As the saying goes, "On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, kill pigs and cut the meat of the year" and "wash your fortune", do you know?

China has a history of 5,000 years, and has also created a long-standing Chinese culture, which is profound and profound. Among them, proverbs, as a vein of traditional culture, are summarized by ordinary people through their own life experiences, some of which are descriptions of folk life and some are reflections on life. Because it is easy to understand and catchy, it is widely circulated among the people. Many proverbs also contain profound truth, such as "twelfth lunar month, killing pigs in the year" said by the older generation of farmers. Next, let's take a look.

From the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, people will begin to prepare food for the Spring Festival. People will go shopping for new year's goods, dried and fresh fruits, meat and fish. The folk proverb says, "On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, kill pigs and cut meat for the New Year". In ancient farming society, people's living standards were relatively low because of economic underdevelopment. In the past, eating meat was definitely a luxury wish for the poor, but this wish can be realized during the New Year, so the meat during the New Year is also called "New Year Meat". On this day, the people who raise pigs at home will kill a pig they raise, and the poor households who don't raise pigs at home will also kill a pig.

On this day, people will invite highly skilled pig killers in the village in advance, and then gather a group of relatives and neighbors. Too many cooks will drive the pigs to be slaughtered out of the pen, tie them up with ropes and put them on the pig killing case. At this time, it is the pig killer's turn to play. The pig killer will sharpen his knife at the domestic pigs, and the pigs to be slaughtered will scream in fear. Pig killers are good at underground knives, killing people with one knife and bleeding. These pig blood will later become the ingredients of the Spring Festival, used to make things like blood tofu, and the pig water will be cleaned up and become a delicious dish.

After killing pigs or buying pork, another important activity is "stewing annual meat". Stew the pork while it is still fresh, and save the rest. In winter, pork can be preserved until after the New Year. Of course, braised pork is the most important thing in the "stewed meat", because the meat itself represents the meaning of wealth, and braised pork means prosperity and prosperity in the coming year. Therefore, every family will cook braised pork on this day to relieve the pressure on their families and children.

In modern society, fewer and fewer people raise pigs at home, let alone kill pigs themselves, but people still buy pork in the market on this day, which has become an established custom.

So, why should pigs be killed many years ago instead of other livestock? In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, it is recorded that "rice is the house" and "son is the pig", and the two words are written as "home". It means that where there is fire, there are pigs, and without pigs, there is no family. It can be seen that our people have been raising pigs for a long time, and the purpose of raising pigs is to eat meat and sell money. Catch pigs in spring, and pigs have grown very big in winter. At this time, it's time to eat pork. Killing the pigs raised at home to eat meat in the New Year is also to comfort the hard work of the year. In ancient farming society, cattle were an important labor tool at home and had a very important social status, so people would not slaughter this labor production tool. Therefore, killing pigs in the New Year has become a custom.

In addition to the custom of killing pigs and cutting annual meat on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, there are folk sayings such as "washing inside and outside on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month", "washing barns on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month" and "washing fulu".

We all know that from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the chef will be sent to heaven, and on February 24th, we will sweep the dust and clean up. After killing pigs in grinding bean curd on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, people will be covered with dust and the bloody smell of killing pigs, so we should take a bath on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month to get rid of the bad luck for one year and prepare for the Spring Festival next year. There is a folk proverb that "twenty-seven washes all diseases, twenty-eight washes sloppiness", and the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month is "washing wealth". On this day, people should take a bath, wash away the old atmosphere of last year and welcome the joy of the New Year. Wash away last year's bad luck and usher in a new year's good luck, so that there will be more "blessings" in the coming year.

Bian Xiao has something to say: These days before the Spring Festival are the happiest days for children. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, there are sweets to eat. You can eat freshly cooked bean curd on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, but by the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, the children's mood is even higher. On this day, pigs will be killed, and mother's braised pork can be eaten at noon. Although in modern society, people's living standards have improved, and it is convenient to eat braised pork in daily life, it always feels delicious to eat braised pork in the New Year. Perhaps this is the taste of the New Year.