Why take a bath on New Year's Eve?

"Bathing" for the New Year is also a long-standing tradition in China. Mr. Liang Shiqiu said in "Elegant Life": China people have always regarded bathing as a major event. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that people bathe to worship the gods. It is a human wish to take a bath and purify yourself.

Therefore, in traditional folk customs, people should take a bath on New Year's Eve to get rid of bad luck and prepare for the Spring Festival next year. In ancient Beijing, the proverb "Twenty-seven washes all diseases, twenty-eight washes sloppiness" was popular. Some people called bathing on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month "washing wealth".

In ancient times, bathing was limited by conditions, and most of them were boiled water for bathing. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, children usually wash during the day, and adults wash at night after the New Year's Eve. After washing, they put on clean clothes, which means washing away the bad luck of the coming year and welcoming the new year with a brand-new look. In the south, Hakka people are also popular with the custom of boiling water with grapefruit leaves to take a bath, in order to wash away all the bad luck in the past and have good luck in the new year.

Extended data:

China New Year's custom:

1, twelfth lunar month, grind tofu. Legend has it that the Jade Emperor will visit the lower world and eat tofu dregs to show his suffering.

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, people used to eat meat only in the annual festival.

3. On the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, kill chickens in the New Year and catch up with the big party. All the items needed for the Spring Festival are under purchase.

4. On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, make cakes and steamed buns with decals. The ancients used mahogany as the wood to ward off evil spirits, and later it was replaced by red paper.

5. On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, please go to the grave and ask your ancestors for a big donation. Ancestor worship has a long history in China.

6. Dust the house on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the conventional cleaning day.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Spring Festival Customs