The Spring Festival, commonly known as "Nian Jie" and "Guo Nian", is a grand and distinctive ancient festival in China, as well as one of the most lively traditional festivals. The Spring Festival, in a narrow sense, refers to the first day of the first month, the first day of the New Year; Broadly speaking, the Spring Festival is from laba Festival or xiaonian until the 19th day of the first month of the next year.

Here are 10 folk customs during the Spring Festival. What do you know?

One, spring dust

According to "Lu Shi Spring and Autumn Annals" records, as early as in the time of Yao and Shun, China has the custom of cleaning the Dust during the Spring Festival. Because "dust" and "Chen" homophonic, so the New Spring dust sweep is given a new meaning, "in addition to Chen bu new" meaning, hope to all poor luck, bad luck all swept out.

Two, stick couplets, fu character, door god

On the afternoon of the day before the Spring Festival, children will paste couplets on the stool with paste and brush to paste on the door, and then let the adults below see whether the paste is correct. Some are horizontal, pasted on the crossbar of the lintel, and couplets are pasted on the left and right sides of the door. There are in the door, walls, lintel paste the word fu, sustenance of people's yearning for a happy life. Some people put pictures of door gods on the door panels to pray for a peaceful year and add to the festive atmosphere.

Three, ancestor worship, worship god

The Spring Festival worship god, is a custom throughout our country. Throughout the country, the custom of offering sacrifices to god is almost the same, but the purpose is basically the same, to pray for good weather, good harvest, good luck and so on.

In our hometown, every family sends a representative to the ancestral temple to offer food and offerings before having dinner at noon every day. The ancestral temple will not be closed until the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Eat dumplings, glutinous rice balls and rice cakes

In most parts of the north, it is customary to eat dumplings in the morning during the Spring Festival, and a coin is often placed inside the dumplings. If anyone eats a coin, everyone says he is the most blessed person in the family. In Huaian, Jiangsu province, it is customary to eat tangyuan in the morning, while in Kaifeng, Henan Province, both dumplings and tangyuan are eaten on Spring Festival day. There is also the custom of eating rice cake during the Spring Festival. The taste of rice cake varies from place to place.

Five, shou Sui, New Year's money

New Year's Eve shousui is also one of the most important Spring Festival activities. Neighbors and friends get together, or families get together. Some play cards, some watch Spring Festival party.

Lucky money is the most popular custom among children and younger generations. After the New Year's Eve dinner, the elders will give coins to the younger generation respectively, and wear the red line woven copper coins into a string, hanging on the child's chest, said to be able to suppress evil spirits. This custom has been popular since the Han Dynasty, of course, now there is no copper coins, usually red packets of cash.

Six, setting off firecrackers

When the Spring Festival comes, every family opens the first thing, is to set off firecrackers, with crackling firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the New Year, to show good luck. Of course, firecrackers are now banned in many places, or should comply with the national regulations, the main safety.

Seven, happy New Year

Visiting New Year is one of the most important activities and customs during the Spring Festival. On the morning of the first day of the New Year, adults and children wear new clothes and hats to visit relatives and friends and wish each other a happy New Year. New Year's greetings usually start at home. After the younger generation has paid their respects to their elders, people will greet each other with smiles when they meet each other outside.

8. Temple fair

During the Spring Festival, there are usually temple fairs in the countryside. The early temple fair was just a solemn sacrificial activity, but with the development of economy and people's needs, while maintaining sacrificial activities, the temple fair gradually increased the market trading activities, as well as some colorful entertainment activities.

Dragon and lion dances

Dragon is a legendary auspicious animal, it is said to be able to summon wind and rain in the sky, but also pray for the human world to eliminate disasters. As early as the Han Dynasty, there were dragon dances to pray for rain. In addition to the dragon dance, there is a lion dance, is also a relatively common custom during the Spring Festival, in our north, also called playing the lion, often seen in childhood, now less.

Walking on stilts

Walking on stilts is also an entertainment activity during the Spring Festival. It has a long history. It is recorded in "Lie Zi. With two limbs as long as its body, belong to its shin, and drive and gallop." Stilt walking is also called "zha Gao foot" or "walking on stilts". Performers tie wooden sticks two or three feet high to their feet and perform all kinds of weird and funny movements. This activity was common in almost every village when they were young, and has become less and less frequent since then.