The fourth day of the first lunar month
Greet the Stove King
Customs: Receiving the gods
Anecdote
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the day to greet the gods, the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month is the day to send the gods, the gods of the nether realm are sending the gods to ascend to heaven to worship the Jade Emperor and report on the good and evil of human behavior, and then go down again on the fourth day of the first month of the first month to continue to accept worship and monitor the good and evil in the world, so the day must be very cautious to welcome the gods to the mortals, so it is called "receiving the gods day".
On the fourth day of the first lunar month of the Spring Festival custom, the god of Vesta is greeted, and the king of the stove must check the household registration, so every household must stay at home, prepare rich fruits, burn incense, light candles and cast firecrackers to show welcome.
Folk custom: greet the god of vesta and send the god of fire
Welcome the vesta god back to the folk day.
The stove prince had to check the household registration, so every household had to stay at home, prepare rich fruits, burn incense, light candles, and set off firecrackers to show their welcome.
Some rural customs in the north are to tie up the fire god, use corn stalks or wheat stalks to help sticks, light them and send them from their homes to the river, which means that there is no fire in the family for a year.
On the eve of the fourth day of the first lunar month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, fruits, incense candles and other items, and beat gongs and drums to burn incense and pray, reverently and respectfully to the god of wealth.
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the fourth day of the first lunar month, also known as sheep day, is the day when the Han people greet the gods. In the old imperial calendar, the sheep are occupied, so it is often said that "three sheep (yang) Kaitai" is a symbol of auspiciousness and a day to welcome God back to the people. Legend has it that the king of the stove will come to check the household registration on this day, so it is not advisable to go far; every household should eat "folding luo" - a smorgasbord of meals left over from a few days; throwing poverty: dusting indoors, sweeping the floor in the house, and heaping garbage into the courtyard to prepare to "throw poverty"...
The fourth day of the New Year is the fourth day of the New Year, the fourth day of the New Year greets the god vesta, and occupies the sheep in the theory of the throne, so it is often said that "three sheep (yang) kaitai" is a symbol of auspiciousness, and it is also a day to welcome the god of vesta back to the folk. What are the customs and taboos on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year?
The custom of the fourth day of the Chinese New Year
1. Greet the god of Vesta and receive the god of fire
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the time when the gods return to earth from the celestial realm. There is a saying that "sending The Gods early, receiving the Gods late", the so-called sending of the gods should start early in the morning, and it is not too late to receive the gods in the afternoon. In terms of offerings, the three animals, fruits, wine and vegetables should be prepared, and incense should be burned and candles should be burned to burn gold clothes. If the boss wants to "fire" someone, he will not invite him to worship God on this day. From the beginning of the month to the fourth day of the first year, the shops were closed, and women did not use needle and thread.
On the eve of the fourth day of the first lunar month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, fruits, incense candles and other items, and beat gongs and drums to burn incense and pray, reverently and respectfully to the god of wealth. The first five days are said to be the birthday of the god of wealth, in order to compete for profits, so it preceded the fourth day of the first month, known as "grabbing the road head", also known as "receiving the god of wealth". Whoever receives the god of wealth must offer the sheep's head and carp, the sheep's head has the meaning of "auspicious", and the carp offering is the harmonic sound of "fish" and "Yu", which is auspicious. People are convinced that as long as they can get the apparition of the god of wealth, they can develop and become rich. Therefore, every New Year's Day, people open the doors and windows at 50:00 on the first day of the first month, light incense and firecrackers, light fireworks, and suggest a welcome to the god of wealth. After receiving the god of wealth, everyone also had to eat road wine, often until dawn. Everyone is full of hope for development, and hopes that the god of wealth can bring gold and silver treasures to his home and make a fortune in the new year. During the Republic of China, shops opened their doors from midnight on the fourth day of the new year to the early morning of the fifth day of the new year, with brilliant lights and candles, set up altars, picked up the "god of wealth", and flocked to the temple of wealth to "exchange yuan treasures".
2. Connect to five ways
Connecting the five roads, originally referring to the five roads of the gods, later evolved into the five roads of the god of wealth. In the old days, after the Spring Festival holiday, merchants generally received the five-way god of wealth on the evening of the fourth day of the first month, and opened the market on the fifth day of the first month to make a fortune.
At three o'clock in the afternoon of the fourth day of the first month, the preparations for the five-way ceremony began until the end of the evening at nine or ten o'clock. First of all, the desk is set up, and generally two eight immortal tables can be put together. The head table is fruit such as broad oranges and sugar cane, which means that the source of wealth is vast and life is sweet; The second table is a pastry, which means high rise and evergreen; The three tables are the main table, for whole pig, whole chicken, whole fish, and yuanbao soup. Half of the table is rice, noodles, vegetables, a bowl of road rice inserted a green onion, onion tube inserted a thousand years of red, meaning xingchong, every year red. The wine and dishes on the third table must wait until the five roads of wealth are connected before they can be served. Everyone is full of hope for development, and hopes that the god of wealth can bring gold and silver treasures to his home and make a fortune in the new year.
The owner of the fifth road must take the incense candle and leave the hall of the god of wealth in the east, west, south, north and middle directions to ask for pick-up, and every time the god of wealth is received, a string of hundred cannons is fired in front of the door. After all was received, the master and the companions prayed to the god of wealth in turn, and after the worship, the mantle on the original offering table was cremated, implying that the god of wealth was sent. The ceremony is over.
3. Sheep Day
The fourth day of the first lunar month is the "Sheep Day" of the creation myth of Nuwa. The Jin Dynasty Dong Xun's "Asking Etiquette" says: "The first day of the first month is a chicken, the second day is a dog, the third day is a pig, the fourth day is a sheep, the fifth day is a cow, the sixth day is a horse, and the seventh day is a man." Zhengdan paints chickens at the door, and sticks people to the tent for seven days. "In the old imperial calendar, the sheep are occupied, so it is often said that "three sheep (yang) kaitai" is a symbol of auspiciousness and a day to welcome the god of Vesta back to the folk.
4. Eat folding baskets and throw poverty
The whole family must eat together, clean the New Year goods, and go to the courtyard to prepare for "throwing poverty".
On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, the whole family eats origami together, the so-called folding, which is a smorgasbord of meals left over from a few days and cleaning the New Year goods. Dusting indoors, sweeping the floor inside the house, and dumping garbage in the courtyard to prepare to "throw away the poor". On this day, the beef and mutton shop will go to the Horse Temple to burn incense, because the Sheep King, the Cow King, and the Horse King are all enshrined in the Horse Temple, and the sheep king statue in the southern suburban Horse Temple is the most famous. Generally, shops should feast on the fourth night of the first year and distribute red envelopes. In the past, there was an old saying in Beijing: "The sky is not afraid, the earth is not afraid, it is afraid of the official words of the treasurer on the fourth night of the first year." "There is wine and dishes at the banquet, and the custom after drinking is to eat buns. At this time, the treasurer raised a glass of congratulations and said "hard work" to everyone, which is called "official language". After the official speech, the bun is brought up, the treasurer personally clips the bun, the bun is placed in the bowl, who is implied to have been fired, and the dismissed person automatically packs up his luggage after the meal, so this feast is commonly called "eating egg buns".
5. Tie up the god of fire and sacrifice to the god of vesta
Legend has it that the fourth king of the Chinese New Year needed to check the household registration, so every household had to stay at home, prepare rich fruits, burn incense, light candles and cast firecrackers to show courtesy.
6. Be old
In Putian, the Chinese New Year's EveChinese New Year's Eve is called the year, and the fourth year of the first year is called the big year. There are historical reasons for this. Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, the Wukou harassed the coastal areas of the southeastern part of the mainland from time to time, and once, when the Putian people were happy to spend Chinese New Year's Eve, the Wukou killed, burned and looted, and the survivors ran into the mountains. Later, wokou were repulsed, and people returned home from the mountains, but the year did not pass, and many families lost their relatives. Therefore, in Putian, the second day of the first year is strictly forbidden to go to other people's homes to visit the New Year, because in ancient Putian, on this day, people were treating funerals. After waiting for the third year of junior high school, everyone felt that because Chinese New Year's Eve had not had a good year, it should be done again, so it was set to have another year in the fourth year of the first year, and it was more solemn. As a result, this custom has been passed down from generation to generation by the Putian people, until now.
Taboos on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year
1. Avoid going far away
Avoid going out of the door, this day is the folk custom to receive the gods day, to welcome the gods, the king of the stove and the god of the house to come back to protect the family, the king of the stove will be named, so it is not appropriate to go out. The stove prince had to check the household registration, so every household had to stay at home, prepare rich fruits, burn incense, light candles, and set off firecrackers to show their welcome.
Old Beijing had the custom of the fourth taboo in the first year, but nephews could go to see their aunts, "uncles and uncles, generations of relatives, broken bones and tendons, regardless of each other's family." "Grandma has a status at home, which is a characteristic of Chinese folklore.
2. Do not shave your head during the first month
The shaver worked from the early morning of the thirtieth, whether he shaved his head and braided, or washed and cut the man's head, and worked all night until the morning of the new moon. At that time, most of the shaving masters were Baodi people, and at dawn they rolled up their bags and returned to their hometowns, shaved their heads again, and could not find the master. This is to urge people to do all the cleaning and sanitation work before the New Year.
3. Avoid breaking things
Avoid breaking utensils Usually breaking utensils is taboo, and breaking utensils in the New Year is even more a bad omen. In the old times, folklore believed that if the utensils were broken in the first month, there would be bad fortunes in the new year. Therefore, when breaking the utensils, we must quickly say "the age (broken) years (broken) peace" or "the more you fight, the more you fight", "the old does not go to the new and do not come", etc., as a solution.
4. Avoid quarrelling and cursing
Avoid quarrelling and cursing in the first month. In the old days, folklore thought that quarrels in the first month would be ruined for a year, and swearing would bring evil.
With the change and development of the times, many of the taboos handed down in ancient times have gradually been forgotten by people, and if there is no such taboo in the New Year, it may really lack the atmosphere of the New Year. Taboos, let people bear the snack, the nerves are a little nervous, but can give people a glimmer of hope, looking forward to a new change in the new year, the taste of the year is stronger.
(Source: English Guide)