Unconsciously, the Spring Festival is coming again. Today is the twenty-third lunar month, tomorrow is the twenty-fourth lunar month, which are the northern and southern small years in the lunar calendar. Do you really know Little Year? Why aren't the Northern And Southern Years the same day? What are the unique customs of the Chinese New Year in various places?
What day is the Little Year?
Twenty-three years in the north and twenty-four years in the south, this is the cognition of most people
However, hearing this statement, some netizens did not think so
"My family has always been Chinese New Year's Eve it was only the day before the New Year~"
"What little year was there before?" We only recognize the "little year" of the fifteenth day of the first month! ”
It seems that this is a more complicated issue than the dispute over sweet and salty rice dumplings...
Therefore, what is the "right day" of the small year?
Customs of "little years" everywhere
People in different regions have given different concepts to xiaonian, so that xiaonian has derived various versions. However, more people regard the "festival stove day" on the 23rd and 24th days of the Waxing Moon as a small year - people start to buy New Year goods from the 23rd day, and officially enter the "New Year rhythm". These two days also have many long-standing customs.
Sacrifice to the King of Stoves
Sacrifice to the king of the stove, that is, to send the god of the stove to ascend to heaven, so the small year is also called the festival of the stove. According to folklore, the Emperor of the Stove was originally a star in the sky, because he made a mistake, he was demoted to the human world by the Jade Emperor and became the "Eastern Chef Commander". He sat in the middle of the kitchen stoves of each family, recording how people lived and how they behaved, and every year on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, the king of the stove would go to heaven to report the good and evil of the family to the Jade Emperor, and let the Jade Emperor reward and punish. Folk worship the god of Vesta with sugar melons, rice cakes, dates, chestnuts, etc., and pray that he will say more good things in front of the Jade Emperor.
Sweep the dust
Northerners take the twenty-third day of the waxing moon as a small year, called "sweeping the house"; the southerners take the twenty-fourth month of the waxing moon as a small year, called "dust dust". On this day, every household rises at dawn to sweep the windows, wash clothes, brush pots and pans, and carry out clean and thorough sanitary cleaning. "Dust" and "Chen" are harmonious, so sweeping dust is to sweep away the old things, which refers to the old dirt in the courtyard, but also refers to the unhappiness encountered in the old years, in order to resign the old cloth and the new, to welcome the auspicious nafu.
Cut the window flowers
Window cutting flowers and window stickers are the traditions of the Small Year, and the content includes animals and plants, such as magpie Dengmei, swallow wearing peach willow, peacock play peony, lion rolling hydrangea ball, three sheep (Yang) Kaitai, Erlong play beads, deer crane Tong Chun (six contract spring), five bats (Fu) Bo Shou, rhinoceros wangyue, lotus (lian) year with fish (yu), Mandarin duck playing water, bangs playing with golden toads, etc.
Paste Spring League
The folk custom of pasting the Spring League began to prevail from the Ming Dynasty
After the new year, every household began to paste the Spring Festival and write blessing characters
The Spring League is full of witty words, and the taste of the year is getting stronger and stronger
Talk about marriage
After a small year, the folk believe that the gods went to heaven
All things can be taken advantage of here without paying too much attention
Therefore, marriage does not have to deliberately choose a good birthday and auspicious day
Shower haircut
There is a saying in the folk that "there is no money, shave your head for the New Year"
On the day of the New Year, everyone has to take a bath and get a haircut
It means to fade away the dust and obscure atmosphere and open an auspicious new year
A seven-flavor snack that must be tasted in the "Little Year"
Stove sugar
As the saying goes, "Twenty-three, sugar melon sticky"
During the New Year, people will buy candy melons, Kanto sugar, hemp candy and other offerings
Pray that the king of the stove will have a sweeter mouth and that god will say good things
dumplings
Dumplings are found in almost every festival in the north
Xiao Chinese New Year's Eve eat dumplings means to send off the king of the stove
Meaning "send off dumplings to the wind"
Sticky cake
There is a folk song in the Luxi area of Shandong Province: "Twenty-three, Sticky Cake Sticky"
Sticky cake is made of yellow rice, red dates, etc., and is sweet and soft
There is an auspicious meaning of "high year"
Face flowers
In small years, the coastal area of Jiaodong will steam the "Big Jujube Mountain" to worship the god of Vesta
We also make face flowers such as reunion cakes, shou peaches, and fish fruits
It means that the whole family is reunited, and the days are more than enough every year
Sugar cane and water chestnut
Old Fuzhou sacrificial stoves, sugar cane and water chestnut are essential
Sugar cane is seen as a ladder for the king of the stove to ascend to the heavens, which means "high and high"
Water chestnut takes its Fuzhou dialect harmonic sound, which means "good luck from beginning to end"
Rice crackers
Guangxi and other places have the custom of making rice cakes in small years
Glutinous rice flour is the main ingredient, peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar are used as ingredients
Pressed into a circle and steamed, it has the beauty of "reunion round"
Popcorn candy
Jiangxi folk are known as "small years, small years, popcorn sugar sweet" saying
People use maltose and popcorn to make popcorn candy
Meaning the new year "sweet and sweet"
After the "little year" is the year
A year of toil and wind and rain
Just for the reunion joy at the end of the year
Happy New Year to all!
(Reference source: CCTV News WeChat public account, People's Daily client, Zhihu)
Finishing: China Education News client Zhao Yan
Author: Zhao Yan