Since the middle and late Qing Dynasty, emperors' families have held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In order to "save money", they also paid homage to the Kitchen God, so most northern regions celebrated their off-year holidays on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month.
Off-year has different concepts and dates in different places, with the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month in the north and 24th of the twelfth lunar month in most parts of the south. Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai call "the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" and "the night before New Year's Eve" off-year, Nanjing calls the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first month off, some parts of Yunnan are on the 16th of the first month, and some ethnic minority areas in southwest and north are on New Year's Eve.
The moral of off-year:
December 23rd and 24th of the lunar calendar are the traditional days of offering sacrifices to stoves of the Han nationality, also known as "off-year". Legend has it that the Kitchen God was originally a commoner, Zhang Sheng. After he got married, he spent all his time drinking and drinking, and he lost all his possessions and went to the streets to beg. One day, he begged at his ex-wife Guo Dingxiang's house, ashamed, and burned to death under the stove and pot.
When the Jade Emperor knew about it, he thought that Zhang Sheng could come to their senses, and it was not bad to the end. Since he died at the bottom of the pot, he was named the kitchen king, reported to heaven on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year, and returned to the kitchen bottom on the New Year's Eve. The people think that the kitchen king must be respected because he wants to report to heaven. As a result, the Han people have a "small year" for the 23 rd and 24 th of the twelfth lunar month, praying for peace and wealth in the coming year.