我们遵守过的一些春节习俗,没准只是一个大乌龙
2022-01-27 10:22 | 来源:中国故事网
小年一过,中国人和全球华人都开始突击贴“倒福”。认识汉字的老外看着觉得挺惊奇:“你们这福字贴反了吧”。觉得迷糊太正常了,因为中国的好多习俗本来就“说不清、道不明”的。咱们这次,就顺着“贴福字”来聊聊它们。南宋遗民吴自牧写过一本《梦梁录》,追忆前朝昔日的盛况,里面就提到了过年“贴春牌(福字)”的事,但没说正反的事儿。按正常逻辑来讲,如果没有特地提到,应该就默认是正着贴的。这个无从查证。目前世界上流传最广的大概是这个版本,故事发生在和珅以及“鬼子六”奕訢的故居——恭王府。On one Chinese New Year's Eve, one illiterate servant of the Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty inadvertently placed the Fu upside-down. The prince was said to have been furious upon seeing the characters, but a quick-thinking servant humbly calmed the prince by saying that the occurrence must have been a sign of prosperity "arriving" upon his household by using the above wordplay.在清代一个农历除夕夜,恭亲王家一个不识字的下人把福字贴倒了。据说亲王看后勃然大怒,这时一个奴才抖了个机灵,恭敬地说王爷您看这福“到”了,乃大吉之象!就这样,把恭亲王安抚好了。于是,恭亲王府发生的这段小插曲在民间不胫而走,大家也纷纷效仿王府的做派,把福字倒过来再贴上。不过,这个传闻的真假就难说了。毕竟,恭王府里那个康熙御笔的福字碑就是正着摆的。祖宗传下来的墨宝和审美在那儿摆着,“倒福”之风很难在恭王府兴起;假如真有下人把“福”贴倒了,当场被勒令更正的可能性也比传出去的要大得多。传说明代开国皇帝朱元璋因为莫须有的罪名迁怒几户百姓,为了避免误伤,就让人把“无罪”的人家门上贴上了“福”字。马皇后怕丈夫又伤及无辜,赶紧让全城的人把福字都贴门上了。第二天,派出去的兵丁告诉皇帝,全城都贴了福字,但一家给贴倒了。朱元璋一肚子邪火,只得发在那家贴“倒福”的人家,下令满门抄斩。马皇后见状连忙解释:“那家人知道陛下来访,故意把福贴倒了,福到了嘛。”朱元璋听后放过了那户人,这个习俗也流传了下来。看来民间真是卧虎藏龙,时不常地就能出个顺风耳,把人家皇帝两口子的私房话听得一清二楚......虽然找不到靠谱的出处,但“福到了”这个谐音梗广一直在中华文化圈里流行着——你看,身在美国科罗拉多州的华人同样倒着贴。而近些年,互联网带来了更多不同的声音,让我们开始对这个长辈信奉的习俗产生了质疑,甚至有点无所适从。看大家这么挠头,《人民日报》微博索性发了条科普,建议大家参考这个贴就行,甭纠结了。但话说回来,几代人都倒着贴过来了,不也没事儿么?按照这个辟谣思路,咱们不妨再大胆一点——比如正月理个发,看看舅舅他老人家还是否安好。倘若正月理发真像传说中的那么灵验,像刚汉武帝和《宝莲灯》里的沉香这种“恨舅入骨”的苦主,怕是能乐出鼻涕泡来。可问题是,这套“咒术”它不灵啊,而且还是讹传了两次的结果。At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the new government proclaimed all men had to cut their hair to fit an approved style – the short braided queue. Those who refused said they were doing it to remember the past, or 思旧 sī jiù, which sounds similar to 死舅 sǐ jiù. It means "kill your uncle," 清朝初期,新朝廷下令男性都必须把头发剃成规定发型——金钱鼠尾。而有些人拒绝照办,说不剃头是为了“思旧 (sī jiù)”。而“思旧”听起来非常像“死舅”。第二讹,也是最不应该的,把留头发和剃头发还给搞混了。It was then further misinterpreted to mean that your uncle would die, if you cut your hair, instead of keeping it. 这个行为之后还被进一步误解为“如果你剃头,就会要了你的舅舅命”,而非留头发。所以自打一开始,这个讲究便是无稽之谈。要是碰见不明“舅理”的老外,可以用上面那两串跟他们解释一下。当然,鉴于这个说法在长辈心里还是挺根深蒂固的,咱们权当发发孝心,别跟他们顶牛了——春节可逛的地方那么多,何必非去美发店呢?除此之外,能阻止咱们正月理发的,还有一个不那么离谱的理由。In Mandarin, hair (发, fa) has the same pronunciation as fa in facai (发财), which means "to become wealthy". Therefore, it is seen as not a good thing to "cut one's fortune away" at the beginning of the New Year.在普通话里,头发的“发”与发财中的“发”读音相同。因此,在新年伊始“砍掉一个发财的运势”也不是一件好事。从“倒贴福字”和“正月理发”这两个例子不难看出,咱们谨慎践行的习俗,很可能来路也一点也不谨慎。但是,咱们世代姑妄信之、姑妄行之,运势也没像心电图那样大起大落。图个吉利,适度即可,上纲上线实在没必要。如果有外国朋友问中国人过春节的意义是什么,我们不妨这么说,一来解释给他们,二来提醒咱自己。As far as we are concerned nowadays, celebrating the Lunar New Year is a festival full of peace and happiness. 如今,过年对于我们来说,是一个充满了温馨与快乐的节日。For adults who have spent the previous year working away from home, nothing could compensate them for undergoing daily hardships as much as the warmth of the New Year supper. For children, this is a joyous time of growth and reward, when they receive gifts of NewYear money in red envelopes, filled with wishes for health and tranquility from their elders. Fireworks displays have long had an indispensable place in people's hearts as one of the finest methods of entertainment at the Spring Festival. 大人在外一年的劳作,日日风餐露宿的辛苦也敌不过除夕晚上一顿热热乎乎的年夜饭。小孩子们收到的红包、压岁钱,承载着长辈们对子孙健康平安,成长成才的美好期许。而放鞭炮、放烟花,早就成为人们心中必不可少的,过年最好的娱乐方式之一。希望大家能够放松心态,全身心地沉浸在喜庆祥和的氛围当中。