Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation, which is special for every Chinese. These are special knowledge for the Spring Festival, do you know? Let's take a look at them with sihai.com.
1. The Spring Festival was not called "Spring Festival"
The first day of the first lunar month is not called the Spring Festival in ancient times, but the new year's day. After the revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar was adopted to record the year, so the first day of January in the Gregorian calendar was called the new year's day, and the first day of the first lunar month was called the Spring Festival.
2. 'Spring Festival' was not a festival before
The word "Spring Festival" in Chinese history is not a festival, but refers to "spring" in the 24 solar terms. In the biography of Yang Zhen in the later Han Dynasty, it is said: 'the Spring Festival is not rainy, and the hundred bureaucrats are worried about it, but they are not only renovated, which will cause the drought. In the northern and Southern Dynasties, 'Spring Festival' generally refers to the whole spring.
3. Spring Festival can be divided into narrow sense and broad sense
Nowadays, the narrow sense of Spring Festival generally refers to the first day of the Chinese lunar year, that is, the first day of the first lunar month. In a broad sense, the Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial ceremony on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or the sacrificial kitchen on the 23rd and 24th days of the twelfth lunar month, all the way to the 15th day of the first lunar month.
4. The time of the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month) is from January 21 to February 21 of the Gregorian calendar
The difference between the earliest Spring Festival (such as January 21, 1966) and the latest Spring Festival (such as February 20, 1985) is one month.
According to the calendar calculation, if the lunar calendar is not artificially adjusted, February 21, 2319 will usher in the 'latest Spring Festival in history', before which the Spring Festival will appear on February 20 of the Gregorian calendar at the latest, namely 1920 and 1985.
5. There may be two spring festival
Leap Spring Festival, also known as "leap first month", started from the use of the calendar system in 1645 A.D. to 2800 A.D. only six times of leap first month occurred in the lunar calendar, with the years of 1651, 2262, 2357, 2520, 2539 and 2634 respectively.
In principle, the first first first month of the Spring Festival, but there have been two times.
6. The new year's Eve will be on the 29th
There are no 30 days in a month, which is very normal in the lunar calendar. Because the current lunar calendar is arranged according to the astronomical data of the earth, moon and sun, you must not see any bright part of the moon on the first day of each month, that is, the 'new moon'.
In fact, the average period of the moon from full to missing is 29.53 days, and the number of days to arrange the month must be an integer, which leads to the appearance of the big and small months, which will happen when a month has 30 days and a month has 29 days.
If this month happens to be the twelfth lunar month, then there will be no new year's Eve in this year (lunar calendar), and the new year's Eve will be advanced to the 29th lunar month.
7. The celebration of Spring Festival is different every day
Although Spring Festival is a whole custom, the contents of celebration are different every day. From the first day to the seventh day, they are chicken day, dog day, pig day, sheep day, cattle day, horse day and man day. It is said that Nuwa first made chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows and horses in six days, and then made people in the seventh day after accumulating experience.
8. Spring Festival is not only in China
In addition to China, there are many countries in the world that list the lunar new year as a legal holiday: South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Mauritius, Myanmar and Brunei. In addition, the previous Japanese also celebrated the lunar new year, but after the Meiji Restoration, the lunar calendar was abolished and the festival was moved directly to the lunar calendar.
9. Lucky money is not money
In fact, new year's money is not 'money', but a kind of exorcism product in the shape of coins. It's said that in ancient times, there was a small demon with black body and white hands. It's called "Jing". It comes out every new year's Eve to hurt people. The purpose of suppressing money is to scare away the goods.
Photo by Hong Jianpeng
10. Pay attention to the reverse paste of "Fu"!
The word "Fu" on the gate can't be pasted upside down. In the folk tradition, the word "Fu" is pasted upside down only in water tanks, garbage cans and cabinets. In order to avoid pouring water and garbage away the blessings of the family, we paste the word "blessings" in these two places, using "blessings" to offset "blessings".
11. The earliest firecrackers are really bamboo!
The earliest reliable record of firecrackers can be found in Jin Chu Sui Ji of Liang Daizong in the Southern Dynasty: "the first day of the first month is the day of three yuan, also known as the end month. The crow of a chicken rises before the firecracker in front of the court to avoid being shy and evil. 'the firecracker at that time put the bamboo in the fire and burn it. Because the bamboo burns, it makes a sound of' crackle and Bell ', so it is called firecracker. And the first thing to get up in the new year is firecrackers. After the emergence of gunpowder, people filled saltpetre, sulfur and charcoal in bamboo tubes to burn, resulting in a 'explosive battle'. By the Song Dynasty, the Han people began to use paper tubes and hemp stems wrapped with gunpowder to make "firecrackers".
12. No haircut in the first month
There is a certain scientific basis for "no haircut in the first month". According to the "four Qi regulating the spirit" in the Huangdi Internal Classic, spring should allow hair to spread and grow freely, rather than cut off. Examining the hair claws can cut off serious illness and determine life and death, but the saying of "Uncle shaved to death" is nonsense.
13. New year boxing
Men's new year's boxing should be 'left to right', which is the traditional Chinese custom. Therefore, they should use their left hand to cover their right hand, which is called 'Jibai'. If their right hand covers their left hand, it is called 'mourning Fist', which is a gesture used to report mourning or beg for mercy. The opposite is true for women.
Do you know all this cold knowledge?