Do you know why the little year is divided into north and south?

"Twenty-three, sugar melon sticky; twenty-four, sweep the house."

Yesterday, it was the twenty-third day of the lunar month, a small year in the north of the mainland. Today, the twenty-fourth day of the Waxing Moon, is a small year in the south. Why are there two days? Why not the same day?

Folklore experts said that the small year is an important beginning of the new year, is the prelude to the Spring Festival, no matter which day the small year, no matter what the difference in customs, people's good wishes to resign the old and welcome the new are the same, and the good expectations of welcoming the good fortune are the same.

North and South

Why not on the same day

Too young

Tianjin folklore expert and columnist You Guoqing explained that the ancient Chinese people had the saying of "official three, people four, and boat five" in the small year, that is, the official family Waxing Moon 23 is a small year, the people waxing the 24th small year, and the water people's homes, fishermen, etc. are the 25th small year of the Waxing Moon.

The reason for this division is that before the Song Dynasty, the north was mostly a political center and was deeply influenced by official culture, so people chose the twenty-third day of the waxing moon for a small year; on the contrary, the south was far from the political center, and the small year was the twenty-fourth month of the waxing moon. In addition, along the shores of Poyang Lake and other places, there are old boat customs, and the small year is selected to pass on the twenty-fifth day of the Waxing Moon.

In detail, the history of the twenty-fourth year of the Waxing Moon is even longer. The Southern Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda's "Sacrifice stove words" has such a description: "In ancient times, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of La, the stove king wanted to say things to the heavens. The cloud car wind horse small stay, the family has cups and plates of abundant ceremonies. ”

"The people of the north and the south do not spend the New Year on the same day, which is closely related to the local history and culture, which also reflects the diversified and rich characteristics of Chinese folk life." Said by National Day.

Worship the god Vesta

"Heaven speaks of good deeds,

Peace in the Nether"

"Little Year" is not "small" at all, it is from this day that our busyness and joy were officially switched into the "Spring Festival time".

In the New Year, both north and south, the common custom is to worship the god Vesta and sweep the house. Because of his relationship with the god Vesta in the sky, XiaoNian also has a mysterious charm and legend.

The small year is the day of the sacrifice of the stove, "the stove, the creation of the food also". According to Guoqing, the god of Vesta, also known as "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Stove King Si Ming", can be said to be the god who is most closely related to ordinary people, not only in charge of the stove fire, manage the diet, but also on behalf of the Jade Emperor to investigate the good and evil of the world.

Folklore says that vesta was originally a star in the sky, but because of his mistakes, he was demoted to the human world by the Jade Emperor, who managed the stove fires of each family, and at the same time had the duty of blessing and supervision. He was ordered to monitor the good and evil of the world, and returned to heaven every year on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the waxing moon to report the situation on earth to the Jade Emperor, who rewarded the evil according to the words of the god Vesta.

In order to make the stove king say good things, people often put various offerings in front of the stove god statue to "bribe" him. In the north, many places pay attention to the use of sugar melons to sacrifice stoves. The sugar melon is made of maltose, sweet and sticky, which is intended to make the god of Vesta say more "sweet words" to win peace and auspiciousness in the coming year, or it is believed that this sugar can stick to the mouth of the god of Vesta, so as not to say bad things about the family. In fact, sugar melons have finally become delicious in children's mouths.

"In the old days, in order to pray for blessings and obedience, people would also paste couplets such as 'Heaven says good deeds, the netherworld ensures peace' or 'Heaven says good things, return to the palace to descend auspiciously' on both sides of the statue of vesta, and the horizontal batch is 'the head of the family', so xiaonian is also called 'sacrifice stove festival'.

However, with the development of the times and the change of lifestyle, especially the modern people living in the metropolis, the cooking and dining life has changed greatly, and even there is no stove, and it is impossible to sacrifice the stove like the old generation, and the relevant folk customs naturally fade away, but our vision of the old and the new, the expectation of a better life, etc., in the case of conditions, still need a certain sense of ritual to manifest, inherit, and protect. By the national day said.

Sweep away dust

Clean and refreshing

Say goodbye to the old and welcome the new

In addition to the sacrificial stove, there are many things to be busy on this day of the New Year. Sweeping dust is an indispensable one, and the corners and corners of the home that have not been cleaned for a year are thoroughly cleaned. In the north, it is called "dust removal", and in the south, it is called "dust dust", and people wash and wash all kinds of things, with the intention of sweeping out the door of "poor luck and obscurity". Pouring out the dust is also to remove the unpleasantness of the past year and greet the arrival of the Lunar New Year cleanly.

Yu Guoqing said that in the old days, on the day of the New Year, every household should be cleaned to make the home look new. Today, the great health work a few years ago is not limited to the day of the small year, just after the eighth day of the lunar calendar, some people have begun to sweep the house, and some people will wipe the glass of the home and paste it with hanging money, lucky characters, window flowers, etc., and then look forward to the arrival of the new year in the "sound of firecrackers".

"There is no money, shave your head for the New Year", whether it is adults or children, you must also bathe and get a haircut on this day, in order to be refreshing and refreshed.

In addition to worshiping the god Vesta and sweeping the house, there are other differences between the north and south customs of the New Year. For example, in the north, there are customs such as cutting window flowers and eating dumplings, while in the south there are customs such as writing Spring Festival and eating rice cakes.

Because of different customs and traditions, in all parts of the country, "Little Year" has different concepts and dates, but in all kinds of differences, the strong new year flavor is the same.

"Although the customs of the north and the south are not the same, they are all important ceremonies for the Chinese people to welcome the New Year, and they also contain people's expectations and wishes for a better life in the New Year." Said by National Day.

Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily reports

Source: Wuhan Evening News