What does the traditional off-year in China mean?

The 23rd (or 24th) of the twelfth lunar month, called off-year by the people, is a festival to worship the kitchen god.

The custom of offering sacrifices to stoves has a long history. Kitchen God, in the Xia Dynasty, has become a respected god. In the Analects of Confucius, which describes Kong Qiu's words and deeds in the Spring and Autumn Period, there is a saying that "it is better to be charming than beautiful". In the pre-Qin period, the sacrifice furnace was one of the "five sacrifices" (the five sacrifices were the five gods of sacrifice furnace, gate, line, household and thunder). Ray is the land god. The other is doors, wells, households, stoves and lightning; Or lines, wells, households, stoves, thunder). When offering sacrifices to the stove, you should establish a spirit and make a sacrifice with rich wine and food. It is necessary to display tripods, arrange water beans, welcome corpses and so on. With obvious traces of primitive fetishism.

Kitchen God himself has long been known as Yan Di and Zhu Rong. Later, many statements were derived. After the prosperity of Taoism in China, the kitchen god was described as the mother god in Jing Shuo. "People's residence. At twelve o'clock, be good at knowing human affairs. Remember good and evil and their merits and demerits every month, remember their severity, play Cao Shen in the middle of the night and set his book. " Later, it developed into both grandparents. In different regions, Zhao Jun and his wife are played by different candidates, accompanied by popular local folklore stories.

There are always different opinions on the dates of offering sacrifices to stoves in ancient times, such as the first month, April, May, August and December. In the feudal society of China, various religions coexisted, and the number of gods reached thousands, which was respected by folk customs. Perhaps in order to simplify unity, facilitate memory and operation, the saying that Kitchen God goes to heaven once a month has evolved into going to heaven once a year. And set the time on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. This day has become a traditional festival for offering sacrifices to stoves.

In Shanxi, most areas offer sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Only a few places, such as Yushe, Wenshui, Licheng and Yangcheng. Twenty-four sacrificial stoves in the twelfth lunar month.

Kitchen God is attached to the wall next to the cooker, facing the bellows. Most of the couplets on both sides are "Heaven speaks well, the lower bound is safe", and some also write "Go back to the palace for good luck". In the middle is the idol of the husband and wife in the kitchen, and two horses are often painted next to the idol as mounts. When offering sacrifices to the stove, offerings should be displayed, the most prominent of which is honeydew melon. Used in the north of Shanxi, it is the primary product of sesame sugar, which is particularly sticky. Now collectively referred to as sesame sugar. There is a folk proverb "Twenty-three, eat a plate". Foods such as sugar and preserves are sweet and sticky. I ate carefully, but I couldn't speak. Yesterday, my mouth was blocked and I was not allowed to make trouble. A few eggs should also be put in the offering, which are snacks for foxes and weasels. It is said that they are all subordinates of Kitchen God, and we have to take care of them. When offering sacrifices to the stove, in addition to offering incense and wine, it is especially necessary to sprinkle horse material for the mount of the kitchen god, from the front of the stove to the outside of the stove. After these ceremonies, the Kitchen God will be taken down and burned. Wait until New Year's Eve to set up a new idol.

There is an old saying that "women don't sacrifice stoves". Sacrificing the stove is often a man's business. However, in modern times, most housewives play the role of offering sacrifices to the stove.

According to folklore, the chef once specifically accused human beings of evil. Once charged, the life span of a felony will be shortened by 300 days, and that of a misdemeanor will be shortened by 100 days. In "Induction of Thai Merchants", there is also a description that "the company's life is important and its discipline is taken away". Siming refers to the kitchen king, counting one hundred days, and Kyrgyzstan refers to twelve years. Here, the felony penalty is increased to 12 years of life loss. Therefore, when offering sacrifices to the stove, we should do something about it and ask it to be generous.

In the north of Shanxi, there is a folk song "On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Grandpa Zhao Jun, you went to heaven, ate a candy tray in your mouth, and didn't speak in front of the Jade Emperor. When you come back to our home for the New Year, you will have food, noodles and clothes, which shows your pursuit and yearning for a better life.

On the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, people pay attention to eating jiaozi, which means "look down on the windward side of jiaozi". Eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles in mountainous areas. In the southeast of Shanxi, the custom of eating fried corn is popular. A folk proverb says, "Twenty-three, don't eat fried, on New Year's Eve-pour it all at once." People like to bond fried corn with maltose and freeze it into pieces, which tastes crisp and sweet.

After the age of 23, people think that the gods have gone to heaven and everything has been forgiven. You don't have to choose a date to marry a daughter-in-law and prostitution. This is called rushing to get married. Until the end of the year, there will be many wedding ceremonies. The folk song is "busy marriage in the countryside, Yichun posts tease spring scenery." Sisters talk privately in front of the lights. This year is the bridal chamber.

After twenty-three, there are only six or seven days left before the Spring Festival, and the preparations for the Spring Festival are even more enthusiastic. To thoroughly clean the room, commonly known as sweeping the house, cleaning the dust under boxes, cabinets and kang mats, painting walls, scrubbing glass, decaling windows, pasting New Year pictures and so on.

There are two folk songs circulating in southeastern Shanxi. One is "Twenty-three, send my master to heaven; Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, steamed dumplings; Twenty-six, cut meat; Twenty-seven, tin cleaner; Twenty-eight, sloppy; Twenty-nine, washing feet; On the 30th, the door gods and couplets were pasted together. It shows that time is tight and preparations are tense.

The second is a nursery rhyme: "Twenty-three, sacrifice the stove, the children clap their hands and laugh." In five or six days, the new year is coming. Bad box, playing with walnuts, losing two shots. When Wu Zixu ping-pong rang, the fire rose higher than the sky. "This reflects the joy of children looking forward to the New Year.

Among all the preparations, cutting window grilles and stick grilles are the most popular folk activities. There are all kinds of animal and plant stories, such as plum blossom of magpie, peach willow of swallow, peony of peacock, rolling hydrangea of lion, opening Thai of Sanyang (Yang), beating pearls of Erlong, Toona sinensis of Luhe (Liuhe Tongchun), longevity of five bats (Fu), moon-gazing of rhinoceros, Nianyu of Lianlian (the rest) and swimming of Yuanyang. There is a saying in folk customs that "there are two plum blossoms, three mothers teach four scholars, five women celebrate their birthdays, six are in the snow, and on July 7 Tianhe celebrates the birthday of the Eight Immortals with nine dresses", which reflects the folk preference for opera stories. In a family with a new wife, the new wife should bring all kinds of window grilles cut by herself, go back to her husband's house and put up windows, and neighbors will come to see them.

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, every household should steam steamed bread. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two types: worshipping God and visiting relatives. The former is solemn, while the latter is gorgeous. Especially to make a jujube hill for Kitchen God. "A steamed bread, neighbors to help". This is often a great opportunity for folk women to show their dexterity. Steamed bread is a handicraft.

After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household will write Spring Festival couplets. People pay attention to it, and God will stick it, and doors will stick it, and things will stick it, so Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete content. The couplets in front of the statues are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Heaven and earth have something in common: "the grace of heaven is as deep as the sea, and the virtue of the earth is as heavy as the mountain"; Land God Union: "White jade is born in the soil, and gold is born in the ground"; God of wealth alliance: "God of wealth in heaven, God of wealth on earth"; Jing Shenlian: "Well can lead to the four seas, and home can lead to the three rivers". The granary and the Spring Festival couplets in the granary are warm celebrations and expressions of hope. For example, "the grain is abundant and the six livestock are prosperous"; "The rice surface is as thick as a mountain, and the oil and salt are as deep as the sea"; "Nanshan cattle are like tigers, Beihai Ma Rulong"; "Big sheep flourish every year, and little sheep increase every month" and so on. There are also some single couplets, such as "Looking up to see happiness" in each room, "Going out to see happiness" across the door, "Prosperity is soaring to the sky" on the fire, "The courtyard is full of gold" on the tree, and "Deep-rooted foliage" on the stone mill. The couplets on the gate are the facade of a family, which are particularly exquisite, lyrical or picturesque, rich in content and witty.

After the 23 rd day of the twelfth lunar month, adults and children should take a bath and have their hair cut. There is a folk saying that "if you have money, you can cut your hair to celebrate the New Year". Luliang area pays attention to washing feet on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. Mother-in-law and your son washed their feet with boiling water tonight. Adults should also help a girl who is not sensible to scrub her feet clean, leaving no dirt. There is a folk saying that on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, your mother-in-law washes your feet. As the saying goes, if you don't wash your feet, pus will harm water for seven months.

On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, people call it "off-year", which means the end of a year.

In the past, there were "three officials, three people, four places and five monks", that is to say, anyone with a reputation of being a scholar or above had a lunar new year of 23, ordinary people had a lunar new year of 24, and Taoists and monks had a lunar new year of 25. Now most areas in the north spend their off-year holidays on the 23rd.

The main folk activity in off-year is "giving stoves", that is, "king of people". The Kitchen God is also called "Kitchen King", and the folks call it "Kitchen King".

Legend has it that the Kitchen King turned out to be a rich boy named Zhang Dan. He once married a virtuous woman, Guo Dingxiang, and later abandoned his marriage with Li Haitang. Li was lazy by nature, and soon squandered the property of the Zhang family and remarried others. Zhang Dan's family was ruined and blinded by fire. He became a beggar. One day, he went to a family to beg, and the host gave him hot soup and rice. Later, he found that the person who delivered the meal was his abandoned wife Guo Dingxiang, and he was ashamed. Before coming into contact with the kitchen, he was named the king of the kitchen by Jiang Taigong.

Liu Qiang's drama "Zhang Lang Divorces His Wife" and Qiang Mao's drama "The Story of the Fire Dragon" both tell the story of Kitchen God.

At first, the kitchen god only cared about fire, and later he was appointed as the patron saint in charge of the family by the Emperor of Heaven, and was named the head of the family. He has a lot of power, but he doesn't even have a temple as big as a land temple. There is only one portrait (a New Year picture printed on a wooden board) posted on the kitchen wall. On both sides, there are couplets of "Heaven says yes, returning to the palace will bring good luck" or "East chef is the master, South has the fire emperor", which are horizontally approved as "the head of the family".

When offering sacrifices to the stove, fruits such as dates and honeydew melons should be placed. Honeydew melon is a kind of food which is fermented and saccharified by barley. Some people say that they are sweet-talking to the kitchen god, and some say that in order to deceive his mouth, he is told to speak well and not speak ill. After burning incense and worshipping, the old statue of the kitchen stove was removed and incinerated. Put on a new image, even if you send the kitchen god to heaven and report to the king.

A bowl of noodle soup (noodles) should be served when offering sacrifices to the stove. As the saying goes, "Kitchen God's real name is Zhang, and there is a miscellaneous noodle market every year." Mixed noodle soup is made of white flour, bean flour and sweet potato flour, which shows the position of Kitchen God in people's minds.

The kitchen god went to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and came back on the 15th of the first month. Even if the report task is completed, it is also a blessing to the family for good luck and peace.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer people who are kings, but the custom of eating honeydew melons in off-year is still popular among the people.

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people began to clean the courtyard and bedroom, remove dirt, buy new year's goods and make holiday food. They were busy until New Year's Eve.