There are folk songs of "December 23, sweet melon stick; December 24, house sweeping". We know that December 23 is a small year. What festival is December 24? Is it a more festive custom to sweep the dust in the house and welcome the new year?
What festival is the 24th of the twelfth lunar month
December 24 is the second day of Xiaonian, which is also the preparation stage. In traditional customs, we call this period "Spring Festival", and December 24 is also known as "dust sweeping Day", that is, year-end sweeping. Every household cleans spider webs and cleans them.
What are the folk customs of the 24th lunar month: sweeping the dust (sweeping the house)
Sweeping the dust not only means to dispel disease and pray for new year's well-being, but also has the emotional desire to get rid of "Chen" (Chen) and cloth. This custom conveys the signal of busy atmosphere of the new year to people. This custom reflects the Chinese people's tradition of being clean and hygienic, and embodies people's good expectations. It still has strong vitality. In the north, it is called "house sweeping", in the south, it is called "dusting". It is a traditional habit of Chinese people to sweep dust before the Spring Festival. Every time the Spring Festival comes, every family should clean the environment, clean all kinds of utensils, remove the bedding and curtains, sweep the six Lu courtyard, dust the cobweb, and dredge the open channel and underground ditch. Across the river, there is a happy atmosphere of sanitation and clean spring festival.
Sweeping dust on the 24th of the 12th lunar month
The legend of "on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dusting houses"
Legend 1: the gift of the Jade Emperor
There is a legend that the custom of sweeping dust is due to the fact that the tenants of Tongzhou (now Nantong) came to meet the annual grain of the Jade Emperor. In the early days of the year, the tenants here were so busy that they had little left except for food and rent.
They begged the kitchen god to say more good words when he was serving Ben on the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, so that the jade emperor could be gracious, allocate some gifts from tiancang, and before New Year's Eve, drop down the annual grain, MI Xue, so that they could have a full reunion meal.
In order to meet the gift of the Jade Emperor, the tenants clean the inside and outside of the house every year before the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, so as to meet the gift of new year's grain. Year after year, the custom of sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has been handed down from generation to generation.
Legend 2: three corpses
According to the legend, the ancients believed that there was a three corpse God attached to the human body. Like a shadow, he followed people's whereabouts and was inseparable. Sanshi God is a man who likes flattery and gossiping. He often tells stories in front of the Jade Emperor and describes the world as ugly. Over time, in the impression of the Jade Emperor, the human world is a dirty world full of evil.
Once, three corpses God secret report, the world is cursing the emperor, want to rebel against heaven. In his fury, the Jade Emperor decreed that the people's rebellion should be examined quickly. Those who resented the gods and read about the gods would write their crimes under the eaves of the house. Then let the spider spread the web to cover it for a mark. The jade emperor also ordered Wang Lingguan to go down on New Year's Eve. Anyone who met with a mark would be killed all over the gate, and none of them would stay. Seeing that the plan is about to succeed, the three corpse gods fly down to the world through the gap. Regardless of the black and white, they mark the eaves and corners of each family so that Wang Ling palace can kill them.
Dusting houses on the 24th of the 12th lunar month
When the three corpse gods were doing evil, the kitchen Lord found his whereabouts and was shocked. He hurried to find the kitchen lords to discuss countermeasures. So, I came up with a good way. From the day of sending the kitchen on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month to the eve of new year's Eve, everyone must clean the house. If the house is not clean, the kitchen Lord will refuse to enter the house.
According to the instructions given by the kitchen god before he ascended to heaven, we cleaned the dust, the cobwebs, the doors and windows, and made our house a new one. When Wang Lingguan visited the lower realm on New Year's Eve, he found that the windows of every family were clear and bright, the lights were brilliant, people were reunited and happy, and the world was very beautiful.
Wang Lingguan couldn't find any sign of his evil deeds. He was very strange. He rushed back to heaven and reported the peace and happiness of the world and the wish for a happy new year to the Jade Emperor. After hearing this, the Jade Emperor was greatly shocked, and ordered to detain the three corpse gods. He ordered three hundred palms to be kept in prison forever.
Thanks to the help of the kitchen god, the human disaster was spared. In order to thank the kitchen god for his help in eliminating disasters and blessing Zhang Xiang, the folk dust sweeper always starts after sending the kitchen stove and is busy until the new year's Eve.