Chinanews client, Beijing, February 4th (Reporter Shangguanyun) "Twenty-three, the sugar melon sticks, Master Zaojun is going to heaven." When the new year arrives, the new year is not far away.
With a bite of candied melon and a bowl of steaming dumplings, people began to prepare for the Spring Festival.
However, the dates for the new year are not consistent in different places.
Generally speaking, the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month is regarded as the small year in the northern areas, and the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month is mostly regarded as the small year in the southern areas.
According to experts, this is related to various factors such as regional differences in folk culture.
When will your family celebrate the new year?
Xiaonian VS Sacrifice Festival
When it comes to Xiaonian, one has to say another name, "Ji Shao Festival".
Data map: Before the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month of the lunar calendar, Beijing Dongyue Temple held a New Year greeting and sending couplets.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
Sacrificing stove is an ancient custom.
In the old days, almost every household had a deity of "The Stove Lord" in the kitchen. People called him "The Stove King Si Ming." In legend, he was regarded as the protector of the family and was worshipped.
It is said that folk sacrifices to stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshiping fire.
"Shi Ming" mentioned: "Stove. To create also, to create food." The role of the kitchen god is to control the stove and manage the food. Later, it was expanded to investigate the good and evil in the world to reduce the good and evil.
In the Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian wrote in his "Slogan on the Twenty-four Nights of the Twelfth Lunar Month": "Golden furnace and silver candles give birth to spring at night, and the sound of firecrackers reminds the festival to be new. Since the middle-aged man laughs, he does the custom and buys cracked paper to worship the God of Cooking." It is entrusted with people's wish to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters and welcome prosperity and happiness.
According to legend, Mr. Zao has long become a great god respected by the folks. The Analects said: "Rather than enchanting the world, Ningmei and the stove." During the pre-Qin period, the sacrificial stove was one of the "Five Sacrifices."
“Sacrifice to the stove is a very early ritual, but the festival or the small year became part of the Spring Festival customs. It should be after the Han Dynasty.” Folklore expert Wang Juan explained that due to various reasons such as calendars, many festivals before the Han Dynasty The time is not uniform.
She explained that in the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, people combined the lunar calendar with the solar calendar and adopted a more scientific calendar. The day of the Lunar New Year was fixed, that is, the first day of the first month.
Sacrificing stoves is also a traditional folk custom. One of the signs of the beginning of the new year is that after the kitchen god is sent to the sky during the new year, people enter a relatively relaxing time and are busy preparing for the new year.
"Simply speaking, the New Year's Day is determined, and the days of worshipping the stove and celebrating the New Year are also determined, becoming a landmark starting point." From this perspective, there is a saying that Laba is a New Year's Day. The opening sign is not accurate.
Why is the date inconsistent?
As the prelude to the Spring Festival, Xiaonian is usually regarded as the beginning of a busy year, and every family is happy to prepare new year goods and clean their houses.
But in fact, the dates for the new year are inconsistent in different places.
Netizens argued about it as much as "salty and sweet rice dumplings."
Data map: The peasant dragon dance team of Guanchao Town, Xiannvhu District, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province carried out traditional folk activities in the village of dragon dance to welcome the arrival of the traditional Chinese New Year.
(Aerial photography) Zhao Chunliang photo
For the date of the new year, there was a saying in ancient times that "the official three people, four boats and five boats" means that the official small year is the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, the common people's is the twelfth lunar twenty-four, and the floating people's is the twelfth lunar twenty-fifth. .
The Jin Dynasty celebrity Zhou Chu wrote a "Feng Tu Ji", which recorded many local customs and customs. It mentioned: "On the night of the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, worship the stove. It is said that the kitchen god will go to heaven on the next day. Sacrifice in one day."
It is said that the traditional small year is on the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month. Because the emperors in the middle and late Qing dynasty worshipped the kitchen prince on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month one day earlier, the people in the northern regions followed suit, and they were too small one day before the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month year.
Later, with the passage of time, the northern area gradually regarded the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month as the small year, and the southern areas mostly regarded the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month as the small year.
Regarding the date of the new year, Wang Juan basically agreed with the saying of “three officials and four people”. “In general, the north is generally on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, and the south is on the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month. However, due to population movements and other reasons, this Not absolutely."
In her opinion, when the ancient royal calendar was revised, the time of important festivals was generally stipulated.
The difference in the dates of the past few years may be related to many factors such as the calendars and customs implemented in different dynasties in ancient times. It is inevitable that the dates will not be uniform.
The inconsistency of the date of the new year also illustrates the richness and diversity of Chinese traditional folk culture.
Wang Juan feels that no matter what day it is, it is an expression of people's differences in the phases of celebrations, and they look forward to a bright future.
The taste of the new year that is getting stronger
With the arrival of the new year, whether in the countryside or in the city, the red lanterns on the streets and the dazzling array of new year goods make the flavor of the new year more and more intense.
Data map: Earlier, on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month in the lunar calendar, the "small year" in northern China, a huge spring couplet was unveiled in the millennium ancient city of Zhengding, Hebei. The people felt a strong festive atmosphere.
The picture shows the huge "Fu" in the middle of the Spring Festival couplets.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
During the holidays, food is indispensable.
"Sugar melon" is a relatively distinctive food in Xiaonian. It is generally made from yellow rice and malt. The long strip of maltose made in this way is called "Kanto sugar", and the oblate shape is called " Sugar melon".
In winter, the weather is relatively cold, and the sugar melon can be solidified. There will be some tiny bubbles in the prepared sugar melon, which tastes crispy and sweet, with a unique flavor.
"Sugar melon is very sticky. It used to be called'Gum Teeth'. It was more common in northern customs." Wang Juan remembers that for many older people, there was a lack of material in the past. Kind of luxury food.
The sweetness of the New Year is hidden in a small sugar melon, but it is not just that.
According to statistics, "Popcorn candies are sweet in Xiaonian Xiaonian." Popcorn candies are the specialty food of Jiangxi Jingan Xiaonian.
On the day of the New Year, local people will use maltose and popcorn to make popcorn candy, which means that the new year will have a good fortune and a happy life.
Some places will also steam sticky cakes and eat sticky cakes on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which means "every year is high"; in Fuzhou, sugarcane is an essential food for sacrifice stoves. Win a lot of money every year.
"Twenty-three sugar melon sticks, twenty-four sweeps the house", a new year's rhyme that has been passed down to this day, also sang the simplest and simplest wish of people: the new year is safe and joyful, and life is sweet as honey.
(Finish)