When is the thirteenth day of the first month?

On the 13th day of the first month, there is an important folk activity called "the birthday of the lampstand".

On this day, people want to light a lamp under the kitchen stove, which is called "lighting the stove lamp". In fact, because the Lantern Festival is coming on the fifteenth day of the first month, all the lamps made by families are called "lamp holders". In old Nantong, lights were lit on the 13th day of the first month and lights were turned off on the 18th day of the first month. There is a saying that "thirteen or four gods watch the lights, fifteen or six people watch the lights, and seventeen or eight ghosts watch the lights", and there is a move of "putting lights on". There is an endless stream of people watching lanterns in the Chenghuang Temple.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, scattered lanterns are also called scattered snuff and scattered lanterns.

This is an ancient time when people lit lanterns at home from the 13th to 16th day of the first lunar month to eliminate ominous folk customs. Scattered lanterns are also called "scattered villains". Fu Cha Dunchong, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, recorded in "Yanjing is Prosperous at the Age of Years": "From the 13th to the 16th, from the hall to the door, lanterns are lit to illuminate people, which is called scattered snuff, also called scattered villains. It also eliminates the ominous meaning. "