Jackey shows you China (1): Chinese Spring Festival

I was busy working a while ago, and I have not updated the article. From today on, I will continue to update the section "Jackey takes you to China", leading foreign friends to experience the magnificent Chinese culture.

I thought about what was written in the first issue, and finally decided to start with Chinese festivals. After all, the festivals of a country can reflect the character and tradition of this nation. In China, no festival is more important than the Spring Festival. It has existed for a long time and has a history of thousands of years. After the dynasties have changed and the sea has changed, it is still deeply etched in the hearts of the Chinese people and becomes a family reunion and common An important festival to pray for the coming year, it can be said that its status in the hearts of the Chinese is equivalent to Christmas in the hearts of the European American peoples

Then, since the Spring Festival is so important, of course, the festival activities are indispensable. Moreover, China is a vast country and is a multi-ethnic country composed of 56 ethnic groups. The customs of different places are different. I will first list a few general festival activities and talk about them. Chinese New Year customs with special ethnic characteristics.

Red, in Chinese culture, is a color that symbolizes joy and warmth. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, no matter in the hustle and bustle of the city or the countryside, you will see a red sea. Red lanterns and red paper-cuts are the protagonists of the Chinese New Year since ancient times. You can see red lanterns everywhere on the street and under the eaves. Similarly, the Chinese will paste red paper-cuts on the windows of their homes. In terms of content, there are many kinds of content, either the zodiac of the year (China uses twelve animals to represent twelve years of reincarnation), or various holiday blessings.

Like the rich Christmas dinner, Chinese Spring Festival must be spent with the closest relatives and friends. People working outside, no matter how far away, how difficult it is to buy train tickets and bus tickets, try everything to go home In order to have a reunion dinner with relatives, due to the large population of China, media around the world have dubbed it "the largest human migration activity to be carried out at the beginning of each year". How much is this number? A conservative estimate is that the number of tourists is about About 400 million people. Far away, let's take a look at the protagonist of this reunion rice-dumplings. Dumplings, the food that first appeared in the Warring States Period of China, is almost 4,000 years old. It is still active on the Chinese table. The diversity is Its characteristics are that it consists of various kinds of food fillings wrapped in flour chips, which can be meat fillings or vegetable fillings. The method is simple and the taste is delicious. Since the Chinese New Year is from January to February each year, the weather is very cold and dumplings have Very good cold protection. In addition, some people will choose a lucky one among many dumplings and hide a coin in the dumpling stuffing. If any member of the family eats this coin-filled dumpling, he will have good luck in the coming year.



In addition to the reunion dinner, the Chinese will also set off firecrackers. This is a long firecracker with a huge sound that seems to speak out each family's expectations for the coming year, which is very lively.

I also forgot to say that the Spring Festival Gala is a worldwide broadcast hosted by the official Chinese TV station every year. The program includes songs, dances, various language programs, and Chinese Kung Fu. This program has been broadcast since the 1980s. It ’s almost forty years of history. It ’s a very pleasant thing to have a reunion dinner while watching the Spring Festival Gala.

The above are the activities of the Spring Festival in most regions of China, so I will introduce some Spring Festival customs with national characteristics.

In Yunnan Province in southwestern China, there is a ethnic group called the Miao people. The Miao people celebrate the New Year. The main activities are bullfighting and drumming. When bullfighting, one or two thousand people (sometimes as many as five or six thousand people) often come to watch. After the bullfighting is over, they will also hold the "New Year's Drum" event. They brought the glutinous rice wine gathered from each household to the center of the venue in advance. While everyone was drinking, they were dancing on the drums or dancing with the melody of Lusheng. Whenever the drums stop, whoever spends them will sing.

The Yao nationality, a minority ethnic group in Guangxi Province, China, during the Spring Festival, the newlyweds will go to the woman's maid's house to celebrate the New Year. At the banquet of the woman's house, the wife's father sings a folk song and wishes his daughter-in-law love and harmony. Yao people still have to do hoe. The festive dishes are mainly chicken, duck, fish, pork, tofu, vermicelli and various vegetables. In some places, Yao people cook black rice in April. Yao girls in Jiangshui County, Hunan Province eat flower eggs, make flower tinctures, and flower candy during the "picnic festival" on the eighth day of April in the lunar calendar.

The Yi people ’s way of celebrating the Spring Festival is also very special. The first thing people do when they wake up on the first morning is to pick up water. The whole family has to drink “Geely Water”. They use fresh water to wash things and cook rice all day to signify the old welcome. . When the night came, people waved torches, swarmed around the village, ran over mountains and fields, sprinkled pine powder on each other's torches, and ignited battles. The mountains and the fields shone like daylight. According to the customs of the Yi nationality, sprinkle pine powder on the torches, so that the torches will radiate a gorgeous spark, and raise an aroma, it is a good wish: the younger generation to the older generation, respect, bless longevity The elders caressed the younger generations, caressing and wishing good luck; the peers spreading each other is intimate friendship; the young men and women spreading each other, is the beginning of love.

There are many similar customs in various ethnic groups in China. I will briefly introduce the above three. If you want to know more, welcome everyone to come to China during the Spring Festival to travel. You will definitely be infected by the festive atmosphere of the Chinese Spring Festival.