Time flies quickly, and Wu Yong ushered in the first one in this era

Year. In the summer calendar established by the early Xia Dynasty, the year began with the first month. However, the Shang Dynasty changed to December as the beginning of the year, and then advanced a month to the Zhou Dynasty, and became November as the beginning of the year.

The Qin Dynasty considered itself a water virtue and set the beginning of each year in October, which was used in the early Han Dynasty. In the sixth year of Yuan Feng, at the suggestion of Sima Qian and others, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the calendar to be revised.

Astronomers Luo Xiahong and Deng Ping formulated the "Taichu Calendar", which changed the original October as the first month of the year to the first month of Meng Chun as the first month, and later generations basically gradually perfected the lunar calendar we use today.

At this time, there was no such thing as the Spring Festival. It was called in the pre-Qin period

"Last day",

"Yuan Ri",

"Change the year",

"Dedication to the New Year", etc.; In the Han Dynasty, it was called again

"Three Dynasties",

"New Year's Day",

"Zhengdan",

"Positive Sun". Modern folk habits call the Spring Festival also known as the New Year. In fact, the origins of the Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival are very different.

Nowadays, the Chinese New Year has become the most important festival for the people, the year-end sacrifice, and the people's feast and drink.

This festival is so important that even inmates in county jails can apply for parole to go home for the New Year.

Of course, this is also Wu Yong's busiest time, not only to pay tribute to his late grandfather and father, but also to go to the ancestral land of the Wu family to worship the ancestors, and finally to accompany his mother and three sisters to pay tribute to their deceased father.

With the sound of crackling firecrackers, it sounded at the door of each family in Fuwang, which also means that the New Year is going to be celebrated today.

On this day, the children got up early in the morning, took the bamboo poles prepared by the adults yesterday and burned them, and one by one they clapped their hands and applauded while listening to the sound of firecrackers.

The men of each family smiled and replaced the old peach charm that had been nailed to their door for a whole year.

The old people at home looked at the peach charm and prayed with words in their mouths: "Taiyi God, Houtu God, Zhurong God, the gods in the sky, we must bless us with good weather and peace ......next year" This year is more than the previous year's New Year, and the old people have one more blessing object, that is, Wu Yong.

This year, due to Wu Yong's awakening, the villagers in Fuwang can be regarded as having a wishful year. Looking at the full rice jar at home, as well as the bacon and preserved fish hanging on the wall, the old people's mouths were crooked.

They know who it is that allows them to live such a hearty, sweet and happy New Year.

"Uncle, aunt......" The woman in the kitchen held a big bowl of bacon, and shouted with a smile: "It's time to eat" As soon as the children who were burning firecrackers heard their mother say that they were going to eat, they immediately didn't say a word, threw down the firecrackers in their hands, and ran back in a hurry, shouting in their mouths: "Eat bacon" The children coveted the bacon hanging on the wall of their house, and it was not a day or two.

Today, I was finally able to eat big and fatty bacon. Thinking about the fragrant smell of bacon, the children were already drooling before they could smell the fragrance.

"These children ......" A stout man shook his head, carefully supporting his father and carrying him to the house: "Father, I didn't let you have a good meal in previous years, it was my son's unfilial piety, and I specially bought your favorite mutton and chicken this year......

"Okay, good" The old man nodded with a smile, and the grandchildren also surrounded him, pulling the corner of the old man's clothes, and shouting sweetly: "Grandpa, Grandpa......" At this time, the children also put on new clothes.

The new and beautiful new clothes dressed up the children beautifully, and the total pigtails on their heads dangled and were very cute.

This is a corner of the New Year's scene in Fuwang, and compared to them, Wu Yong's family has also come up with new tricks, that is, lanterns and couplets.

In fact, lanterns have appeared now, but due to the craftsmanship of paper and the scarcity of candles, they have not been able to spread.

Nowadays, writing is still mainly based on bamboo slips, and paper has not been widely popularized, so ordinary people naturally cannot reach it.

At this time, the candles were actually beeswax, which appeared as tribute, and only high-ranking officials and nobles could use it, and the people had never even seen it.

Wu Yong also spent a lot of money to buy a few pieces in the pharmacy in Wancheng, and for this reason, he also deliberately melted these beeswaxes, added cotton threads, and poured them into molds to solidify.

After getting the candles, the rest of the things were much easier, red paper could also be bought, and the rest was to teach the family to weave lanterns.

When it comes to weaving skills, it is still grandmother who is the most powerful, she is worthy of taking care of Wu Yong's old man who has lived for many years, and after only a few glances, she understands how the skeleton of this lantern should be made.

Compared with Wu Yong and others, she has more experience and feel in handicrafts. Nearly a year of carefree life has not worn out muscle memory, and when her hands touch the bamboo strips for a few minutes, she begins to skillfully organize the bamboo strips and skillfully arrange their positions.

"My aunt's weaving skills are much better than all of us." Mother Guo Shi praised. The old lady smiled and said, "I haven't worked for almost a year, and I have some hands." In the past, Wu Jiaquan counted on the old lady to work alone, and the old man was reluctant to spend, and the bamboo chips used in the daily life of the family were all cut by the old man himself, so these jobs were also familiar to her.

"It's like going back to the way things were." When the skeleton of the lantern was formed, the old lady sighed to everyone,

"I used to be forced to do this at home because of my livelihood. Now I pick up this craft again in my leisure, but it is more interesting than when I am free. ”

"yes." Kwok softly agreed. For the elderly, after having the material conditions, bamboo weaving has changed from an alienated labor to a free labor.

When a person is truly willing and free to do this kind of labor, she will no longer feel tired and withered.

In later generations, fishing was one of the ways many people struggled to survive, and in modern times it has become an idyllic recreational sport when mechanized fishing became the norm and freezers and transportation industries transported large quantities of fresh fish inland.

Unfortunately, much of this extravagant labor can only be the entertainment of a few meat eaters in the present era, and it has not been fundamentally changed in the modern age, two thousand years later.

The lantern skeleton made by the old man is a little different from that made by Guo Shi and others—the skeleton she made is not square, but the bamboo strips are bent at the top and gathered in the middle to intertwine.

This makes this lantern suddenly jump out of the nascent immaturity, with a layer of handicraft design.

It's both beautiful and functional – the lantern can be easily lifted by tying a rope to the place where the bamboo bones meet.

If this kind of lantern is put on the market, it will definitely be more popular with the people.

"Haha, grandmother is really powerful, and grandson, the inventor, is not as good as the lantern woven by grandmother." Wu Yong looked at this skeleton at that time, and he had already figured out what it would look like after finishing pasting paper.

After hearing this, the old man scolded with a smile: "I have made bamboo products for a lifetime, if you don't go down to this point again, I don't dare to have the face to teach you a lesson." ”

"What my aunt said is that when we are officials and scholars, we are not as good as Yong'er, and when it comes to work, we are not bad at all!" Guo Shi also echoed.

After saying that, she laughed first. Seeing this, He Lian and the others also giggled. For a while, the Wu family was full of laughter.

Soon, the skeleton of the lantern was ready, Wu Yong got the paste again, and cut and pasted the paper of the lantern with his family.

When everything is over, the lantern is officially unveiled. The old man was very happy when he saw He Ye and He Hua carrying the lantern, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "This red paper lantern looks really festive, and after the year, let the villagers make it together, it must be a good income." Wu Yong shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Lanterns are easy to make, but candles are not easy to get." This lantern is the most suitable for lighting in the dark. I didn't want Guo to listen to it, but he smiled and said: "You, you just want to be perfect in everything!" Our people just pay attention to a festive celebration, and if there are no candles, they will carry it during the day. ”

"It's the child who is persistent!" Wu Yong is right to think about it, the people nowadays rarely go out at night, even if there are candles to light the lanterns, they are reluctant to use them.

After lunch, the old lady and Guo continued to weave lanterns, while Wu Yong took a few sisters to the study to write couplets.

I saw Wu Yong take out two pieces of cut rectangular red paper and a shorter piece of red paper, and then picked up a pen and began to write on it.

"This ...... This paper is a bit big! How many words does the brother have to write? He Ye exclaimed. Wu Yong laughed and said, "I can't think of it, I only write five words!" Then, Wu Yong took a breath and wrote a couplet.

Seeing this, He Lian couldn't help but groan softly: "The New Year is celebrated, and the Jiajie is Changchun." ”

"This is good! Good. He Ye and He Hua clapped their hands and said.

"And what about ......," Wu Yong said, took out a few long strips of red paper, and wrote with a stroke of his pen: "The scenery is beautiful in spring, and there are many happy events at home." ”

"People in the year increase their longevity, and the spring is full of blessings."

"Thousands of families in the prosperous world, a hundred families in the New Year." After writing this, Wu Yong put down his pen and said with a smile: "Okay, let's write this." He Lian asked with some curiosity: "What are these couplets for?" ”

"Of course, it's on the door and it's used to pray for blessings. Pray for good luck in the coming year. Wu Yong thought for a moment and replied.

He Lian was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Pray for blessings?" Can you kill the murderer? Wu Yong scratched his head and said: "Yes, I am in the Taixu Immortal Realm, and I see the people there, and they all do this during the New Year." ”

"Then you can write a few more pictures, and send a few pairs to Uncle Zhuo's house at that time!" He Lian urged.

"Okay!" Wu Yong thought about it, so he picked up the pen again, and due to the limited paper, this time he wrote a four-character couplet.

"Harvest of grains, blessing and longevity are coming."

"Firecrackers say goodbye to the old, peach charms welcome the new."

"The year is new, and the time is new." …… Wu Yong didn't stop for a moment and wrote several couplets. At this time, He Ye and He Hua took a pair of couplets whose ink had dried and ran to show off to their grandmother.

After listening to the two of them chatter, the old man couldn't help but praise: "My good grandson is really a good poet!" This couplet looks festive, and this year our family will post this Spring Festival couplet. Naturally, everyone had no objections, so on the day of the New Year, other families burned firecrackers and hung peach charms, but the Wu family and the Zhuo family hung red lanterns and pasted festive Spring Festival couplets.

On the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, everyone pasted couplets on the doors or pillars of each room.

In an instant, the courtyard of the Wu family was filled with the smell of the New Year after two thousand years.

"It's so good...... Wu Yong looked at these couplets and lanterns, and said softly: "Now, I am going to change the customs of the world again." ”