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Stay and stay in Xiamen to celebrate the New Year together, let the culture of the New Year soar
People visit the New Year’s produce market. (Photo by reporter Zhang Jiangyi)
Xiamen Daily News (Reporter Xu Shuxin）The New Year of the Ox is approaching, the streets and alleys of Xiamen are filled with a festive atmosphere, and the flavor of the year becomes more and more intense. Pasting Spring Festival couplets, eating rice cakes, hanging New Year’s pictures … In addition to the continuation of these traditional customs, there are also some young artists who use the culture represented by the “New Year” as a source of innovation, opening up the pursuit of a new “New Year” for modern fashion people.
Whether it’s a new trend or a traditional one, it’s a continuation of the Spring Festival culture. This year, it is recommended to stay in Xiamen for the New Year, let us experience the traditional and modern New Year culture together.
Southern Fujian “Rice Spring Flower”
Annual flowers that do not fade.
In southern Fujian folk traditions during the New Year, in addition to various offerings, a bowl of rice is placed in the center of the table and a flower made of red paper is inserted into the rice. This flower is called “fanchunhua”. Today, some ancient Hokkiens still continue this tradition.
Wang Shuhui from Tongan, 68, has 8 years of experience in making “Fan Chunhua”. He told reporters that in Hokkien, “chun” means “to stay.” As the saying goes, “every year there is surplus food, every year there is no food.” A piece of “rice spring flower” is inserted into the rice, which means that in the new year, whatever happens, there will always be “remaining”. Generally speaking, it means not worrying about eating and drinking.
“Fan Chunhua” is shaped like a flower and is divided into three layers. When making, first use large red crepe paper to cut petals in three sizes: large, medium, and small. Next, take a thin strip of bamboo and tie two thin iron cores on top. Then, starting with the two iron cores on top, glue the small, medium and large petals together from the inside out and pinch into a flower shape, and the “rice spring flower” is done.
Rice spring flowers made of paper do not wilt and are also very humanistic. For the popular New Year in southern Fujian, if this flower is missing, the taste of the New Year seems not so strong. Wang Shuhui recalled, “In the early years, the whole street in the market before New Year’s Eve was selling rice and spring flowers. It was booming and very beautiful.”
As a traditional craft with a long history in southern Fujian, “Zhachunhua” has a history of at least 400 years in Tongan. In addition to the “fanchunhua” that is used for sacrifices during the New Year, there is also a spring flower that is tied with thread and is used for weddings, children’s full moon, birthdays and other occasions.
Steamed rice cake
New Year’s “good heart”
Eating New Years cakes during the New Year is also one of the customs of southern Fujian. “Children eat New Years cakes and grow each year; adults eat New Years cakes and will get up every year; the elderly eat New Years cakes and live longer each year.” A piece of rice cake is no longer a simple meal, it is more like a necessary ritual for the New Year. Only when you eat rice cake, is it the real New Year. Only after eating rice cakes can you be “higher every year”. As the saying goes, “The meaning of rice cakes is a little deep, white as silver and yellow gold. The years wait for a long time and profit, and they sincerely wish for wealth.”
Nian gao can be eaten straight or steamed. The best way to eat the nian gao is to wait for the nian gao to cool, cut into pieces, wrap in the egg mixture and fry until golden brown on both sides, pick up a piece and gently With a bite, the skin remains crisp, the inside is smooth, and the long silk can be pulled out. This is the “good heart” of the Hokkien people during the New Year.
How are traditional rice cakes made? A few days ago, the reporter came to Xia Shanghao Qingxiang to find out. The selection of materials for the nian gao is rigorous and the process is rigorous. Only by following the steps of “wash the rice”, “refine”, “invert the pan” and “smoke the cake” can you create a nian gao that is smooth. and not sticky to the teeth, chewy and chewy. Rice cakes made with the old-fashioned steamer following the old-fashioned method not only have the sweetness of the rice cake itself, but also leave behind the slight woody aroma of the steamer.
Hand-painted New Years images.
Incorporate the special blessings of southern Fujian
Hua Xian is a true fan of South Fujian popular culture, he likes to explore the murals of ancient houses and temples in South Fujian and does field work whenever he has time. Years of accumulation have become the source of inspiration for your New Years image creation.
“Last year, due to the epidemic, everyone had a hard time. I hope everyone is safe and calm next year.” This year, Huaxian created the Xin Chou Daji 2021 New Year’s Painting Game with a piece of gingerbread on the theme of “health.” Shang New Year Pictures, 1 Zaojun New Year Picture, 6 Small New Year Pictures, 6 Red Envelopes, 6 Annual Stickers.
The New Year paintings created by Huaxian have their own unique identity. In addition to the hand-drawn patterns, vivid texts will be added to the New Year images. “The times are different, and it requires an expression of moving with the times. In the past New Year’s pictures, the writing was relatively stiff, and they were all ‘seeking fortune and treasure.’ Huaxian said, took these The text is replaced by a more direct form of expression, which is easier for young people to accept. For example, in one of Xiaonian’s paintings, he drew a cow sleeping soundly and wrote the words “Go to bed early” on the right. On the back of the red envelope bag, Huaxian also wrote special blessings with southern Fujian characteristics, such as “take it to open”, “happy” and “shun la”, etc. The New Year’s greetings immediately became firm.
Times have changed and New Year’s images have been renewed, but the beautiful outlook on people’s lives it contains has never changed.
