財(cái)運(yùn)當(dāng)頭

嶺 南 的年俗，帶 著濃厚的商 業(yè) 文明特色 。

一 年 之初，嶺 南 人用各種各樣的年俗活動(dòng)祈求財(cái)運(yùn) ，既保留下 代 代相傳的風(fēng) 俗 ，也成了 一 方經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展 的 體現(xiàn)。

春節(jié)時(shí)期，嶺南的民俗活動(dòng)最為豐富。

在《廣東新語(yǔ)》記載的年俗中，很多離不開一個(gè)“火”字，因?yàn)楦鶕?jù)中國(guó)五行之說(shuō)，火主南方。廣州著名的南海神廟，所祀奉的就是火帝祝融。春節(jié)時(shí)，廣東人既要拜司火之神“灶君”，又要“賣冷”，就連“賣冷”時(shí)用的雞蛋也要特別染成紅色（火的顏色）。

“賣冷”就是把寒冷捉起來(lái)賣之意?；浾Z(yǔ)里，“冷”“懶”字相近，到了清末，“賣冷”的習(xí)俗就變成了“賣懶”。除夕夜，孩子們裝著煮熟的紅雞蛋，拿著點(diǎn)著的香，一起穿街走巷，一邊走，一邊齊聲高喊 ：“賣懶賣懶！賣到年三十晚，人懶我唔（不）懶！”走累了，便剝開雞蛋吃掉。從“賣冷”到“賣懶”，體現(xiàn)了廣州人的進(jìn)取，也反映了民間發(fā)達(dá)的商業(yè)意識(shí)。在他們看來(lái)，冷也好，懶也好，都是可以捉起來(lái)賣的。

一年一度的花市，也是嶺南人重要的年俗活動(dòng)。漢初時(shí)，由西域引進(jìn)的素馨花、茉莉花，被廣州婦女當(dāng)作首飾追捧。到南宋時(shí)，形成了專賣素馨花、茉莉花的花市。明、清時(shí)期，一年一度的除夕花市形成，成為一種由花農(nóng)、花商們策劃形成的早期“營(yíng)銷”性質(zhì)年俗活動(dòng)。

在潮州地區(qū)，還有一項(xiàng)習(xí)俗叫送橘（桔）。新春時(shí)，走親戚帶的禮物，必要有橘 ,以示新年大吉。主人不能收客人的禮物，要留著與回禮一起帶回。春節(jié)時(shí)，由于嶺南人對(duì)橘子的需求量大增，在一些地方還形成了專門的“橘市”。

在過(guò)年的舞獅游神活動(dòng)中，也穿插著不少求財(cái)運(yùn)的環(huán)節(jié)，比如獅子采青。多給錢的人家，可以請(qǐng)獅隊(duì)專門表演獅子這個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)，舞獅者爬到高處取下一株生菜 (生財(cái)?shù)闹C音 )及紅包，象征主人家明年“生財(cái)”運(yùn)旺。

PIG SHOW, CHENGHAI DISTRICT

澄海賽大豬

On January 18th of the lunar calendar, Chenghai hosts the annual pig show where over hundreds of pigs lay on a special wooden rack with their owners' name written at the front, each with an orange in its mouth. Later, the swine chosen as “the pig of the year,” usually one over 500 kilos, will wear a red fl ower and sit in the front and its owner will be the envy of the year.

FLOWER MARKET, GUANGZHOU

廣州花市

Originated from “Hua-Du-Tou” (Flower Ferry) Area in Guangzhou, the fl ower market can be dated back to the Ming dynasty and was listed as one of the “Guangzhou Four Markets” in the history. Until the Mid-Qing dynasty when the fl ower market extended to the inner city, it run 24 hours and started to sell other fl owers besides jasmine.

LION DANCE, FOSHAN

佛山醒獅采青

During the lion dance, “cai-qing” (literally, pluck the green) is the climax. The move that a “l(fā)ion”successfully bites the lettuce hung up high is seen as a sign of good fortune since the lettuce has a homophone for fortune in Chinese. The lion dance in Foshan is especially famous for performers' supreme techniques—sometimes several “l(fā)ions”will pile up as a pyramid to pluck a red envelop, another symbol of good fortune.

DEITIES PARADE, CHAOZHOU

潮州游神賽會(huì)

During the fi rst month of the Lunar calendar, Chaozhou will hold the annual deities parade activity. In Chinese traditions, prefectural cities and villages have their own deities, and therefore, people will hold the status of deities and parade in the streets to pray for good fortune in the year.

GUA-FAN, SHANWEI

汕尾漁船掛幡

At the ports at Shanwei city during the Chinese New Year, fi shermen hang red fl ags and paste pictures of the god of fortune on their boats to pray for good harvest and fortune in the new year.