Prepping for Preliminary New Year, a Brief Primer on Xiaonian

Today, Jan 25, which this year marks the 23rd day on the last month of the Lunar Calendar, is 小年 Xiǎonián. Roughly translating to Little New Year or Preliminary New Year, you can think of the auspicious day as something of final preparations before the big event – Lunar New Year.

Celebrated in North and South China on different days – the south does it one day after us – it’s a time in which, according to ancient tradition, the Kitchen God returns to the Jade Emperor to report on the deeds of families. Those with solid marks can expect to enjoy good fortune in the coming year, whereas those with bad reports won't be so lucky.

In order to get a bit more good fortune, families can “bribe” the Kitchen God with fruits, wine, sweets, and other treats, the idea being that he’ll put in a good word for them.

That’s not the only thing that happens on this day, though. Another means of acquiring good luck for the year ahead – and maybe scoring extra brownie points with the Kitchen God – is sweeping up.

This house cleaning, which to me seems like the Chinese equivalent of Spring Cleaning, is as simple as it gets. It’s all about sweeping away the dust accumulated from the previous year, thus sweeping away all the bad mojo it carries with it.

Here’s the kicker though: After sweeping up on Xiaonian, you can’t sweep again until after 正月 Zhēngyuè – aka New Year Month or First Month – which lasts ‘til around Lantern Festival. Why? Well, the dust laying around since the Xiaonian cleanup is new luck, so sweeping it away means losing said luck!

Have you ever swept the house on Xiaonian? Is it something you’d consider picking up? Let us know in the comments!

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Images: CGTN America, Wikipedia, China Daily