Old customs on January 4th of the lunar calendar: On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, you are busy organizing housework and on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, you have to account for the sheep. "Three sheep (Yang) Kai Tai" should be auspicious, but someone just made up a "red" The nonsense words "Sheep Tribulation" are used to deceive people and prevent them from going out. There is also a legend that on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the Zao Prince wants to check the household registration, so it is not advisable to leave home. Although these statements are nonsense, they are in line with the requirement that people need to adjust at home one day during consecutive festivals. Therefore, there is a custom in old Beijing of tabooing the door on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, but nephews can visit their aunts. Broken bones are connected with tendons, no one is a family. "It is a folk custom in Beijing that the great aunt has status in the family. ?On this day, the whole family eats Zheluo together. The so-called Zheluo is a hodgepodge of leftover meals from several days to clean up the New Year's goods. The dust was dusted indoors, the floor was swept, and the garbage was piled in the courtyard to be "thrown away to the poor." On this day, beef and mutton shops will go to the Horse Temple to burn incense, because the Sheep King, Ox King, and Horse King are all worshiped in the Horse Temple. The Sheep King statue in the Horse Temple in the southern suburbs is the most famous. Generally, stores have to host a banquet for all shop assistants on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year and distribute red envelopes. There was an old saying in Beijing in the past: "We are not afraid of the sky or the earth, but we are afraid of the shopkeeper speaking Mandarin on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year." The banquet includes wine and vegetables, and it is customary to eat steamed buns after drinking. The shopkeeper then raised a glass of congratulations and said "hard work" to everyone. This is called "mandarin". After the official talk, the buns were served, and the shopkeeper pinched the buns himself. Whoever put the buns in the bowl was hinted that he had been fired. The fired person automatically packed up his luggage and left after the meal, so this casual banquet was commonly known as "eat the buns and get out of here". ". The fourth day of the Lunar New Year: Receive the spirits from the gods’ homes, report their duties to heaven on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and return to each household on the fourth day of the lunar new year. After noon, the ceremony to receive the gods begins: offering sacrifices, burning paper money, sacred horses, and setting off firecrackers to let the gods return to their places. During the Republic of China, stores opened their doors from midnight on the fourth day of the lunar month to early morning on the fifth day of the lunar month, with bright lights and altars set up to receive the "God of Wealth", and people flocked to the Temple of Wealth to "exchange ingots". The fifth day of the first lunar month is commonly known as Po Wu. According to folk custom, many taboos five years ago can be broken on this day. According to the old custom, it is necessary to eat "water dumplings" for five days. In the north, it is called "boiled dumplings". Nowadays, some people only eat it for three or two days, and some eat it every other day, but there is no one who doesn’t eat it. This is true from the prince's mansion to the small households in the streets, even when entertaining guests. Women no longer stay taboo and start visiting each other to pay New Year greetings and congratulate each other. Newly married women return to peace on this day. It is said that it is not suitable to do anything on the fifth day, otherwise you will be in trouble during the year. In addition to the above taboos, the five customs of Po Wu are mainly to send away the poor, welcome the God of Wealth, and open markets for trade. Southerners worship the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month. According to folklore, the God of Wealth is the God of Five Ways. The so-called five roads refer to east, west, south, north, and middle, which means that you can get wealth in any of the five ways. "Qing Jia Lu" written by Gu Lu in the Qing Dynasty said: "The fifth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the Lutou God. Gold gongs and firecrackers are used, and the sacrifices are finished. In order to be the first to benefit the market, one must get up early to welcome it, which is called connecting the Lutou." He also said: "The head of the road today is the walking god among the Five Sacrifice. The so-called five roads should be the east, west, south, north and middle ears." In the old calendar years in Shanghai, there was a custom of grabbing the head of the road. On the midnight of the fourth day of the first lunar month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, fruits, incense and candles, etc., and worship with gongs, drums and incense, piously and respectfully to the God of Wealth. According to popular legend, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the God of Wealth. In order to compete for market profits, it is first received on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, which is called "grabbing the road head", also known as "receiving the God of Wealth". The five sacrifices are the household gods, kitchen gods, earth gods, door gods, and walking gods. The so-called "Lutou" refers to the gods among the five sacrifices. When receiving the God of Wealth, one must offer a sheep's head and a carp. Offering a sheep's head means "auspiciousness", and offering carp is a homophone of "fish" and "yu" in the picture. The poem is auspicious. People firmly believe that as long as they can get the God of Wealth to appear, they can get rich. Therefore, every Chinese New Year, people open their doors and windows at 50:00 on the first lunar month, burn incense, set off firecrackers, and light fireworks to welcome the God of Wealth. After receiving the God of Wealth, everyone also eats Lutou wine, often until dawn. Everyone is full of hopes of getting rich, hoping that the God of Wealth can bring gold and silver to their homes and make them rich in the new year. It is an old custom that during the Spring Festival, all shops of all sizes will close together from the beginning of the new year and open on the fifth day of the first lunar month. The fifth day of the first lunar month is regarded as the holy day of wealth. It is believed that choosing this day to open the market will definitely attract wealth. Po Wu 1. The first way to say "Po Wu": In some places, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is called "Yuan Nian", which means that the new year is over, and on this day we have to make a summary and draw an end. In fact, this is a variant of "Po Wu". It evolved slowly due to the unknown origin of "Po Wu". According to the "Bang of the Gods", Jiang Ziya canonized the gods and named his wife who betrayed him as the "Poor God". There is an order. She "returns as soon as she is broken." According to myths and legends, Jiang Ziya’s wife was a very annoying husband-carrying woman. After being made the Poor God, she became even more annoying. I haven’t heard of anyone liking the Poor God, right? So people "break" her on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and tell her to "go home immediately" - go back immediately! 2. The second way of saying "Broken Five": There is another saying that the fifth day of the lunar month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so people have to hold banquets, set off firecrackers, and engage in various celebrations on this day, which means to welcome the arrival of the God of Wealth. 3. The third way of saying "Po Wu": In many places, on New Year's Eve, ancestors are invited back to celebrate the New Year. In the middle of the hall, the ancestor's tablet is hung high, incense is burned and offered, which means to invite the ancestors to celebrate the New Year and eat well. , Don’t forget the meaning of your ancestors.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, it is time to send the ancestors "back". The Chinese New Year is over, so on this day, incense and paper money should be burned to send the ancestors a respectful send-off. Since the fifth day of the lunar month is responsible for sending off the God of Poverty and receiving the God of Wealth, it is not surprising that this day is very important. The combination of these many details forms customs - holding banquets, setting off firecrackers, and eating dumplings symbolizing "Yuanbao". 2: Various customs of "Po Wu": The fifth day of the first lunar month is commonly known as Po Wu. On this day, a custom called chasing the "five poor" is popular in many places. People get up at dawn, set off firecrackers and clean the house. Firecrackers were set off from each house and walked out the door as they were set off. It is said that all unlucky things, all monsters and monsters will be blasted out, and they should be kept as far away from us as possible. Cleaning is a thorough cleaning. Sweep trash out of every house. From the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifth day of the first lunar month, cleaning is generally not allowed. Sweeping is also allowed, but only in the house, and garbage can only be placed in the corner of the house. Especially on the first day of the Lunar New Year, you can't move it with a broom. If you move it, your good luck will be wiped out. But on Powu, it was time to do a thorough cleaning. After the garbage was swept out of the door and swept to a corner, he also put the firecrackers from the house outside. Then he brought a huge firecracker, placed it on the garbage pile, lit it, and with a bang, the ceremony was completed. People said: Now, all the impoverished ghosts have been driven away! So eat. This custom is similar in Guanzhong, East Prefecture and West Prefecture. But after the cannon was fired, the food eaten was not the same. In Long County of Xi'an Prefecture, the whole county eats stir-fried dough balls. It is said that all unsatisfactory things will be stuck away with this paste-like food. It is said that in some places in the Weihe River Valley, Tuantuan is also eaten during the New Year, but it is not Powu, but the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, such as Sanyuan County and Wugong County. This is the same as Long County. In Long County, there are three meals of Chuantuan during the Chinese New Year: the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, the fifth of the first lunar month, and the seventh of the first lunar month. Bin County also eats tuantuan on the fifth day of the first lunar month, which is said to "eat the poor and eliminate the roots of poverty", and also "fill the poor pits" and "fill the poor pits". It is also appropriate to use food such as dough to make paste and fill it up. People from Binxian County said that they can’t eat meat and wine anyway. In Chunhua County, which is located in the Weibei Plateau, people also eat tuantuan on this day, which is also said to be used to fill poverty holes. On this day, you are not allowed to go out to visit relatives, saying that you don't want to let your relatives get poor. The most interesting thing is Fengxiang County, which is the birthplace of the Qin people. It is also called Powu. They also get up early, clean up, and shoot cannons. However, the food and the food they eat are very different. They eat dumplings. It's not called dumplings, it's called boiled horns. Wrap it overnight and cook it the next morning. Also wrapped in meat fillings. The wonderful thing is that when making dumplings, you have to light an incense stick and go around and around the basin holding the dumpling fillings before making the dumplings. why is that? Fengxiang people said: This is the "five poor" and the like who are gathered together, wrapped up, cooked and eaten. The people of Qin were heroic and thorough in their affairs. In doing so, they not only drove away the "five poor", but also wanted to kill them all, which was a bit like "eating their flesh and sleeping on their skin". Note: "Five Poor" are also called "Five Ghosts". It refers to the five types of poor ghosts, including "poor in wisdom, poor in learning, poor in literature, poor in fate, and poor in friendship". It was once seen in Han Yu's "Song Qiongwen". This poet said, "All these five ghosts are my five troubles", so I have to send them away. No matter how literate people think in their hearts, their writing is always relatively peaceful. Although it is a serious problem for me, I should send it away politely. When the people arrived, they told the truth that they were "evicting the five poor" and "filling the poor holes", and they used firecrackers and brooms, so they couldn't be polite. After all, this is not a treat or a gift. Killing them all is the most impassioned and vivid one among them. "Po Wu": Tianjin people call the fifth day of the first lunar month "Po Wu". On this day, every household eats dumplings, and the chopping board must make a clanging sound for the neighbors to hear, to show that they are chopping "little people." Tianjin people attribute unsatisfactory things to the "little people". Only by getting rid of the "little people" can they be prosperous and smooth. Setting off firecrackers on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year also means to avoid evil and avoid disasters. Five horse days (breaking five). The fifth day of the first lunar month is called "Five Horse Day" in some places in Shandong. The cloudy and sunny days on this day are used to predict the bad luck of mules and horses that year. It is said that if the sky is clear on this day, the mules and horses will be prosperous. According to Dongfang Shuo's "Book of Divination" It is said that the first day of the first month is chicken, the second day is dog, the third day is pig, the fourth day is sheep, the fifth day is cow, the sixth day is horse, the seventh day is human, and the eighth day is grain. I don’t know how Shandong turns an ox’s day into a horse’s day. This day is also called "Powu". In some areas, women are not allowed to go out to visit relatives before the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. They are not allowed to use rulers or scissors to do needlework. They are not allowed to cook rice, noodles and lettuce in the pot. After this day, they are not allowed to go out for marriage. taboo. In Powu in the Linqing area, a family send-off ceremony is held as a unit. Before dawn, people cooked dumplings, made offerings, burned paper, kowtowed, and then put away the tablets of the gods and masters. Just waiting for the three cannons to go off, the men of the whole clan gathered together with incense paper and firecrackers and lined up in front of the queue. Visiting the graves is called sending ancestors home. Along the way, those who carried the offerings carried the offerings, and those who set off the whips set off the whips. When they came to the cemetery, they burned incense and kowtowed, shouting: "Grandpa and grandma, you are home!" Yinan also removed the axes from the family hall on this day, and some even ate them. Fry cakes and sweep the yard. It is said that sweeping the yard on this day will not attract ants. In Kenli, Shouguang and other places, firecrackers are set off on this day and the whole family gathers for dinner to signify the passing of the New Year. In southwestern Shandong, on New Year's Day, scissors are wrapped with thread and placed under the bed mat, and can not be used until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Women in Linyi and Zoucheng do not go out, comb their hair, or do any needlework on this day. It is said that scorpions and centipedes will be attracted by tampering with needlework. It is common to eat dumplings at noon on this day, and you can also eat noodles. There is a saying that "eating noodles on the fifth day of the lunar month will cost one stone per acre."