Chapter 49: Taboos

The children pay New Year's greetings to their neighbors, and because they are shy, they dare not go in and out of other people's homes alone, and they often come together in groups to learn from each other.

They entered the courtyard, lined up in an orderly manner, bowed with their little fists, and shouted: "Happy New Year, uncle!" "That serious appearance makes the master can't help but laugh!

The children did not come for nothing, they stood honestly on the pedestal, waiting for the master's family to put peanuts, melon seeds, candy and other food into their small pockets, and then the original form was revealed, and rushed to the next house.

If there is anyone who is reluctant to give food to the children, then the children will run to tell each other that they will not go to that house again, even if it is the Spring Festival of the second year, there is still no one to go, and this family will immediately become cold.

Therefore, whether there are children coming to the house to pay New Year's greetings is a hard indicator for mountain people to judge whether the hostess is virtuous!

One morning, He Yu followed his sister to seven or eight houses, and gained a lot, and his sister He Yuanying was also tired, so she took the initiative to ask to go home, and her big and small pockets were stuffed with peanuts and candy!

and He Yu's hand, helping her carry a few yellow straw paper bags, which were fried food that could not be put in the pocket.

Back at home, He Yuanying pulled her brother and ran into her room, carefully opened her special lime tower, and packed the food into categories.

Children's New Year's greetings are to join in the fun, and the picture is to eat; When adults meet each other to greet each other, the picture is auspicious!

But the real gift to the door, or not casually, is to pay attention to the order.

The order of New Year's greetings here, there is a sentence that slips away: "The first cub of the new year, the second lang of the first year, the third and fourth days of the first year, the fourth place of the first month, and the fifth and sixth days of the first month of the first six days of the first month." ”

The meaning of this passage is: "The first day of the Lunar New Year is the day when the son pays New Year's greetings to his parents; In the second year of junior high school, it is the son-in-law's turn to pay New Year's greetings to the Yue's family; The third and fourth days of the new year are New Year's greetings to relatives, friends, neighbors, etc., which is the so-called "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors"; The fifth and sixth days of the Lunar New Year are New Year's greetings to distant aunts, aunts, brothers-in-law, aunts-in-law and other relatives. ”

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is the day when the brothers go back to their parents' house for a reunion dinner, and when the parents are alive, all the sons bring their families home to have a reunion dinner. If the parents are gone, start with the eldest brother and pick up the brothers for New Year's dinner.

According to the custom, He Yu's father and his three brothers, the three families ate at the uncle's house at noon, and ate dinner at He Yu's house.

After the New Year's dinner, the dishes on the table are sumptuous, a table generally has to serve nine dishes, sometimes the variety of dishes is not enough, you can also use two plates of the same dish, placed in the opposite corner of the table of eight immortals, make up enough nine dishes, symbolizing that you can have this kind of good day for a long time.

In these nine dishes, there must be fish, which symbolizes "surplus every year". Many poor people have a fish carved out of wood, and when they can't afford to buy it, they will put the carved fish out for a look.

The plate in the middle of the table is usually served with the best "hard dishes", also known as "style dishes", and as the name suggests, it is placed there to make a look!

But this dish is not exactly a show, but the guests will not touch the dish, which can show that the guests are knowledgeable and understand the rules!

If it is a good dish, the male host will use chopsticks to light the plate in front of him and let everyone eat more dishes.

Good dishes are put on the table, in fact, the host has no choice, because there are still important guests coming at home, and the family really can't get a second plate of "hard dishes", so it can only be like this!

There is no dissatisfaction with such dishes, what they care about is courtesy! People have done their best because of their poor family background!

The guests are as they please, and the guests all follow suit, basically only eating the dishes on the plate in front of them, and the whole banquet is a joy.

But if the tempting hard dish is not the same dish, the guests will not take the initiative to clip it, but the host will do it himself, and give everyone a chopstick, showing the host's hospitality!

There are eight people at a table, and the host lets go of a circle of dishes, and this plate is basically empty, and it's just a look!

But if the guests don't finish eating, even if there is only one person, the empty plate still can't be taken away, and taking it away will be suspected of driving the guests away!

Even when they go to a relative's house to eat, women and children are not allowed to eat at the table.

It's just that on the small table in the kitchen, there will be several pots of real meat and vegetarian dishes, and the women and their children will stand on the edge of the table and eat solidly.

He Yu's uncle, father, third uncle, plus He Yu's eldest brother, the four big men, each sat on one side, sitting on the table full of nine dishes of the Eight Immortals.

He Qing is the junior on the table, responsible for pouring wine, and the wine jug is placed on his left hand side. They were slow, drinking and talking.

If a guest comes, immediately add a pair of chopsticks and eat with a glass of wine, which is the so-called "add guests without adding food, only add a pair of chopsticks." ”

During the Chinese New Year, there are many taboos in speech. Especially for children, it is common to say "fairy tales", but you have to pay special attention to the Chinese New Year.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, when you get up early in the morning, adults will repeatedly tell their children not to speak quickly and say those unlucky words.

Words such as "death", "pestilence", "ghost", "light", "tiger", "snake", "rat", and "kill" are absolutely unusable.

Sometimes when you want to make something clear, you have to use these words, and you have to use other words instead.

There are also rules for the words used to replace, and you can't just replace them all just by looking at the same meaning!

For example, when an old person dies, it is necessary to say, "So-and-so is old." And when the young man dies, it is necessary to say, "so-and-so ruler is not long".

"Light" should be said to be "Soli"; "Snake" should be said to be "slippery bow"; The "rats" in the mountains are all running on the roof beams, and they are said to be "high-ranking customers"; "Cutting vegetables" should be said to be "cutting vegetables"; "Konjac" is said to be "taro"; "No" should be said as "Doda"; "Tiger" is to be said to be "cat" or "wild cat".

The bean curd made of tofu is the same as "tiger" because "bean curd" is the same as "tiger", so here, "bean curd" is also said to be "cat milk", and those who don't know it are very puzzling! The children here even know the name "cat milk"!

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, if someone's child is about to say something unlucky, the adults in the family will immediately take over the conversation and talk about the auspicious side.

The Chinese New Year is a day for children to look forward to and be happy, but for adults who are masters, in addition to happiness, it is more about dedication and hard work.

He Yu's cousins and sisters, after eating the New Year's dinner at his house, took a lot of peanuts, candy and other food, and happily went home with their parents, and He Yu and his sister also washed and slept.