Chinanews.com, Beijing, January 14th, "Twenty-three, Tanggua sticky, Master Zao Jun will go to heaven." Today is the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, which is called "Xiao Nian" in the north.
As soon as the new year arrives, the New Year is not far away.
For most friends in the southern regions, the 24th of the twelfth lunar month will usher in the new year.
Is it not a day for the north and the south to celebrate the New Year?
In fact, this is related to various factors such as regional differences in folk culture.
On January 14, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, ushered in the first large-scale snowfall in 2023.
The picture shows children playing snowball fights.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
Xiaonian is also called "Stove Sacrifice Festival".
Sacrifice to stove is an ancient custom.
In the old days, almost every household had a "Stove King" god in the kitchen, and people called him "Stove Lord Commander". According to legend, he was regarded as the protector of the family, so he was worshiped.
It is said that folk sacrifices to stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshiping fire.
"Shi Ming" mentions: "Stove. Creates and creates food." The kitchen god's duty is to control the kitchen fire and manage food and beverages. Later, it was expanded to investigate the good and evil in the world, so as to bring blessings and disasters.
"Sacrificing stoves is a ritual that existed very early, but the festival of stoves or Xiaonian became part of the Spring Festival customs, it should be after the Han Dynasty." Folklore expert Wang Juan explained in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com.
And "sacrificing the stove" is also known as one of the signs of the beginning of the new year.
In other words, Xiaonian is the prelude to the Spring Festival, which means that the Chinese New Year mode is on.
Data map: The Spring Festival is approaching, and the streets of Beijing are getting stronger.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiang Qiming
For a long time in the past, netizens have expressed their views on the inconsistencies in the dates of celebrating the New Year in different places.
In fact, regarding the date of celebrating the new year, there is an ancient tradition of "officials, three people, four boats and five", that is, the official family's small year is the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, the common people's is the twelfth lunar month twenty-four, and the people on the water are on the twelfth lunar month. Fives.
Zhou Chu, a famous person in the Jin Dynasty, wrote a "Feng Tu Ji", which recorded many local customs and customs. Worship it for a day."
There is a saying that the traditional small year falls on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month.
In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the emperor's family worshiped the Kitchen God on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month one day earlier, and the people in the northern region followed suit and celebrated the New Year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month one day earlier.
Data map: On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month of the lunar calendar, the "small year" in northern China, a huge pair of Spring Festival couplets appeared in Zhengding, an ancient city with a thousand years of history, and the people felt a strong festive atmosphere.
The picture shows the huge "Fu" character in the middle of the Spring Festival couplets.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
With the passage of time, the northern regions gradually set the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month as a small year, while the southern regions mostly set the 24th of the twelfth lunar month as a small year.
Folklore expert Wang Juan basically agrees with this statement of "officials, three peoples and four".
"Generally speaking, in the north it is usually the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and in the south it is the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, but due to population flow and other reasons, this is not absolute."
In her opinion, when the ancient royal family revised the calendar, they generally stipulated the time of important festivals.
The difference in the date of celebrating the new year may be related to many factors such as the calendars implemented by different dynasties in ancient times and the regional differences in customs. It is inevitable that the dates will not be uniform.
The inconsistency of the date of the new year also explains the richness and diversity of Chinese traditional folk culture from the side.
Wang Juan once said that no matter what day the Xiaonian is on, it expresses people's division of the celebration activities and their expectation for a bright future.
Whether in the north or the south, the arrival of the new year will make the taste of the new year more and more intense, and what rises in it is affectionate nostalgia.
Data map: Sacrificial fire is one of the oldest sacrificial activities of the Mongolian people. This custom has been followed for nearly a thousand years. In the past, the Mongolians first offered milk wine to the fire before eating. Now, the most solemn sacrifice is held on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month every year. Fire activities are called the Fire Festival by the world.
Photo by Wu Renhua
"Tanggua" is a more representative food in Xiaonian. It is generally made from yellow rice and malt. Tanggua".
"Tanggua is very viscous, and it was also called 'Jiaoyasu' in the past. It is more common in northern customs." In Wang Juan's memory, for many elderly people, the material was scarce in the past, and the Tanggua they ate when they were young , is a kind of food with a bit of luxury.
And the sweetness of the New Year is hidden in the little sugar melon.
In some places, sticky cakes are steamed and eaten on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, which means "every year is high"; Have a good year.
"Twenty-three sticky melons, twenty-four house sweeps", a Chinese New Year ballad that has been handed down to this day, expresses people's simplest and most simple wishes: a safe and joyful new year, and life as sweet as honey.
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