When did the custom of off-year in Chinese history begin?

Off-year, that is, the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, is a festival to worship the kitchen god.

Before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the day of offering sacrifices to stoves was always the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. And at least until the Qianlong period, it was a sacrifice on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. "Lu" Volume 12 "Reading for Four Nights in December": "It is customary to say that reading for four nights in the twelfth lunar month means sending meals at night." According to the legacy of unofficial history Daguan and Qing Palace in Qing Dynasty, Qianlong once worshipped the Kitchen God in Kunning Palace on the 24th night of the twelfth lunar month every year.

Since the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the emperor's family held a ceremony to worship heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In order to "save money", they also worshipped the kitchen god. Therefore, the northern region celebrates the Lunar New Year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month one day in advance. In most parts of the south, the ancient tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is still maintained.

In most parts of northern China, the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month is called off-year. In many areas, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month is called off-year and the solstice in winter is also called off-year. Off-year also means that people begin to prepare for new year's goods and have a clean and good year, indicating that the new year should have a new atmosphere and expressing the good wishes of the working people of the Han nationality to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.