After Laba, the rural market became lively. People want to sell agricultural and sideline products and raise funds, which is also called "lucky money". On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "New Year's Eve", the main activity is "offering sacrifices to the country", which is also called sending the kitchen god back to heaven. Incense candles must be lit in front of the kitchen, and three bowls of fruit should be placed to give farewell to the kitchen god. It is also necessary to use some paper materials to make pig, chicken, dog, horse and other image animals to accompany the kitchen god and put a bowl of grass, beans and water as the road. The most important offering is a large plate of kitchen candy (maltose), and then the offering is placed in front of the kitchen god, and the kitchen god is torn off and incinerated and sent to heaven. When the gods were burned, the person in charge of the sacrifice murmured, "Grandparents, Kitchen God, go to the Western Heaven to see the Jade Emperor, and God will repay you with good deeds, and the lower world will be safe. If you speak ill, I will stick it on you. " With a bang, he stuck a piece of kitchen candy on the kitchen door. It can be seen that it is an ancient family tradition to eat, drink and be quiet. After offering sacrifices to the stove, they began to clean the room and courtyard, and then each household washed rice and ground flour, prepared rice cakes and bought new year's goods.
On New Year's Eve, people are busy putting up Spring Festival couplets early in the morning. On the doors, there are colored printed materials with the images of "Door God", "God Tea", "Lei Yu" and armored warriors. They are guarding the doors. On the lintel, there is a cross section of "Xiangyang family", and there are three or five "hanging money" below. At four or five in the afternoon, rice wine is served, incense is lit and firecrackers are set off. After the "ancestor worship", the whole family, old and young, happily ate the New Year's Eve dinner.
On New Year's Eve, men, women and children put on new clothes, and the younger generation bowed and kowtowed to their elders in turn, asking for "lucky money". After midnight, it will be the New Year's Eve. Every household chooses a good day to visit the God of Wealth, the God of Fortune and the God of the West. First, set up an altar in the middle of the courtyard to display sacrifices, and then light two torches at the gate. This is called catching fire, because the three gods come at night, and the light is also called guiding the way, and at the same time, burning incense and shooting are welcome. Sending a man to the well to carry water home means that this water can raise pigs quickly and make people drink healthily. Then, the man led the whole family, old and young, to carry sacrifices to Gongtan Temple. Everyone will have a cup of sweet tea when they go home, which means it will be sweeter next year. This night, people usually stay up all night, which is called "Shounian".
On the first day of the first month, I get up early in the morning, and the younger generation says auspicious words to the elders, and the elders give benefits to the younger generation. No scissors, no sweeping; Don't visit relatives and friends. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, we kill chickens in the morning to worship our ancestors. Ten days after the New Year, everyone went to visit relatives and friends.
On the fifteenth day of the first month, Lantern Festival is also called Lantern Festival. Every household in urban and rural areas hangs lanterns in front of their doors. Colorful lanterns are made of paper and bamboo.
Before liberation, the Spring Festival activities in county towns generally had a strong color of feudal superstition. This custom was followed after liberation, but with the progress of people's thinking, the Spring Festival activities gradually developed in a civilized, simple, lively and healthy direction.