大年除夕 / Sebelum Tahun Baru Cina / Chinese New Year’s Eve

除夕，又稱大年夜、除夜^[1]、歲除、大晦日，是過年前的最後一天。這天的確實日期會因為曆法而有所不同。傳統上漢字文化圈以農曆作為曆法，由於農曆十二月多為大月，有三十天，所以又稱為大年三十、年三十、年三十晚、年三十夜、三十暝（閩南語）；而十二月小月時為廿九日，有些地區又會改稱二九暝；日本在明治維新之後改用格里曆，但他們是將原有農曆年（舊正月）的習俗提前至西曆元旦，所以現在日本的除夕（大晦日）是格里曆12月31日；而在中華民國大陸時期，國民政府曾於1929年（民國十八年）1月1日起，全國使用公曆，一度廢除農曆和禁過農曆年，強逼民眾把過年的習俗改為於公曆新年進行，官方也就把除夕改為公曆12月31日，但民間並未嚴格遵從^[2]，到中華人民共和國成立後，官方才正式恢復農曆年。

除夕時，人們會一家團聚，並有守歲的習俗，在大中華地區、日本和越南家中的長輩會發給晚輩壓歲錢，韓國近代也受漢字文化圈其他地區影響而有了發壓歲錢的習俗。而中國南方和越南等地會有年宵市場（或稱花市）。

華人地區

祭祖先、吃團年飯，放鞭炮等為一般常見的習俗。傳統上，在大年夜當天的中下午要在門邊貼上新的春聯。

團年飯又稱年夜飯，因為正值冬天，北方人常常在飯桌中間設置火鍋，因此也稱圍爐，北方人年夜飯的菜色中常包括水餃、魚、年糕、長年菜等。因為水餃狀似金元寶，有富貴之意；魚這道菜不能吃完，因為在漢語中「魚」和「餘」同音，有「年年有餘」的吉祥意思；年糕則有「年年高昇」之意；吃長年菜則有長壽的意涵。華南則多有雞、燒肉、髮菜、蠔豉等，因為「髮菜蠔豉」與「發財好市」諧音。

江南的典型年夜飯必有魚，豐盛湯鍋。年夜飯之後，長輩會發壓歲錢給晚輩，因為是用紅色的信封袋（紅包袋裝），故又稱紅包，中國古代也有用紅線將一百個銅錢串成一串外形類似麥穗，表示長命百歲。其中一個說法是歲與「穗」同音，在一些廟宇，會有不少信眾等待上頭香，插上新年廟宇香爐的第一炷香，據說代表吉利與神明一年的護佑。

越南

越南語稱為Giao Thừa，越南人相信灶君在年廿三回天庭把各家的情況稟告玉帝後，會在大年夜回來，因此他們會準備露天的供桌，放上各種祭品迎接灶君^[3]。

日本

日本人稱除夕為大晦日，當天他們會一家團聚，由江戶時代開始，日本人會在除夕吃象徵長壽的蕎麥麵，稱為「年越蕎麥」（年越し蕎麦），有些地區的習俗則是吃年越壽司，並且有守歲、迎年神的習俗。長輩們也會發壓歲錢，日本人稱之為「御年玉」（お年玉）。有些人會聚集在廟宇參拜。當接近12時，寺廟的住持會敲響大鐘108下，而第108下會於凌晨的0時整敲下，此習俗稱為「除夜之鐘」（除夜の鐘）。而緊接著的元旦清晨，會有不少人到廟裡參拜，稱為「初詣」，每年日本的鐵道公司還需加開初詣班車應付初詣的需求^[4]。

參考資料

1. 《老學庵筆記》卷八云：「唐人冬至前一日，亦謂之除夜。」
2. 西風東漸引自卑民國時期 中國曾廢春節
3. Vietnamese New Year Customs
4.  JR東日本－初詣臨時列車專頁

Preceding days

On the eighth day of the lunar month prior to Chinese New Year, a traditional porridge known as làbāzhōu (臘八粥) is served in remembrance “of an ancient festival, called Là, that occurred shortly after the winter solstice”^[8]. Là (臘月) is a term often associated with Chinese New Year as it refers to the sacrifices held in honor of the gods in the twelfth lunar month, hence the cured meats of Chinese New Year are known as làròu (臘肉). The porridge was prepared by the women of the household at first light, with the first bowl offered to the family’s ancestors and the household deities. Every member of the family was then served a bowl, with leftovers distributed to relatives and friends.^[9] It’s still served as a special breakfast on this day in some Chinese homes.

On the days immediately before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying “Wash away the dirt on ninyabaat” (年廿八，洗邋遢), but the practice is not restricted to nin’ya’baat (年廿八, the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that the newly arrived good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint; decorators and paper-hangers do a year-end rush of business prior to Chinese New Year^[10]. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes, and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start. Businesses are expected to pay off all the debts outstanding for the year before the new year eve, extending to debt of gratitudes. As such, it is a common practice to send gifts and rice to close business associates, and extended family members.

In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, to be replaced with new decorations. Taoists (and Buddhists to a lesser extent) will also “send gods” (送神), an example would be burning a paper effigy of Zao Jun the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the Kitchen God can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household’s transgressions and good deeds. Families often offer sweet foods (such as candy) in order to “bribe” the deities into reporting good things about the family.

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year’s Eve is the Reunion Dinner. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year’s Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi, 餃子) after dinner to eat around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape resembles a Chinese tael. By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a glutinous new year cake (niangao, 年糕) and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the com
ing days of the new year. Niángāo [Pinyin] literally means “new year cake” with a homophonous meaning of “increasingly prosperous year in year out”.^[11] After dinner, some families go to local temples hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new year. Traditionally, firecrackers were once lit to scare away evil spirits with the household doors sealed, not to be reopened until the new morning in a ritual called “opening the door of fortune” (kāicáimén, 開財門).^[12] Beginning in 1982, the CCTV New Year’s Gala was broadcast four hours before the start of the New Year.

Sebelum Tahun Baru

Pada hari-hari sebelum Tahun Baru Cina, keluarga-keluarga Cina membersihkan rumah mereka secara menyeluruh, kerana mereka percaya bahawa pembersihan ini menghalau nasib malang dan musibah yang menimpa pada tahun yang berlalu serta menyediakan rumah mereka untuk menjemput nasib baik. Penyapu dan pengumpul habuk disimpan pada malam sebelum Tahun Baru dan hari pertama agar nasib baik itu tidak boleh disapu keluar. Ada orang yang mengecat rumah, pintu dan sisi tingkap dengan warna merah. Rumah dihiasi potongan kertas yang ditulis pepatah mengucap kebahagiaan dan kemakmuran dalam bahasa Cina.

Acara terbesar pada malam Tahun Baru Cina ialah jamuan pertemuan semula. Hidangan yang terdiri daripada ikan terdapat di atas meja makan untuk tujuan paparan sempena jamuan ini. Di China utara, adalah juga menjadi adat untuk memakan ladu untuk jamuan ini. Ladu melambangkan kemewahan kerana bentuknya berupa tongkol emas Cina. Ang pau bagi ahli terdekat dalam keluarga kadang-kadang diberi sewaktu jamuan pertemuan semula. Paket ini sering mengandungi duit dalam bilangan nombor tertentu yang mencerminkan tuah dan kehormatan.^[4]