What are the differences between celebrating the Little New Year in the north and south?
Introduction: There is a sentence in "The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Yan" that "Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines." This can be said to be a difference between the north and the south. Our country is vast and rich in resources, so differences between the north and the south often exist. For example, are there differences between the north and the south in celebrating the Little New Year? So, what are the differences? Let’s follow the editor to find out. There are countless topics about New Year's Eve. If you want to know more about it, please enter the ocean of New Year's Eve topics that Mr. Shui Mo has carefully compiled for you to learn more!What are the differences between celebrating the Little New Year in the north and south?The day of the New Year in the north is the 23rd, and in the south it is the 24th. Xiaonian, which falls on the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month every year, is the beginning of the entire Spring Festival celebrations in China. There are two main customs: sweeping the house and worshiping the kitchen god. Sweeping the house, which means sweeping the dust, is actually about keeping the household environment clean. Northerners regard the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month as the Minor New Year, which is called "sweeping the house"; Southerners regard the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month as the Minor New Year, which is called "dusting". On this day, every household gets up at dawn, sweeps the house, cleans the windows, washes clothes, scrubs the pots and pans, and carries out a thorough cleaning. A few days before the Little New Year, every family cleans their house to prevent the Kitchen God from taking the dirt away. According to "Shiyi Ji", this custom can be traced back to more than 3,000 years ago, when it was a religious ceremony for the Han ancestors to drive away plague ghosts and pray for health. The latter word "chen" is homophonic with "chen", so sweeping the dust means sweeping away all the old things, which refers to both the old dirt in the courtyard and the unpleasantness encountered in the old year. Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God means sending the Kitchen God to heaven, so the Little New Year is also called the Kitchen God Festival.Historical legends of the Kitchen God Festival (Little New Year)According to folklore, the Kitchen God was originally a star in the sky. Because he made a mistake, he was banished to the mortal world by the Jade Emperor and became the "Eastern Kitchen God". He sits in the middle of the kitchen stove in every household, recording how people live and behave. Every year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God goes to heaven to report the good and evil deeds of the family to the Jade Emperor, who will reward or punish them. People worship the Kitchen God on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. The statue of the Kitchen God is pasted on the wall next to the stove, facing the wind box. The couplets on both sides are mostly "Speak good things to God and keep the world safe", and the lower couplet can also be written as "Return to the palace to bring good luck", and the horizontal banner is "The head of the family". In the middle is the statue of the Kitchen God and his wife, and next to the statue are often two horses painted as their mounts. Candies, water, beans and hay are placed on the table in front of the Kitchen God statue. The last three are ingredients for the Kitchen God's mount for his ascension to heaven. When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, Guandong sugar is melted with fire to stick to the Kitchen God's mouth to prevent him from saying bad things to the Jade Emperor. This is also intended to sweeten the Kitchen God's mouth and make him say only good things. The image of the Kitchen God is then burned, which is called "ascending to heaven." While burning it, people kowtow and pray: "May God bless us with good things, and may the world below be safe." In some places, people burn fake horses and set off firecrackers to send the Kitchen God riding a horse to heaven. In the 1950s and 1960s, the custom of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God gradually disappeared, but the customs of eating kitchen sugar (a kind of malt sugar that sticks to the mouth and teeth) and cleaning the house are still popular today.What are the customs of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God?The Kitchen God worship ceremony is usually held at night. When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, the worshiper kneels in front of the Kitchen God statue and holds a rooster in his arms. Some people also let children hold a chicken and kneel behind adults. It is said that the chicken is the horse that the Kitchen God rides on when he ascends to heaven, so the chicken is not called a chicken but a horse. If it is a red rooster, it is commonly known as "red horse", and if it is a white rooster, it is commonly known as "white horse". After burning incense, the house is filled with smoke, full of mystery. The male host poured the wine, kowtowed, and muttered something. After finishing reading, the person offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God shouts “Ling”! Then Tian held the wine and poured it on the chicken's head. If the chicken's head flutters with a sound, it means the Kitchen God has appreciated your kindness. If the chicken head does not move at all, you need to water it again.Food: In addition to eating kitchen sugar on the day of worshiping the kitchen god, fire-baked bread is also a very special festival food. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of worshiping the Kitchen God, the sesame seed cake stalls in the city do a booming business. In addition to sugar-coated melons and other offerings, there are also dumplings, which is based on the folk saying "dumplings stand up and noodles fall down", and some people also offer noodles. There is a folk custom that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the Kitchen God", so worshiping the Kitchen God is limited to men. In modern times, most housewives are responsible for offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God. In addition, on the night of New Year’s Eve, the Kitchen God will come to the human world with other gods to celebrate the New Year, and there will be ceremonies of "welcoming the Kitchen God" and "welcoming the gods" on that day. After every household burns sedan chairs and horses, pours three cups of wine and sends off the Kitchen God, it is then their turn to worship their ancestors. Summary: Through the above article content, we know the differences between the north and the south regarding the celebration of the Little New Year. At the same time, I also learned about the historical legends about the Little New Year and the customs of worshiping the Kitchen God. I hope the above content will be liked by everyone. I wish all Chinese people, wherever they are, a happy and prosperous 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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