This custom has a very old origin. In Song and Wu's Dream. In addition to the night: "December has passed, and the day when the popular cloud is poor for one year is called in addition to the night. Scholars, big or small, must sweep the floor, remove dust, remove filth, clean the house, change the door gods, hang Zhong Kui, nail peaches and stick spring cards. "
Song Hezhang's Hundred Cities of Smoke and Water. Suzhou: "sweeping the house dust on the 27 th, saying that it is necessary to remove the residue." Jia Qinglu by the Qing Guru. December. "Dust of Ai": "The wax will be broken, so it is vulgar to choose a constitutional book (referring to the calendar) to sweep the dust on the house, or to dust Ai on the 23rd, 24th and 27th."
Cai Qingyun's poem: "Everything in the thatched cottage is happy in spring, and the dust in the house is cleaned up."
He also quoted a tidbit about his age: "December 24th, when sweeping houses, he did not choose constitutional documents and married more, which was called silk throwing day." Another "Note on the Moon": "The 24th is the day of mowgli."
The custom of offering sacrifices to stoves:
Spring Festival in China usually begins with offering sacrifices to stoves. The folk song "Twenty-three, Melon Stick" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, in the twelfth lunar month, officials hold sacrificial stoves, 24 people hold them, and 25 curtilage boats hold them.
Sacrificing stoves is a very popular custom in China.
In the past, almost every kitchen had a kitchen god. People call this god "the Bodhisattva who commands life" or "the stove commands life". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef Commanding the Kitchen Palace" sealed by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the patron saint of the family.