Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Almanac inquiry - When does the twelfth lunar month clean up?

When does the twelfth lunar month clean up?

Twenty-four cleaning in the twelfth lunar month. That is, year-end cleaning, every household cleans the cobweb dust and cleans. The 24th of the twelfth lunar month is also called "Dust Clearing Day". Traditionally, we call this period "Spring Festival".

Sweeping dust not only means driving away the epidemic and praying for a healthy New Year, but also an emotional desire to get rid of the "old" (dust). This custom conveys a signal of the busy atmosphere of the New Year to people. It embodies the tradition of China people's love for cleanliness and hygiene, embodies people's beautiful expectations, and still maintains its tenacious vitality.

The moral of new year's cleaning:

Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, China folks call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust Day". Dust removal is year-end cleaning, which is called "house cleaning" in the north and "dust removal" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. When the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment.

Clean all kinds of electrical appliances, dismantle and wash bedding curtains, clean Liu Lu courtyard, remove dust and scale cobwebs, and dredge open channel culverts. North and south of the great river, there is an atmosphere of jubilation, sanitation and clean welcome for the Spring Festival. The custom of "sweeping the house with dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history.

According to Lu Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all "unlucky" and "unlucky". This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.