The origin of the festival:
Lunar calendar1February 23rd and 24th are the traditional days of offering sacrifices to stoves for the Han people, also known as "off-year". According to legend, Kitchen God was originally a civilian, Zhang Sheng. After marriage, he spent all his time drinking, losing everything and begging in the streets. One day, he begged at his ex-wife Guo Dingxiang's house, ashamed and burned to death under the stove.
When the Jade Emperor knew about it, he thought that Zhang Sheng would change his mind, and it wouldn't be bad in the end. Because he died at the bottom of the pot, he was named the kitchen god. Every year, he went to heaven on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month and returned to the bottom of the stove on the New Year's Eve. The people think that the kitchen god must be respected because he wants to repay the kindness to heaven. Therefore, the Han people celebrate the "off-year" on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month, praying for peace and wealth in the coming year.
In Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda said in "Poem of Sacrificing a Kitchen": "According to legend, there was a twelfth lunar month in ancient times, and the kitchen owner spoke to heaven. Clouds, cars and horses linger, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is rotten and hot, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste is Gan Song powder bait. When a man asks his daughter to avoid it, he drinks and burns money. You can't smell the struggle of servants, and you are not angry about the horns of cats and dogs; I'll send you to Tianmen to get drunk. If you are long and short, don't go back to Yuntou and beg for points in the city. " It can be said that this poem vividly illustrates the customs and habits of ancient Han people about offering sacrifices to stoves. Of course, this is only a legend of the Han people, and it is not credible.
Custom:
King of the people:
Off-year, it is also the day when Han people sacrifice their stoves. According to the folklore of the Han nationality, every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Kitchen God will report the good and evil of this family to the Jade Emperor, so that the Jade Emperor can reward and punish it. Therefore, when sending stoves, people put candy, water, beans and grass on the console table in front of the kitchen god statue; Among them, the last three are the mounts of the kitchen god ascending to heaven. When offering sacrifices to the stove, you should melt the Guandong sugar with fire and put it on the mouth of the kitchen god. In this way, he can't speak ill of the jade emperor There is a custom among the Han people that "men don't Yue Bai, and women don't offer sacrifices to stoves", so the proprietors of offering sacrifices to stoves are limited to men. In addition, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God will bring the gods to the world for the New Year, and there will be ceremonies of "receiving the kitchen" and "receiving the gods" on that day. Every family burns sedan chairs and horses, sprinkles three glasses of wine, and sends away the kitchen god, so it's their turn to worship their ancestors.
Cleaning dust:
After twenty-three, there are only six or seven days left before the Spring Festival, and the preparations for the Spring Festival are even more enthusiastic. To thoroughly clean the room, commonly known as sweeping the dust, sweeping the dust is to go to the old and welcome the new, and remove the ominous. Every household should be carefully and thoroughly cleaned to make the windows bright and clean. Paint walls, scrub glass, put up windows, put up New Year pictures and so on.
Cut the window grilles:
In all the preparatory work, window cutting and stick grilles are the most popular folk activities. There are all kinds of animal and plant stories here, such as plum blossoms of magpies, peach willows of swallows, peony of peacocks, rolling hydrangeas of lions, playing pearls of three sheep (Yang), playing pearls of two dragons, Toona sinensis of deer cranes (Liuhe Tongchun), longevity of five bats (Fu), moon-gazing of rhinoceros, Nianyu of Lotus (Lian) (the rest) and swimming of Yuanyang.
Post Spring Festival couplets:
Every household should write Spring Festival couplets. Han people pay attention to sticking to God, every household and everything, so Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete content. The couplets in front of the statues are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Heaven and earth have something in common: "the grace of heaven is as deep as the sea, and the virtue of the earth is as heavy as the mountain"; Land God Union: "White jade is born in the soil, and gold is born in the ground"; God of wealth alliance: "God of wealth in heaven, God of wealth on earth"; Jing Shenlian: "Well can lead to the four seas, and home can lead to the three rivers". The granary and the Spring Festival couplets in the granary are warm celebrations and expressions of hope. For example, "Five grains are abundant, and six livestock flourish", "Rice flour is as thick as a mountain, and oil and salt are as deep as the sea", "Cattle in Shannan are like tigers, and Ma Rulong in Beihai", "Big sheep flourish every year, and lambs increase every month" and so on. There are also some single couplets, such as "Looking up to see happiness" in each room, "Going out to see happiness" across the door, "Prosperity is soaring to the sky" on the fire, "The courtyard is full of gold" on the tree, and "Deep-rooted foliage" on the stone mill. The couplets on the gate are the facade of a family, which are particularly exquisite, lyrical or picturesque, rich in content and witty.
Take a bath:
Adults and children should take a bath and have their hair cut. There is a saying among the Han people that "if you have money, you will shave your head in the New Year". Luliang area pays attention to washing feet on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. Mother-in-law and your son washed their feet with boiling water tonight. Adults should also help a girl who is not sensible to scrub her feet clean, leaving no dirt. The folklore of the Han nationality says, "On the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, the mother-in-law washes her feet. As the saying goes, if you don't wash your feet, pus will harm water for seven months.
Marriage:
After the age of 23, the Han people believe that the gods have gone to heaven and everything has been forgiven. You don't have to choose a date to marry a daughter-in-law and prostitution. This is called rushing to get married. Until the end of the year, there will be many wedding ceremonies. The folk song is "busy marriage in the countryside, Yichun posts tease spring scenery." Sisters talk privately in front of the lights. This year is the bridal chamber.