Entering ChinaAmong the richness and variety of traditional Chinese festivals, the Spring Festival is undoubtedly one of the most ritualistic and cultural festivals. It not only carries people’s good wishes for the New Year, but also embodies all aspects of social life for thousands of years. From the solemn greetings of local officials, to the warm reunions of ordinary people, from the family’s ancestral prayers to the opening celebrations of merchants, every detail of the Spring Festival is full of the fireworks of life and the heavy sense of culture. Next, let’s walk into this article describing the folk customs of the Spring Festival in the Qing Dynasty, and feel how people in that era welcomed the New Year with various rituals and activities in the festive atmosphere of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
Local officials congratulate
Officials from other places will also wear court clothes on the first day of the first lunar month, and lead many people to visit the local temple to pay homage to the dragon card of the current emperor. The dragon plaque is a wooden solemn tablet with the words “Long live the Son of Heaven” written on it, placed in front of the main Buddha statue of the temple, and no niche pavilion was built specifically for the dragon plaque. Depending on the rank, the order in which the officials are ranked varies, but the specifics are not clear. When officials arrive at the temple, the abbot of the temple will greet them at the door with a deacon monk. Depending on the status of the visitor, the temple may be hosted only by deacons and monks. After the visit, the prefect, prefect and other officials will hold the name post, which is the same as the previous full post. Go to the yamen of the superior officials to pay New Year’s greetings. The time they wore court clothes also lasted until the seventh day of the first lunar month.
Family greetings
On the first day of the first lunar month, officials and ordinary people should dress up and salute heaven and earth. It is also a tradition since ancient times that ordinary people also worship heaven and earth, and it is said that it is to thank heaven and earth for their blessings. The servants of the household are also required to wear new clothes to pay homage to their master, but they are not allowed to wear coats. Then, people go to the ancestral hall of the family to pay homage to the tablet of the family’s god and pay homage to their parents. Offerings in the ancestral hall include blue and white lanterns, rice cakes, dim sum, tea, rice, wine, oranges, water chestnuts, and longan meat in ceramic bowls, plates, and cups. After the worship, people leave in the direction of the god of joy, which refers to the direction of auspiciousness. Then go to the temple to worship the gods. Although incense sticks are available in temples, most people bring their own incense sticks. Since temples usually do not place handwashing utensils for pilgrims, people often go to the temple after washing their hands at home. But if you need water, you can also ask the temple for it.
Try it
On the occasion of the arrival of the New Year, people usually celebrate the arrival of the new year by writing auspicious words on red paper. For convenience, Chinese New Year supplies will be fully prepared before Chinese New Year’s Eve. In general, people eat more vegetarian food in the New Year, because the beginning of the year needs to be extra cautious.
Spring wine
Around the third day of the Lunar New Year, families begin to invite friends and relatives to each other for spring wine or New Year’s wine. Depending on the status, the banquets and dishes of each family are also very different, but there is no fixed recipe. Invitations to drink spring wine are usually sent out the day before the banquet, but if you are hosting relatives and peers, you only need to use a single post that is not folded. Female members generally do not participate in this kind of banquet and only go back to their parents’ homes to pay New Year’s greetings.
The merchant is open
From the beginning of the first month, the shop takes off the signboard and only buys and sells in the store, and waits until the designated market opening day before officially displaying the signboard. On the day of the opening of the market, the merchants will hold a banquet to entertain employees and other merchants who have dealings with each other, and everyone will celebrate the opening of the market together. The shipper will choose a suitable date to board the ship and depart for the start of the voyage.
