small
XIAO NIAN
year
Xiaonian is a traditional Chinese festival, also known as the "Festival of sacrifices" and "Festival of the King of Stoves", and its importance is second only to that of the Great Year. It is regarded as the beginning of a busy year, which means that people begin to prepare New Year goods, sweep dust, sacrifice stoves, etc., and prepare to spend a good year cleanly, expressing people's good wishes to resign the old and welcome the new. When the world meets a small year, everything you ask for is what you want.
The origin of the little year
What day is the Little Year?
As the saying goes, a small year is a year. The small year is usually regarded as the beginning of a busy year, which means that people begin to prepare New Year goods, sweep dust, sacrifice stoves, etc., and prepare to spend a good year cleanly, expressing people's good wishes to leave the old and welcome the new. Due to the different customs of different places, the days called "Little Year" are also different.
In some places on the modern mainland, it is said that the small year is "three officials and four boats and five", that is to say, the small year of the official family is the twenty-third month of the WaxIng Moon, the people's family is the twenty-fourth of the Waxing Moon, and the water people's home is the twenty-fifth of the Waxing Moon.
In fact, the traditional small year is on the twenty-fourth day of the Waxing Moon, because the imperial family in the middle and late Qing Dynasty paid homage to the Emperor one day in advance on the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon, and the people in the northern region followed suit, and also celebrated the Small Year one day in advance on the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon.
Most of the North: 23rd day of the Lunar New Year – "Little Year of the North"
Most of the South: The 24th of the Waxing Moon - "Folk Tradition Little Year"
Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai: the day before the Chinese New Year's Eve - "small Chinese New Year's Eve"
Parts of Sichuan and Guizhou: Chinese New Year's Eve Night - "Little Year"
Nanjing area and other places: the fifteenth day of the first month (Lantern Festival) - "Little Year"
Folk customs of the small year
What is The Little Year going to do?
Sacrifice stove
The sacrificial stove is the main custom of the small year, which originates from the ancient custom of worshiping fire. "Explanation": "Stove. Create also, create food also. "Vesta's duty is to take charge of the stove and manage the diet.
The sacrificial stove has a history of thousands of years in the mainland people, and the belief in the god of vesta is a reflection of the Chinese people's pursuit of the dream of "more than enough food and clothing".
The sacrifice of the stove is an important activity on the day of the small year, and while sweeping the dust to remove the old portrait of the god of Vesta, it is also necessary to "invite" back a new statue of the king of the stove. Among the Chinese folk gods, Vesta is a very important home god, who is in charge of the power of food, clothing, and misfortune in the world, and people naturally have a sense of awe and dependence on it.
Sweep the dust
Southerners take the twenty-fourth day of the waxing moon as a small year, called "dust dust". Northerners take the twenty-third day of the waxing moon as a small year, called "sweeping the house". 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.
A few days before the new year, the family cleaned the house, which means not to let the stove prince take the soil away. At that time, it was a religious ritual for the ancestors to drive away the ghosts and pray for well-being. After the "dust" and "chen" harmonic sounds, so sweeping the dust is to sweep away the old things, which refers to both the old dirt in the courtyard and the unhappiness encountered in the old age.
Eat stove sugar
As the saying goes, "twenty-three, sugar melon sticky", when the New Year is small, people will buy sugar melon, Kanto sugar, hemp sugar and other offerings, praying that the king of the stove will be sweeter and the heavens will say good things.
Shower haircut
Adults and children are required to take a bath and get a haircut. There is a saying in the folk that "there is no money, shave your head for the New Year". Removing the dust and obscurity of the previous year and bringing good luck to the new year is the purpose of bathing. Therefore, in addition to the new look in the home, every family member should take a bath, get a haircut, fade the obscurity of the past, and start a good omen for the auspicious and smooth New Year.
Cut the window flowers
As soon as the new year arrives, every household begins to decorate its own home. Cut the window flowers and paste them in the cleaned house, adding a lot of New Year's joy to the home. The window flower pattern has a variety of animals, plants, characters, etc., such as magpie Dengmei, peacock play peony, lion rolling hydrangea ball, three sheep (Yang) Kaitai, two dragon play beads, deer crane Tong Chun (six contract spring), five bat (Fu) boun shou, rhinoceros looking at the moon, lotus (lian) year there are fish (Yu), Mandarin duck playing water, bangs playing with golden cicadas, hehe er immortals and so on.
Write spring league
After the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon, every household must write the Spring Festival. Han folk pay attention to the gods must be pasted, each door must be pasted, every thing must be pasted, so the Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete content. The couplets in front of the gods are particularly exquisite, mostly words of admiration and blessing.
The couplet on the gate is the façade of a family, with special attention, or lyricism, or writing, rich in content, and witty words.
Eat dumplings
The festival of the stove is exquisite in the folk, which means "sending off dumplings to the wind". In the mountains, you will eat cakes and soba noodles. In the southeastern region of Jin, the custom of eating fried corn is popular, and the folk proverb has the saying of "twenty-three, do not eat fried, the beginning of the New Year - a pot poured". In many areas, dumplings are eaten in various ways as soon as the waxing moon arrives. The winter solstice should be eaten, the small year should also be eaten, and the Chinese New Year's Eve, the first five and the first seven must also eat dumplings...
Picture Book "The Story of the Little Year"
What poems does Xiao Nian have?
Since the beginning of the year, people have begun to prepare for the Spring Festival. What do families do to welcome the Spring Festival? Let's read the picture book "The Story of the Little Year".
Once upon a time, there was an emperor who was very hungry, wherever he went, where he ate. Try anything you haven't eaten.
On this day, he wandered into the village and met a beautiful girl. The girl carried a basket.
"What's in it?" The emperor asked curiously.
The girl opened the basket, wow, what a big date cake! The emperor had eaten many good things, but he had never eaten jujube cakes.
He said to the girl, "Give me something to eat, I am the emperor!" ”
The girl smiled slightly and handed the basket over. The emperor devoured the jujube cake in three bites and five bites. After eating, he burped: "Uh-uh, it's delicious!" ”
Then, the emperor had a bad idea: "I want to take this girl back to the palace and let her make me a date cake to eat every day!" ”
He said to the girl, "You will make me seven or seven forty-nine pieces of jujube cake at once." If you can't do it, I'll take you away!" ”
The girl listened, and said without hurrying, "Good! She pulled down the golden hairpin on her head and swiped at the basket.
Hey? Steaming hot, no more, no less, exactly seven hundred and forty-nine pieces of jujube cake. It's amazing!
The emperor did not understand it yet. When he saw that the girl could not be stopped, he tricked the girl into feeding him.
The girl turned her face and ignored him! The emperor was angry and had to take the girl away. He reached out and grabbed...
The girl stretched out her hand and slapped the emperor on the stove, and the emperor was suddenly pasted on the wall.
This was broken: the emperor wanted to come down, but he couldn't get down.
This day happens to be the twenty-third day of the lunar month.
"Who makes your mouth goug! This time, others sit and you stand, others eat and you watch! After saying that, the girl flew up to the sky with the clouds.
The gluttonous emperor has since become the king of the stove.
Since then, the stove prince has stood by the stove every day and watched people eat.
After a long time, people felt that the stove prince was strange and pitiful- after all, there was nothing wrong with loving to eat good things.
Therefore, every time on the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, everyone will put delicious food for the king of the stove, which is called "sacrificial stove".
On this day, the children were the happiest, and they ate date cakes, persimmon cakes, walnuts, sugar cakes, and sugar melons with the king of the stove.
It is said that after the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, the King of The Stove will go to heaven to tell the Jade Emperor about what has happened in the human world this year. He ate the sweet mouth of the sugar melon, and when he saw the Jade Emperor, he said good things about the people.
Flowing years like water, peach charms renewed
The small year is the beginning of the New Year
With the first rays of the new year
Let's welcome the Chinese New Year together
I wish you all a happy, happy and healthy New Year!
Get to the knowledge of the small year point ~ the small year has arrived, will the big year be far away?
Editor: Wu Jiaqian
Audit: Gao Li