Why did the ancients put the sacrificial stove in the long summer instead of the Lunar New Year's Eve?

The so-called "long summer", that is, the day in long summer, has entered the summer time series since that day. In ancient times, as one of the important solar terms in the four seasons and eight festivals, long summer was highly valued. On this day, from the imperial court to the people, there are many activities to welcome summer, such as welcoming people in the southern suburbs, tasting new things, drinking long summer tea, giving ice and so on. In addition to offering sacrifices to Vulcan, on the day of long summer, the ancients also offered sacrifices to Kitchen God.

First of all, modern and popular sacrificial stoves

Generally, it is held on Lunar New Year's Eve1February 23rd (4th), that is, the "Festival of Sacrificing Kitchen", but in the Han Dynasty, the activity of sacrificing kitchen was held on the day of long summer. According to the Book of Rites of the Later Han Dynasty, there are two major activities in the long summer, one is "offering sacrifices to stoves" and the other is "offering sacrifices to stoves". Why do you want to sacrifice stoves in summer? Yi Tong, a white tiger, gave such a reason: "People who sacrifice stoves in summer are the masters of fire, so they die, and summer is also the king of fire, which makes everything full of vitality." It can be seen that the sacrificial stoves in the long summer and the sacrificial stoves on New Year's Eve have the same folk appeal, and they are also out of the need of "keeping safe".

Second, the ancients attached importance to "offering sacrifices to stoves in summer"

In the early days, it was not said that the sacrificial stove must be held in the long summer. According to the Book of Rites, in the three months of summer, that is, summer dream month, midsummer month and Xia Ji month, we should "offer sacrifices to the stove" respectively. In addition, there will be similar activities in Meng Dongyue or Dong Jiyue, but most of them are combined sacrifices, and the "five sacrifices" and "hundred sacrifices" are combined.

Third, until the early Qing dynasty

Officials have a system of offering sacrifices to stoves in the long summer, but different dynasties paid different attention to it. The Tang dynasty paid little attention to it, and it was a joint sacrifice. According to the Book of Rites and Six Codes of Tang Dynasty, "Spring enjoyment is not only a monk's life, but also a family business, and summer enjoyment is also a sacrifice furnace." Song dynasty paid more attention to it. "History of the Song Dynasty Ji Lizhi Six" records: "Long summer sacrifices are made to the east of the temple gate to restrain the lungs." Compared with the official requirement of offering sacrifices to stoves in the long summer, people prefer to offer sacrifices to stoves in the twelfth month, but the custom of "offering sacrifices to stoves in the summer" has not disappeared. According to the records of Gui 'an County Records of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, in Gui 'an area of Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, there is a custom of "long summer stove offering fire to the king".