglai comes to ask her husband. Son-in-law, what's not as good as the truth? "The cut includes red flowers, green leaves, flying swallows and poultry. All lifelike. This is very similar to modern folk window grilles.

5. Spring Festival Folk Customs - Food Folk Customs

Rice cakes and dumplings are the most distinctive foods during the Spring Festival.

1) New Year Cake: Also known as "New Year Cake". It is homophonic to "higher every year", which contains the expectation that life will get better year by year. Rice cakes are made from cereals with strong stickiness. Small yellow rice is mostly used in the north, while glutinous rice is mostly used in the south. In the north, rice cakes are generally sweet, while in the south, rice cakes can be made into different flavors. However, it’s not as delicious as dumplings. The Spring Festival food that northerners prefer is dumplings. 2) Dumplings are also known as "jiaozi, jiaozi, and flat food". Its origins are very ancient. Archaeologists once discovered a preserved dumpling from more than a thousand years ago. Northerners must eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year. And the dumplings eaten on the Spring Festival must be wrapped before 12 o'clock on New Year's Eve. The key to delicious dumplings lies in the fillings, which can be pure meat, pure vegetables, or a mixture of meat and vegetables. There are endless variations and different flavors. You can change it according to your own taste, so men, women, old and young all like to eat dumplings. Among the dumplings eaten during the Spring Festival, one is filled with tofu filling, and another is filled with a coin. Whoever eats dumplings stuffed with tofu will get rich in the new year, and people's ideals are also contained in the dumplings.

6. Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the first full moon night in the year, so it is called "Lantern Festival". Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty once put down a rebellion on the 15th day of the first lunar month, so he designated this day as the "Shangyuan Festival". In order to show respect for Buddha, Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty ordered the lighting of Lantern Festival lanterns. Since then, the Lantern Festival has gradually evolved into a folk festival for viewing lanterns. Hence the name "Festival of Lights". The seasonal food of the Lantern Festival is glutinous rice balls, which are also called Yuanxiao in the north, symbolizing reunion.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival lantern viewing activities were unprecedentedly grand, and the whole country celebrated together. "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" records that Yang Guifei's sister, Mrs. Han, sent people to build a tree with a hundred branches. It was eighty feet high, as high as the tree on the mountain. When it was lit at night in the Yuan Dynasty, it could be seen hundreds of miles away, and the light was dazzling. "Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty They even ordered craftsmen to build a lantern tower hundreds of feet high and dozens of feet wide for tourists to watch. In the Song Dynasty, it was even better than before. Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Menghua Lu" records: "Tie the straw into a dragon shape, cover the cage with a green curtain, and place tens of thousands of lamps and candles densely on the grass. Watch it winding like two dragons flying away." The emperor also personally led the team. A grand guard of honor participated in the lantern viewing activity. The poet Su Weiwei's "The Fifteenth Night of the First Month": The trees and flowers bloom together, and the iron locks of the star bridge open. The dark dust follows the horse, and the bright moon follows the person. The wandering prostitutes all have plum blossoms, and the plum blossoms fall when they sing. Jinwu can't help but stay at night, and the jade leaks don't urge each other. It can be seen that entertainment activities are held all night long and it is very lively.

It can be said that the carnival of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month brings a successful conclusion to the entire Spring Festival event.

7. Summary

During the research process, we conducted interviews and research on ethnic minorities such as the Hui, Daur, Mongolian, Ewenki, Zhuang, and Yao ethnic groups, and also conducted interviews on Surveys were conducted in the Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast and other regions, and the following conclusions were drawn: With the rapid development of modern society, the Spring Festival folk customs of various ethnic groups tend to be Chinese, and the Spring Festival folk customs of various regions also tend to be consistent, symbolizing the great unity of the nation and the motherland. prosperity and development. In addition, the Spring Festival folk customs fully reflect the five thousand years of our country's long culture and the diligence and wisdom of the people, leaving a rich cultural heritage for future generations. The Spring Festival folk customs are the essence of the cultural heritage. As the new generation successors of the motherland, we must carry forward these fine traditional cultures.

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