Xiaonian originated from the ancient custom of worshiping fire.
"Release of Names": "Stove. Creates and creates food." The responsibility of the Kitchen God is to control the stove fire and manage the diet. Later, it was expanded to examine the good and evil in the world to reduce blessings and disasters.
According to the record of local customs "Fengtu Ji" written by Zhou Chu, a famous person in the Jin Dynasty of my country: "On the night of the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the stove god was worshiped. It was said that the stove god would go to heaven the next day and become a year old, so he was worshiped the first day." Fan Chengda of the Song Dynasty "Poetry for Sacrifice to the Stove": "It is said in ancient times that on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Stove Lord looked up to the sky and wanted to say something... I sent you drunk and full to the gate of heaven. He took a long ladle and a short ladle without returning to the clouds, and begged for profit and return points. "Little New Year" is everywhere. There are different concepts and dates. In the north, it is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and in most areas of the south, it is the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, both "the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month" and "the night before New Year's Eve" are called Xiaonian. In Nanjing, it is called the first lunar month. The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. In some areas of Yunnan, the date of the Off-Year Festival is on the 16th day of the first lunar month. In some areas of the southwest and north, the date of the Off-Year Festival is New Year's Eve.