Spring Festival – A story about hope and belonging – China Daily.com

(China Daily reporter Zhao Xu)

“One year old is eliminated in the sound of firecrackers,

The spring breeze brings warmth into Tusu.

Thousands of households, every day,

Always replace old talismans with new ones. “

In 1069 AD, Wang Anshi (1021-1086), a famous poet and politician in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote this poem to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. The poem is filled with joyful emotions, reflecting Wang Anshi’s proud and ambitious mood, which had just been re-employed by the emperor. This poem full of hope is timeless and has been recited by generations of Chinese during the Spring Festival.

This is a hope deeply rooted in the promise of the seasons: the traditional Chinese calendar marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring as the beginning of the year. The vitality and renewal contained in it are self-evident, which is why the Chinese New Year is also It is called “Spring Festival”. It is worth noting that although Chinese New Year is often referred to as the Lunar New Year, in fact, the traditional Chinese calendar incorporates timing cycles based on the movement of the moon (lunar calendar) and the sun (solar calendar). Its core is to align agricultural practices with natural rhythms. coordination. The New Year marks the beginning of the farming season, which brings with it the thawing of the earth, the resurrection of life and the beginning of hope.

After thousands of years of evolution, the calendar has continued to evolve, and so has the tradition of the Spring Festival. Although the New Year itself begins at the stroke of midnight, the festivities usually last for two weeks from New Year’s Eve until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Everything that Wang Anshi lovingly described – the traditional customs that people of his time followed at the end of the year and the beginning of the year – are still full of vitality today. The reason is that although China is no longer the agricultural society it used to be, people’s expectations for the return of warm spring, their expectation to reunite with their relatives, their nostalgia for the past years, and their longing for the new year remain unchanged. of. The Spring Festival is the time when these deep emotions gather and flow.

As Wang Anshi said, the old year will only leave with the crackle of firecrackers – the thunderous sound shook the windows on both sides of the street, and the children covered their ears and laughed, leaving behind a red field that was once wrapped with gunpowder. Confetti. However, what is little known is that although the Chinese invented gunpowder very early, firecrackers as we know them today actually only gradually emerged in the Song Dynasty when Wang Anshi lived: The Song Dynasty had frequent wars with its neighboring countries, and the gunpowder manufacturing technology Significant improvements and developments have been achieved.

Before that, sharp explosions were made by igniting dry bamboo poles, so firecrackers were called “firecrackers” in China. In addition, people could also crack a whip to produce a loud crackling sound, which is the origin of “firecrackers” .

Firecrackers burst into deafening vitality in the night sky. However, this is not just to stimulate the ears and create an atmosphere, but to drive away a beast called “Nian”. According to legend, this beast looks like a lion and often appears at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. It specializes in eating people at night, which makes people frightened. Later, an old man in the village discovered that “Nian” is a bad person, but he is afraid of the sun, doesn’t like the color red, and especially hates noisy sounds. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, people will put up red couplets and window grilles on New Year’s Eve, light up lights, and at the same time play drums and set off firecrackers to scare away the Nian beast and pray for peace.

Cultural historians have long disagreed as to why “year” is often regarded as a destructive force. Some people speculate that this may be closely related to the hardships caused by the severe cold in winter. However, the arrival of the New Year is like a warm spring breeze, bringing us comfort and hope. It gives us the strength and courage to overcome misfortune, transcend the past, abandon the old self, and welcome new life.

“The past years are like mountains lying behind me. If I look back, turn around and walk back, climbing over mountains after mountains, I will see my childhood…” Modern China The literary giant Ba Jin (original name Li Yaotang, 1904-2005) wrote in his work “New Year”. In the article, he recalled an unforgettable New Year’s day in his childhood. As a child, he “wore a bloated yellow satin cotton robe and damask cotton shoes, hid alone in a small patio behind the garden, and set off firecrackers such as ‘Ground Mouse’. I don’t know why I actually burned my cotton shoes.”

“I don’t want to turn back time and go back to my childhood, even though this place is as beautiful as a dream, as most people say.” Ba Jin said. He then reflected on his historical mission: “What have I done to express the desire of the youth of my generation? Isn’t the desire of the youth of our time just that – to love the abused and humiliated compatriots, to fight for freedom, Fight for equality and fraternity? “

When Ba Jin wrote this passage, it was the Spring Festival of 1934. At that time, it had been more than two and a half years since Japan launched the September 18th Incident and invaded Northeast China. In that era of gloomy clouds and uncertain future, the Chinese New Year not only meant gathering and celebration, it also became a symbol of determination and courage, a solemn warning to the world about those cultural traditions and traditions deeply rooted in the soil of thousands of years of history. Heritage, if not cherished and defended by us, may collapse and disappear in an instant; sometimes, protecting them may even cost us our lives.

Preserving this precious cultural heritage is the deepest respect for ancestors, and admiration and worship of ancestors is a tradition deeply engraved in the Spring Festival celebration customs. In “A Dream of Red Mansions”, known as the pinnacle of ancient Chinese novels, Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) used his delicate brushwork to vividly reproduce the solemn and complicated ancestor worship ceremony held by a prominent family during the Spring Festival:

“The biggest ritual during the Chinese New Year is to worship ancestors, which must be worshiped on the 30th day of the new year and the first day of the lunar new year… In the early morning of the 30th day of the new year, Jia Mu leads the clan members who have titles, and they wear court clothes according to their rank. The large sedan chair with a long dragon in it enters the palace to congratulate and receive a banquet. When they return, they go directly to the Jia Family Ancestral Hall in Ningguo Mansion to worship their ancestors. At this time, everyone in the family must be present… Qing. Music and clothes were played, three honors were presented, silk was burned and wine was served, the ceremony was over, and the crowd followed Jia Mu to the main hall. The brocade curtain was hung high in front of the film, and the colorful screen was displayed, and the incense candles were shining brightly. In the center hangs the portraits of the second ancestor Ning Rong, both of whom are covered with jade. On both sides there are several portraits of the ancestors, Jia Yun, Jia Zhi and others, standing in sequence from the Neiyi Gate to the corridor of the main hall.

In contrast, ordinary people’s homes use a more simple way, enshrining the portraits of their ancestors on the long table as an altar, and devoutly offering food and incense to express their memory and respect for their ancestors.

In China’s vast rural areas, no matter in the past or today, these ancestor worship ceremonies are often held in public ancestral halls, where common ancestors are enshrined and carry the glory and memory of the family. It is particularly worth mentioning that ancestral halls are usually one of the first buildings built by early Chinese immigrants after arriving in foreign lands. Some of these immigrants crossed the vast Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the United States on unpowered sailing ships more than 150 years ago. They participated in the construction of the first railroad connecting the east and west coasts in the United States, but they also suffered from serious racial hatred. In the 1870s and 1880s alone, there were nearly 500 violent riots against the Chinese, most of which Part of this occurred in California, where Chinese immigrants are concentrated. In this context, the ancestral hall has become an important spiritual refuge for Chinese immigrants. For members of these early immigrant communities, celebrating the Spring Festival was not only a profound way to express cultural identity, but also a means of resisting the pressure to assimilate.

In a black-and-white photo taken in the early 20th century, a dragon winds its way through a busy American street, with English signs hanging on both sides of the shops. Dragon dance, as an important part of Chinese New Year celebrations, has a history of thousands of years, and its origin can be traced back to ancient sacrificial rituals. These rituals were intended to invoke the protection of the dragon, a mythical beast with symbolic power that was regarded as a deity that could bring rain and ensure a good harvest.

In the photo, the performer manipulates a dragon-shaped prop supported by a multi-section bamboo frame and covered with fabric. They may have learned and passed down this skill in their hometown Chinese villages before immigrating to the United States. After arriving in the United States, many devoted themselves to the hard work of building railroads or running laundries. The Spring Festival has become a rare opportunity for them to proudly display their culture and highlight their existence in a lively and festive way. Therefore, even when local laws prohibit setting off firecrackers, some people still insist on banging pots and pans, guarding their cultural memory in and outside Chinatown.

By cherishing this collective memory, they pass it on to future generations. After experiencing various hardships, their descendants gradually created their own unique identities in their new homes and continued this tradition. As time goes by, the Spring Festival has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon, connecting the hearts of every Chinese and telling immortal stories about belonging, hope and dreams.

(Zhao Xu)

[Editor in charge: Shu Liang]