welcome the new year

    Xiaonian is the day when Chinese folk worship the kitchen god. The days of Xiaonian differ by one day from north to south. Every year on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the northern part is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. I also look forward to the young year in my memory, there are many local customs with strong characteristics!

It's a new year, let's take a look at what customs are there!

    picture of kitchen god

   Sacrificing the kitchen is the most important activity on this day of the small year, and the portrait of the kitchen god is changed every year. At the same time as the old Kitchen God portrait is taken off, every household also has to "invite" back a new picture of the Kitchen God.

    eat candied melon

    On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, in addition to "Sacrificing the Stove", there is also a saying that "the candied melon is sticky", which means that the candied melon sticks to the mouth of the Lord of the Kitchen. This habit stems from the long-standing ritual of sacrificing the stove. In the folk, people always believe that every household has a "Stove Lord" sent by God, who is responsible for supervising the good and bad things done in a year. Until the 23rd day of the lunar calendar, it is necessary to return to the Tiangong to report to the Jade Emperor, and the stove will be sacrificed. It is a ceremony to send the Kitchen Lord to heaven.

    cut window grilles

    There are many kinds of folk activities in the small year, most of which are to prepare for the new year, and cutting window grilles is also one of them. But now few people will cut window flowers, which has become an intangible cultural heritage of the country.

There are also many window decorations, such as magpies climbing plums, swallows wearing peach willows, peacocks playing with peony, lions rolling hydrangea, three sheep (yang) Kaitai, two dragons playing with beads, deer cranes and tongchun (six contracts in spring), five bats ( Fu) holds longevity, the rhino looks at the moon, the lotus (lian) year has fish (yu), the mandarin duck plays in the water, the bangs play with the golden cicada, and the two immortals of Hehe and so on. A variety of patterns, look lovable.

    clean up

    "Dust" and "Chen" are homophonic, so the purpose of sweeping dust is to eradicate the old and welcome the new, and to remove the ominous. The broom sweeps the walls up and down, scrubs the tables and chairs, rinses the floor... Every household should be thoroughly cleaned without leaving any dead spots, so that the windows are clean.

    write spring couplets

    Every household has to write Spring Festival couplets. Folks pay attention to the fact that there are gods and they must be posted, every door must be posted, and every object must be posted, so the number of Spring Festival couplets is the largest and the content is the most complete. The couplet on the door is the facade of a family, and it is especially important. The couplets in front of the gods are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and prayer. The common ones are Heaven and Earth God Union: "Heaven's grace is as deep as the sea, and earth's virtue is as heavy as a mountain"; Earth God Union: "White jade grows in the earth, and gold comes out of the earth"; Wealth God Union: "Heaven's source of wealth, the world's God of Fortune"; Jing God Lian: "A well can reach the four seas, and the customs of a small year can reach three rivers". The Spring Festival couplets in the granaries and livestock pens all express warm congratulations and hope.