What are the customs of the first day of the first lunar month?

The Spring Festival, commonly known as the New Year's Festival, is the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation. Since the first year of Emperor Wu of Han's Taichu reign, the first day of the first lunar month has been regarded as the beginning of the year, and the date of the New Year's Festival has been fixed and has continued to this day. So what is the festival on the first day of the first lunar month? What are the customs?

What is the festival on the first day of the first lunar month?

The first day of the first lunar month is the "Spring Festival", the first day of the Lunar New Year;

The traditional name is New Year, Big Year, or New Year, but it is also called Dusui, Qingxinsui, and Guonian verbally. The Chinese have celebrated the Spring Festival for more than 4,000 years. In modern times, people set the Spring Festival on the first day of the first lunar month, but the New Year is generally not considered to be over until at least the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (the Lantern Festival). Among the folks, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the period from the La Festival in the twelfth lunar month or the Kitchen God Festival on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month to the nineteenth day of the first lunar month. Since the first year of Emperor Wu of Han's Taichu reign, the first day of the first lunar month in the Xia calendar has been regarded as the "beginning of the year" (i.e. "year"), and the date of the New Year's Festival has been fixed and has continued to this day. After the Revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar (solar calendar) was adopted to count years, and January 1 of the Gregorian calendar was called "New Year's Day", and the first day of the first lunar month was called "Spring Festival".

Customs on the first day of the first lunar month

1. Opening firecrackers On the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first to wish the new year auspicious. This is called "opening firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground is covered with red fragments, as bright as brocade, which is called "Mantanghong". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.

2. New Year's greetings An important activity during the Spring Festival is to visit new friends and neighbors to wish them a happy New Year, which was formerly known as New Year's greetings. The custom of New Year greetings among the Han people has existed since the Han Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty, many families posted a red paper bag at the door to collect business cards, which was called "menbu". The first day of the first lunar month is the first day of New Year's greetings, and people visit relatives and friends with deep blessings.

3. Pasting Spring Festival couplets

There is a custom of posting Spring Festival couplets on the first day of the first lunar month. Early in the morning on the first day of the New Year, every household will take out the prepared red Spring Festival couplets and paste them on the door, symbolizing a new beginning in the new year. An upside-down word "Fu" will also be pasted on the windows and doors of the house, implying the arrival of good fortune.

4. Vegetarianism

There is a custom of fasting on the first day of the first lunar month. "Eating vegetarian food" is homophonic to "eating disasters", which means eating away all the disasters of the new year so that the family can be healthy and safe. Moreover, eating vegetarian food on the first day of the new year means eating away all the poor days of the year, and every day thereafter will be smooth.