What are the traditional folk stories of "leap year and leap month"? Can you tell us?

As we all know, the period of revolution of the Earth is a year, but in fact, this concept is given by people, not the existence of nature. A year is different from the actual time required for the period of revolution of the Earth. Therefore, every four or four hundred years, the time for the earth to circle the earth will be one day longer than the normal year, which is called leap year. Leap month is used to reconcile the differences between lunar calendar and solar calendar. In ancient China, there were many folk traditions about leap years and leap months.

The story of leap year Now, in the eyes of most people, leap year is undoubtedly a good year. Because in this year, we can slow down a little and stay longer at our present age. But in the past, the ancients regarded leap year as an unlucky year, especially for the elderly, and there was a saying that life expectancy was shortened. In ancient times, people generally wore cotton shoes, which were not wear-resistant and often needed to be replaced. It was said that shoes could ward off evil spirits. Therefore, in this year, young people need to collect soles and sew uppers for their elders at home in person, which includes wishes for their elders to live a long life.

There are many people who pay attention to the story of leap month. Every leap month, a woman should make a bowl of pig's foot noodles for her mother, which means prolonging life. Because in China, pointed pig's trotters represent the theory of condensing gas to gather happiness, which has a beautiful meaning. A married woman must go back to her mother's house for dinner this month, because even if she is married to her husband's family, her mother's house will always be the place where a woman grows up from birth to adulthood, and it will always be her support. There are many folk traditions, because in ancient times, when agriculture was dominant, one more leap month meant an increase in the burden of farming and food, so these folk traditions were all expressions of the ancients' hope to spend the leap month smoothly.

Today, although modern people have different views on leap year and leap month, the custom about leap month year is that ancestors made it at sunrise and returned at sunset out of their understanding of life, which contains the thoughts of the ancients and the culture at that time. When we treat these folk traditions, whether we accept them or not, we should respect them and should not deny them casually.