Off-year North and off-year South mainly refer to the festival dates of off-year days, which are different in the north and the south. In the north, off-year days are celebrated on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while in the south, off-year days are celebrated on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, so there is a distinction between off-year north and off-year south. Off-year is usually regarded as the beginning of a busy year, which means that people begin to prepare new year's goods, sweep dust, offer sacrifices to stoves, etc., and prepare for a clean and good year, expressing people's good wish to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, welcome the auspicious and accept the blessings.

The origin of off-year

Off-year is the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month. On this day, traditional families will worship the kitchen god at home to pray for peace and good luck. The origin of off-year is mainly related to the legendary Kitchen God. Legend has it that the kitchen god's name is Zhang Dan, who was originally a handsome son of the people. Zhang Dan's personality changed greatly after he got married. He idled around all day and finally ended up begging along the street. One day, Zhang Dan went to his ex-wife's house while begging. After seeing his wife, Zhang Dan was ashamed and plunged into the stove and was burned to death by the fire. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he thought that Zhang Dan was ashamed, so he made him the Kitchen God to be in charge of the people, and asked him to report to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month every year. After the people learned of this, they worshipped the Kitchen God in succession on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, hoping that the Kitchen God could report more good things at home the day after last, so there was a saying among the people: Heaven speaks good things and returns to the palace for good luck.

Fan Chengda of the Song Dynasty said in his poem "Poem of Sacrificing a Kitchen Stove": "It is said in ancient times that on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen ruler spoke to the sky. Clouds, cars, and horses linger, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is rotten and hot, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste is Gan Song powder bait. When a man offers his daughter to avoid, he drinks and burns money. You don't smell the servant's struggle, and you don't feel angry at the cat and dog's horns; I will send you to the Tianmen Gate drunk and full, and if you are long and short, don't go back to the clouds, begging for points from the market. " It can be said that this poem vividly illustrates the customs and habits of ancient China people about offering sacrifices to stoves.

Why is there a day difference between the south and the north?

Folklore experts say that in ancient times, there was a tradition of "three officials, three people, four boats and five people", that is to say, the official's off-year was the 23rd lunar month, the people's home was the 24th lunar month, and house boat was the 25th lunar month. Like the north, it was a political center before the Southern Song Dynasty and was heavily influenced by bureaucracy, so the off-year was mostly the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. On the contrary, the south is far from the political center, and the off-year is the 24 th of the twelfth lunar month; The residents along the lake, such as Poyang Lake, retain the tradition of boatmen, and the off-year is set on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month.

What are the differences between the customs of Xiaonian South and Xiaonian North?

Just like eating dumplings in the south of jiaozi in the north during the winter solstice, the customs of spending the New Year in the south and the north will be different. For example, in the north, almost every festival will have jiaozi's figure, and eating jiaozi on the New Year's Eve means "seeing off jiaozi for the Spring Festival". Moreover, in the off-year, the gods eat candied melons and steam steamed buns, one for worshipping God and the other for visiting relatives and friends. On the decorations, the portraits of Kitchen God will be posted and the window grilles will be cut during the new year, which is complicated and festive, quite interesting for the New Year.

In most parts of the south, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to the stove and dusting the dust during the off-year holidays, but there are still some differences in eating, such as eating rice cakes, because it is also called "Niannian Cake", which is homophonic with "Niannian Gao", which means that next year will be better than this year. In addition, people will bathe and shave their heads on the day of off-year, and there is a saying among the people that "they have money but no money, and they shave their heads for the New Year", which marks the washing of the old and the welcoming of the new year, and represents a beautiful meaning for the New Year.