China News Agency, Guangzhou, January 24, title: "Gong Xi Fa Cai", what are the unique New Year customs in Guangzhou?
——Interview with Zeng Yingfeng, Vice President of Guangdong Cultural Society
China News Agency reporter Cheng Jingwei
As a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, the Spring Festival is an iconic cultural symbol that carries the Chinese civilization, and has an insurmountable position in the hearts of the Chinese people.
Due to differences in regions and cultures, the customs of the Spring Festival in different parts of China are also different.
In southern China, Cantonese New Year's folk culture, mainly in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta, is rich and colorful, with distinctive characteristics, and has even spread to Hong Kong, Macao and overseas.
How do Cantonese celebrate the Spring Festival?
What dishes must be eaten for New Year's Eve dinner?
What is the meaning of "Xinghua Street" in the winter jasmine flower market and "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in New Year's greetings?
Zeng Yingfeng, an expert in Lingnan folklore and vice president of the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Society, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West" to share the customs of Guangfu and the good wishes and cultural characteristics it contains.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: As one of the three major ethnic groups in Guangdong, what are the unique features of the Cantonese during the Chinese New Year?
Zeng Yingfeng:
From the ancient Lingnan to the people of Guangfu who are open to the coast today, the New Year’s customs have their own style, rich and colorful, traditional and fresh, such as preparing New Year’s goods, group dinners, walking flower streets, welcoming the God of Wealth, and viewing lanterns, etc., which have gone through thousands of years. Forming a set of procedures with the theme of "removing the old and welcoming the new" has become a customary ceremony.
For example, when people meet each other, they say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to greet the New Year, which shows the difference between the New Year customs in Guangfu and those in northern China.
In February 2019, citizens took photos with the "God of Wealth" at the West Lake Flower Market in Guangzhou.
Photo by Chen Jimin
According to the concentration of annual custom activities in Guangfu and the general time when people start preparing for the "New Year", the Spring Festival usually starts from the "Xie Zao" on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month (sending Lord Zao to heaven) and ends on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
In other words, from the day of "Xie Zao", it has entered the end of the year, which is the prelude to the New Year.
After that, it is necessary to clean up, buy new year's goods and prepare New Year's food, New Year's Eve dinner, etc.
As the saying goes, "On the twenty-third year, wash clothes; on the twenty-fourth year, sweep the house; on the twenty-seventh year, return to one; on the twenty-eighth year, wash the sloppy; on the twenty-ninth year, remove all the dirty things; Laziness", basically explained the busy year of Cantonese people more clearly.
It is worth mentioning that in the past, on New Year's Eve, there was a custom of "selling lazy" in Guangzhou Xiguan and the Pearl River Delta area, that is, children from each household carried a small lantern, a red egg and a shiitake mushroom, in groups of three or four Walking and singing in the streets and alleys: "Sell lazy, sell lazy, sell until the end of the new year, people are lazy and I am not lazy." "Sell lazy" means more hard work in the new year, but unfortunately this custom has gradually disappeared in Guangzhou and other cities. .
During a Chinese New Year folk culture event in Guangzhou, citizens climbed up the "Golden Mountain" to pick fruits.
The 16-meter-high "Golden Mountain" is piled with fruits with auspicious meanings such as apples (every generation is safe), grapefruits (the more you grow, the more you have), sugarcane (weigh over the luscious cane), etc., attracting tourists to "climb the Golden Mountain" to please the omens.
Photo by Chen Jimin
China News Agency reporter: In China, food is the most important thing for the people, and Spring Festival delicacies are usually the most abundant in a year. What are the characteristics of Cantonese Spring Festival food, and what good wishes do they contain?
Zeng Yingfeng:
Traditional Cantonese New Year’s goods include squid, hair vegetables, mushrooms, dried shrimps, vermicelli, etc.
Years ago, it was necessary to open the oil pan, fry oil horns, fried fried dumplings, fried egg powder, oil-wrapped horns and other foods, usually the whole family did it, and had enough food and clothing.
Steamed cakes are also a must for Cantonese people during the Chinese New Year. In addition to steamed rice cakes, there are also steamed carrot cakes, water chestnut cakes, and nine-layer cakes.
People drink tea and eat snacks in a teahouse in Guangzhou.
Photo by Chen Chuhong
The reunion dinner is also called the New Year's Eve dinner, which is the highlight of the Chinese New Year in Cantonese, and it is the most elaborate and grand meal for a family in a year.
There is a saying in Guangzhou that "no chicken can't be a feast". Cantonese people like white-cut chicken, also known as "white-cut chicken", as well as ducks, geese and other three birds, and the ingredients must be fresh.
Roast pork is definitely indispensable. It is delicious and has "good intentions", which means "red-skinned and red-skinned", and the population is prosperous.
Of course, there must also be fish, which means "more than every year". The fish in the reunion dinner must be fresh, and it is usually steamed.
In addition, there are a lot of traditional delicacies, such as braised pork with taro, braised pork with fat vegetables, lettuce and Laohuo soup.
Guangzhou citizens line up to buy roast meat for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Photo courtesy of Visual China
China News Agency reporter: During the Spring Festival this year, many places in Guangzhou restarted the traditional jasmine flower market in 2023. Why are people in Guangzhou so keen on the "Flower Street"?
Zeng Yingfeng:
Guangzhou is known as the "City of Flowers", and citizens have a long history of "Flower Street" during the Spring Festival.
"Journey to South Vietnam" written by Lu Jia in the Western Han Dynasty records that women at that time "worn flower hearts with colored silk as jewelry".
In the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou Flower Market was already one of the famous "Four Cities" in Guangdong.
Qu Dajun, a scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, also recorded it in "Guangdong Xinyu".
The truly large-scale winter jasmine market in Guangzhou was formed in the early 1860s.
In the early days of the Republic of China, the city walls of Guangzhou were demolished to open roads, and the space of the flower market expanded.
"Walking Flowers Street on New Year's Eve" has gradually become a custom of Guangzhou citizens.
After the founding of New China, the folk custom of "Xinghua Street" continued unabated, and the scale of development became larger.
On February 2, 2019, the Guangzhou West Lake Flower Market opened, attracting citizens to visit.
Photo by Chen Jimin
In Guangzhou, the climax of "Xinghua Street" is after the reunion dinner.
Adults and children like kumquats, which are beautiful and delicious, which means "good luck"; young people like big cinnabar oranges and hanging bell flowers, which mean "rich resources and great success"; unmarried men like to buy peach blossoms, carrying It circles around the flower market a few times, implying "lucky peach blossoms"; housewives and the elderly like to buy seasonal flowers such as chrysanthemums, gladiolus, narcissus, and cockscomb.
In February 2019, citizens bought flowers for the Spring Festival at Tianhe Flower Market in Guangzhou.
Photo by Chen Jimin
In 2021, Guangzhou's "Spring Festival (Xinghua Street)" will be included in the fifth batch of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage announced by the State Council of China.
Even though affected by the new crown epidemic, Guangzhou will not hold a formal large-scale winter jasmine flower market in 2020, 2021, and 2022, but many citizens will still go to the streets to buy new year flowers.
During the Spring Festival this year, flower markets in many places including the iconic Xihu Road Yingchun Flower Market resumed.
China News Agency reporter: Guangdong is China's largest economic province. Cantonese people like to say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" when they greet the New Year. Is this related to the economic situation in Guangdong?
Zeng Yingfeng:
"Gong Xi Fa Cai" is the most popular phrase used by people in Cantonese for New Year greetings.
Studies have shown that "Gong Xi Fa Cai" originated from the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty.
According to folklore, in the Qing Dynasty, some Chinese from the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou would go to the Hongshang Commercial Hall to pay New Year's greetings every New Year, and kept saying "Gong Xi Fa Cai" as soon as they entered the door.
Since then, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" has been widely circulated and has become a commonly used New Year greeting.
Known as the Millennium Commercial Capital, Guangzhou is also an important starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. With a strong commercial atmosphere, Guangzhou has always been a prosperous and prosperous place.
In fact, the phrase "Gong Xi Fa Cai" expresses people's New Year's wishes—hoping for an increase in income, hope for the economy, and a better life.
In February 2022, tourists came to Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain to enjoy the scenery of Guangzhou city during the Spring Festival holiday.
Photo by Chen Jimin
In all parts of Guangdong, including the Guangfu area, during the Spring Festival, the elders will send "Rishee" to the younger generation who come to pay New Year's greetings. "Risher" is a red envelope to express their blessings to the younger generation.
After returning to work after the festival, many unmarried people will still "play with lai shi". When they meet married colleagues, they will say "Gong Xi Fa Cai", and then playfully add an extra sentence of "let's see".
As for the amount, I don’t care about the amount. Everyone is willing to accept the 10 yuan (RMB, the same below) and 20 yuan of lai see, and there is no pressure on those who give lai see.
This is very good, there is no atmosphere of comparison.
Lingnan annual custom - Li Shifeng.
Photo by Chen Chuhong
Reporter from China News Service: Guangdong is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. There are many overseas Chinese with ancestral home in Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen and other places, and Cantonese people spread all over the world. According to your observation, how is the spread and inheritance of Cantonese New Year's taste overseas? �
Zeng Yingfeng:
Cantonese annual customs have been passed on to Hong Kong, Macao and overseas with the migration of Cantonese people. The Spring Festival is a day for family reunion. The continuation of traditional annual customs is also a continuation of the bond with Hong Kong, Macao compatriots and overseas Chinese.
For example, the folk custom of "Xinghua Street" not only affects the towns in the Pearl River Delta, but also has flower markets in Hong Kong, Macau and other places, and radiates to overseas Chinese settlements in Southeast Asia and other places.
Guangfu New Year Customs have played an important role in enhancing family ties, enhancing cultural identity and strengthening the cohesion of the Chinese nation.
Overseas Cantonese have always celebrated the Chinese New Year and have New Year’s Eve dinners, especially the older overseas Chinese attach great importance to the Spring Festival.
Every Spring Festival, my relatives overseas will send back New Year greeting cards. Although the greeting cards are usually Christmas cards, the content written is the greetings and blessings of the Chinese New Year.
This is the case every year, never forgotten.
The students of Guangzhou Liede Young Lion Class practiced the basic skills of lion dance in the Liede Li Ancestral Hall.
Photo by Chen Chuhong
Overseas, overseas Chinese associations in Guangfu are an important bridge for the dissemination, inheritance and development of Cantonese New Year Customs.
Every Spring Festival, the Overseas Chinese Association in Guangfu organizes activities such as dragon and lion dances, sendees, float parades, Chinese food tasting and other activities in Chinatown and other places, which is very lively.
We must further rely on the strength of overseas Chinese associations to support them in organizing various New Year activities and attract young people to participate.
China News Agency reporter: Do the annual customs of Guangfu reflect the characteristics of Lingnan culture? Where is the road for the inheritance and development of Guangfu New Year Customs?
Zeng Yingfeng:
As an important part of the Spring Festival customs of the Chinese nation, Guangfu annual customs reflect the characteristics of the traditional Chinese culture in terms of festival origin, festival time, and festival cultural psychology.
At the same time, the New Year Customs of Guangfu is a concentrated expression of Lingnan culture. It presents a strong Lingnan style in various aspects such as sacrifices, diet, and communication.
Whether it's the New Year's Eve dinner, "Xinghua Street", or the New Year's greetings "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and the distribution of "Rishee", they all reflect the cultural characteristics of Cantonese, such as emphasizing business and practicality, emphasizing lottery, and strong inclusiveness.
People in Foshan, Guangdong buy Huichun on Kuaizi Road.
Photo by Chen Chuhong
With the development of society and the changes of the times, the annual customs of Guangfu are also changing.
Of course, some customs will inevitably disappear, such as the aforementioned "laziness"; now, it is difficult to hear the sound of firecrackers on New Year's Eve.
How to continue and carry forward the Guangfu annual custom is worth thinking about.
In my opinion, we should conform to the progress of the times, continue to develop and innovate in inheritance, integrate modern elements, and endow new vitality.
For example, snatching red envelopes and paying New Year greetings through social platforms are new phenomena of the Spring Festival under the advancement of science and technology.
In February 2019, the Spring Festival lanterns in Guangzhou Yuexiu Park were in full bloom, and the colorful and dazzling lanterns attracted citizens to come for sightseeing.
Photo by Chen Jimin
It is worth mentioning that in the Guangfu area, it is one of the important annual customs to fire the "door-opening gun" on New Year's Eve.
In the old days, setting off firecrackers during the Spring Festival had the meaning of "welcoming auspiciousness and welcoming the new year" and "expelling plague and evil spirits". This folk tradition has lasted for thousands of years.
Now it is even more meaningful to set off the "door-opening cannon" on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year and send off the god of plague.
(Finish)
Respondent profile:
Zeng Yingfeng, a first-class writer of the Guangzhou Literary and Art Creation Research Institute, has served as the chairman of the Guangzhou Folk Literary Artists Association for three times, the vice chairman of the Guangdong Folk Literary Artists Association, the current vice president of the Guangdong Cultural Society, and an expert in the protection of intangible cultural heritage in Guangdong Province Committee member, librarian of Guangzhou Municipal People's Government Culture and History Research Institute.
He has created and published novels, prose, children's literature, film and television literature, reportage, folk literature, etc. with more than 3 million words, and has won various provincial and municipal literary awards for many times.
Representative works include "Guangzhou Stories", "Provincial and Hong Kong People", "Guangzhou Proverbs", "Guangzhou Folk Art Scan", "Guangzhou Ivory Sculpture History", "Slender Clouds Make Qixi Festival - Guangzhou Qiqiao Festival", "Dragon Boat Race - Dragon Boat Race at the Dragon Boat Festival" " Weaving Gold Colored Porcelain - Cantonese Craftsmanship", "Dancing South - Southern School Lion Dance", "Guangzhou Folk Art Hall", "Inheritance and Watching - Cantonese Culture "Intangible Cultural Heritage Research and Practice", etc.