《过年了》
文：雨霏霏
诵：叶子

过年，是一首绵长回味的诗，是一本厚重多彩的书，一个“年”字，盘点着人生四季，在心中累积着往事和畅想，存留下多少温馨、多少眷恋。

说起年，不禁感慨万千。时光像箭一般飞逝，行走如飞的年节一个接一个的到来，雪花的色彩霜染了母亲的秀发,岁月的风刀将沧桑一道道刻在父亲的额头。

人生像正月十五的月亮一样，满了又缺，缺了又满；日子像书一样地翻过，每一页都记载着悲欢苦乐，“执子之手，与子携老”，心有灵犀的双眸，相濡以沫的日子，把人生烹调的甘甜长久。

年节里，一纸窗花剪出龙腾虎跃、百鸟争鸣，妙趣横生的春联跃然千家万户，把希望镶嵌在春的门口；欢腾的锣鼓、奋飞的龙舟、滑稽的高跷、柔曼的彩绸、将一年的情愫浓缩成一道亮丽的风景。

年节里，孩子们的欢声笑语灌满了村寨小巷，发辫上欲飞的蝴蝶随着雪花飘扬，崭新的虎头鞋蹦跳出缕缕春光；母亲飘逸的围裙撩动着饺子的醇香，父亲期盼的目光伸向了远方，把思念和祝福装满儿女的行囊；噼噼啪啪的鞭炮催促着归来的脚步，哪怕路途再遥远，也要让心依偎在爹娘的身旁。

过年了，回望火红的春联，宛如一条悠长的丝带，将儿女的情思相牵：别忘记常回家看看，无论孩子飞得多远，梦里总会看到那张灿烂的笑脸。

不谙世事、青春灿烂、人到中年，一年又一年。我将儿时的风车珍藏为永恒的心签，让母亲的歌谣在耳边久久地回旋，在心灵深处写下感恩的诗篇。

年，将人情冷暖论到极致。

年，将民俗风情论到极致。

年，将天伦之乐论到极致。

过年，是品尝亲情、爱情、友情的盛宴。

过年，是记载日子、人生、事业的书卷。

过年，是传递祝愿、幸福、希望的信笺。

这就是年，把美好的祝福送给春天！

最早的春节：相传中国原始社会时就有“腊祭”之说不得，夏朝建立后，此俗流传下来。《尔雅》一书说春节： “夏曰岁，商曰祀，周曰年” 。

　　最早的除夕：中国农历年的最后一天晚上称为 “除夕”。 “除夕”源于先秦时期的“逐除”。根据《吕氏春秋》中记载：古人在新年的前一天，击鼓驱逐“疫病之鬼”，这就是“除夕”的由来。而最早提到“除夕”这一名称的，是西晋周处的《风土记》。

　　最早的春联：据《宋史》记载：宋灭蜀的前一年，(公元964年)除夕，后蜀主孟槌写下“新年纳余庆，嘉节号长春”，这是被人们公认的第一副春联。

　　最早的年画：年画的前身叫门画，最早的年画形式是门神，画的是神话传说中神茶、郁垒，也有的在门上画虎或古代勇士像，到了宋代演变为木版年画。

　　最早的贺年片：早在宋代就已出现了赠送贺年片的习俗。据南宋人张世南《游宦纪闻》里记载，其家藏有北宋元祐年间敬贺正旦的墨迹。“正旦”就是正月初一，“敬贺正旦”就是现在贺年片上印的“恭贺新年"的意思。

　　最早的爆竹：春节爆竹之俗始于汉代，当时没有火药纸张，所谓爆竹，是用火烧竹子发出的啪啪声。

　　最早的压岁钱：据古籍《开元天宝遗事》记载，压岁钱最早出现在唐玄宗天宝年间，嫔妃们在春节三五结伴做掷钱游戏，宫廷钱库就散些钱给她们。此风在当时宫廷内是很盛行的。

Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)

2014 Spring Festival falls on January 31. The holiday in China starts from January 31 to February 6, 2014. It is the Year of the Horse according to Chinese zodiac. Welcome to China and explore the traditional folk customs of this grand feast! 2014 New Year Video of TravelChinaGuide

Writing Festival Couplets

Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, has more than 4,000 years of history. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for the whole families to get together, which is similar with Christmas Day to the westerners. Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th - 11th century BC), Spring Festival, which celebrates family reunion, is full of rich and colorful activities, and hopes with the advent of spring and flowers blossoming. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.

Festival Time
It comes on the first day of Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for almost half of a month. But in folk custom, this traditional holiday lasts from the 23rd day of the twelfth month to the 15th day of the first month (Lantern Festival) in the lunar calendar. Among these days, the New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year is the peak time. The exact days are different in every year according to the lunar calendar. Schedule of Spring Festival in recent years is offered in the following table.

Year	Date	Holiday	Chinese Zodiac
2012	January 23	January 22 - 28	Dragon
2013	February 10	February 9 - 15	Snake
2014	January 31	January 31 - February 6	Horse
2015	February 19	February 19 - 25	Sheep
2016	February 8	February 8 - 14	Monkey
2017	January 28	January 28 - February 3	Rooster

Couplets and Decorations

History
It is said that the custom of Spring Festival started in when people offered sacrifice to ancestors in the last month of Chinese lunar calendar. At that time, people prepared the sacrifice by doing thorough cleaning, having bathes and so on. Later, people began to worship different deities as well on that day. It is the time that almost all the farm works were done and people have free time. The sacrificing time changed according to the farming schedule and was not fixed until the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). The customs of worshipping deities and ancestors remains even though the ceremonies are not as grand as before. It is also the time that spring is coming, so people held all kinds of ceremonies to welcome it.

Legends
There are many legends about Spring Festival in Chinese culture. In folk culture, it is also called “guonian” (meaning “passing a year”). It is said that the “nian” (year) was a strong monster which was fierce and cruel and ate one kind of animal including human being a day. Human beings were scared about it and had to hide on the evening when the “nian” came out. Later, people found that “nian” was very scared about the red color and fireworks. So after that, people use red color and fireworks or firecrackers to drive away “nian”. As a result, the custom of using red color and setting off fireworks remains.

Festivities Schedule
Preparing the New Year starts 7 days before the New Year’s Eve. According to Chinese lunar calendar, people start to clean the house on Dec. 24, butcher on Dec. 26th and so on. People have certain things to do on each day. These activities will end Jan. 15th of the lunar calendar.

Customs and Practices

Paper Cut of Character 'Fu' Meaning
Happiness and 'Feng' Meaning Harvest

Every family does a thorough house cleaning and purchases enough food, including fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, all kinds of candies and fruits, etc, for the festival period. Also, new clothes must be bought, especially for children. Red scrolls with complementary poetic couplets, one line on each side of the gate, are pasted at every gate. The Chinese character 'Fu' is pasted on the center of the door and paper-cut pictures adorn windows.

Taboos
The Spring Festival is a start for a new year, so it is regarded as the omen of a year. People have many taboos during this period. Many bad words related to “death”, “broken”, “killing”, “ghost” and “illness” or “sickness” are forbidden during conversations. In some places, there are more specific details. They consider it unlucky if the barrel of rice is empty, because they think they will have nothing to eat in the next year. Taking medicine is forbidden on this day, otherwise, people will have sick for the whole year and take medicine constantly.

Festival Food

Dumplings, Traditional Food of Spring Festival

Learn to Make Dumplings

Food during this happy event has its characteristics, which is the representative of Chinese festival food culture. Dumplings and the reunion dinner are indispensable at this time. Cold and hot dishes are all served. Fish is always an important dish then, which expresses people’s hope of having a wealthy year.

Best Places to Go

In China, different places have their own traditions and activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian and Pingyao are some good places to go if one intends to come during the time period. If one does not want to travel so long, but still want to enjoy the atmosphere of Chinese New Year, the local Chinatown is the best place.