Spring Festival customs in literature

Portraits of the Door Gods. [Photo/showchina.org]

As millions rush to return home to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, it's good to take a look back at how the festival and its customs came to be. Cao Xueqin's book A Dream of Red Mansions, provides a good look at how a noble family in feudal China celebrated the Lunar New Year.

Steeped in traditional Chinese spirit and culture, Spring Festival can be traced back thousands of years. In the past, Spring Festival began on Dec 23 of the lunar calendar and ended on Feb 2 of the lunar calendar. Due to modifications to the calendar in 1912, the festival was condensed to 15 days, running from the eve of the lunar New Year to the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first lunar month. In 2006, the state council added Spring Festival to the list of state-level intangible cultural heritage.

Today, Chinese celebrate Spring Festival in a simpler way with spring cleaning and decorating, shopping for new clothes, giving out Hong Bao (lucky money for children in red envelopes), having family dinner on New Year's Eve and watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

Although some of the customs remain, the profound meanings beneath them have been lost. Cao Xueqin's book, A Dream of Red Mansions provides a glimpse of the traditional Spring Festival framing it in the celebration of a noble family in feudal China.

Ancestor Worship

"Over in the Ning Mansion, Jia Zhen had the Ancestral Temple opened and swept, the sacrificial vessels prepared, the ancestral tablets put in place, and the north hall cleaned in readiness for displaying the ancestral portraits. High and low alike in both mansions were kept hard at work." (Chapter 53, an English translation of A Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi)

In the agrarian era, ancestor worship was the most significant activity during the Spring Festival. On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor would hold a ceremony at the royal temple, and each family would get together at the ancestral hall to pay homage to the ancestors and pray for a good harvest year.

In A Dream of Red Mansions, all the family members, both masters and servants, are present at the ancestral temple according to their ranks in the family. The lady Dowager (Grandmother Jia) stands nearest to the terrace, with other ladies arranged inside the hall in corresponding ranks, while the male members were arranged in ascending order of seniority from the inner gate to the terrace. All the servants remain outside the ceremonial gate. The offerings are passed on from hand to hand until they reached Grandmother Jia, who lay them down on the altar. After Grandmother Jia offers incense and bows, the whole clan kneels down together.

Zao Jun

Besides offering sacrifices to the ancestors, ordinary families would "fete" the kitchen God, also known as Zao Jun, who reported to the emperor of the heaven about activities of every household during the past year. Sweetmeats were offered instead of other sacrifices for it is believed that the kitchen god cannot speak of bad deeds with his mouth glued with sweets. The portrait of Zao Jun is usually set on the eastern wall in the kitchen, with a couplet flanking it reading, "Take nice words to heaven, bring blessings for the household". On the 23rd of the last lunar month, Zao Jun would set off for heaven and would return to the household before the lunar New Year's Eve.