Is the Little New Year the Kitchen God Festival? The origin of the folk custom of worshiping the kitchen god.
Introduction: The Spring Festival is one of our major traditional festivals, and the period before the Spring Festival is also very important. This includes the Little New Year. Did you know that Little New Year is also the Kitchen God Festival? Do you know the origin of the custom of worshiping the Kitchen God? Now, let’s follow the editor to learn about it. New Year’s Eve is the time for families to reunite and the Chinese New Year is the most important festival for our Chinese nation. If you want to know more about the culture and content of New Year’s Eve, please read the special topic on New Year’s Eve carefully compiled for you by Mr. Shui Mo!The time of the Kitchen God FestivalThe Kitchen God Festival (Little New Year) is held on the 23rd or 24th day of the 12th lunar month.The date of the Kitchen God Festival (Little New Year) in 2017: Friday, January 20, 2017 The Origin of the Custom of Offering Sacrifice to the Kitchen God on the Little New YearThe custom of worshiping the kitchen god has a long history. The Kitchen God had already become a great god revered by the people in the Xia Dynasty. In "The Analects of Confucius", which records the words and deeds of Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, there is a saying "It is better to flatter the stove than to flatter the emperor." During the pre-Qin period, worshiping the Kitchen God was listed as one of the "Five Sacrifices" (the Five Sacrifices are worshiping the Kitchen God, the Door, the Traveling God, the Household God, and the Central Thunder God. The Central Thunder God is the Earth God. Another saying is the Door, the Well, the Household God, the Kitchen God, and the Central Thunder God; or it can be said to be the Traveling God, the Well, the Household God, the Kitchen God, and the Central Thunder God). When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, an altar tablet must be set up and rich food and wine used as offerings. You have to display the tripods and sacrificial vessels, set up the bamboo baskets and bowls, welcome the corpse, etc. It bears obvious traces of primitive fetishism.The Kitchen God Festival is a traditional festival of the Han ethnic group, also known as the Little New Year, Thanksgiving, Kitchen God Festival, Kitchen God Festival, and "Sending Off the Gods" in Chinese folk beliefs. It is called "God's Wish" in the Ryukyu language. Xiaonian is a traditional festival of the Han nationality in my country, also known as Xie Zao, Zao Wang Festival, and Zao Wang Festival. The date varies in different places, it is the 23rd, 24th or 25th of the twelfth lunar month. Folklore experts say that in ancient times, there was a tradition of celebrating the Little New Year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month for officials, the 24th of the twelfth lunar month for common people, and the 25th of the twelfth lunar month for people living on water. For example, the north was the political center before the Southern Song Dynasty and was heavily influenced by officialdom, so the Little New Year was usually celebrated on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. On the contrary, the south was far away from the political center, so the Little New Year was celebrated on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. The residents of lakeside areas such as Poyang Lake retained the tradition of boatmen, so the Little New Year was celebrated on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month. "No matter which day the Little New Year is celebrated, people's desire to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new is the same." In some areas such as Sichuan and Guizhou, the 30th day of the 12th lunar month is the Minor New Year, and the 15th day of the first lunar month is the Big New Year. In some areas of Shandong, the Minor New Year is the 22nd day of the 12th lunar month. Xiaonian is regarded as the beginning of the Chinese New Year. The Kitchen God Festival is actually a festival for every family to send off the Kitchen God to heaven. Specific operation method: Since generally every family has a portrait of the Kitchen God posted near the stove, and sometimes there is also a portrait of the Kitchen God's wife. After a year of smoke and fire, the portrait has become old and black. The old image must be removed and a straw horse made for the Kitchen God out of straw. In order to make him "speak good things to the gods and bring good luck back to the palace", he must be bribed by sticking a sticky candy melon or cake on his mouth to make his mouth "sweet" so that he can only say good things. The stove god is then burned together with the straw horse. This process is called quitting the stove. On New Year’s Eve, a new portrait of the Kitchen God will be posted up. During these few days, due to the lack of supervision by the Kitchen God, most people tend to overeat, gamble, and indulge themselves in minor mistakes that they normally think they should not make. Summary: Through the above article, we know the time of the Kitchen God Festival and the origin of the custom of worshiping the Kitchen God. I hope that the above content can give you a deeper understanding of the Little New Year. I hope you like the above content as well. I wish you all good health, happiness and joy in the new year! After reading this article, there are more exciting content in the New Year’s Eve special topic, let’s take a look! |
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