When I arrived at Chen Zhengsheng's home late on the afternoon of the fourth day of the first month of the lunar year, I saw Chen and his wife bowing deeply from the waist towards a niche set in a corner of their dining room. Displayed in front of the set on a long table was a feast consisting of about 10 delicious and exquisite dishes, all cooked by the couple.

By this ritual, they welcomed their household gods Zao Wang and Zao Ma, or the God of Stove and his wife, to return to their house.

Fuzhou folks believe that each house has its own Zao Wang and Zao Ma, who were sent by Yuhuang Dadi (Jade Emperor), the supreme deity of heaven in Chinese folklore, to protect the house and supervise daily life.

Legend has it that each year from the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, these two diligent and vigilant gods will take a 10-day leave, returning to heaven to report to Yuhuang Dadi the household business in the past year of the family they take charge of. They come back on the fourth day of the first month in the new lunar year. On both occasions, the family must arrange a meal to thank the gods for their watch.

"When they leave for heaven, we only prepare a humble meal of vegetables and fruits to see them off, so that when it comes for them to make an account of our doing before Yuhuang Dadi, they would not feel encumbered to tell the truth. But when they come back to us, we will set a real feast of many delicacies to welcome them and reciprocate their labor," Chen's wife Wang Bin said with a smile.

At this point, Fuzhou's custom conspicuously differs from that of some northern areas in China, where people bribe the God of Stove with a kind of sticky candy before he ascends to heaven, to make him sweet-tongued, and, if he still wants to say something unfavorable, to make his teeth stick together.

Despite the difference, the relationship between the God of Stove and his beneficiaries is much the same in Fuzhou as in other places. He is generally regarded as a very amiable and easy-going god, keeping a good rapport with his devotees more often than not. And the way his Fuzhou worshipers thank him is as pragmatic as others in China, for the feast will soon be transferred to the dining table to be shared by the hosts and guests of the family.

Though all guests receive the same warm welcome from the hosts, there is one VIP - the younger brother of the host's daughter-in-law.

An Important Person

According to Fuzhou custom, on the fourth day of the lunar new year, the younger brother of a newly-married woman must send a huadeng (decorated lantern) to the house his sister joined.

In Fuzhou dialect, deng is the homonym of ding, which means family member in Chinese. The act of sending a lantern is seen as a favorable symbol of sending a newborn family member.

"At the day of sending the lantern, people can often see in the streets young boys dressed in brand-new clothes, shouldering a sugarcane with a lantern hung at one end of it," said Lin Yichai, another elderly Fuzhou native.

The errand of sending the lantern is quite remunerative for the young runner, as the child will be indulged to eat to his heart's content at the house and will receive a handsome yasuiqian (money given to children at Spring Festival as a gift).

But it also takes him some effort to earn the reward, as he has to endure the embarrassment and heckles from his peers on the way to the home.

Centuries-old Customs

During its long history of more than 2,200 years, the ancient and remote city of Fuzhou developed profound folk culture and customs rich in local color and flavor, which have melted into the daily life of ordinary people. Spring Festival allows visitors an opportunity to closely watch the local customs.

For example, on the first day of the lunar new year, when adults give children their new year money, they often also give them an orange or ju, which sounds the same as favorable, or ji, in Fuzhou dialect.

Also on that day, Fuzhou people have xianmian (literally meaning thread noodle) for their breakfast. Eating the food as the first meal of the new year bodes well for longevity and happiness.

The most convenient way to get informed of how Fuzhou people celebrate Spring Festival might be to take a look at the traditional market streets.

Guxi Road is a hive of activity several days before the lunar new year as people are busy storing new year food and other items.

The north side of the street is now one of the biggest markets of festive lanterns in Fuzhou, turning the ancient street into a river of red lanterns. On the other side of the street there are a number of family shops, making and selling all kinds of traditional Fuzhou food for Spring Festival.

Changing Habits

With the improvement of living standards during the past two decades, the form and content of many long-observed customs in Fuzhou have undergone great changes. Such is the case of the custom of songnian.

According to local convention, several days before the lunar new year, married daughters must return to their parents' for songnian (to send a new year tribute). The gesture is considered by families an important way for their daughters to express their respect.

"In the past, a typical new year tribute sent by the daughter included a new year cake, a leg of pork, two grass carps or silver carps and a rouge-feathered cock," said Lin. "That's why when a Fuzhou family gives birth to a girl, people will applaud them by saying 'Congratulations, now you'll have a leg of pork to eat at Spring Festival.'"

All these presents used to be put in a basket woven from bamboo sticks, so they could be seen and appreciated by passers-by.

Today the custom of songnian is still widely observed in Fuzhou, but with some changes.

"This year my daughter sent me several bottles of Alaska fish oil brought from the United States by my son-in-law as a new year gift," Lin said.

'House-sweeping'

Rapid economic and social development has also changed many traditional customs, so they only remain as symbolic acts. "House-sweeping" is one example.

Several decades ago, a typical residence in Fuzhou was a sort of one or two-floor building constructed by wood boards. People usually pasted on the inner walls of the house a layer of paper. Dirt came into the room through the seams of the wood boards and accumulated behind the paper.

As a result, the task of "house-sweeping" at the end of each year was crucial work. On that day they would tear off the old paper from the wall, sweep out all the dirt from behind the paper, re-caulk the seams and cracks of the wood boards and paste a new layer of paper on the wall.

"The work of 'house-sweeping' was quite strenuous in the past. But then it was a must-do. Housewives who shunned the duty would be regarded as shameful lazybones," said Huang Qingfen, who lived in a traditional wood board residence for about 40 years before moving into a brick and concrete apartment in the 1980s.

Fuzhou housewives have long been relieved from "house-sweeping" as the traditional residences have been replaced.

But the convention of "house-sweeping" remains, at least as a symbolic act.

"In recent years, we usually hired a part-time maid to clean up the house for us before new year, though there was not much for her to do," Huang said.

From the local government to ordinary citizens, people in Fuzhou are showing more attention to preserving and promoting traditional folk cultures. In the neighborhood of Chating, the most famous commercial district in Fuzhou's history, an ancient market street that was rebuilt recently under the style of typical traditional Chinese architecture stands next to a Western-style shopping street.

And at the plaza outside a modern shopping mall, people gathered to watch the performance of shifan, a special form of folk music.

(China Daily February 11, 2003)