Folk stories of the Spring Festival

On the first day of the Lunar New Year in Wucheng County, a long pole sokcho was placed on it, which was lit and burned, and gongs and drums were played, which was called "Qingtian Silkworm". Light a lantern on the pole until March 3. Ningbo will eat bean porridge after ancestor worship on New Year's Day. Before closing at night, have another "closing gun". Shaoxing uses a "tea bowl" for Chinese New Year guests, in which olives and kumquat are put, and tea eggs are put at the same time, which is called "holding gold ingots".

Fujian Province

Before going out on New Year's Day, Xiamen people should worship the jade emperor in the sky, which is called "offering sacrifices to the gods". Sacrifice flowers and fruits to God in the morning, and sacrifice and a bowl of spring rice to God at noon. Spring rice is a spring flower made by inserting red paper on white rice. "Spring" and "surplus" are homophonic in Fujian, and spring rice is a good choice for its "annual surplus". The fourth day in Zhangzhou is called "Jiegu". In addition to burning incense in the temple, a candy and cake box called "recommendation box" should be prepared for the audience to meet the gods in the main hall.

Guangdong Province

In Haifeng area, young people and elders pay New Year greetings, and elders will give them red envelopes or oranges. Chaozhou's Spring Festival diet includes pickled vegetables, rotten jiaozi, fermented steamed stuffed buns, tube frying and five-fruit soup. On the fourth night, every household should light a lamp and prepare a jar of water, which is called "waiting for water". On the first day of the first month in Dongguan, taro is offered with sugar, which is called "wealth is predestined friends".

Jiangsu Province

During the Spring Festival in Jiangning County, a rooster was posted at your door. On New Year's Day, there were more believers in Wuxian than in Tong Yuan Temple. Suzhou custom: On New Year's Day, three firecrackers should be set off to open the door, which is called "promotion to the third level". When you go out in the morning, you should follow the direction specified in the yellow calendar, which is called "Happy God". In order to burn incense in temples such as the City God Temple and the Land Temple, you must go through ten temples, which is the so-called "ten temples to burn incense". From New Year's Day to Lantern Festival, huge coal is burning in the stove, which is called "Happy Group". Legend has it that people in Zhuan 'an eat jiaozi, so they eat jiaozi every day from the early morning of the New Year's Day to the Lantern Festival. Women in Wujin County cut off pine and cypress branches on New Year's Day, wrapped them in red silk and put them on a bun. It is said that they can live longer.

Sichuan Province

People in Chengdu don't eat during the New Year, because "rice" and "sin" are homonyms. In order to avoid taboos, they eat glutinous rice balls or dried noodles to pray for family reunion and longevity. Liu Ge and other places will celebrate the "off-year" on the seventh day of the first month. Besides worshipping God and ancestors, they will also have a family reunion dinner. Chengdu people visit Du Fu Caotang in the western suburbs every day. On the first day of the Lunar New Year in Changshou County, nine candles are lit outside the door, which are called "nine-level candles" to respect heaven and earth.

Shanxi(Province)

All the clans in Fuping County are portraits of their ancestors. On the first day, they called their children and grandchildren to worship. After the sacrifice, they were given a golden banquet called "Sacrifice Sitting". On the second day of the following year, relatives and friends give each other pasta and pork, which is called "Worship Festival". On the first day of New Year's Day in Gaoling County, yellow paper is hung on a bamboo pole at dawn to worship heaven, which is called "welcoming the gods". It is said that charcoal can be hung on the door, and it can kill the plague. Shiquan County takes yellow paper as money and hangs it on the door on New Year's Day, named "Bao Gai Qian". Lintong county regards the fifth day as "send the poor festival". After cutting the paper, every household takes it to the door and throws it away. Everyone must eat enough on that day, which is called "filling the five poor"

Shandong Province

Eating wonton on New Year's Day in Ningyang County is called "filling the warehouse". In Huangxian County and Penglai area, it is wasteful to get up early on New Year's Day. The hostess holds a red candle to light up every corner of the room, which means to drive away the darkness with light, and then paste all kinds of window grilles made of flour on the windowsill. After getting up, the child has to climb the door and play three swings. It is said that they grow very fast. In some areas, cooking jiaozi with sesame stems means that the New Year rises like sesame blossoms, and steamed bread should be put in the pot after meals, which means there are "leftover heads". In the first year, the new wife in Jiaodong will go to her husband's grandparents' house to pay a New Year call, which is called "Zagen". It is said that when you get to your grandparents' house, you can take root, and there will be no divorce and early widowhood. In the old days, there was a custom of "sending the poor on the fifth day". Firecrackers should be set off on that day to show "driving the five poor". Qufu held the "Wenqu Star Club" on the fifth day. On the evening of the fifth day, the students will go to the teacher's house to burn incense and worship Confucius. Then the teacher will write an article, and after writing it, the teacher will burn it, which is called "Wenqu Star Club".

Old Beijing

There are many things in the twelfth lunar month.

Since the twelfth lunar month, there have been literati writing Spring Festival couplets under the eaves of shopping malls in an attempt to earn some money for the New Year. After the sacrifice, the new Spring Festival couplets were gradually posted, and thousands of families took on a new look. Some people use James Zhu, others use red paper, and only the imperial court and imperial clan princes use white paper with red and blue edges as the rules. Those who are not imperial clan shall not use them at will.

In the twelfth lunar month, plum blossoms are tied in a big-bellied and small-mouthed utensil and placed about five feet underground. When the fire warms the ground slightly, the plum blossoms will gradually turn white, put in paper cages and sell in the city. Momo, plum blossom and Spring Festival are also acceptable. Tents are set up and paintings are sold in prosperous areas. Women and children rushed to buy them for fun.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, porridge sellers lined up in the market on the street. There are even walnuts, persimmons, dates, chestnuts and dried water chestnuts, which are sold with baskets on their shoulders. Followed by fat pheasant, Guandong fish, wild cats, wild birds, bacon, iron sparrow, fruit cover, giant Buddha flower, bean light thousand pieces, Louzizhuang ingot. After October of the lunar calendar, we sell Wei paintings, door gods, hanging money, gold and silver foil, yellow money, gold coins, burning paper, glass mirrors and windows. After the 20th, honeydew melons, sugar cakes, glutinous rice cakes and kwantung sugar will be sold. When the stove was delivered on the 23rd, Shenma was provided with copied beans with rotten grass. There are also kiln sellers, porcelain bowls, incense burners and candlesticks in Beijing. Stuffed gourd, children save money; Support the pot tile, and the furnace mouth is used as an aid. After 25th, sesame stalks, pine and cypress branches, atractylodes rhizome and so on are sold for "aging". The price and money in the twelfth lunar month are more expensive than usual, so there is a proverb that "the water and soil in the twelfth lunar month are three points more expensive". At this time, the old man always advised the younger generation to spend money carefully, so there was another proverb, "Twenty-seven or eight, take the goods evenly and grasp them."