"Twenty three, tanggua is sticky." With the advent of the lunar new year, the pace of the Lunar New Year is getting closer and closer. For Xiaonian, people's impression may be offering sacrifices to the stove, eating sugar melons, etc. In addition, the date of Xiaonian is also different in different places. The date of the lunar new year will also be different Xiaonian usually refers to the day of sweeping dust and offering sacrifices to the stove. Due to different local customs, the days known as "Xiaonian" are also different, including the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Turning to the reasons for the different dates of the lunar new year, folklore expert Wang Juan said that the ancient royal society would fix the calendar. Generally, there would be a relatively clear statement like which day is the lunar new year. However, specific to each region, local people will have different understandings for practical needs. For a long time, it is inevitable that there will be inconsistent dates, which fully shows the diversity of Chinese traditional folk culture. She believes that China's "new year" lasts a long time, and there will be some landmark dates. No matter what day the small year is, it expresses the distinction between the stages of celebrations. Celebrating the new year represents people's beautiful wish to leave the old and welcome the new year. What's particular about "sacrificial stove"? When I was young, there was an important folk activity, namely "offering sacrifices to cookers". Wang Juan introduced that in ancient times, "offering sacrifices to cookers" was a very important thing. It was one of the five sacrifices. Later, the custom of offering sacrifices to cookers became more and more common, and both the government and the people wanted to "offer sacrifices to cookers". She said that as the saying goes, "three officials, four people, four boatmans and five families", it refers to the old government's "offering sacrifices to the stove" on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. There are twenty-four "sacrificial stoves" among the people and twenty-five "sacrificial stoves" among the boatman. Therefore, in many places, the time of "offering sacrifices to the stove" is not uniform. In folklore, the "Kitchen God" is responsible for controlling the kitchen fire, managing the diet, supervising the actions of the family for a year, and reporting to the "Jade Emperor" in his childhood to determine rewards and punishments. According to the custom, people should "sacrifice the kitchen stove" and send off the "Kitchen God" in the young year. The reason for this is that it is inevitable to bump in daily life. People are worried that the "Kitchen God" will make a small report, so they get close to it, commonly known as "meizao". When offering kitchen candy to the "Kitchen God", pray that "the kitchen king is bitter, sweet and smelly, and don't talk", and expect him to say more good words after last day. Wang Juan explained that the ceremony of "offering sacrifices to cookers" existed in the Xia Dynasty, and became one of the customs of Xiaonian only after the Han Dynasty. "Busy year" starts The small year is usually regarded as the beginning of the "busy year". From this time to new year's Eve, the preparations for the new year are even more lively. For example, "dust cleaning" is similar to year-end cleaning. Every household should clean up, clean all kinds of appliances, dismantle and clean bedding and curtains... Get ready for the new year. Not only that, during this period, adults and children should also take a bath and have a haircut, which is refreshing. People believe that this also means "leaving the old and welcoming the new". In those activities to prepare for the new year, cutting and pasting window flowers are also very interesting. For example, the content of window flower includes magpie climbing plum, swallow wearing peach willow, fish (surplus) in Lian (Lian) year, and various drama stories. In addition, a series of folk activities after the Spring Festival emphasize the "sense of participation", which means that people are busy for the upcoming Spring Festival and look forward to happy reunion. (Xinhua News Agency)