Every year, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, when the stove is delivered, candy, clear water, boiled beans and couplets for offering sacrifices to the stove will be placed on the console table in front of the statue of the kitchen king. When offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, it is necessary to melt the Guandong sugar with fire and apply it to the mouth of the kitchen god. You must burn incense, provide fruits and vegetables, wine, paper money or gold ingots on the console table in the kitchen room, that is, invite the kitchen god to have a good meal and let him put in a good word for his family.

Age preparation

After the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, China people think that "God is evil, and everything is forgiven", so there is no need to choose a date for marriage. It can be the 23rd to 30th. Therefore, there are many people holding wedding gifts at this time. After the Kitchen Festival, every household began to clean up, and the 24th was called "Dusting Day". People took a bath and had their hair cut, "Sweeping the Year" and "Dusting", and arranged various Chinese New Year foods at the same time.

Sacrificial furnace diet

China people pay attention to eating jiaozi on the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, which means "you can't see the windward side of jiaozi". Eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles in mountainous areas. In the southeast of Shanxi, the custom of eating fried corn is popular. A folk proverb says, "Twenty-three, don't eat fried, on New Year's Eve-pour it all at once." People like to bond fried corn with maltose and freeze it into pieces, which tastes crisp and sweet.

Ballad of offering sacrifices to stoves

There are two China folk songs circulating in the southeast of Shanxi. One is "Twenty-three, send my master to heaven; Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, steamed dumplings; Twenty-six, cut meat; Twenty-seven, tin cleaner; Twenty-eight, sloppy; Twenty-nine, washing feet; On the 30th, the door gods and couplets were pasted together. It shows that time is tight and preparations are tense. After the age of 23, China people believed that God had gone to heaven and everything was forgiven. You don't have to choose a date to marry a daughter-in-law and prostitution. This is called rushing to get married. Until the end of the year, there will be many wedding ceremonies. The folk song is "busy marriage in the countryside, Yichun posts tease spring scenery." Sisters talk privately in front of the lights. This year is the bridal chamber.

Custom of offering sacrifices to stoves

In all the preparatory work, window cutting and stick grilles are the most popular folk activities in China. There are all kinds of animal and plant stories here, such as the plum blossom of magpie, the peach willow of swallow, the peony of peacock, the rolling hydrangea of lion, the opening of three sheep (Yang), the playing beads of two dragons, the toon of deer crane (Liuhe Tongchun), the longevity of five bats (Fu), the full moon of rhinoceros, the annual fish (jade) of lotus (Lotus) and the swimming of Yuanyang.

There are all kinds of drama stories. China's folk customs include the saying that "the big lamp hall, Durmei, three mothers and four religions, five women's birthdays, six in the snow, the seventh day of July in Tianhe, and nine clothes are the birthday of the Eight Immortals", which reflects China's folk preference for drama stories. In a family with a new wife, the new wife should bring all kinds of window grilles cut by herself, go back to her husband's house and put up windows, and neighbors will come to see them.

After the 23 rd day of the twelfth lunar month, adults and children should take a bath and have their hair cut. There is a folk saying in China that "people with money and no money shave their heads for the New Year". Luliang area pays attention to washing feet on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. Mother-in-law and your son washed their feet with boiling water tonight. Adults should also help a girl who is not sensible to scrub her feet clean, leaving no dirt.

Sacrificial couplets:

After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household will post Spring Festival couplets. People in China pay attention to sticking to God, every household and everything, so Spring Festival couplets have the largest number and the most complete contents. The couplets in front of the statues are particularly particular, and they are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Heaven and earth have something in common: "Heaven is as deep as the sea, and virtue is as heavy as a mountain."