The origins and customs of Xiaonian The origins and customs of Xiaonian are introduced in detail

1. The origin of Xiao Nian

It is said that the Stove Lord was originally a commoner named Zhang Sheng. After marrying his wife, he spent all his time living in debauchery, ruined his family fortune and was reduced to begging on the streets.

One day, he came to his ex-wife Guo Dingxiang’s house to beg. He was so ashamed that he dove under the stove and burned himself to death.

After the Jade Emperor found out, he thought that Zhang Sheng could change his mind and was not bad enough. Since he died at the bottom of the pot, he named him the Kitchen King and reported to heaven on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. Return to the stove at thirty.

The common people think that the Stove King must be respected because he has to report to heaven. As a result, people began to worship the stove on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month as a "little year" to pray for peace and wealth in the coming year.

2. Customs of the Little New Year

(1) Sacrifice to the stove

On the day of the Little New Year, it is also a day for folk to offer sacrifices to the stove. According to folklore, every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God would go to heaven to report the good and evil deeds of the family to the Jade Emperor, and let the Jade Emperor reward and punish them. Therefore, when delivering the stove, people put candies, water, beans, fodder, couplets, and grass on the table in front of the Stove King's statue; among them, the last three items were to prepare the Stove King's mount for ascension to heaven. When offering sacrifices to the Stove Lord, Guandong sugar must be melted over fire and applied to the Stove Lord's mouth. In this way, he could not speak ill of the Jade Emperor. In addition, on the night of New Year's Eve, the Kitchen King and the gods will come to earth to celebrate the New Year. On that day, there must be ceremonies to "receive the stove" and "receive the gods". After every household burns sedans and horses, pours three cups of wine, and sends away the Kitchen God, it is their turn to worship their ancestors.

After the New Year, buy a new portrait of the Kitchen God to invite the Kitchen God back. 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.

(2) General cleaning

Dust sweeping is mainly to thoroughly clean the home. Housewives usually cover the bed and furniture in the room first, wrap their heads with a scarf, and then use The broom swept up and down the walls. After sweeping the house, scrub the tables and chairs and rinse the floors. After the house cleaning, all shops and residents' homes have a new look. The newly posted Spring Festival couplets are bright and eye-catching, showing the prosperous scene of prosperity. The vivid door gods, banners with happy faces, exquisite window grilles, colorful New Year pictures, colorful lanterns, and abundant sacrifices on the shrines all show a joyful and prosperous festival scene.

(3) Bathing and haircut

There is a folk saying that "if you have money but don't have money, you can shave your head to celebrate the New Year". The activities of bathing and haircut are mostly concentrated around the time of childhood.

(4) Indiscriminate marriage

After the 23rd, people believe that the gods have ascended to heaven and there are no taboos. There is no need to choose a date when marrying a daughter-in-law or a daughter-in-law, which is called a random marriage. There is a folk saying that "Suiyan is busy getting married in the countryside, and Yichun posts are amusing the spring scenery. Sisters whisper to each other in front of the lamp, staying up late this year is the bridal chamber."

(5) Eating sugar melons and sesame candy

Eating sugar melons, malt sugar, sesame candy, etc. were originally meant to be eaten by the Stove Lord, but they gradually evolved into children’s snacks. A must-eat snack. There is a saying in northwest Shanxi that "eat sesame candy when you are twenty-three, and gnaw your fingers on sesame candy if you are not enough".

(6) Paste window grilles

After the window grilles are built, stick them in the newly cleaned house, which adds a lot of New Year joy to the home.

The window decoration patterns include a variety of animals, plants, people and other anecdotes, such as magpies climbing plum blossoms, peacocks playing with peonies, lions rolling hydrangea, three sheep (Yang) Kaitai, two dragons playing with beads, deer, crane and tung tree. (Sixth year of spring), five bats (blessings) holding longevity, rhinoceros looking at the moon, lotus (continuous) years with fish (remainder), mandarin ducks playing in the water, bangs playing with golden cicadas, harmony of two immortals, etc.