Spring Festival customs of Han people in northern China

 

Spring Festival customs of Han people in northern China

 

Tianjin

 

Tianjin people call the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month "Laba'er" and have the custom of drinking Laba porridge. Many Tianjin people also soak garlic in vinegar on this day, which is called "Laba garlic". On the first day of the first lunar month, dumplings are served on the second day of the lunar month, and on the third day of the lunar new year, the zygotes go home. After New Year's Eve, this routine started to happen more and more often. From eating to daily behavior, we must follow the traditions passed down from generation to generation. There is a saying in Tianjin that "it is not a year until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month." This year reaches another climax until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Tianjin also has the custom of posting hanging money during the Spring Festival. The hanging money is a pattern cut out of colored paper and pasted on the glass and horizontal edges of doors and windows as an embellishment of the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival. The hanging money attached can only be damaged on the fifth day of the first lunar month, otherwise it means an unlucky year.

 

Shandong

 

In the old days, when the twelfth lunar month entered, people would prepare items for the New Year. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month was the day to bid farewell to the stove. In Jinan, a large number of steamed buns, sticky cakes, jujube cakes, and steamed buns would be steamed, and dishes such as crispy vegetables, cooked meat, and fried goods would be made. In rural areas, there are customs such as making tofu, spreading pancakes, and making tea soup noodles. On New Year's Eve, Spring couplets with auspicious words are posted on the gate and inside the courtyard, New Year pictures are posted indoors, the new Stove King statue is posted in the kitchen, and door god statues are posted on both sides of the door. In Jinan area, portraits of Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde are often posted as door gods. On the first day of the new year, they go out to visit each other, and on the second day of the new year, the daughter and son-in-law who get married return to their parents' homes with gifts.

Firecrackers start setting off in the early morning on New Year's Eve in Zibo, and the whole family eats dumplings before dawn, with mostly vegetarian fillings. The dumplings need to be cooked a lot and must have more than enough, meaning there will be more than enough head. The seventh day of the first lunar month is called Human Day. In the old days, residents of Zibo would eat small tofu made from various wild vegetables on this day. [69] In Dongying, on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, people swept the courtyard, filled water jars, prepared enough firewood, hung family trees, and set up incense tables. In the afternoon, every family makes dumplings. In the evening, after the dumplings are cooked, the whole family sets off firecrackers and eats the dumplings.

 

Shanxi

 

In some places in Shanxi, the rule of not talking at dinner on New Year's Eve has been retained. The first meal of the Spring Festival is dumplings. When cooking dumplings, firecrackers should be set off. In order to drive away evil and seek good luck, sesame straw is used to cook dumplings in some areas, which means that the new year is like sesame seeds blooming steadily, and the days are getting better and better.

The dumplings need to be cooked a lot and must have more than enough, meaning there will be more than enough head. When dining, in addition to one bowl per person, one or two more bowls are also served in order to hope that the population will flourish. After that, we were busy preparing for the New Year, and the atmosphere became more intense day by day. The Kitchen King is worshiped on the 23rd, and the 24th is the day of general cleaning, commonly known as "Cleaning Day". From this day onwards, Shanxi people's annual preparations reach their climax during the Laba Festival.

There was a folk song in Taiyuan in the past: "On the 25th, I grind tofu, on the 26th I go to work, on the 27th I go to the market, on the 28th I paste it, on the 29th I go to make wine, and on the 30th I make dumplings." On New Year's Eve, Every family stays up all night, which is commonly known as "Sui Sui".

 

Shaanxi

 

As soon as the twelfth lunar month enters the twelfth lunar month, people in Shaanxi become busy: rolling out rollers to press cake noodles, catching up with donkeys to grind tofu, steaming yellow steamed buns, making rice wine, rolling out mixed noodles, and frying fried cakes. All the New Year delicacies must be prepared in advance. good. There is also a custom here that during the Chinese New Year, children should be given a "Jujube sign".

Yangko New Year greetings is a unique custom in northern Shaanxi. During the Spring Festival, every village organizes a Yangko team to pay New Year greetings door to door, which is commonly known as "Yangmenzi" here. The first step in celebrating the New Year with Yangko is visiting temples, worshiping gods, and praying for good weather and good harvests, and then visiting every household to pay New Year greetings. Every time the yangko team visits a house, the umbrella head touches the scenery and improvises lyrics to bless the owner, such as "Looking up after entering the gate, the six-hole stone kiln is in full display, the grain will be abundant, people will be prosperous, and peace will be guaranteed all year round."

 

Henan

 

In Henan, New Year's Eve is customarily called New Year's Eve, and every household must post Spring Festival couplets on the 28th. The whole family eats New Year dumplings. If northerners don’t eat dumplings on the night of the 30th, they will feel that there is no New Year atmosphere. Staying up all night on the 30th, after the New Year's Eve dinner, the whole family sits together, eating candies, eating melon seeds, chatting with relatives and friends, and doing household chores. The children kowtow to their elders in turn to bid farewell to the New Year, and the elders give out lucky money to the younger ones. The whole family stays up all night, which is called "staying up late" or "staying up late". The customs are different in five miles, and the rules change in ten miles. In Pingdingshan, Xuchang, Nanyang, and Baofeng areas of Henan, firecrackers are usually set off at noon, but no noodles or rice porridge are allowed to be eaten after five miles, and no leftover steamed buns are allowed.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in southern Henan, there is a custom of "stealing a lamp holder and giving birth to a grandchild". When lighting a lamp, the children of the neighborhood can quietly take away the "face lamp" that has burned out the lamp oil, which is commonly known as "stealing the lamp." In some places, the lamps lit by one's own family are not put away that night, and the lamps are allowed to burn when the oil is used up. Then they are refueled and lit again the next day, which is called "continuing the lamp." Generally, on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the "lanterns" are put away, and the "noodle lanterns" or "lantern steamed buns" are put away to send away "beggars", which is called "the god of sacrifice".

 

Hebei

 

On New Year's Eve, the whole family, old and young, eats a reunion dinner, makes dumplings, and prepares cold dishes to welcome the new year at 12 o'clock in the morning. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we pay New Year greetings to each other and have fun together; on the second day of the Lunar New Year, we invite our uncles and girls back home; on the third day of the Lunar New Year, we meet with our relatives; on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, we meet with friends. On the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first lunar month, people play dragon lanterns, dance yangko, walk on stilts, and play with lions, enjoying themselves day and night.

 

Northeast

 

After Laba Festival in rural areas, people began to kill pigs and chickens, cut the pork into pieces, put them in large vats and send them to warehouses to freeze for consumption during the festival. During the Chinese New Year, sauerkraut, fatty meat and blood sausage are stewed in a large pot. This is what people often call "pig-killing vegetables". On the eve of the New Year's Eve, you must eat dumplings to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Wrap coins, peanuts, and nuts in the dumplings. Whoever eats such dumplings will have a lot of blessings in the new year. The traditional projects of stilts and yangko have always been the favorites of Northeastern people. During the Chinese New Year, there will be stilt and yangko performances.

 

Gansu

 

In Gansu, the New Year Dance Club Fire is an important activity during the Spring Festival in various places in Gansu. It is also a comprehensive performing art with singing and dancing, various genres and a wide variety. It is mostly performed in the first month of the lunar calendar. In folk social fire performances, heroes, good men and filial women in history and various characters in folklore are used as characters. Playing swings in the first month of the lunar calendar, swings were set up among the big trees in Linxia Mountain Village, and the annual swing game began. In this way, happy people fly on the swings, flying every day and night until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.