At the end of each year, when the year comes, it is easy to cause quarrels between people in the north and the south about what day the new year is. Some people say that it is the twenty-third day of the lunar month, because it is the day that sends the god of the stove every year.
Friends in the south will say that since childhood, they have always known that the 24th lunar month is a small year, and they have never heard of a small year on the 23rd lunar month. Some netizens said that their hometown is on the 25th day of the lunar month. What day is that little year? Let's find out!
The early years were always on the 24th day of the lunar month.
Before figuring out this question, it is necessary for us to understand what a small year is. As an important traditional festival in the mainland, it is also called "Jiaonian Festival", "Stove God Festival", "Sacrificial Stove Festival", or "Xiao Nian Xia", "Xiao Nian Festival" and so on.
Regarding the origin of the traditional festival of Xiao Nian, there is a folk theory that it is due to the worship of fire by the ancients. As early as the pre-Qin period, there was already the custom of sacrificing stoves, and it was also listed as one of the "five rituals". After arriving in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the god of the stove had a name, and the sacrificial stove in the Song Dynasty was more solemn.
There are different versions of who the sacrificial stove is sacrificed to, one is the Yan Emperor, the other is Zhu Rong, and the other is the Stove God. But there is a more widespread saying among the people that the god of the stove is a young man named Zhang Sheng.
This young man's family conditions are good, he is a local squire, and he married a daughter-in-law very early, but he has not had children for many years, and he is disliked by Zhang Sheng. Later, Zhang Sheng married another wife, which caused the original wife to be angry and commit suicide by jumping into the river. Fortunately, he was rescued by a woodcutter, and then married the woodcutter for a long time.
And Zhang Sheng was also lazy to eat, and later his family declined, his wife ran away with others, and he was reduced to begging for a living. One year, Zhang Sheng begged to a family and found that the hostess was his ex-wife, not only the family was happy, but also had several children. Zhang Sheng was ashamed, and then he went into the stove and burned to death.
happened to be seen by the Jade Emperor, and when he saw that Zhang Sheng had remorse, he named him the god of the stove and stipulated that he should report to him on the twenty-third day of the lunar month every year. It is also for this reason that the god of the stove is highly respected among the people. Since then, there has been a custom of sacrificing to the stove on the 24th day of the lunar month to pray for peace and good fortune in the coming year.
According to historical records, in the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, etc., are in the 24th day of the lunar month of the sacrificial stove, looking through a lot of ancient historical materials, before the Qing Dynasty, whether in the south, or in the northern region, it is basically recorded that the 24th of the lunar month is sacrificed to the stove, only after the Qing Dynasty, the time of the small year has changed.
What day is Xiao Nian?
Nowadays, in the northern region, it is basically the 23rd day of the lunar month, while in the southern region, most of them celebrate the 24th lunar month, and a few places celebrate the 25th lunar month. So the question arises, why did the date of the small year change after the Qing Dynasty, and it is no longer the same day?
According to historical records, in the early Qing Dynasty, it was also celebrated on the 24th day of the lunar month, but since the Yongzheng Emperor, there have been changes. Because Emperor Yongzheng was more diligent and thrifty, he advocated thrift, and at that time, the royal family also had a custom, that is, on the twenty-third day of the lunar month every year, the emperor should worship the gods in Kunning Palace, that is, report the work to the gods of heaven and earth.
In order to save expenses, Emperor Yongzheng worshiped the gods on the twenty-third day of the lunar month and the stove for the twenty-fourth year of the country, so it was a bit wasteful, so he worshipped the gods at the same time, and by the way, he also worshipped the king of the stove. And the emperor did so, and the other royal families and Baylor followed suit.
After that, the civil and military officials also followed suit, and the official yamen in Beijing were all worshipping the king of the stove on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, and the common people saw it, and they also followed suit, and since then they began to sacrifice the stove on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, and the small year has also advanced from the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month to the twenty-third of the lunar month.
The southern region is far away from the capital, and continues to maintain the custom of celebrating the New Year on the 24th day of the lunar month. Some boatmen, who are fishermen who make a living, choose to spend the New Year on the 25th day of the lunar month.
There are also many customs on this day of the New Year, such as cutting window flowers, sweeping dust, haircuts, bathing, eating stove sugar, boiling rice balls, etc., but the most important thing is to sacrifice to the god of the stove.
Folklore has it that the Lord of the Stove wants to report the good and evil of this family to the Jade Emperor on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, so that the Jade Emperor can reward and punish him. Therefore, when the stove is sacrificed, some stove sugar, water, beans, and straw will be prepared, and the last three items are prepared for the mount of the stove king to ascend to heaven.
The stove sugar is prepared for the stove prince, this kind of sugar is very sweet, and it is very sticky to the teeth, so I hope that the stove prince can say more good things after eating the stove candy. Or stick to his mouth and say less bad things.