The fourth day of the first month of the lunar calendar
The fourth day of the first lunar month is also known as "Sheep Day". According to the old imperial calendar, the "three sheep (yang) kaitai" is often said to be a symbol of auspiciousness, and it is also a day to welcome the Kitchen God back to the people. On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family eats Zheluo together. The so-called Zheluo is a hodgepodge of leftover meals from a few days to clean up the new year's goods. Cleaning the room and collecting the garbage in one place is also what folklore calls "throwing away the poor". In some rural areas in the north, it is a custom to tie the God of Fire on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, put corn stalks or wheat stalks on a stick, light it and send it to the river from your home, which means there will be no fires in your home for a year.
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year-Three Sheep Kaitai
Taboos
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the "Three Sheep (Yang) Kaitai" should be auspicious, but someone made up a nonsense story about "Red Sheep Tribulation" to deceive people and prevent everyone 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 that the fourth day of the Lunar New Year is forbidden, but nephews can visit their aunts.
Welcome the day when the Kitchen God returns to the people.
The Stove Lord wants to check the household registration, so every household must stay at home, prepare rich fruits, burn incense, light candles and set off firecrackers to show their welcome.
Customs
On this day, the whole family eats folding baskets together. The so-called folding basket is a hodgepodge of leftover meals from several days put together to clean up the New Year's goods. The dust was dusted indoors, the floor was swept, and the garbage was piled in the yard 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, and the Sheep King statue in the Horse Temple in the southern suburbs is the most famous. Generally, stores will host a banquet for all the 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 steamed buns are served, and the shopkeeper puts the steamed buns in his hands. Whoever puts the steamed buns in the bowl is hinted that he has been fired. The fired person automatically packs up his luggage and leaves after the meal, so this informal banquet is commonly known as "eating the steamed buns". The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is when the gods return from heaven to earth. There is a saying that "it is early to send off the gods and late to receive the gods". The so-called sending off the gods should start early in the morning, but it is not too late to pick up the gods in the afternoon. In terms of offerings, three animals, fruits, wine and vegetables must be prepared, and incense, candles, and golden clothes must be burned. From the first to the fourth day of the lunar month, shops are closed and women do not need to needle or thread. Ceremony
Welcoming Gods and Receiving Gods
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is when the gods return to the earth from heaven. There is a saying that "it is early to send off the gods and late to receive the gods." The so-called sending off the gods should start early in the morning, but it is not too late to pick up the gods in the afternoon. In terms of offerings, three animals, fruits, wine and vegetables must be prepared, and incense, candles, and golden clothes must be burned. If the boss wants to "fire" someone, he will not be invited to worship God on this day. From the first to the fourth day of the lunar month, shops are closed and women do not need to needle or thread.
At midnight on 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". Whenever you receive the God of Wealth, you must offer a sheep head and a carp. Offering a sheep head means "auspiciousness", and offering a 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. During the Republic of China, all 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".
Join the Five Roads
Jie Wulu, originally refers to the Five Roads to the God of Fortune, and later evolved into the Five Roads to the God of Wealth. In the old days, after the Spring Festival holiday, merchants usually invited the five gods of wealth on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year and opened the market on the fifth Lunar New Year for good luck.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, preparations for the Five-way Ceremony began at three o'clock in the afternoon and ended at nine or ten o'clock in the evening. The first is the desk, usually two Eight Immortals tables can be put together. The first table is filled with fruits such as mandarin oranges and sugar cane, which symbolize broad wealth and sweet life; the second table is filled with pastries, which symbolizes promotion and evergreen; the third table is the main banquet, which serves whole pigs, whole chickens, whole fish, and ingot soup. Half of the table is filled with rice, noodles, and vegetables. A green onion is inserted into a bowl of street rice, and a thousand-year-old red plant is inserted into the onion tube, which means excitement and prosperity every year. The food and wine on the third table can only be served after receiving the Five Gods of Wealth. 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.
To pick up the God of Wealth, the owner must bring incense and candles to the God of Wealth Hall in the five directions of east, west, south, north and center to pick him up. Every time he picks up the God of Wealth, a string of Baizi cannons will be set off in front of the door. After receiving everything, the host and the waiter bowed to the God of Wealth in turn, and then cremated the horse silk on the original offering table to express their respect to the God of Wealth. The ceremony is finally over.
Sheep Day:
The fourth day of the first lunar month is the "Sheep Day" in Nuwa's creation myth. Dong Xun of Jin Dynasty recorded in "Asking about Etiquette and Customs": "The first day of the first month is a chicken, the second day is a dog, the third day is a pig, the fourth day is a sheep, the fifth day is an ox, the sixth day is a horse, and the seventh day is a human. On the first day of the lunar month, a chicken is painted on the door, and on the seventh day, people are posted on the tent." In the old imperial calendar, sheep are accounted for, so the often said "Three Yang (Yang) Kaitai" is a symbol of auspiciousness, and it is also a day to welcome the Kitchen God back to the people.
