Shanxi New Year Custom: Decorating Home With Festive Ornaments

在山西，春节前夕的“贴花花”是年俗中不可或缺的一道程序。贴年画、贴春联、贴窗花，统称“贴花花”，既是为居室添彩，也是为新年祈福。

In Shanxi, “Tie Hua Hua” (Chinese new year decorations) is an essential ritual in the lead-up to the Spring Festival. The term refers to the collective practice of pasting New Year pictures, spring couplets, and paper-cut window decorations—an act that both brightens the home and conveys blessings for the year ahead.

贴春联的习俗源于古代辟邪的“桃符”。山西人至今偏爱手写春联，大红纸铺开，墨香犹在。春联不仅贴在大门、房门上，就连猪圈、鸡舍也会贴上一方小小的福字，寓意六畜兴旺、家宅安康。

The custom of pasting spring couplets originates from the ancient “peachwood charm,” which was used to ward off evil spirits. Shanxi locals still favor hand-written couplets on vibrant red paper, carrying the subtle fragrance of ink. These couplets are not only affixed to main gates and interior doors but even to pigsties and chicken coops, often in the form of small “fu” (blessing) characters, expressing wishes for thriving livestock and domestic peace.

窗花是山西年节里一抹灵动的亮色。作为中国最古老的传统民间剪纸艺术之一，窗花由家中巧妇以剪刀或刻刀在红纸上镂空剪刻而成，纹样流畅自然，图案多含吉祥寓意。每逢过年，窗户贴上窗花，光影交错间，满室生辉，也寄托着对新春的美好期许。

Window decorations are a delicate highlight of Shanxi’s New Year atmosphere. As one of China’s oldest forms of folk paper-cut art, these decorations are crafted by skilled women in the household using scissors or engraving knives. The designs are fluid and natural, often bearing auspicious motifs. Come New Year, windows adorned with these paper-cuts come alive with the play of light and shadow, filling rooms with warmth and hope for the coming year.

年画在山西人家同样是过年必备，俗称“喜画”。旧时人们室内贴年画、户上贴门神，以求新年吉庆。山西木版年画独具一格：线条刚劲有力，色彩浓烈鲜明，气势开阔质朴，与南方年画的细腻婉约形成对照。无论是贴在门板、灶台还是柜橱上，年画在寻常烟火气中依然醒目，装点出浓重的年味。

New Year pictures, commonly called “joy paintings,” are also indispensable in Shanxi households during the Spring Festival. In the past, people decorated their interiors with such pictures and their doors with images of guardian gods, praying for good fortune in the new year. Shanxi’s woodblock New Year pictures are artistically distinct: bold and vigorous lines, intense colors, and a rustic, open composition set them apart from the more delicate and understated style of southern Chinese New Year paintings. Whether pasted on doors, kitchen shrines, or cabinets, these paintings remain strikingly vivid amid the everyday warmth of family life.

“贴花花”这一传统习俗，不仅美化了家居环境，更承载着山西人对来年生活的朴素祈愿。一纸春联、一帧窗花、一幅年画，都是辞旧迎新的注脚，也是黄土高原上世代相传的年节记忆。

The custom of “Tie Hua Hua” is far more than mere decoration—it embodies the simple, sincere aspirations of Shanxi people for the year to come. A pair of couplets, a sheet of paper-cut, a colorful New Year picture: each is a quiet declaration of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, and a lasting thread in the cultural memory of the Yellow Earth Plateau.

（图源网络侵删）

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来源：中华网综合整理

Source: Comprehensive collation by sx.china.com