How about cleaning up in the new year?

There are differences in the timing of the Little New Year in the north and the south. The Little New Year in the north falls on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while in the south the Little New Year falls on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. However, the custom of cleaning during the Little New Year is the same.

After the Little New Year, there are only six or seven days left before the Spring Festival, and the preparations for the New Year are even more intense. The house must be thoroughly cleaned, commonly known as sweeping the dust. The purpose of sweeping the dust is to get rid of the old, welcome the new, and get rid of bad luck. Every household must be cleaned carefully and thoroughly to ensure that the windows are clear and clean. Paint the walls, clean the glass, paste the flower windows, put up New Year pictures, etc.

According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", my country had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the era of Yao and Shun. According to folklore: since "dust" and "chen" are homophones, sweeping dust in the New Year means "removing the old and spreading the new", and its purpose is to sweep away all "poor luck" and "bad luck". This custom entrusts people with their desire to destroy the old and establish the new and their prayers to say goodbye to the old and usher in the new.

Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, Chinese folk call this period "Spring Day", also called "Dust Sweeping Day". Sweeping dust is the year-end cleaning. It is called "house sweeping" in the north and "dust dusting" in the south. Sweeping dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of our people. Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, wash all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the Liulv courtyard, dust away dirt and cobwebs, and dredge open ditches and ditches. From north to south, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of joyful hygiene and cleanliness to welcome the New Year.

The origin of sweeping dust in the young year

It is said that this custom comes from ancient legends. In ancient mythology, Zhuanxu had a son who failed to live up to expectations. He was lazy in eating and wore tattered clothes on weekdays. Drink very thin porridge. One New Year's Eve, he died of cold and hunger in the corner of the house. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people take the opportunity of general cleaning to take out the tattered clothes and leftovers from their homes and throw them out before the new year comes, to show that they will not let poverty come to their homes.

There is also a saying that the ancients believed that there was a three-corpse god attached to each person's body. Like a shadow, he followed the person's whereabouts and was inseparable. The Three Corpse God is a guy who likes to flatter and gossip. He often spreads rumors and causes trouble in front of the Jade Emperor, describing the human world as ugly. Over time, in the Jade Emperor's impression, the human world was simply a dirty world full of sin.

Once, the three corpse gods reported secretly that the world was cursing the Emperor of Heaven and wanted to rebel against the Heavenly Court. The Jade Emperor was furious and issued an edict to quickly find out the chaos in the world. Anyone who resented the gods or disrespected the gods would have their crimes written under the eaves. Then let the spider build a web to cover it as a mark. The Jade Emperor also ordered Wang Lingguan to go down to the realm on New Year's Eve. Anyone who met a marked family would be killed and no one would be spared. Seeing that this plan was about to succeed, the three corpse gods took the opportunity to fly down to the mortal world. Regardless of the crime, they viciously marked the eaves and corners of each house so that Wang Ling Palace would kill them all. While the Three Corpse Gods were doing evil, the Kitchen Lord discovered his whereabouts and was shocked. He hurriedly found the Kitchen Lords of various families to discuss countermeasures.