Spring Festival Activities

In modern times, people set the Spring Festival on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, but it usually doesn't end until the 15th day of the first month. Different activities are held every day, they also have different meanings.

New Year's Eve

New year's Eve is the last night at the end of the year. The last day at the end of the year is called "year division", which means that the old year will be removed and a new year will be replaced. It was the last night at the end of the year. New year's Eve is a day for replacing the Old with the New, family reunion and ancestor worship. It is a traditional ancestor worship festival in Chinese folk, together with Qingming Festival, July half and Double Ninth Festival. New year's Eve is of special significance in the hearts of Chinese people. On this most important day at the end of the year, no matter how far away you are, you have to hurry home to reunite with your family, say goodbye to the old year in the sound of firecrackers, and fireworks are all over the sky to welcome the new year. New year's Eve, ancestor worship, eat new year's Eve dinner, after dinner, there is the custom of giving lucky money and keeping the year old.

The lunar New Year's Day

From the beginning of the new year, it has entered the theme of greeting the new year and receiving blessings, worshipping the ancestors of God and praying for a bumper year. On New Year’s Day, firecrackers are fired first, which is called "opening the door firecracker" to send the old and welcome the new. In the morning, all families burn incense to pay homage to heaven and earth, offer sacrifices to ancestors and worship the new year God. Then pay New Year's greetings to the elders in turn, and then send congratulations to relatives and friends of the same family. On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on their most beautiful clothes, dress up and go out. Wish everyone a happy new year.

On the second day of the New Year

Worship the gods of heaven and earth in the morning, and then eat "New Year's dinner". This "New Year's dinner" is usually prepared with lettuce, fish and so on, which means to make money in the coming new year. On this day, the married daughter went back to her mother's house and asked her husband to go with her, so it is commonly known as "welcoming her son-in-law day". The daughter who returns to her mother's house must carry some gifts and red envelopes, distribute them to her children, and have lunch at her mother's house, but she must go back to her mother-in-law's house before dinner.

The third day of the first lunar month

In ancient times, in the folk of southern China, "chikou" (Forbidden mouth) was pasted on the morning of the third day of the lunar new year. It was considered that it was easy to quarrel on this day and it was not suitable to pay New Year's greetings. The so-called "chi kou" is generally a red note about seven or eight inches long and one inch wide, with some safe and auspicious words written on it. In short, posting "chi kou" is to make people feel that they can go in and out safely all year round, do not quarrel with people or avoid all kinds of unfortunate disasters, recruit more money and treasure at home, and hope everything goes well.

The fourth day of the first lunar month

The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the day of offering sacrifices to the God of wealth. It is said that the fourth day of the first month is the day when Nuwa made sheep, so it is called "sheep day". On this day, people can't kill sheep. If the weather is good, it means that the sheep will be well raised in this year, and the people who raise sheep will have a good harvest.

The fifth day of the first lunar month

On the fifth day of the first month, according to folk custom, it is the birthday of the five way God of wealth. Therefore, we should welcome the God of wealth into our house and bless our family with abundant financial resources in the new year. At the same time, it is also a day to send away the "poor", so there is a saying of "sending the poor out". This day is also commonly known as "breaking five", which means that many taboos in the previous days are over. In addition to the above taboos, the breaking five customs are mainly to send the poor, welcome the God of wealth and open the market for trade. People in the north have the custom of eating dumplings, which means to attract money and treasure. It is said that the fifth day of the first month is "cow day".

The sixth day of the first lunar month

The sixth day of the first month is "horse day", which means everything goes smoothly. On this day, every family should throw out the garbage accumulated during the festival, which is called sending the poor. The sixth day of the Lunar New Year is also the opening day of the market. Shops and restaurants are officially opened and have to set off firecrackers, which is no less than the situation on New Year's Eve.

The seventh day of the first lunar month

The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is people's day, that is, people's birthday. They usually don't go out to pay New Year's greetings. Zhanshu said that from the beginning of the first day of the lunar new year, the order in which Heaven created all things was "one chicken, two dogs, three pigs and four sheep, five cattle and six horses, seven people and eight grains", so the seventh day of the lunar new year was man's Day.

The eighth day of the first lunar month

The eighth day of the year is the commencement date, which means that it will be profitable and prosperous all year round. Visiting relatives and friends before the eighth day of the year is basically completed. Since the eighth day of the year, people have successively carried out worship, wandering gods, lion dance, dragon dance and various literary and artistic performances. It is said that the eighth day of the ninth lunar month is the birthday of millet. If it is cloudy every day, it will cause an annual apology, and if it is sunny, it will lead to a bumper harvest of rice this year.

The ninth day of the first lunar month

The ninth day of the first month is the day of heaven. It is said that this day is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the highest god in the sky.  It is said that the "heavenly Father" is the "Jade Emperor". Taoism calls it the "four emperors". It is the highest god in heaven and represents the supreme "heaven". The main customs include offering sacrifices to the Jade Emperor, Taoist temple and fasting heaven. In some places, women prepare fragrant flower candles and fasting bowls on the day and place them in the open air at the entrance of Tianjing alley to worship the heaven and ask for heaven's blessing.

The tenth day of the first lunar month

On the tenth day of the first month, there is a custom of turning on lights in some parts of the south. It is a custom in Henan Province to burn incense to stones on this day. It is believed that "ten" is homonymous with "stone". Therefore, the tenth day of the first day is the birthday of stone. On this day, all stone tools such as grinding cannot be moved, and even sacrifice stones for fear of hurting crops. Also known as "stone immobility" and "ten immobility"; People always eat steamed bread for lunch. It is said that eating bread will be prosperous within a year.

The eleventh day of the first lunar month

On the eleventh day of the first month, "son-in-law's Day", this is the day when the father-in-law entertains his son-in-law. In addition to eating for one day on the tenth day of the ninth day of the lunar new year, there are still a lot of food left over from the celebration of "heavenly birthday". Therefore, the mother's family use the rest of the food to entertain her son-in-law and daughter. The folk song is called "invite a son-in-law on the eleventh day".

The twelfth day of the first lunar month

From now on, people begin to prepare to celebrate the Lantern Festival, buy lanterns and build light sheds and so on.

The thirteenth day of the first lunar month and The fourteenth day of the first lunar month

On the 13th and 14th of the first month, people will have lion dance, floating color, wandering gods and temple fairs. It is said that the 13th day of the first month is the "Lantern birthday". On this day, people want to light a lamp under the kitchen stove, which is called "lighting a stove lamp".

Chinese Lantern Festival

On the 15th day of the first month, customs activities mainly include appreciating lanterns, visiting lanterns, boating, burning fireworks, picking green flowers, making lantern festival, etc. The festival customs of the Lantern Festival are very distinctive and have been extended with the development of history. The Lantern Festival custom has been dominated by the lively and festive lantern watching custom since ancient times.