From January to New Year’s Eve, what about our festivals and oral folklore？
Cover journalist Li Yuxin
"The sound of firecrackers is one year old, and the spring breeze warms Tu Su." When I heard that this poem began to appear frequently, it goes without saying that the pace of the Lunar New Year is not far away. Looking forward to it for a year, the Spring Festival, which belongs to the most grand traditional festival of China people, is just around the corner.
In the old days, there was a proverb in Chengdu, which was called "carrots are sweet and sweet, and it is necessary to celebrate the New Year when you see them." In fact, for the old Chengdu people, the "New Year" clock has already rung when they enter the twelfth lunar month, that is, the twelfth lunar month. For more than a month before and after the Spring Festival, ordinary people spent it in an atmosphere full of rich flavor of the year and lively joy. From the Laba Festival on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, to the "small year" on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and then to the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, "it took Chengdu people more than a month to finish the New Year, and the content of the Spring Festival was very rich." In the description of folklore expert Liu Xiaochang, the joyful and lively flavor of the year seems to reverberate through time and space.
Folk expert Liu Xiaochang
Don’t blame strict and strict, spring and winter pay in the first month.
Slight cold January 5 (the third day of the twelfth lunar month)
Slight cold, the penultimate solar term among the 24 solar terms, is also the fifth solar term in winter. According to "twenty-four solar term", "On the December Festival, the cold at the beginning of the month is still small, so the clouds are big." It shows that slight cold means cold air accumulated for a long time, which means that the weather is cold but not yet extreme. Like great cold, slight summer heat, great summer heat and summer heat, it is a solar term indicating the change of temperature.
The arrival of the slight cold solar terms also means that the coldest time of the year has arrived. According to Liu Xiaochang, as far as Chengdu is concerned, the temperature in the mild cold season is actually lower than that in the severe cold season. "Therefore, there is a saying that a slight cold is better than a great cold. However, whether it is cold or not in the slight cold season in Chengdu does not depend on the solar terms. What is important is to see whether the cold air is strong. "
In this season, walking in the streets and lanes of Chengdu, I suddenly smell a touch of dark fragrance. Don’t doubt that this is the wintersweet that is proudly open and fragrant in the cold winter. "In the slight cold season, Chengdu can be described as a fragrant city." At this time, flower farmers from Gaodianzi in the eastern suburbs, Flower Zhaobi and Baihuatan in the western suburbs, Phoenix Mountain in the northern suburbs and other places, carrying flower baskets and pushing floats, peddling wintersweet along the street …
"For thousands of years, Chengdu people have loved plum blossoms." Liu Xiaochang said that during the Southern Song Dynasty, the poet Lu You lived in Chengdu and wrote a poem "Plum Blossom Jueju", in which he wrote, "When I traveled to the west of Jincheng City, I was drunk for plum blossoms. Twenty miles of incense, Qingyang Palace to Huanhuaxi ". It can be seen that at that time, Chengdu people loved plum blossoms.
The wind and the meaning of the twelfth lunar month have been in spring, and when it is scattered, it has passed my neighbor.
January 10th of Laba Festival (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month)
Labazhou (Tuyuan Network)
When it comes to Laba Festival, the first thing that comes to mind is naturally the warm and delicious Laba porridge that night. In Liu Xiaochang’s description, the "New Year" of Chengdu people in the old days began from Laba Festival, which is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. "In the old days, on the day of Laba Festival, every household in Chengdu cooked Laba porridge, sacrificed ancestors and had family reunion. Everyone in the family eats a bowl of Laba porridge and presents it to relatives and friends to celebrate the family in this form. "
Laba porridge, also known as "seven treasures and five flavors porridge", "Buddha porridge" and "everyone’s rice", is a kind of porridge made of various ingredients. As early as the Song Dynasty, there were written records about Laba porridge. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu Zimu’s "Meng Liang Lu" contained: "On the eighth day of this month, the temple was called Laba. Temples such as Dasha have five-flavor porridge called Laba porridge. " Therefore, the history of drinking Laba porridge has been thousands of years.
Liu Xiaochang said that the ingredients of Laba porridge are exquisite. The ingredients for cooking Laba porridge are mostly cereals such as rice, glutinous rice, coix seed and millet, as well as beans such as red beans, soybeans, rice beans, mung beans and kidney beans, or cooked with dried fruits such as red dates, peanuts, coix seed, lotus seeds, chestnuts, walnuts, longan, ginkgo and almonds. "This pot of porridge is very rich in ingredients. In fact, there are far more than eight kinds. How to cook it depends mainly on the family’s family scenery and the income."
The old snow has not disappeared yet, and the new snow has a family.
January 20th of the Great Cold (the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month)
As the folk saying goes, "A slight cold and a great cold, there is no wind and it is cold" and "A slight cold and a great cold, and it is cold in a ball". It can be seen that in the severe cold season, the weather has been extremely cold. Because of the severe cold solar terms, it is generally in the period of "March 9th".
In ancient times, there was no accurate weather forecast, and people passed it on from mouth to mouth, and invented a folk method to calculate the dates of cold days and warm flowers in spring, called "Counting Nine". According to the folk algorithm, the number nine is counted from the date of the 24 solar terms "Winter Solstice", and every nine days is counted as a "nine", and so on. Generally speaking, "March 9th" is the coldest time in a year. There is a saying that "3949, pigs and dogs freeze to death". When you count to nine "nine days", that is, when you count to 9981 days, it will be deep in spring and warm in the day.
The Great Cold is the last of the 24 solar terms. After the severe cold, it will be beginning of spring, and people will usher in the solar cycle of the new year. Because the New Year’s Day is just around beginning of spring, the new year’s flavor is getting stronger when the cold comes. As a result, the customs of the great cold solar terms are mostly related to the Lunar New Year. People "sweep the dust" and "paste the windows", get rid of old cloth and new ones, clean up and wait for the arrival of the new year. At the same time, we should also "go to the market" to buy La Worship supplies and buy new year’s goods.
In addition to the spring thunder in the dark, the snow is not over yet.
Off-year January 2526 (Lunar December 23-24)
As soon as the new year arrives, people are busy sweeping dust and offering sacrifices to stoves. Off-year has always been regarded as the beginning of a "busy year". Due to the different customs in the north and south, the days called "off-year" are different, usually on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. "On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Chengdu people shouted off-year, and on this night, Master Kitchen God was sent to heaven. Every household in Chengdu has to offer sacrifices to the kitchen stove, that is, to the kitchen god. " Liu Xiaochang said.
Yao Wenhan in Qing Dynasty’s Celebration of the New Year’s Eve
Folk sacrificial stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshipping fire. The kitchen god’s duty is to take charge of the kitchen fire and manage the diet. Later, it was expanded to investigate the good and evil in the world, so as to reduce good and evil. The Ci of Sacrificing a Kitchen by Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty: "According to the ancient legend, on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen ruler spoke to the sky … and sent you to the Tianmen to get drunk. Don’t go back to the clouds, begging for profit from the market."
"According to folklore, the kitchen god of every household in the past was sent to earth by the Jade Emperor to protect and observe the good and evil of this family. Seeing how many good deeds and evil deeds this family has done in this year, Kitchen God should remember them one by one. On the night of the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will go to heaven and tell the Jade Emperor what this family has done in the past year, so as to bring misfortune and happiness. " Liu Xiaochang said, therefore, it is especially necessary to be cautious on this day, especially to warn your own dolls not to swear, so as not to be unclear.
The roar of firecrackers, the old one year has passed; The warm spring breeze came to the new year, and people drank happily the newly brewed tu su wine.
January 31st, New Year’s Eve (29th day of the twelfth lunar month)
When New Year’s Eve arrives, it means that the old year is over and the new year is replaced. Because New Year’s Eve often falls on the 29th or 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, it is also called New Year’s Eve. But this year’s New Year’s Eve, not on New Year’s Eve. As early as more than ten days ago, the topic # Spring Festival in 2022 has no 30th anniversary # on the hot search. According to astronomical experts, this is mainly related to the "Shuowangyue". The change of the moon is called a Shuowangyue once a week, with an average period of 29.5 days. It happens that the twelfth lunar month is a small moon in 2022, so there is no 30. But experts say that as long as the first day of the first month is still there, the night before is New Year’s Eve.
Qing Leng Mei’s "Spring Scene"
On New Year’s Eve, the most important thing for China families is the reunion dinner. For the old Chengdu people, it is no exception. "In fact, since the twelfth lunar month, every household in Chengdu has begun to prepare. Even people who have no money should try their best to cut a few kilograms of fresh meat and make some bacon to hang on the stove. Some people are very capable, making their own cakes, steaming rice cakes and making candy. " Liu Xiaochang described it.
"A meal to send the old age, spicy fresh food miscellaneous a few feast. Happy to be in the sky, a family size and reunion. " In the past, there was a Zhuzhi poem written in Chengdu, which is a true portrayal of the Chengdu People’s League Year. Of course, besides the reunion dinner, there are many traditional customs on New Year’s Eve, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors, putting up Spring Festival couplets, hanging New Year pictures in stick grilles, guarding the old age, and giving lucky money … The heads of families sit around a table and watch the children happily receive the red envelopes. The New Year’s Eve on the table is full of red couplets and window grilles. For Chinese people, a year’s hard work should be for the reunion and warmth of this moment.
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