Why is there a dragon lantern dance during the Spring Festival?

The origin and development of the Spring Festival is a process of gradual formation, subtle improvement and popularization. Spring Festival culture, as an important part of traditional Chinese culture, reflects the broad and profound Chinese cultural heritage. So why is there a dragon lantern dance during the Spring Festival? Let’s take a look below.

Contents

Why dragon lanterns are danced during the Spring Festival

Introduction to Taiwan’s Spring Festival customs

What Cantonese people eat during the Spring Festival What food?

Why dragon lantern dance is necessary during the Spring Festival?

Dragon lantern, also known as dragon dance, is an ancient Chinese folk dance and a traditional festival lantern for the Han people and some ethnic minorities. According to legend, the dragon is a symbol of auspiciousness, so folk dragon lantern dances are held every Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, lantern fairs, temple fairs and harvest years.

Dragon lanterns are generally made of bamboo, wood, paper, and cloth. The number of sections varies, but they are all in odd numbers. Its images vary according to color and are of various types. Those that can burn candles in each section are called "dragon lanterns".

The dragon lantern is about 20 meters long and 60---70 centimeters in diameter. It is made into a circle with iron wire inside, with light bulbs or candles installed, and wrapped with gauze and painted outside. The dragon dancers consist of dozens of people. One person is fighting the dragon with a hydrangea ball in front, and the others are all lifting the dragon, performing actions such as two dragons playing with beads, two dragons coming out of the water, a fire dragon taking flight, and a dragon making waves in the sea.

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Introduction to Taiwan’s Spring Festival customs

In Taiwan, like other parts of mainland China, the Spring Festival, also called the Chinese New Year, is the most lively and popular festival among the people. The longest holiday. Generally, it starts from the "Wei Ya" on the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month and ends after the Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Festival) on the 15th day of the first lunar month, which lasts for a full month.

Tail teeth. The first and fifteenth day of every month or the second and sixteenth day of each month are the days when Taiwanese businessmen worship the God of the Earth, which is called "tooth making". The first tooth to be done on February 2nd is called the "head tooth"; the tooth to be done on December 16th is the last tooth to be done, so it is called the "tail tooth". The end of the year is the "end" of a year's activities for businesses and the "prelude" to the Spring Festival activities of ordinary people. On this day, ordinary people in Taiwan will burn Tudigong gold in their homes to worship the god of good fortune (i.e. Tudigong). They will also set up a bench in front of the door, offer five-flavor bowls, and burn scripture robes and silver paper to worship the owner of the foundation. (Worship of the foundations of houses). All businesses and companies will also have a grand banquet for their employees today to reward their hard work over the past year.

In the past, if the boss did not intend to re-employ an employee in the coming year, he would point a chicken head at the employee during the banquet to imply dismissal. However, this custom has become extinct. In addition to Wei Ya dinners, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, according to traditional customs, the whole family gathers together to "eat Wei Ya". The main food is cakes and dumplings. Runbian is made of bean sprouts, shredded bamboo shoots, beans, garlic, dried eggs, tiger moss, peanut powder, tomato sauce and other food wrapped in a runnbread wrapper. The food contained in the gua bao is three-layer meat, pickles, dried bamboo shoots, coriander, peanut powder, etc., which are all delicious local foods.

Send God off. The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the day to send off the gods. Every household holds a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the stove god and send off the stove god and other gods to heaven. The Kitchen God is commonly known as "Kitchen Lord", and is also called "Siming Zhenjun", "Kitchen Lord" and "Zhao Lord". "Kitchen King" etc. Its full name is "Dongchu Si Ming Jiuling Yuan Wang Dingfu Shenjun", so some people also call it "Jiutian Dongchu Ciyan Master". In the early days of Taiwanese folk, every kitchen had a rather large "stove". According to legend, there is a Kitchen God, who is sent by the Jade Emperor on January 4th every year to monitor the words and deeds of each family. Until December 24th, he returns to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor and report the good and evil deeds of each family.

New Year’s Eve: Saying goodbye to the New Year, debt avoidance drama, surrounding the fire, watching the New Year, etc. New Year's Eve, also called New Year's Eve, is the most important day in Taiwanese customs, and there are many customs. Before bidding farewell to the new year, the "hall head" is arranged, that is, in the hall where "Guanyin Mother" and the statues of gods are worshiped, new prints and couplings are replaced. In the afternoon, the "New Year's Farewell" ceremony was held.

Five animals and various New Year cakes are placed on the table to worship the gods, and then the ancestors are worshiped, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times to express their gratitude to the gods and ancestors for their blessings this year, and to pray for more blessings in the new year. "Spring rice" is also offered in front of the god's table, which is a small bowl filled with rice, with flowers made of red paper placed on the rice. There are three bowls in front of the gods and Buddhas, and one bowl on the stove. These flowers are also called "spring flowers" or "rice spring flowers", and this rice is called "New Year's Eve rice". (In the Hokkien language, "spring" and "leftover" are homophonic, which means that you can't finish it no matter how much you eat, and there is still some leftover). There are also three piles of oranges and some red dates placed in front of the table. Red dates mean good luck every year. The oranges cannot be harvested until the Lantern Festival. There is a saying that "the orange sheds will be demolished on the night of the Yuan Dynasty." Finally, gold paper must be burned and firecrackers set off to complete the New Year's farewell ceremony.

Debt avoidance plays and debt collection lanterns are festive activities performed during the New Year to avoid creditors coming to collect debts. On New Year's Eve, various temples in Taiwan perform performances to worship gods. Those who had debts that they could not repay during the New Year would run to the temple stage and hide among the crowd to watch the show. According to custom, creditors cannot ask him to collect debts. If a debt collector insists on going to the stage of a "debt avoidance show" to ask for money from someone, it will arouse public outrage and be beaten by the crowd, asking for trouble. This play will be performed all night long until the early morning of the next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year. The debtors will have a smooth New Year. However, creditors also have a way to deal with it, that is, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, they wear old clothes and carry lanterns to collect debts, pretending that they have been collecting debts since the night of New Year's Eve and have not yet returned home. The lanterns are still in their hands, so they cannot It is regarded as "New Year's debt collection", and this kind of lamp is called "debt collection lamp". However, unless the grievances are deep, creditors generally will not use the "debt collection lamp" easily.

Around the fire, on New Year's Eve, also called New Year's Eve, family members who have gone out to make a living have to rush back to their hometown to reunite. If they can't make it back, they have to leave a place to put that person's clothes to express reunion. . The whole family gathers around the table to eat the most sumptuous meal of the year. There is a blazing oven under the table and some copper coins beside the stove to show warmth like spring and strong wealth. What is eaten around the fire generally has a symbolic meaning. If you must eat "permanent vegetables" (made of mustard greens, which means longevity) and "leeks" ("leeks" are homophonic to "jiu"), you should eat them one by one, from beginning to end, and do not eat horizontally or bite them. If it is broken, life can be "long and long"). In addition, eating radish (i.e. cabbage head) means good luck; eating "whole chicken" means family happiness ("chicken" and "home" are homophonic); eating "cockles" means strong fecundity. After eating, the cockles The shells should be placed under the bed, which means that clams and grandchildren will be born; eating fish balls, shrimp balls, and meat balls means "three yuan and the third" (the word "wan" and "yuan" are homophonic, and the three yuan means Zhuangyuan, Huiyuan, and Jie). Yuan); Do not cut all vegetables into fine pieces with a knife, but cook them in their original shape.

There is a proverb in Taiwan called "Two Nine Olds", which means that New Year's Eve is a day of good luck and good luck. In the past, it was popular in Taiwan to adopt women with different surnames as "child brides." When he was seventeen or eighteen years old, he married his son. People from wealthy families usually hold banquets to entertain relatives and friends and hold weddings after the 20th day. Those from ordinary families will reunite with their children on New Year's Eve to consummate their child bride's marriage with her son, which is commonly known as "send to make a pile" or "share a house" to "become an adult". Usually, you should choose an auspicious day to get married to avoid offending the gods. However, on New Year's Eve, the gods have already sent them to heaven. At this time, if you choose a child bride and your son to "send them to the pile", you don't have to worry about being punished by the gods.

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What foods do Cantonese people eat during the Spring Festival?

Rice cakes

Rice cakes are made from sticky rice or Cake made from steamed rice flour is a seasonal food during the Lunar New Year. Rice cakes are homophonic to "every year higher", which means that people's work and life are improving year by year. Cantonese people like to cut the rice cake into slices and fry them in a pot until fragrant. When you bite into it, the surface is fragrant, and the inside is sticky, soft and glutinous rice cake with a sweet taste. Adults and children like it very much.

The most traditional Cantonese rice cake is dark orange in color and looks simple but has a unique taste. Nowadays, many businesses also make the rice cakes into the shape of carp, which means not only good fortune every year, but also more than enough every year. It has become a double good intention. In addition to eating it for themselves, many people also like to buy these carp rice cakes. Give gifts.

Sugar Ring

Before there were modern faucets, there was only a pointed protrusion on the water pipe. There is always a hollow iron ring in every house. When you want to get water, align the small hole in the middle with the protrusion and press it, and the tap water will flow out. This iron ring is called a sugar ring. Cantonese people also like to eat sugar rings during the Chinese New Year. This sugar ring is of course different from the other. The sugar rings are made of glutinous rice flour. The only similarity between the two sugar rings is the shape. They both resemble rings that are buckled one by one.

Jian Dui

During the Chinese New Year in Guangzhou, you must eat Jian Dui. Huang Dedeng’s Jian Dui looks like a big fat boy. If you touch it a little, it will roll far away. Therefore, there is a saying in Guangdong: "A pot of fried pot will fill the house with gold and silver." This means that eating fried pot will bring wealth to the family.

Jian Dui is made of glutinous rice flour. Traditional Jian Dui is divided into two types: hollow and solid. Solid fried dumpling is a common "baogu stuffing", which tastes fragrant and crispy. However, if the elderly have bad teeth, eating this fried dumpling will become a torture, and they may even knock their teeth.

The other type is the hollow fried dumpling. As the name suggests, the hollow fried dumpling has no fillings and only has a thin layer of fried dumpling skin. The skin of Jian Dui is made from glutinous rice flour. It is first kneaded into a small hollow glutinous rice flour ball, and then the housewives blow air into it like a balloon. After a while, Jian Dui will puff up. After being thrown into the frying pan and fried, the hollow fried pile will turn into a golden ball. After being left overnight, it tastes soft and fragrant.

Egg powder

Egg powder is also a kind of fried food. It is made by twisting thin strips of dough and throwing it into a frying pan. There are two common types of egg powder, one is salty, and sesame seeds are often rubbed into the dough, making it delicious and crispy. The other one is sweet, not as crispy as salty, but more crispy. It is dipped in honey and thrown into the mouth, and it melts as soon as you bite it.

Egg noodles are not as heavy as other traditional fried foods. Because they are fried with thin noodles, they often fall apart when touched. Therefore, Guangzhou people also like to call the timid or unpromising little people Dansan.

Youjiao

The small Youjiao looks like a dumpling. The difference is that Youjiao has an extra beautiful lace, like a beautiful lotus leaf shape. purse. It is also a fried food, but the connotation inside the Youjiao is much richer: when sesame seeds, peanuts and white sugar are mixed together, it becomes a fragrant Youjiao filling. Fry it up and put it in your mouth. It's crispy and sweet. Both adults and children like it. With the development of the times, on the basis of traditional fillings, there are now scallion oil fillings, shredded coconut fillings, etc. on the market, with various flavors for you to choose from.

The memories that Youjiao brings to the old people are not only the sweet taste, but also the deep family affection. In the old days, when the Chinese New Year was approaching, the whole family would get together. The adults would roll out the dough, prepare the stuffing, and then wrap the fried dough balls, and play with each other. The children were nearby, playing and waiting to eat the snacks. The happiest thing is to hear the family members say "Eat it!" The children quickly wiped the saliva from the corners of their mouths, swarmed to the table in the oil corner, and stretched out their little hands to grab it.

However, this behavior usually attracts adults to say: "It's so hot! Damn it!"

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