What do people do on New Year's Eve? On New Year's Eve, the night of the last day of the lunar year, the general impression is that they are eating New Year's Eve and keeping the year's Eve. What other customs are there on New Year's Eve? In fact, it is a very happy thing for the family to get together on New Year's Eve.
What will people do on New Year's Eve
The three most important things on New Year's Eve: ancestor worship, new year's Eve dinner and keeping the year.
Ancestor worship
Offering sacrifices to ancestors is the first event on New Year's Eve. In many parts of our country, on this day, people will put on rich meals at home, light incense candles, and parents will lead their grandchildren to worship. Some rural areas in the North burn paper money at home. In the evening of the new year's Eve, candles were lit in front of the ancestral statues, wine was poured in, dishes were placed, and the whole family held a grand ceremony of sacrifice to express their feelings of "being cautious and pursuing the future". It's not until you use the new year's Eve meal that people begin to enjoy it. New year's Eve dinner is also called reunion dinner. According to Zong Bi's records of the age of Jingchu, there was a custom of eating New Year's Eve dinner at least in the northern and Southern Dynasties. Because it's winter, people in the north often set hot pot in the middle of the table, so it's also called an enclosed stove.
Staying up late on New Year
The custom of keeping the age has a history of nearly two thousand years in China. In Fengtu Ji, a book written by the Zhou people of Jin Dynasty, it is said that the custom of the year of Shu is that at the end of the year, people give presents to each other for the new year's day, which is called 'giving a gift to the new year's Day'; entertaining each other, which is called 'another year's Day'; staying up all night on New Year's Eve, which is called 'guarding the new year's Day'. This is the earliest record about the custom of keeping the year. But at this time, ShouSui seems to be a local custom. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, ShouSui became a common custom in the country.
Stepping on
On New Year's Eve, the Chinese people also hold the activities of stepping on the year-old, that is, sticking the sesame stalks in the yard into the shape of Yuanbao rolled with yellow paper and gathering them into a bundle, which is called "treasure basin". Then, the whole family trampled it with their feet to 'break' and 'harmony' year-old ', and borrowed the auspicious meaning of sesame blossoming, wishing the family prosperity and expressing the blessing and hope for the new year.
Gift money
New year's money, also known as new year's money, keeping money, etc. After the new year's Eve dinner, the elders will send money to the younger generation. Because it's in red envelope bag (red bag), it's also called red bag. In ancient China, a hundred copper coins were strung into a string with red thread, which is similar to the shape of wheat ears, indicating a long life. One of them is the homonym of "Sui" and "Sui". In some temples, there will be many believers waiting for the first incense to be put in the incense burner of the temple in the new year, which is said to represent the protection of Geely and gods for a year.
The origin of new year's Eve
In addition to legends, according to historical records, new year's Eve Shou Sui began in the southern and Northern Dynasties. The word "year" is commonly used in ancient China with the word "year". Year is year, and year is year. According to the interpretation of Shuowen Jiezi, "year" and "Gu Shu". It is also said in the story of the valley and the beam that "five grains are ripe for a long time". Even the word "Nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the appearance of mature ears. Therefore, it can be inferred that 'New Year' is a day of harvest and celebration, while Chinese New Year is a celebration and prayer for the harvest.