What does it mean to celebrate Xiaonian? What does Xiaonian mean?

What does it mean to celebrate the New Year? What is the meaning of Xiaonian? As the saying goes, after the small year, it becomes the new year. So do you know what Xiaonian means? Let’s find out together!

What does celebrating Xiaonian mean?

Xiaonian is regarded as the beginning of the New Year. Year, the date is different in different regions of our country. In the past, there was a tradition of "officials, three people, four boats and five". That is to say, the official family's off year is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the common people's family is on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and the water people's family is on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month. Nowadays, most people in northern areas celebrate the Small New Year on the 23rd.

What is the meaning of Xiao Nian?

There are three literal interpretations of Xiao Nian. One is that the twelfth lunar month is a month with twenty-nine days, the other is a festival, on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the old custom is to worship the stove on this day, the third explanation is that the fruit trees bear less fruit and the growth of bamboo is slow. .

As a festival, due to differences in regional customs, Xiaonian has different meanings and customs across the country. For example, in most parts of the north, it is called the Kitchen Festival on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. It is a small year; many areas in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai call the fifth day of the first lunar month a small year; there are also many areas in China that call the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month a small year, and some places call the winter solstice a small year.

What does Xiaonian mean?

Xiaonian does not specifically refer to one festival. Due to local customs, the festivals called Xiaonian are also different. The main folk activities of the Han people during the Little New Year period include posting Spring Festival couplets, sweeping dust, and offering sacrifices to stoves, etc. In most areas of northern China, the Stove Worship Festival on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month is called Xiaonian. In many areas, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is called Xiaonian, and the winter solstice is also called Xiaonian in some places. The Little New Year also means that people begin to prepare New Year's goods and prepare for a clean and happy New Year. It means that there should be a new atmosphere in the New Year, and expresses the good wishes of the working people of the Han nationality to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and to welcome good luck and receive blessings.

The custom of worshiping the stove in the off-year period

The custom of worshiping the stove in the off-year period has led to a legend that the Jade Emperor stationed a supervisor in each house - the Kitchen God (Si Ming Zao Lord, Zao Lord, The Kitchen God, Kitchen God), supervises and inspects the family's actions throughout the year. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will report to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor will decide whether to reward or punish the family in the next year based on the report. , the Kitchen God will return in the second New Year and continue to supervise the family's actions. The Kitchen Worship Festival is actually a festival for families to send off the Kitchen God to heaven.

Specific operation method: Since every house usually has a portrait of the Kitchen God near the stove, sometimes accompanied by a portrait of the Kitchen God’s grandmother, after a year of smoke and fire, the portrait is old and dark. The old statue must be taken off, and straw should be used to tie a horse for the Kitchen God. In order to make him say good things to God and bring him good luck when he returns to the palace, he must be bribed and stuck on his mouth with a sticky piece of sugar melon or cake. In order to make his mouth sweet, he can only say good things, and then burn them with the straw horse. This process is called Ci Zao. After the New Year, buy a new portrait and invite the Kitchen God back on it. In the intervening days, without the supervision of the Kitchen God, most people indulge in overeating, gambling, and indulgence in making small mistakes that they usually think they should not make.

Exploring the Origin of Stove Sacrifice

The Stove Sacrifice Festival is actually a reflection of the secular social order in ancient China, expressing ordinary people's fear of the emperor and his grassroots officials, as well as the culture of bribing grassroots officials. , the so-called "Hide it from the top, don't hide it from the bottom", as long as you bribe the officials closest to you, the emperor will not know what you are doing, and you can escape punishment even if you break the law.

Making sugar melons and offering sacrifices to stoves are the main activities on this day. From then on, people enter the stage of preparing for the New Year and people begin to relax mentally.

The custom of offering sacrifices to stoves has a long history. Zao Lord has become a great god respected by the people in the Xia Dynasty. In the Analects of Confucius, which records the words and deeds of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period, there is a saying: "Rather than Mei Yuao, Ning Mei and Zao".

In the pre-Qin period, the sacrifice of the stove was one of the "Five Sacrifice" (the five sacrifices were the five gods of stove, door, row, household, and Zhonglei. Zhonglei was the earth god. The other was the door and the well. , household, stove, in the middle of thunder; or Xing, well, household, stove, in the middle of the thunder).

When offering sacrifices to the stove, a god should be established and abundant food and wine should be used as sacrifices. It is necessary to display tripods, set up beans, welcome corpses, etc. There are obvious traces of primitive fetishism.

The Legend of the Kitchen God

It is generally said that the Kitchen God is a handsome man, so men in northern China worship the Kitchen God. Some men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the stove. It is said that perhaps as a sign of "strict guarding between men and women", if you really have to, you must wear a bamboo hat to cover your face during worship.

Twenty-three Kitchen Gods

The Kitchen God is known as the Kitchen King, Kitchen Lord, Kitchen God, Kitchen God, Kitchen Mother, East Chef and Ming, etc. He is the god of food and drink in ancient Chinese myths and legends. Zao Lord himself was said to be Emperor Yan and Zhu Rong in the early days. Later, many theories were derived. After the Jin Dynasty, he was listed as the god of orders who oversees good and evil in the world. Since humans stopped eating hair and drinking blood and invented fire-eating, with the development of social production, stoves have gradually become closely related to human life. Worshiping the Kitchen God has become an important part of many god worship activities. Therefore, in the Book of Rites and Sacrifice Laws, the king established seven sacrifices for the group's surname, that is, one sacrifice was the stove, and the common people established one sacrifice, either to establish a household or to set up a stove.

In ancient China, people worshiped the Kitchen God. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Kitchen God had a name. Du Taiqing's "Jade Candle Book" of the Sui Dynasty cited the "Book of Stoves" and said, "The Stove God's surname is Su, his first name is Jili, and his female name is Bojia". Li Xian of the Tang Dynasty quoted "Miscellaneous Five Elements Book" and said, "The Kitchen God is named Zen, with the courtesy name Zi Guo, he is dressed in yellow and has loose hair, and he comes out of the stove." The Kitchen God was originally a goddess, or an old woman, or a beautiful woman. There are many theories. The Complete Book of Jingzao, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty, states that the Lord Zao, whose surname is Zhang and whose given name is Ziguo, is undoubtedly a male god. Nowadays, the East Chef named Fu Zaojun worshiped by the people is an old couple sitting side by side, or a man and two women sitting side by side, that is, the portrait of Zao Lord and his wife.

After the rise of Taoism in China, the Kitchen God was described as a female old mother based on the theory of "Jingshuo". ?Manage people's residences. At twelve o'clock, he is good at understanding the affairs of the world. On the first day of each month, record the good and evil deeds of human beings and their merits, and record their importance. At midnight, they will be reported to the Heavenly Cao and recorded in a book. Later, it developed into the saying that there is both Grandpa Kitchen God and Grandma Kitchen God. In different regions, different people play the roles of Zaojun and his wife, accompanied by popular local folklore stories.

Date of worshiping the stove

Ancient people have different opinions on the date of worshiping the stove, including the first month, April, May, August, December and so on. In our country's feudal society, various religions coexisted, the number of gods was as high as tens of thousands, and it was customary among the people to respect them all. Perhaps for the sake of simplicity and unification, making it easier to remember and practice, the saying that the Kitchen King went to heaven to report to heaven once a month evolved into going to heaven once a year. And the time is fixed on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. This day has become a traditional festival for worshiping stoves.

In most areas of Shanxi, sacrifices to the stove are held on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Only a few places such as Yushe, Wenshui, Licheng and Yangcheng offer sacrifices to the stove on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.

Customs of worshiping the stove

The statue of the Kitchen God is posted on the wall next to the stove and facing the wind box. The couplets on both sides are mostly "Speak good things to God and keep the lower world safe", and the second couplet also says "Return to the palace to bring good luck". In the middle is the statue of the Kitchen God and his wife. Two horses are often painted next to the statues as mounts. When offering sacrifices to the stove, offerings should be displayed, the most prominent of which are sugar melons. It is customary to use glutinous rice in the northern Shanxi area. It is the primary product of sesame candy and is very sticky. It is now collectively called sesame candy. There is a folk proverb about "Twenty-three, eat a plate of glutinous rice". Foods such as sugar and glutinous rice are both sweet and sticky. It means that Zao Lord was too busy eating and not talking. After going to heaven, his mouth was stuck with glutinous rice to avoid trouble. There are also a few eggs placed in the offerings as snacks for foxes, weasels and the like. It is said that they are all subordinates of Lord Zao and must be taken care of. When offering sacrifices to the stove, in addition to offering incense and wine, it is especially important to scatter horse feed for the Stove King's mount, from in front of the stove to outside the kitchen door. After these rituals are completed, the statue of Kitchen God must be taken down and burned. Wait until New Year's Eve to set up a new statue. There is an ancient saying that "women do not offer sacrifices to the stove". Sacrifice to the stove is often a matter for men. In modern times, it is mostly housewives who play the role of offering sacrifices to the stove.

Food for worshiping the stove

Folks pay attention to eating dumplings in the Spring Festival, which means "send off dumplings and face the wind". People in mountainous areas eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles.

In the southeastern part of Shanxi Province, the custom of eating fried corn is popular. The folk proverb goes like "Twenty-three, if you don't eat fried corn, you will pour it in one pot at the beginning of the new year." People like to bind fried corn with maltose and freeze it into large pieces, which tastes crispy and sweet. In addition to eating stove candies on the day of worshiping the stove, fire roasting is also a very unique seasonal food. Every year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the business of sesame cake stalls in the city is very prosperous. In addition to candied melons and the like, the offerings also include water dumplings, which means "getting up and dumplings on the face", and some also offer noodles.

Stove Sacrifice Ballads

There are two folk songs circulating in the southeastern part of Shanxi. One is: On the twenty-third, send the master to heaven; on the twenty-fourth, sweep the house; on the twenty-fifth On the twenty-sixth day, steamed dumplings; on the twenty-sixth day, cut off the meat; on the twenty-seventh day, the tin utensils were wiped; on the twenty-eighth day, the soil was sloppy; on the twenty-nine day, the feet and hands were washed; on the thirtieth day, the door gods and couplets were posted together. Reflecting time constraints and intense preparation. The second is a nursery rhyme: "Twenty-three, after the sacrifice to the stove, the children clapped their hands and laughed." In five or six days, the New Year will come. Evil-proofing box, playing with walnuts, dripping, dotting and two cannons. The five sons passed the test and the ping pong sounded, and the fire rose higher than the sky. ?Reflects the joyful psychology of children looking forward to celebrating the New Year. Among all preparations, cutting and pasting window decorations is the most popular folk activity. The content contains anecdotes of various animals and plants, such as magpies climbing plum blossoms, swallows piercing peach willows, peacocks playing with peonies, lions rolling hydrangea, three sheep (yang) Kaitai, two dragons playing with pearls, deer, crane, and tongchun (liuhehechun) , five bats (blessings) holding longevity, rhinoceros looking at the moon, lotus (continuous) years with fish (remaining), mandarin ducks playing in the water, bangs playing with golden cicadas, harmony between two immortals, etc. There are also various dramatic stories, and folk customs include "big ascent to the palace, second plum blossoms, Sanniang's teachings on the fourth to enter the earth, five girls to pay their respects to birthdays in June snow, the Tianhe to marry on July 7th, the Eight Immortals to celebrate their birthdays with nine pieces of clothing", which reflects It reflects the folk's preference for dramatic stories. For families with a new daughter-in-law, the new daughter-in-law should bring various window decorations she has cut and go back to her husband's house to put up the windows, and neighbors will come to watch them. After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household will steam steamed buns. Generally speaking, they are divided into two types: those used to worship gods and those used to visit relatives. The former is solemn and the latter is fancy. In particular, a large jujube mountain should be made to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen Lord. ?A family is steaming steamed buns, and neighbors come to help? This is often a great opportunity for folk women to show off their dexterous skills. A steamed bun is a handicraft.

Couplets for Stove Sacrifice

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month in the Little Year, every household must write Spring Festival couplets. Folks pay attention to the fact that if there are gods, every door must be posted, and every object must be posted, so the Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most comprehensive content. The couplets in front of the gods are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Common ones include the divine couplet of heaven and earth: "Heaven's grace is as deep as the sea, and the virtues of the earth are as heavy as mountains"; the divine couplet of land: "white jade grows from the soil, and gold comes from the earth"; the divine couplet of wealth: "the lord of wealth in heaven, the god of fortune and fortune on earth"; the god of wells Lian: A well can connect to the four seas, and a home can reach three rivers. The Spring Festival couplets on granaries, livestock pens, etc. all express warm celebrations and hopes. For example, the grains are plentiful and the livestock are prosperous; the rice and flour are as thick as the mountains, and the oil and salt are as deep as the sea; the cattle are like the tigers of the Southern Mountains, and the horses are like the dragons of the North Sea; the big sheep are prosperous every year, and the lambs are growing every month, and so on. There are also some single couplets, such as "Look up and see happiness" posted indoors, "Go out and see happiness" posted on the opposite side of the door, "Prosperous and prosperous" posted on the fire, "Full of gold in the courtyard" posted in the courtyard, and "Full of gold in the courtyard" posted on the tree. The roots are deep and the leaves are luxuriant, the stone mill is covered with "White Tiger, Good Luck" and so on. The couplets on the door are the facade of a family, and they are particularly important. They are either lyrical or scene-describing, rich in content, and full of witticisms.

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, adults and children must take a bath and have their hair cut. There is a folk saying that if you have money or not, you can shave your head to celebrate the New Year. People in Luliang area pay special attention to foot washing on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. That evening, Aunt Ruzi washed her feet with boiling water. For a girl who is not sensible, adults should help her clean her feet so that no trace of dirt is left behind. According to folklore, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, my mother-in-law and your son all washed their feet. There is a saying that if you don't wash your feet, pus will cause water damage for seven months?

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