Before we know it, 2023 is coming to an end, and 2024 is slowly coming to us.
The Chinese New Year has always been a major event in the hearts of Chinese, especially in the hearts of the older generation.
For example, inviting the family hall on the first day of the Lunar New Year and drinking Laba porridge on the Laba Festival are some of the traditional customs that we are all familiar with.
Among these traditional customs, "if you don't wash three times at the end of the year, you will be poor in the coming year", which is also a well-known saying about New Year's customs.
It refers to the fact that before the Chinese New Year, there are three things that must be washed, do you know which three things are? Today, with the New Year's bell ringing closer and closer, let's explore the New Year's customs together.
1. Clean the house
The house we live in must be washed before the Chinese New Year.
Moreover, unlike the cleaning on weekdays, it is not a simple and ordinary cleaning, but a thorough cleaning.
Usually, people will clean their houses thoroughly on the day of the new year.
Including: sweeping the roof, sweeping the walls, wiping various furniture such as the wardrobe, washing bed sheets and covers, etc.
In short, this day is to clean everything that can be cleaned and what feels unclean must be cleaned up, and no place should be missed.
Cleaning the house before the year means cleaning out all the filth and dirt in the house, and welcoming the blessings and good luck of the new year with a clean and tidy house.
In fact, thinking about it from a more practical perspective, cleaning the house and cleaning the space in the house a year ago is also to better visit relatives and friends and welcome guests during the New Year.
Just imagine, if the house is messy and dirty, it is very likely that the guests will leave a bad impression of dirty, messy and bad when they come to the New Year.
It's something none of us want.
2. Wash clothes
It is also very important to wash all the dirty clothes before the year.
One of the biggest impressions most of us have of the Chinese New Year is that we can wear new clothes.
Usually, people change into new clothes after the last bath in the previous year.
And those old clothes that are replaced are generally required to be washed before the Chinese New Year's Eve, and cannot be left for disposal after the New Year.
Washing old clothes before the year is necessary from two perspectives.
From the point of view of the meaning, it is to wash away the bad "filth" of the past year carried on the old clothes.
After all, clothes were regarded by the ancients as "Yilu", representing the blessings that everyone has.
From a hygienic and psychological point of view, we also need to clean the old clothes that have been changed before the year.
One is that the longer the dirt stays on the clothes, the more difficult it is to remove.
The second reason is that if the dirty clothes are piled up and not washed, it will take up part of the space of the house and make the house more crowded.
The third reason is that no matter who it is, seeing that pile of dirty clothes, no matter how good the mood of the New Year is, it will be affected.
To sum up, whether you are to observe the customs of the New Year or to maintain good hygiene, it is a necessary choice to wash old clothes before the year.
3. Wash yourself
Since everything we wear is to be cleaned, we must also be clean to welcome the arrival of the new year.
Therefore, the last of these three washes is the bath.
Bathing is usually arranged in the month of Wax.
Two. Ten. Sixth, the wax moon.
Two. Ten. 7. It will be performed on any of the twenty-eight days of the lunar month.
This is a custom that is easier to understand.
Taking a bath before the Chinese New Year and washing yourself cleanly, fragrant and odorless, can avoid a lot of embarrassment when visiting relatives and friends, and also means washing away the bad luck that you have been contaminated with in the past year.
If you don't clean up after the New Year, you will bring a bad smell to the door during the New Year, and it will cause great trouble to others when communicating with others.
In fact, bathing years ago is also related to the underdeveloped sanitary bathing conditions in ancient times.
In ancient times, there were no shower heads and no water heaters, which may be fine for friends in the south, but for friends in the north, bathing in winter is a more difficult thing.
Therefore, most northerners who have accumulated a winter will choose a few days before the year to take a thorough bath, wash off the greasy and dirty things on their bodies, and welcome the arrival of the new year cleanly.
Summary:
Although the various customs of the Chinese New Year will be more or less different in different regions and different ethnic groups.
For example, southerners eat dumplings for the New Year, and northerners eat dumplings for the New Year; The south** goes up the mountain to worship ancestors, and the northerners like to invite family halls and so on.
But no matter what kind of customs and traditions, they all represent the Chinese people's comfort for their hard work in the past year and their beautiful expectations for the new year.
No matter what kind of custom is popular, as long as you are with your family, you can spend the New Year with Hemeimei.
Do you know anything else about Chinese New Year customs? Do you know where it comes from? Welcome to leave a message to tell us, and see you next time.