Yuyan also thinks that people always say that history is a mirror. However, history books are always written by the victors, and what is written on them does not necessarily mean the truth. That's not something I should be worried about right now, though. Yuyan touched her slightly bulging abdomen. The Spring Festival is coming soon.

"In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu. Thousands of households always replace the new peach with the old one. "In ancient times, our ancestors gradually grasped the natural laws of the four seasons of the year by constantly observing the changes of time and the changing seasons. In ancient times, the Spring Festival was a day of "renewing all things", which meant the advent of spring and the beginning of hope. It is a very important holiday. This has been true for all generations since ancient times.

The Spring Festival is now the liveliest, grandest, and most active festival in China, and it was just as important in ancient times. The Spring Festival is commonly known as the "New Year", and there is a record of "year" in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty, who were keen to worship their ancestors and worship the gods of nature, believed that a good harvest was a gift from the gods, and held a ritual every year to pray for "good weather and abundant harvests" in the coming year. Not only the Shang Dynasty, but also the Western Zhou Dynasty, from the Son of Heaven in the royal palace to the common people, every year on Chinese New Year's Eve, they would sacrifice to their ancestors and pray for the blessings of the gods, and hold ceremonies to ward off evil spirits and epidemics, celebrate the harvest, and pray for peace and security in the coming year. Some of the ancient customs and beliefs associated with the Spring Festival are still preserved in modern Chinese New Year activities.

In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first day of the first month was the "year", and the Spring Festival was fixed as the first day of the first month of each year. After more than 2,000 years of continuous evolution, it eventually became the largest festival in China.

The Spring Festival has truly become a universal celebration, and the most important festival for the whole country to participate in is from the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is prosperous, with a prosperous economy, a prosperous industry, an open-minded mind and a brilliant culture. During this era, the customs and functions of the Spring Festival underwent major changes, and the focus shifted from worshipping the gods to entertaining people.

Ancient Spring Festival

During the Ming Dynasty, while the etiquette and entertainment of the Spring Festival were gradually strengthened, the entertainment was also further developed. On the occasion of the New Year, people greet each other for the New Year, and at the same time of giving gifts, dragon dance, lion play, singing, storytelling, twisting Yangge, swinging, stepping on stilts, running dry boats, doing handicrafts, playing games, comparing talents and other entertainment activities emerge in endlessly, and the temple fairs held in various places are rich and colorful, bringing unprecedented pleasure to the people at that time.

So, specific to the dynasties, how did the ancients celebrate the Spring Festival? What are the customs of the Spring Festival in ancient times? Let's pick out some of the main ones and talk about the more humanistic ones.

Ancient Spring Festival

The custom of the Spring Festival in the Jin Dynasty: feeding the spring plate

"The beginning of spring salty spring plate taste, reed celery buds with leek yellow. Give each other friends the same taste, and don't wait for the ointment. "In ancient times, there was a custom of eating Wuxin plate in Lichun. For example, "Jing Chu Years Chronicles" contains: "Yuan Ri,...... Enter Tusu wine, and put down five Xin plates. "The Legend of the Wind and Soil" in Zhou: "Yuan Ri made five Xin plates." Zhuyun: "Wuxin is so the gas of Wuzang, that is, garlic, small garlic, leeks, cloud moss, and coriander." "Wuxin Pan is the spring plate.

The custom of the Spring Festival in the Tang Dynasty: decorated with plum blossom makeup

"The first seven days of the beginning of spring and the beginning of spring, plum blossoms point to the new color. If this body is in Hanzhang Palace, it is suspected that he is a person in Shouyang Palace. In ancient times, the seventh day of the first month of the first month was the "human day", and the "Record of Things" contained: Dongfang Shuo originally placed the "human day". This custom spread to the Tang Dynasty, and women mostly painted various patterns on their faces; There are names such as "oblique red, face" and so on; The lips are painted with names such as "Wan Jin Hong, Da Hong Chun, and Inner Family Round".

In fact, women's dot painting decoration on their faces has risen as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period; The face of the female figurines of the Chu State unearthed in Changsha has a pattern of polka dots to prove it. In the Tang Dynasty, it developed into a kind of makeup fashion by pasting gold leaf flowers on the face.

One of the customs of the Spring Festival in the Song Dynasty: lighting firecrackers

"In the sound of thunderclaps, the old years are removed, and the green bamboo is burned for the plague. Since the invention of gunpowder, it is difficult to stop the custom of whipping in the New Year. According to the "Divine Sutra": There are mountains in the mountains in the west, and it is cold and hot to commit it. But it's afraid of the sound of bamboo. So people burned bamboo to get rid of it.

The poet of the Tang Dynasty came to the poem cloud: "The new calendar will only be half a piece of paper, and the small courtyard is still gathering ashes." Wang Anshi poem of the Song Dynasty: "In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu." ”

After the invention of gunpowder, people still lit firecrackers during the Spring Festival. Fan Chengda's "Firecracker Walk" describes the process of lighting firecrackers: "The five-foot simmer is paid, the sweat and fire are thorough between the nodes, and the healthy servants will still walk away." But the child stood away from it, and thundered and roared on the ground. One or two ghosts were frightened, and three or four ghosts were overturned. Ten voices even the hundred gods and gods, and peace in all directions. But he picked up the scorched head and stacked it at the bottom of the bed, and there was still residual power to drive away the boil. ”