What's the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month? It is customary to clean the house on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.

The custom of sweeping the house on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is called "Dust Sweeping Day". Dust removal means year-end cleaning, which is called "house cleaning" in the north and "dusting" in the south to get rid of the old cloth and welcome the new year. After the custom of the 24 th day of the twelfth lunar month was introduced, the preparations for the New Year officially began. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, China folks call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust Day". Dust removal is year-end cleaning, which is called "house cleaning" in the north and "dust removal" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. North and south of the great river, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of being willing to engage in hygiene and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly. "The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, sweeping the house with dust" has a long history. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that there was a custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. Folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "welcome in addition to Chen", which means sweeping away all "unlucky" and "bad luck". A custom entrusts people's desire to break the old and create the new, as well as their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. The custom of the 24th of the twelfth lunar month originated from the tradition of cleaning houses. According to early folklore, "dust" is homophonic with the old "Chen". Before the New Year of the first lunar month, sweeping away all the dust at home means getting rid of the old things of the old year, sweeping away all the bad "bad luck" and "bad luck" and welcoming the New Year. This custom has fully pinned people's good wishes to break through the old and establish the new and their strong prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Lunar calendar1February 24th is the "dust removal day" for every household. Folk beliefs believe that from this day on, the gods ignored human affairs and reported to the Jade Emperor. According to folklore, this is the day when immortals die, and only some immortals such as duty gods and landlords look after order; Folks believe that after the immortal went to heaven, he would not return to earth until the fourth night of the following year; So there is a legend that during this time, even if you turn over the house, you don't have to worry about any details. Use this day to move things or fly around with dust, even more afraid of offending the gods at home. The ancients designated this day as cleaning day. The correct dates of "Dust Removal Day" and "God Dispatch Day" are either 23rd or 24th. "Five Classics and Different Meanings" said that the government offered sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd and the people offered sacrifices to stoves on the 24th. According to this book, it was also pointed out that the government chose to give gifts to God when "Yin Yang" was launched on 23rd. Therefore, it actually refers to the boundary time from Shihai on the 23rd to Zishi on the 24th, which is still 24th. Most Chinese in Southeast Asia come from Fujian and Guangxi provinces and are influenced by local folk customs. Therefore, Chinese in Southeast Asia generally regard the 24th as a day to "send the stove" and "welcome the dust". In ancient times, there was the origin of cleaning dust, but there was a rather strange story. Legend has it that the ancients believed that everyone was attached to a three-corpse god. Like a shadow, he followed people's whereabouts and was inseparable. Three dead gods are a guy who likes to flatter Ayu and gossip. He often tells lies in front of the Jade Emperor and describes the world as ugly. Over time, in the jade emperor's impression, this world is simply a dirty world full of evil. The secret report of the Three Corpses God tells that the world is cursing the Emperor of Heaven in an attempt to rebel against heaven. The jade emperor was furious and made an imperial edict to quickly find out what happened in the world. Anyone who hates and blasphemes against the gods will write his crimes under the eaves, and then let the spider spread a net to cover them as a sign. The Jade Emperor also ordered a lawsuit against the tomb on New Year's Eve, and all the marked families were beheaded with doors, none left. Seeing that the plan was about to succeed, the three corpse gods made a mark at the corner of the eaves, so that the lawsuit of the tomb could be written off. Just as the Three Corpses God was doing evil, the Chef God discovered his whereabouts and was frightened to disgrace, so he quickly sought out various Chefs to discuss countermeasures. So, I came up with a good idea. From the day when the kitchen is delivered on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the time when the kitchen is closed on New Year's Eve, every household should clean up the house. If any household is not clean, Kitchen God will refuse to enter the house. According to the instructions of the kitchen god before he ascended to heaven, everyone cleaned the dust, dusted the cobwebs, cleaned the doors and windows, and thoroughly cleaned their houses. When Wang Ling's lawsuit came to the lower bound on New Year's Eve, he found that every household had bright windows and bright lights, people were happy together, and the world was beautiful. Wang Ling was surprised that there was no mark indicating bad behavior in the lawsuit. He hurried back to heaven and told the Jade Emperor about peace and happiness on earth and his wish for a happy New Year. The Jade Emperor was greatly shocked after hearing this. He hid the imperial edict, tried the three corpse gods, ordered him to slap his mouth three hundred times and put him in prison forever. Thanks to the help of Kitchen God, this human disaster was spared. In order to thank the Kitchen God for eliminating difficulties and disasters for people and bless them, the folk dust removal always starts after the kitchen is delivered and is busy until the New Year's Eve. "The Complete Collection of Respect for Stoves" says that the duty of the kitchen king is to receive the incense of a family, protect the health of a family, observe the good and evil of a family and recite the merits and demerits of a family. If a person does something indiscreet and is reported by Kitchen God, his life will be shortened by 300 days due to a big mistake and 100 days due to a small mistake. People also think that this day is a day when all families and all temple gods report people's good and evil to the Jade Emperor. Especially the kitchen god, it is necessary to report the good and evil of his family to heaven responsibly for a year. Therefore, people worship cookies on this day, hoping that Kitchen God can put in a good word before the Jade Emperor after eating cookies. In fact, the ancients thought that there would be good food if there was a stove, and having food was the continuation of life. Sacrificing the kitchen god originated from the ancient people's desire psychology of animism and food safety. Before the Han Dynasty, Zhao Jun was worshipped in summer. After the Han Dynasty, the days of worshipping Zhao Jun changed. As early as the Han dynasty, there was a folk saying similar to today's: I thought the kitchen god had a special responsibility. He is the god who reports the merits and demerits of the owner to heaven, and the report of Kitchen God will affect people's rewards and punishments and their future destiny. Therefore, from then on, people in the Han Dynasty began to downplay the statement that the Kitchen God was a Vulcan, and combined the Kitchen God with the Siming God worshipped by people in the Zhou Dynasty to become the "Siming Kitchen God", so that a god could live in the kitchen, which is an important place in every family life. It doesn't matter who God is, but everyone should be polite. Because the kitchen god and other gods will return to the sky "ahead of time" on the day before the New Year, Hakka people regard the day when the kitchen god was sent to heaven as "entering the year boundary", while Fujian people think that this represents the end of the year, which is the so-called "sending the year". According to the Book of Customs on the 24th of the Lunar Calendar, Volume 6 of Chinese Dream in Tokyo, when Bianjing was in the Northern Song Dynasty, the elder Meng described it as follows: "On the first day of October, Kaifeng House was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellaneous Notes on the Garden that "those who cross the road from court officials to Shu Ren on the New Year's Day in the capital are called' Happy New Year'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. The more official contact, the more universal love is not specialized ... ". Gu Tieqing, a Qing man, described in Jia Qinglu that "men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to visit their neighbors, or sends their children to congratulate them, which is called' Happy New Year'. Even those who don't meet at the end of the year will say goodbye to each other at this time ... "Also known as" dust removal ","slag removal ","dust removal "and" dust removal ". From the old society to the twentieth day of the lunar calendar, everyone's small family is preparing for the New Year. For example, before and after the sacrifice of the stove to New Year's Eve, there is a general cleaning, and the dust accumulated under the bed of the corner and the beam of the house for a year must be removed with a broom on this day; The metal handles on the cabinets should also be cleaned. It's vulgar and of ancient origin. In Song and Wu's Dream. In addition to the night: "December has passed, and the day when the popular cloud is poor for one year is called in addition to the night. Scholars, big or small, sweep away dirt, clean the family, change the door gods, hang Zhong Kui, nail peaches and stick spring cards. " Qing He Zhang's Hundred Cities of Smoke and Water. Suzhou ""sweeping the house dust on the 27 th, saying that it is necessary to remove the residue. " Jia Qinglu by the Qing Guru. December. "Dust of Ai": "Wax will be damaged, so it is vulgar to choose a constitutional book (referring to the calendar) to sweep the house and go to court to dust, or to dust Ai on the 23rd, 24th and 27th." Cai Qingyun's poem "Wu Biao": "Everything in the thatched cottage is happy in spring, and the dust in the house is cleared away." He also quoted a tidbit at that time: "1February 24, the house was swept, and whoever did something chose to get married without a constitutional document was called silk throwing day." Another "Note on the Moon": "The 24th is the day of mowgli." "Three-body God" Taoism is called "God" for human body. According to the "Taishang Three Corpses", "The name of the corpse is Peng Shu, in the head; The name of China's body is Peng, which is in the abdomen; The name of this body is Jiao Peng, which is in the human foot. " He also said that on that day, they went to heaven to tell the emperor Chen about human sins; But as long as people stay up late, it can be avoided. This is the so-called "keeping Geng Shen"