The Spring Festival of Jinjiang

　　The Spring Festival customs of Jinjiang

　　The Spring Festival is the most lively festival for southern Fujian people in a year.From the first to the fifteenth day of the lunar month, are all in the "New Year". Only after fifteen, "Year" has passed. Jinjiang still retains many New Year's customs, let's take a look.

　　Pasting spring couplets

　　"One year is passing in the sounds of firecrackers, People are drinking in the warm spring wind,On every gate,in the morning sunshine,New Spring Festival couplets are replacing the old."The song of the poet of Wang Anshi who is the poet of the Song dynasty, is still our custom today.

　　Before the Spring Festival, every family put up Spring Festival couplets,the couplets in red paper and ink pasted on the door of families in Jinjiang, to declare the happy life. "Although the time is ticking,but people will be more and more longevity; When the spring is coming,fortunes will be full of your family."demonstrates people’s good hope for the New Year! And the sugarcanes which are pasted with red paper are put on two sides of the door, implied of entering into the wonderful circumstance, and the sweet life.

　　Steaming "Salty rice pudding"

　　In Jinjiang, people have to steam"Salty rice pudding"in order to spend a good Spring Festival."Salty rice pudding" is also known as "Steamed Rice Sponge Cake". In the dialect of Southern Fujian, the more fermented the better,because "fa" has the meaning of rich and developed.Steaming "Salty rice pudding" has to ferment first, so "Salty rice pudding" signifies rich, developed to build up the family fortunes.

　　Staying up late on New Year's Eve sitting around the fire

　　On the New Year's Eve, the family surrounded together for family reunion meals, which is the common tradition of the Chinese people. In the southern Fujian area, the family gathered together to eat the dinner on New Year's Eve called "fireside".As there are many Jinjiang people went out overseas to make a living previously,coming back home to have the family reunion dinner, sharing the happiness of a family union, is the happiest thing for the whole family.

　　After sitting around the fire, we love to sit together to chat, waiting for the arrival of the New Year, this process is commonly known as "staying-up late on New Year's Eve".

　　"Jump over fire "

　　After sitting around the fire, "Jump over fire"-this lively and funny program will debut.People will prepare the fire fodder spring grass in the courtyard, normally they are rice straw and sweet potato vine.After ignition, the highest seniority male of the family lead first to jump over the fire, others jump by the pecking order.

　　"Jump over the fire group" is not just skipping over a heap of burning "fire groups", and sometimes people also skip and read "the four sentence of Minnan". For example, jumpin, large fortune; jump out, good fortune...

　　"son-in-law day"

　　The second day of the first lunar month is called "son-in-law day" in folk custom in southern Fujian province, and the daughter who is married will return to her mother's home with her son and husband on that day. There is a common saying: "father mother,the second and third day of the first lunar month,without father and mother lift the burden". It means that if the daughter- in- law's parents are still alive,there will be someone picking up her for home on the second and third day of the first lunar month,and if the girl has no parents, she has tostay in the husband's family to do work, help friends and relatives who come back home to carry the burden.

　　January3 of the Lunar Calendar is called the "red dog day", "red" has the same meaning with "poor", so people don’ t go out to play or treat on this day, and sleep early.

　　January4 of the Lunar Calendar is the folk“inviting the Godday".

　　The fifth day of the lunar month is separated, means "the first month of new year" ends, shops reopen for business on this day,and people start to work.

　　On January6 of the Lunar Calendar, people remove manure, called "fertilizing".

　　On the January7 of the Lunar Calendar, seven kinds of vegetables were mixed and cooked, called "qibao soup" (or seven yuan). It is said that you can get rid of all diseases after eating it.

　　January8 of the Lunar Calendar is the reunion day.

　　January9 of the Lunar Calendar is "the birthday of the god", each family has to worship god with livestock and wine in the early morning.

　　January15 of the Lunar Calendar is the Lantern Festival. The whole of the lunar month was filled with a joyous festive atmosphere.

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