As a traditional festival in China, the New Year has a strong sense of ceremony, and naturally there are many customs. Since the year before last, there have been clear rules on what needs to be done every day, and the year after next is no exception. Although entering modern society, these customs and taboos are still observed and pursued by people. The new year is a new atmosphere. Years ago, it was to sweep away the old and welcome the new. Then after the New Year, it is a blessing to keep the New Year.
New Year's Day is very important as the second day of the New Year, so what are the customs or taboos on this day? What things are absolutely not allowed to do on this day?
First of all, the first thing you can't do on New Year's Day is never to take a nap. It is said that people hibernate in autumn and take a nap in summer. I believe many people have the habit of taking a nap in winter. Taking a nap is also good for our health. After a hard morning's work, taking a nap at noon and having a rest can not only sweep away the fatigue of the body, but also make us more energetic in the afternoon. However, on New Year's Day, there is a custom that you can't take a nap.
Because New Year's Day is the day when my daughter and husband go home to pay New Year's greetings, it is natural for her daughter's family to treat her son-in-law well. If she goes to bed after the reunion dinner at noon, it is disrespectful to the guests. Another reason is that taking a nap on the second day of the Lunar New Year will make people look particularly lazy, which is a bad omen, indicating that they may be lazy all year round.
The second thing you can't do in the New Year is not to wash clothes. In the ancient rural society of China, due to the low productivity and production level, farmers depended on the sky for food, so they were very awed by nature. Because everyone depends on food to make money, if natural disasters such as floods happen unfortunately, it means that everyone may go hungry this year.
Therefore, in the agricultural society, most farmers respect the "water god" very much, and worship the water god from time to time, praying for a year of good weather and peace. On the second day of New Year's Day, it is said to be the birthday of the water god. Washing clothes with water on this day is disrespectful and offensive to the water god, and may irritate the water god. There may be natural disasters in the coming year, especially floods. For this reason, you can't wash clothes on the second day of the New Year.
The third thing you can't do during the Chinese New Year is that gifts can't be singular, but must be even. On the second day of New Year's Day, everyone will pay New Year's greetings one after another. During the Spring Festival, people will bring rich gifts to pay their respects and love to their host families.
There are rules for giving gifts. For example, on the second day of the New Year's Day, there is a custom that gifts must be even, not odd, because the "two" on the second day of the second year is even, and it is auspicious to give gifts on this day. In addition, there is an idiom in China called "yes-man", so on this day, the host family will be happy to bring even-numbered gifts to others to pay a New Year call.