Every year, people always replace the old mahogany teakwood talisman with a new one: a review of cultural practices of Chinese New Year

Traditional Chinese festivals contain a wide variety of vibrant cultural practices. The Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year), Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-autumn Festival are regarded as the Four Major Festivals (四大節）in Chinese culture. The Spring Festival, in particular, involves ceremonious practices with the longest period of celebration, therefore Chinese also call the festival “A Big celebration for the New Year (過大年)”.

Chinese adage says, “After the Day of Laba (臘八, the eighth day of the twelfth month), New Year has already begun(過了臘八就是年)”. On the Day of Laba, each family in Northern China prepare the Laba Garlic (臘八蒜) for the serving of Reunion Dinner at the New Years’ Eve. In various provinces of China, people are busy cooking the Laba Congee (臘八粥). All are longing for and preparing for the Chinese New year as the festival is approaching.

On the twentieth-third or twentieth-fourth of the twelfth month in the Lunar Calendar, there is a practice of thanksgiving to the Guardian God of the Stove (祭灶神). From then on, people are busy working on house cleaning and decoration as well as preparing for festive commodities.

The Chinese New Years’ Eve and Lunar New Year’s Day are regarded as the highlights of Chinese New Year celebration, though the joy, fun, and fireworks last until the Lantern Festival (元宵節) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when fireworks weave the beautiful scenarios of fire trees and silver flowers at the brightest night, and when the full moon hangs on the sky again to signify the arrival of the spring throughout the country. The Lantern Festival marks the grand finale of the celebrations of the Chinese new year (Guonian 過年).

Considering the long history and vast territory of China, it is inevitable that there are diversities in social situations and cultures. Therefore, localized special practices of Chinese New Year celebrations are inherited from different historical contexts. Despite the minor differences, major themes of the celebrations, major events and cultural symbols of the Chinese New Year are always common among Chinese people, who regard Chinese New Year as a big festival that involves massive celebrations. Therefore, the author of this article adopts the poem “Lunar New Year’s Day” (元日）by Wang Anshi (王安石，1021-1086), which includes vivid descriptions of scenarios and events of the Chinese Year Year to illustrate the flair and aura of folk cultural practices of the celebrations of the Spring Festival. The poem is translated as follows, “The old year passes with the sound of firecrackers, people are drinking Tusu wine when winds of the Spring bring in warmth. Thousands and Millions of houses are illuminated by the Sun. Every year, people always replace the old mahogany teakwood talisman with a new one.” (爆竹聲中一歲除，春風送暖入屠蘇。千門萬戶曈曈日，總把新桃換舊符。). The poem was written when Wang Anshi was appointed as the Emperor’s Delegate (參知政事) in the second year of Xining period of the Emperor Shenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty (宋神宗熙寧二年, 1069) to mastermind the reform and implement new policies. With the Chinese New Year’s arrival, and the hope for changes, Wang Aishi’s poem was hailed as an all time classic, and it is still as motivating and touching to readers as ever.

There are two existing versions of the title of this poem of Wang Aishi’s. One of the versions is “Lunar New Yesr’s Day” (元日), while the alternative version is “Lunar New Year’s Eve (除日)”. The change of a word makes a marked difference: If the title is “Lunar New Year’s Eve”, the whole poem describes the scenario of the last day of the year. If it is “Lunar New Year’s Day”, it refers to the first day of the Chinese New Year. No matter what, both versions indicate the period of the celebrations of the Spring Festival. As said in Tang Dynasty Poet Wang Wan (王灣， 693-751)’s poem “Stop by the base of the Beigu Mountain (次北固山下)”, “The tide is still and the valley is wide. When the wind finally comes, I find that only my boat is prevailing. The sun rises from the sea and breaks the late night. Spring time is replacing the old year with the flow of the river (潮平兩岸闊，風正一帆懸。海日生殘夜，江春入舊年。)”. “Breaks the late night” and “the old year” indicate the Lunar New Year’s Eve while “The sun rises from the sea”and “Spring time on river” are signifying the Lunar New Year’s Day. Since ancient times, Chinese people have always been following the practice of Staying Awake (守夜) on the Lunar New Year’s Eve to welcome the Lunar New Year, and this is regarded a very important ritual. The alternative title of Wang Onshi’s poem “Lunar New Year’s Day” also involves the cultural context underneath the evolution of the name of the Spring Festival in Chinese history.

There are various ancient names for the festival, namely, Jiaping (嘉平), Dala (大蠟), Chuxi (除夕), Suidan (歲旦), Yuandan (元旦), Zhengdan (正旦), and Xinnian (新年), the Spring Festival (Chunjie 春節）originally indicates the Solar Term of The Beginning of Spring (Lichun, 立春）or the Springtime in general. After the 1911 Revolution, Republican China adopted the Gregorian Calendar and named the first day of the calendar as Yuandan (元旦）while the traditional Lunar New Year was called  The Spring Festival (Chunjie 春節). These names are adopted until now. Therefore, to all Chinese people, no matter living in China or overseas, there are two “New Years”, one belongs to the Gregorian Calendar, another belongs to the Lunar Calendar. Nonetheless, Chinese people definitely regard the traditional Chinese New Year of the Lunar Calendar as the most important. Every generation inherits the cultural practices of celebration. Recently, the impact of Chinese New Year is becoming more impactful all over the world. As early as In 2006, folk cultural practices of celebration of the Spring Festival was already enlisted as the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, and in late 2024, UNESCO formally included the Spring Festival in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The first line of Wang Onshi (1021-1086)’s “Lunar New Year’s Day”, “The old year is passed with the sound of  firecrackers” (爆竹聲中一歲除), can be interpreted specifically as describing the moment “When Spring time is replacing the old year with the flow of the river” in Wang Wan’s poem. At the intersection between the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the sounds of firecrackers are everywhere, bringing in the bustling scenario of excitement. In many areas of the Southern China, there are still practices of lighting fireworks at the intersection between the old and the new year. The buzzing soundscapes and twinkling lights bring in lively and vibrant mood of joy. Of course, firecrackers are much more popular and common all over China for the non-stop celebrations for the Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s Day. Historically, there are many famous quotes from literature, for example, the poem “New Year’s Greeting written in a Buddhist Temple (教門新年詞)” by Qing Dynasty Poet Xie Wenqiao (謝文翹， ？-？) says “Buzzing sound of firecrackers throughout the night（通宵爆竹一聲聲). Joyful music in all major streets celebrating the wonderful time (六街歌管樂昇平)”.

From the cultural perspective, this practice is originated from the ritual for scaring away the evil spirits and wicked ghosts. As mentioned in ancient book On New Year in Hubei and Hunan Provinces (荊楚歲時記), “The first day of the first month, when the roosters crow, one sets the firecrackers in the courtyard to drive away the evil deities from the mountain and the wicked ghosts (正月一日，雞鳴而起，先於庭前爆竹以辟山妖惡鬼)”. Therefore, the firecrackers are not only necessary for celebrations, but also essential for rituals to drive away evil spirits to receive the good ones so that one could say farewell to the woeful old year and receive a hopeful new one.

The poem “A Song for Firecrackers (爆竹行)” written by the poet in Southern Song Dynasty Fan Chengda (范成大， 1126-1193）said, “The tradition of setting firecrackers has a long history (歲朝爆竹傳自昔)” with two major purposes. First, “to frighten the evil spirits and drive away woeful ghosts (百鬼驚、鬼巢傾)”. Second, “to pave the way to welcome the God as well as to bring in safety and peace (神道寧、皆和平)”. This indicates ancient Chinese’s wish for new hopes for the future. However, due to the new policies on environmental protection and noise control, some areas in China now restrict or even prohibit setting firecrackers all over the Spring Festival. From personal and communal perspective, this definitely makes one feel that the mood of celebrations (in Chinese slang, Nian weier 年味兒）is affected a bit.

The second line of Wang Onshi’s “New Year’s Day” said, “people are drinking Tusu wine when winds of the Spring bring in warmth (春風送暖入屠蘇)”. This describes the scenario that the Sun is shining in the New Year which brings in warmth and people gather to drink wine to celebrate the new year.  There are debates among scholars on the meaning of the last three Chinese words “Ru Tusu (入屠蘇)” as there are alternative interpretations. These three characters could be understood as “drinking Tusu Wine”. However, some argue that based on etymological studies, the Character Tu (屠) also means “cottage”, while Su (蘇) also means “to rejuvenate”. Therefore, the line should be understood as “the wind of the Spring enters the cottages to rejuvenate them (吹入人們破陋的茅草屋，使茅草屋煥發出盎然的生機)”.

Although this interpretation provides new understanding based on syntactic and semantic analysis, I find that the second interpretation unconvincing for the following reasons. First, the two verbs in the line, Song (送，send, give, bring in）actually means the same as Ru (入) in this context to describe the act of the Winds of the Spring. It is actually clumsy and redundant in terms of literature appreciation. Second, based on the sequence of the second line (春風送暖入屠蘇) and the third line “Thousands and Million of houses are shined by the Sun” (千門萬戶曈曈日), one could find that the same imagery, houses, are applied repeatedly in the second line (cottages) and the third line (houses). Such writing is definitely regarded as below par with the standard of Chinese poetry appreciation. Therefore, it does not need an expert writer to spot this low level mistake, not to mention Wang Onshi, who was hailed as a master in poetry. Therefore, it seems to me that the first interpretation which regards “Ru Tusu” as drinking wine while the second line could be understood as people enjoying Tusu wine in the spring time, is a much better and appropriate interpretation. Such understanding could explore the multiplicity of the beauty of this poem.

Now we move on to discuss the role of wine in the folk culture of the celebrations of the Spring Festival. Chinese adage says, “Without wine, a feast is never complete (無酒不成席)”. Since ancient times, people enjoy wine in the celebration of New Year to share the joyful moment.

The Tusu wine (屠蘇）mentioned in Wang Onshi’s poem, according to the annotation from Li Bi (李壁, 1159-1222）in Annotations on poems by Wang Onshi (王荊公詩注, means a wine that is brewed from various types of Chinese herbal medicines. “People gathered different types of medicines to brew the wine, then store the wine under the well in the New Year’s Eve, and take it out in the Lunar New Year’s Day. Then family members line up from the youngest to the oldest, facing East, then drink the wine (集眾藥為之，除夕以浸酒懸於井中，元日取之，自少至長，東面而飲)”. After that, the herbs left in the wine would be collected, raised, and packed in red packets hung on the doorframe in order to Drive Away Diseases and Pandemics (辟瘟疫).

It is believed that drinking Tusu wine can also prevent diseases.As said by Tang Dynasty medical master Sun Simiao (孫思邈， 581-682) in his classic Valuable Prescriptions for emergencies (備急千金方), “Tusu wine can drive away Qi that causes illnesses so that one is free from illnesses  and fever”. Therefore, drinking Tusu wine in the New Year’s Day, as said by Sun Simiao, “one family member drinks the tusu wine, could protect the whole family from disease; one family drink the tusu wine, could protect the whole community from diseases (一人飲，一家無疫，一家飲，一里無疫)”.

On New Year in Hubei and Hunan Provinces (荊楚歲時記), which was written in Liang Dynasty (502-557) in Northern-Southern Dynasties Period, is the earlier existing record to the practice of celebrating the Spring Festival with Tusu Wine. According to the book, Lunar New Year’s Day is the first day of the first month of the year. Therefore, this is the day of “three beginnings (三元之日)”. Therefore, in this important day, “all people, regardless of ages, wear formal dressing, and greet each other in the sequences of the seniority in the family. Then people will have the followings : chill and cypress leaf wine, peach leaf tea, tusu wine, maltose candies, and dishes of five spices (長幼悉正衣冠，以次拜賀，進椒柏酒，飲桃湯；進屠蘇酒，膠牙餳，下五辛盤)”.  Such practices remain popular since Tang Dynasty. As recorded in Song Dynasty Writer Zhao Yanheng (趙彥衡,  ?-?, circa 1195)’s book Loose Notes in a cloud-covered foothill (雲麓漫抄), “In the New Year’s Day, people are drinking Tusu Wine, in a sequence of from the youngest to the oldest”. (正月旦日，世俗皆飲屠蘇酒，自幼及長。). Therefore, one could find that the tradition of drinking wine in the Spring Festival has the multiple meaning of prevention of diseases and improving one’s health, as well as gathering together to share the joy of the new year. Even though modern Chinese no longer drink Tsun wine as the ancient people used to, the fragrance of fine wine still pervades among family gatherings and reunions with relatives.

The last line of Wang Onshi’s “New Year’s Day” says, “Every year, people always replace the old mahogany teakwood talisman with a new one (總把新符換舊桃)”. The Chinese characters Xinfu (新符）and Jiutao (舊桃) refer to mahogany teakwood talisman,  a wooden board with craving which is the precursor of Spring Festival Couplets. Therefore, in New Year in the Capital (燕京歲時記), it is mentioned that “Spring Festival Couplets are evolved from mahogany teakwood talisman. After the ritual of thanksgiving to the guardian god of the stove, people gradually paste Spring Couplets on the doors and windows, brings in refreshing atmospheres (春聯者，即桃符也⋯⋯祭灶之後，則漸次粘掛，千門萬戶，煥然一新)”. This indicates posting Spring Couplets and the hanging of mahogany teakwood talisman have been an important ritual since ancient times. People believe that the following folklore is the origin of the practice of hanging mahogany teakwood talisman. In ancient times, there were monsters that threatened people’s lives. Later, two Deities came to defeat the evils and demons with mahogany teakwood boards. Therefore, people started hanging mahogany teakwood talisman on the door to drive away evil spirits. This indicates that ancient Chinese shared the longstanding belief that mahogany could defeat evil spirits.

As early as in The Zuo Traditions (左傳) in late Zhou Dynasty, there were already records that “bows made from mahogany and arrows made from thorns could drive away woes (桃弧、棘矢，以除其災)”. In Tang Dynasty, Xu Jian (徐堅， 660-729) cited phrases from ancient medical book Diansu (典術， Classical Methods) in Learners’ References (初學記), “Mahogany is the best of five major types of woods. Therefore, it is able to drive away evil spirits and defeat demons and ghosts. This is why people nowadays adopt mahogany teakwood to make talisman for hanging on the door, so that the house is protected from evil spirits. This wood is really sharing God’s characters (桃者，五木之精也，故厭伏邪氣，制百鬼，故今人作桃符著門，以厭邪，此仙木也。).”. Therefore, mahogany was also called“wood that devils were afraid of (鬼怖木)”. This idea still lasts nowadays. Many manufacturers are creating and distributing various ornaments and products from mahogany wood.

As people usually hang a new mahogany teakwood talisman on the door on the Lunar New Year’s Day with spells to drive away evil spirits and wishes for the new year carved on it, this gradually becomes the prototype of Spring Festival Couplets. Some scholars suggest that earliest Spring Festival Couplet was written by the last King of Late Shu Kingdom Meng Chang ( 孟昶， 919-965）in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Couplet contains the following, “We receive massive fortune in the new year, the joyful festival is a sign for long lasting Springtime (新年納餘慶，嘉節號長春). Nonetheless, recent scholars found that many sentences in segment S.0610 on Dunhuang Manuscripts (敦煌遺書)which were greetings written on mahogany teakwood talisman on the Lunar New Year’s Day or the Solar Term of The Beginning of Spring, for example, “Lots of Joy every year and no woes every month (年年多慶/月月無災)”, “The time of three Yang Qi has begun and the order of four dimensions evolves (三陽始佈/四秩初開)”, as well as  “Joyful Celebration of the Lunar New Year and everybody enjoys long lasting longevity and fortune (福慶初新/壽祿延長)”, to name a few.

When it came to Ming and Qing Dynasty, Spring Couplets in paper form became the major medium for New Year’s greetings. According to Anecdotes written in Zan Yun Building (簪雲樓雜說) written by Chen Shanggu (陳尚古， ？-？）in the Qing Dynasty, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋， 1328-1398) once made an order on the Lunar New Year’s Eve that “Government officials, officers and laypersons must stick a pair of Spring Festival Couplet on the door so that the first emperor could walk around in informal dressings for inspection and feel pleased with a smile on his face (公卿、士庶門上須加春聯一副。太祖親微行出觀，以為笑樂)”. This order was believed to mark the prevalence of Spring Festival Couplets, affecting the customs of celebrating Lunar New Year until now.

There are so much to say about the long history of folk cultural traditions and so many interesting aspects and diversities of the Spring Festival that one could hardly include in a single article. Given the short timeframe of writing this article and my limited knowledge, I could only highlight some aspects for discussions while missing many others. Suggestions and comments are much welcome.

Now the Spring Festival of the Yisi Year of the Snake is approaching. I would like to quote three classic Spring Festival couplets to represent my hearty blessings for the Lunar New Year, and wish everybody a happy new year.  

May peace be in the heaven, the Earth, and the three Yang-Qi.

May family, relationships, and everything be in harmony.

(天泰地泰三陽泰, 家和人和萬事和)

The sky is filled with blissful clouds and sunlight.

The landscapes are weaved with colours of the Spring

(一天雲日祥和氣, 萬里山川錦繡春)

Sun and Clouds bring in good luck in the cosmo.

Gentle breeze in the Spring fills the Earth up with harmony and peace

(瑞日祥雲彌宇宙,春風和氣滿乾坤)

References
 

1. Guo, Liangyu (郭良玉), “A note on rituals and practices of the Chinese New Year（年俗小記), Wen shi Zhi shi (文史知識)”, no. 2, 2005, pp. 89-91. 

2. Li, Chuanjun (李傳軍）and Jin Xia (金霞), “Pandemics and their relations with folk practices of the Chinese New Year in the Han and the Tang Dynasty - an investigation and observation based on historiography on Tusu wine (疾疫與漢唐元日民俗——以屠蘇酒為中心的歷史考察)”, Folklore Studies (民俗研究), no.4, 2010, pp. 69-76.

3. Zhou, Xing (周星）and Zhou Chao (周超), “Folklore and law: how fireworks and firecrackers become a Chinese social problem (民俗與法律：煙花爆竹作為一個「中國問題」)”, Journal of Hubei Minzu University (Philosophy and Social Science) (湖北民族學院學報（哲學社會科學版)), no.4, 2018, pp. 48-58.

4. Cheng, Dalin (盛大林), “An investigation of various versions of Wang Onshi’s Lunar New Year’s Day (王安石〈元日〉異文考)”, Journal of Shantou University Humanity and Social Science Edition (汕頭大學學報（人文社會科學版）), no. 4, 2002, pp. 21-26.

5. Chen, Yingyan (陳穎彥）， “The Misinterpreted Tusu (被誤釋的「屠蘇」)”, Yuwen Jianshe (語文建設), no.4, 2022, p.80.

6. Zhang, Gan (張幹) and Du Wenjun (杜文君), “An Investigation on Tusu mentioned in Wang Onshi’s New Year’s Day (王安石〈元日〉「屠蘇」考)”,  Culinary Research (美食研究), no. 2, 2023, pp. 15-19.

7. Xu, Jian (徐堅). Learners’ References (初學記), Beijing, Zhonghua Book Company (中華書局), 1962, p. 674.