The Tujia people celebrate the New Year differently from the Han people. They celebrate the "Gannian", which is called "Qilaogaka" in Tujia language. The Tujia people celebrate the "Gannian" is the biggest folk festival of the Tujia people in Xiangxi. The time for celebrating the "Gannian" is: if the twelfth lunar month is long, it is celebrated on the 29th; if the twelfth lunar month is short, it is celebrated on the 28th. Because they always celebrate the New Year one day earlier than the Han people, it is called "Guannian". The Tujia people celebrate the "Gannian" in three stages: the first is the preparation stage, that is, from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the day of "Gannian", there are specific arrangements for each day; the second is the stage of worshipping gods, that is, at about 3 pm on the day of "Gannian", the ancestors of all generations, Lord Peng, Kitchen God, Land God, Four Official Gods, Door Gods and other gods are worshipped in order; the third is the formal "Gannian", that is, the whole family, men, women, old and young, eat the reunion dinner together, singing toast songs while eating, a lively atmosphere. After the family reunion dinner, the whole family sat around the fire bed, warmed themselves by the fire, and celebrated the New Year in the early morning. Firecrackers were set off, water was carried, mills were pushed, and pestles were pounded to celebrate the New Year. The Tujia people celebrated the New Year in the northwest of Xiangxi Prefecture, including Longshan, Yongshun, Baojing, etc., and it has continued to this day. The Tujia people celebrated the New Year in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Legend has it that the local soldiers in Xiangxi were recruited to fight against the Japanese pirates in the southeast coastal areas. Because the New Year was approaching, in order to fight against the Japanese pirates and not miss the opportunity to fight, they celebrated the New Year one day in advance. Later, they won the victory and it became a custom. The custom of celebrating the New Year was popular in the late Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. The "Yongshun Prefecture Records" and "Yongshun County Records" of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty both recorded it. For example, the "Longshan County Records" of Yongshun Prefecture in the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870) recorded that "the locals celebrate the New Year on the 29th day of a long month and the 28th day of a short month. It is said that the former chieftain went out to serve on the day of the New Year, so the people celebrated the New Year in advance, and then it became a common practice." To this day, the Tujia ethnic group settlements in western Hunan still inherit the custom of celebrating the New Year. Celebrating the New Year is an important and ancient festival of the Tujia ethnic group. In the thousands of years of historical development, some relatively fixed and unique customs and habits have been formed and passed down from generation to generation. Although this kind of New Year is called "Celebrating the New Year" because it is one day earlier, the customs formed in the long process of historical development have been passed down to this day and preserved. Its rich and colorful content and long duration are rare in the big family of the Chinese nation. The main customs of the Tujia people during the Chinese New Year include making glutinous rice, killing the New Year pig, making baba, pushing tofu, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting door gods, eating reunion dinners, inserting cypress and plum, pasting money paper, sending lights, celebrating the New Year with fruit trees, sweeping the dust, staying up all night to grab the New Year, and paying New Year's greetings. Pasting Spring Festival couplets Tujia people call pasting couplets "sticking couplets", which use neat, parallel, concise and exquisite words to describe the background of the times and express the good wishes of the Tujia people. It is a unique cultural form in the Tujia area. Pasting door gods The portraits of the Tujia door gods are Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, and there are also pasting gods such as naphthalene or other mighty gods. The custom of the Tujia people pasting door gods also has a reason. It is said that in ancient times, the Tujia people lived in areas where wars and chaos continued for years, and the age was poor at that time, and many people died in battles or starved to death. The Tujia people call these dead people "tragic ghosts". During the Chinese New Year, these "tragic ghosts" will come from all directions and break into the homes of the people to enjoy the incense and money offered by the Tujia people. As long as they enter these homes, disasters will occur in the home, which will not only endanger the whole family, but also make the crops and livestock poor in the coming year. Later, it was said that the homes with door god portraits on the door did not encounter those disasters and unfavorable things. From this, it spread to all Tujia ethnic groups, and then pasting door gods became a Tujia New Year custom. Eating the reunion dinner is the most important ritual of the Tujia people during the New Year. In order to seize the New Year and have a good reunion dinner on the New Year's Day, the Tujia people often prepare the reunion dinner carefully one to two days in advance. The Tujia people have a distinction between the small New Year and the big New Year. The small New Year is celebrated one day earlier than the big New Year. In some places, the small New Year is celebrated on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. The New Year dinner during the small New Year is simple, and the requirements are not as high as those for the big New Year. The celebration of the Little New Year usually starts at noon, while the celebration of the Big New Year varies according to the surnames. Some people celebrate in the morning, while others do so at noon. Regardless of whether it is morning or noon, the New Year dinner will be prepared early in order to grab the New Year. It is said that the earlier a family eats the New Year dinner during the New Year, the more auspicious and prosperous the next year will be. Firecrackers will be set off on both the Little New Year and the Big New Year to grab the New Year and have good luck in the next year. After the New Year dinner is prepared, people should take incense paper, wax candles, meat, baba, tofu and other New Year dishes to pay respect to the eight gods, then go to the Land Hall to pay respect to the Land God, the Well God and other protective gods, and finally return to the main hall to pay respect to the ancestors. The Tujia people not only worship their ancient ancestors who have played an important role in history and have made great military achievements in legend as clan gods, but also worship their ancestors of their own family, especially the elders who are closely related by blood, as family gods all year round, and the incense is never extinguished. Every family has a shrine for the ancestors in the main hall. On the New Year's Day, the tablets, incense burners and candlesticks that have been enshrined on the shrine for many years should be taken down and placed on the big table below the shrine. All the men in the family, led by the most senior elders, burn incense and candles in front of the tablets of the ancestors and kowtow in worship. First, invite the ancestors of all generations to have a reunion dinner with the descendants and have a happy and lively New Year; second, pray for the ancestors to bless the descendants with a good harvest, prosperous livestock, abundant wealth and family happiness in the coming year. The tablets of the ancestors will not be enshrined on the shrine until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After placing all kinds of New Year dishes on the table, each person has to pick up a piece of meat and put it on the rice in his bowl, and insert chopsticks into the rice. The whole family stands around the table, and the elders burn paper money under the table, sprinkle three cups of fine wine on the ground, and respectfully invite all ancestors to the table to eat. Then, firecrackers are set off to grab the New Year. Whoever's firecrackers are set off first at this time will grab a good harvest in the next year. After paying respect to everyone who should be respected, they sit down to eat according to their seniority and the size of the seats. Generally, the upper seat should be given to the oldest person in the seniority during the New Year dinner. After the elders are seated, the younger ones will sit down one after another. Children under the age of twelve cannot eat the food used in the sacrifice. It is said that eating it will have a bad memory and forget things, so they must be served separately. Usually, adults will criticize children for leaving leftovers, but when eating the New Year dinner, the more leftovers in the children's bowls, the better, which means a good harvest in the next year. The time for eating New Year's Eve dinner is generally required to be longer than usual, and the table and dishes cannot be wiped immediately after the meal. Legend has it that in ancient times, the Tujia people had to fight with foreign races frequently, and they were always restless. One year, when the Tujia people were busy preparing New Year's Eve dinner, a child came to the Tujia village. No one paid attention to the child's arrival. Later, it was learned that the child came to "explore the water" (to get information). Because the Tujia people were careless, the situation in the village was exposed by the child. Just after the Tujia people finished the New Year's Eve dinner and had no time to wash the dishes and wipe the table, the enemy army launched a fierce attack on the Tujia village. The young and middle-aged people had to immediately join the battle, and the elderly and children fled to the caves in the back mountain and hid. After the enemy was repelled, everyone came back to wipe the table and wash the dishes. In order to learn from the lesson, later generations have always maintained this habit, and it has been passed down from generation to generation as a custom of the Tujia people during the New Year. The Tujia people must use a steamer to steam the reunion dinner. The lower layer of the steamer is usually steamed with rice, and the upper layer is filled with meat wrapped in millet or rice flour. The steamer is covered with a lid and steamed on the stove. A lot of rice is steamed on the day of the reunion dinner, and the steamer can only be washed after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Among the meals, a dish called "Hecai" is also required, which is to cook shredded meat, shredded radish, cabbage, kelp, vermicelli, pork offal, etc. together. This dish is called "Hecai", which is the homonym of "He" and also means to congratulate the Tujia ancestors for winning the battle on the New Year's Day in ancient times. Everyone must eat a few bites of this "Hecai", which means that the whole family is happy and everything is smooth. If you don't eat it, your parents will say that you are immature, but parents will not get angry and scold people on this day. It is said that one is to fear offending the ancestors, and the other is that there is a sense of ominousness in scolding and being scolded. The Tujia people's custom of steaming rice in a steamer also has its origins. When the Tujia soldiers were about to celebrate the New Year, they were called up by the imperial court to fight against the Japanese invaders. They had to gather together one day in advance to celebrate the New Year. Because of the large number of people, the meat could not be cut into pieces one by one. They had to chop the meat into pieces with axes and kitchen knives, and then wrap some millet on the outside of the meat and steam it on the upper layer of the steamer to cook it. As for other dishes, there was no time to stir-fry them separately, so they had to cook all kinds of dishes together. Later, this way was passed down from generation to generation and gradually became a custom of the Tujia people to prepare dishes during the New Year. Inserting cypress and plum blossoms and pasting money paper On the New Year's Day, every Tujia household will insert the cypress branches and plum blossom branches they get on the shrine, the central pillar of the main hall, and the gate. This is related to the war living environment of the Tujia ancestors. It is said that in ancient times, soldiers who went to war had to celebrate the New Year together. Due to the large number of people, there were not so many or large houses to serve as restaurants for these soldiers. Many soldiers had to celebrate the New Year in the plum garden and pine and cypress forests outside the village. In order to commemorate the living environment of the Tujia people during the war, later generations inserted cypress branches and plum blossom branches on the shrines in the main hall, the central pillars in the main hall, and the gates as a commemoration. Over time, it became a custom of the Tujia people to celebrate the New Year. In addition, on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Tujia people also posted New Year's money (paper money used to worship the Buddha) on doors and windows, pig pens, cattle pens, chicken coops, stone mills, and production tools such as plows, rakes, hoes, and threshing barrels, large furniture at home, and nearby fruit trees. This is a sign of prosperity in the coming year. These paper money can only be torn off and burned on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Sending lights means sending lanterns. After the reunion dinner, people have to visit the graves of their deceased ancestors one by one, which the Tujia people call "sending the lights". When an elder dies in the Tujia area, filial sons must bring offerings such as baba, burnt rice, and incense, paper, and candles to the graves of their ancestors for sacrifice. When they arrive at the graves, they place the offerings in front of the graves, kneel down to light the incense, paper, and candles, and then set off a string of prepared firecrackers. When they return home, they must call the deceased to go home with them so that they can also go home for the New Year. Fruit trees On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Tujia people will carry a porcelain basin filled with some New Year's food and a sharpened axe, and go into the mountains to feed their own peach trees, pear trees, plum trees, and other fruit trees. If there are holes in the fruit trees, some New Year's food and meat will be stuffed into these holes. If there is no hole, use the axe you bring to cut a hole in the trunk of the fruit tree, then stuff some New Year's food into the hole, and then carefully use your hands to close the crack on the trunk to prevent the food from falling. It is said that after feeding the fruit trees, the fruit trees will grow taller and bigger, and the fruits on the trees will be sweeter. Sweeping the dust In the Tujia area, every 30th day of the twelfth lunar month (the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month if the month is short), every household must clean the environment in front of and behind the house, wash various utensils, take apart and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the courtyard, dust and cobwebs, and dredge open and underground ditches. The purpose is to sweep out all bad luck and bad luck. There is a saying among the Tujia people that on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, everything will go smoothly. If you sweep the dust on other days before and after the New Year, it will bring disaster to the family. Because "dust" and "old" are homophones, sweeping the dust in the New Year also means "removing the old and bringing in the new." This custom carries the Tujia people's wish to break the old and establish the new, and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new. Staying up all night on New Year's Eve is one of the most important customs of the Tujia people during the Chinese New Year. Staying up all night is the custom of staying up all night on the last night of the twelfth lunar month of the old year (or the twentieth night if the month is short) to welcome the arrival of the new year. It is also called staying up all night on New Year's Eve, commonly known as "staying up all night". Staying up all night on New Year's Eve means lighting firecrackers as soon as the rooster crows at night. On the night of New Year's Eve, the Tujia people will burn a large stump of firewood in the fire pit. This large stump of firewood is called "New Year's fire stump". The bigger the New Year's fire stump, the better, because the bigger the New Year's fire stump burns, the more it indicates that the pigs fed in the next year will grow stronger and stronger, and the days will be more prosperous. On this night, every household in the Tujia village is brightly lit inside and outside the main hall. Men, women, old and young stay up all night and sit by the fire pit with their families, which is called "staying up all night on the thirtieth night". During the vigil, the Tujia people will talk about the year's situation, plans for the coming year, the past of the Tujia people, ancient and modern history, and various anecdotes, with the whole family laughing and talking. When the rooster crows, they will set off firecrackers. Whoever's firecrackers go off at the moment the rooster crows, that family will be prosperous and auspicious in the coming year. This is the second time for the Tujia people to grab the New Year after eating the reunion dinner. If they don't win the other family's firecrackers during the reunion dinner, they will seriously hold the firecrackers, squat at the gate, and watch the rooster crow. When the rooster crows, they will immediately set off the firecrackers, and then every household in the village will set off firecrackers. As soon as the rooster crows and the firecrackers go off, the Tujia village will be jubilant, vying to go out and pay New Year's greetings to the land bodhisattva, vying to carry water, vying to push the millstone, and pounding the pestle. There is laughter and joy, and a steaming festival scene everywhere. When the east is white, the Tujia people will "go out", that is, use firecrackers to welcome the arrival of the New Year. After the firecrackers are set off, the Tujia mountain villages are filled with the atmosphere of welcoming the New Year. Wearing festive costumes, going door to door to congratulate each other and composing a song of Tujia New Year's happiness. New Year's greetings are the most important traditional custom of the Tujia people. It is a way for the Tujia people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express good wishes to each other. The folk art activities during the Spring Festival in the Tujia area are also colorful, ancient and strong, adding to the festive atmosphere. From the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, many places will dance the waving hand dance, which includes historical songs and dances such as "Entering the Hall", "Commemorating the Eight Kings", "Brother and Sister Marriage", "National Migration" and the primitive dance "Maogusi". At night, bonfires are lit, and young men and women dress up to dance "waving hands" together. With the sound of drums, the Tujia people waved their hands around the venue. Suddenly, the drums and music shook the sky, and the waving hand hall was full of joy. There are also many cultural and artistic activities to welcome the Spring Festival, such as temple fairs, operas, lion lanterns, dragon lanterns, and riding high-legged horses. Among them, dragon lanterns are the most popular. Almost all families in urban and rural neighborhoods, villages, and ancestral temples make "dragons". People believe that playing with dragons can bring good luck, so wherever the "dragon" goes, drums and music sound, firecrackers are set off, and many are given envelopes. Married women without children often let the "dragon" circle around them, or let the "dragon" shrink into a circle on the bed, with a child riding on it, which is called "Qilin Sending a Child". The Tujia people worship their ancestors and are superstitious about ghosts and gods. In the long process of historical development, some special taboos have been formed, and these taboos are still followed by some elderly people. Among the Tujia people, there is a saying that "taboo the beginning of the first month and taboo the end of the twelfth month". Starting from the middle of the twelfth month, when the Tujia people meet, they will say auspicious words to congratulate each other. Before the Chinese New Year, if you have a dispute with someone, it will be considered extremely unlucky, and it will indicate that things will not go smoothly in the new year, especially on the first day of the first lunar month, this taboo is even more serious. During the twelfth lunar month, no matter how big the gap is, the Tujia people will not "fall out", and even those who have quarreled and argued in the past will put aside their past grudges and shake hands and make peace. When making baba and 煻煻 in the twelfth lunar month, the steamed rice must be successful at one time. If there are twists and turns in the middle, it will be considered unlucky and other disasters will occur in the next year if people do not die. The New Year pig must also be killed with one knife, and it cannot be slaughtered with a second knife, otherwise it will be a bad omen. When pushing tofu, you cannot see four-eyed people (that is, pregnant people), otherwise there will be disasters in the future. The ox day in the twelfth lunar month is regarded as a red evil day, and it is taboo to go out far away. There is a saying that "if you go out and meet red evil, you will never return home." On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, after the New Year's meal is steamed, women cannot make needle money or wash clothes to avoid quarrels with others in life. It is forbidden to take a bath during the New Year's Eve dinner, for fear that the ridges of the fields and earth will collapse in the coming year. It is forbidden to eat baba on the New Year's Eve, otherwise you will get sores on your body. You cannot put chili peppers in the dishes, otherwise you will suffer from "eating spicy peppers all the time" and things will not go smoothly in the coming year. Children are not allowed to eat pig tails during the New Year's Eve dinner, so as not to have the habit of shaking their heads when they grow up. It is forbidden to carry water on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, otherwise it will be considered to have touched the Dragon King and caused floods and droughts. It is forbidden to kill animals, saying "sparrows have to spend the 30th night", so that all kinds of animals can spend the New Year safely and happily, especially on the New Year's Eve, you should cook some good food for the cows. On the first day of the first lunar month, it is forbidden to say words such as "death", "disease", "poverty", "kill", "no", "don't want", "bad luck", "beheading" and similar words, and it is forbidden to quarrel, curse, and cry. For the night watchman who is going to sleep, it is forbidden to say "going to sleep", but to say "going to dig gold and silver cellars". It is forbidden to see the weighing rod, otherwise you will see snakes all year round. From the first to the third day of the first lunar month, sweeping the floor is prohibited, for fear of sweeping away the God of Wealth. From the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, adults and children cannot have their heads shaved, lest the seedlings grow into "bald heads". The Tujia people's New Year celebration is an intangible cultural heritage of Hunan Province. The custom formed in the inheritance of successive generations reflects the Tujia people's life concepts, thoughts and sentiments, and certain religious concepts. Through it, we can explore the historical origins of Tujia culture. The custom of celebrating the New Year expresses the Tujia people's resistance to power and their pursuit of a better life. It not only promotes the continuous spread of the Tujia people's martial spirit from generation to generation, but also serves as a memorandum of the Tujia people's rebellion against oppression. The customs of celebrating the New Year also reflect a harmonious family relationship and harmonious interpersonal relationships. The richness of its content and the length of its duration have important historical, artistic and cultural research value. It is of great significance to enhance family relationships, strengthen social cohesion and build a harmonious society. It can be said that the Tujia people's New Year celebration plays an important role as a social regulator.