Where does the custom of sweeping the house during the Spring Festival come from?

Where does the custom of sweeping the house during the Spring Festival come from?
When it comes to Spring Festival customs, everyone may think of various customs, such as buying New Year's goods and buying new clothes, but do you think of a custom that is easily overlooked - sweeping the dust? Do you know the origin of the custom of sweeping the dust? New Year, New Atmosphere. If you want to know more about the Lunar New Year, please pay attention to the 2018 Spring Festival special article exclusively presented to you by Fortune Teller.com!

What is the Spring Festival custom of sweeping the house?

Dust sweeping, also known as dust removal, residue removal, dusting, and beating dust, is one of the traditional customs of the Chinese Spring Festival. It originated from a religious ritual of the ancient Chinese people to drive away disease and epidemics. This ritual later evolved into the end-of-year cleaning, which embodies the Chinese working people's beautiful wishes to ward off evil and disasters and welcome good fortune. A Chinese proverb says: "On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust the house." In the north, it is called sweeping the house, while in the south, it is called dusting. Indoors and outdoors, in front of and behind the house, they are thoroughly cleaned, and clothes, bedding and utensils are washed and brushed to welcome the New Year in a clean manner. Families of all sizes prepare for the New Year. Before and after the Kitchen God worship and until New Year's Eve, there is a general cleaning. The dust accumulated in the corners, under the bed, and on the pillars and beams of the house for a year must be cleaned with a broom on this day; the metal handles on the cabinets should also be wiped clean. This is a very custom with a very ancient origin.

The Origin of the Spring Festival Custom of Sweeping Dust

The traditional custom of "dusting and sweeping the house on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to Lüshi Chunqiu, the custom of sweeping the house during the Spring Festival has existed in China since the Yao and Shun era. What is special is that when dusting, you use straw and a wooden stick longer than a person's height to make a long broom, and clean up the dust, spider webs and other dirt on the beams and corners of the house. Then they would keep the straw and light it for the men to dance the "fire dance" after the New Year's Eve dinner. According to Chinese folk saying: because "dust" and "old" are homophones, sweeping the dust during the New Year has the meaning of "getting rid of the old and welcoming the new", and its purpose is to sweep away all the "bad luck" and "bad luck". This custom embodies people's desire to break the old and establish the new and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

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