What are the customs on New Year’s Eve, eating New Year’s Eve dinner and staying up all night?
Introduction: We all know that New Year’s Eve is the last night of the lunar year and it is the day when the family gets together. When talking about the customs of New Year’s Eve, many people will definitely think of the customs of eating New Year’s Eve dinner and staying up all night on New Year’s Eve. Do you know what other customs are there on New Year’s Eve? How did these customs come about? Next, please follow the editor to learn about it! New Year’s Eve is the most traditional and important festival of our Chinese nation. There are many folk customs and activities during New Year’s Eve. If you want to know more, please check out the New Year’s Eve special topic compiled by Mr. Shui Mo for you!New Year's Eve customs: eating reunion dinnerThe New Year’s Eve dinner is also called the reunion dinner. According to Zong Yan’s "Jingchu Sui Shi Ji", the custom of eating New Year’s Eve dinner has existed at least since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Because it is winter, people in the north often set up a hot pot in the middle of the dining table, so it is also called "weilu". The dishes for the New Year’s Eve dinner of northerners often include dumplings, fish, rice cakes, long-term dishes, etc. Because dumplings are shaped like gold ingots, they symbolize wealth; the fish dish cannot be finished because in Chinese, "fish" and "surplus" have the same pronunciation, which has the auspicious meaning of "surplus every year"; rice cakes mean "promotion every year"; and eating longevity dishes implies longevity. In South China, there are more chicken, roast pork, hair algae, dried oysters, etc., because "hair algae and dried oysters" is a homophone for "make a fortune and have a good market." A typical New Year’s Eve dinner in Jiangnan must include fish and a hearty soup pot. According to old customs, the traditional seating arrangement on New Year's Eve is "the left is more respected, the east is more respected" and "facing the door is more respected". The chief seat at the annual banquet is the elder with the highest seniority, and the last seat is the one with the lowest seniority. If it is a dinner party, the chief guest is the most respected guest and the host sits at the last seat. Before the chief takes his seat, no one else can take his seat; before the chief takes action, no one else can take action.New Year's Eve customs: staying up all nightStaying up all night on New Year's Eve is a long-standing custom. As early as the Western Jin Dynasty's "Fengtu Ji", there is a clear record of it: "Staying up all night to wait for dawn is called staying up all night." Legend has it that staying up all night is to prevent the invasion of a unicorn, which is most afraid of fire, red and noise. So people wear red clothes, light red lanterns, paste red paper, set off fireworks, burn incense and pray, and stay up all night on New Year's Eve. This is how the custom of "staying up all night" came into being. The book "Annals of the Capital's Sui Shi" records: "Burn silver candles, drink pine wine, and sit until dawn. It is called "Shousui" and is a sign of longevity." In many places, New Year's Eve is also called "Auspicious Night." On this night, adults and children alike must say auspicious words and are not allowed to say unlucky words, dirty words or disrespectful words, otherwise they will have bad luck for the whole year. Therefore, joy, harmony and reunion are the biggest themes of New Year's Eve.New Year's Eve customs: Stepping on the yearOn New Year's Eve, the Chinese people also hold an activity called "Step on the Year". That is, they stick gold ingots rolled with yellow paper on sesame stalks in the yard and put them into a bundle, which is called "cornucopia". Then, the whole family crushes it with their feet, using the Chinese character for broken (broken) to rhyme with the Chinese character for year (old), and borrowing the auspicious meaning of sesame seeds blooming higher and higher, to wish the family prosperity and express their blessings and hopes for the new year.New Year's Eve customs: lucky money and lucky fruitThe ancients were very particular about New Year’s money. The copper coins used should be large and new, and then strung into various shapes with red ropes. Some people wear hundreds of copper coins on their belts, meaning "long life"; others wear auspicious shapes such as carp, ruyi, dragon, etc., meaning "money dragon" or "surplus money" in the hope of bringing good luck. In addition to the elders giving children "lucky money", some areas also have the custom of giving "lucky fruit".On New Year’s Eve, the elders will put oranges, lychees and other fruits next to children’s pillows, with the meaning of “auspiciousness” to wish the children good luck in the coming year. Today's "lucky money" is more direct and pure. It is usually wrapped in exquisite red envelopes with red bills, and then distributed to children to wish for good luck and prosperity. Summary: The four customs introduced in the above article are the most common and representative customs on New Year’s Eve. You can learn about them and feel the connotation and meaning of traditional customs in Chinese traditional culture! After reading this article, there are more exciting content in the New Year’s Eve special topic, let’s take a look! |
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