小年【英文中字幕】Chinese Little New Year Festival

The 23rd day of the lunar calendar inDecember, also known as Xiao Nian or traditional Chinese Little New YearFestival. 

农历腊月二十三，过小年。

Xiao Nian, also known as the Festival ofStove God or Dust Sweeping Day, involves customs such as cleaning, worshiping the Stove God, and eating stove candies. Itsignifies that people are starting to prepare for the upcoming new year,symbolizing a fresh start, getting rid of the old, and welcoming the new. Thecustom of worshiping the Stove God dates back to at least 4,000 years agoduring the Xia Dynasty. The Stove God has always been revered by the people. 

小年，也叫祭灶节，还叫扫尘日。小年的民俗活动有扫尘、祭灶、吃灶糖等，这一天意味着人们要开始准备年货了，表示新年要有新气象，除旧迎新、迎祥纳福的意思。小年的祭灶风俗至少始于4000年前的夏朝，灶君一直是民间敬奉的神仙。

Aside from overseeing people’s food and grantingconvenience in daily life, another important duty of the Stove God is to besent by the Jade Emperor to observe and assess the virtues and vices of afamily. The Stove God keeps a record of a family’s behavior and reports it tothe Jade Emperor on the December 24th of the lunar calendar, known as “leavingthe stove.” Therefore, every household must “send off the Stove God.”

除了因掌管人们饮食，赐于生活上的便利外，灶神的另一个重要职责，是受玉皇大帝派遣到人间考察一家善恶。灶神会随时将一家人的行为记录下来，每年腊月二十四那天离开人间上天向玉皇大帝禀报一家人这一年来所作所为，又称“辞灶”，所以家家户户都要“送灶神”。

The offerings for the Stove God usuallyconsist of sweet and sticky items like candy melons made by malt sugar,glutinous rice balls, etc. The purpose of these sticky and sweet items is toseal the Stove God’s mouth so that he will speak favorably of the family inheaven. The fortunes and misfortunes of the family in the coming year depend onthe Stove God’s annual report. As the saying goes, “The Stove God speaks goodthings in heaven and brings good luck to the mortal world.”

Therefore, on the 23rd day of the lunar calendar in December, everyone eats sweet and sticky candies to ensure that the stove god speaks positively of us and prays for blessings and protection in the coming new year.

送灶神的供品一般都用一些又甜又黏的东西如糖瓜、汤圆、麦芽糖等，总之，用这些又黏又甜的东西，目的是要塞灶神的嘴巴，好让灶神在天上多言好话，因为来年这家人的祸福吉凶取决于灶王爷的年终汇报。也就是民间说的，灶王爷“上天言好事，下界降吉祥”。

所以，腊月二十三这一天，大家都要吃又甜又粘的糖，好让灶王爷为我们多多美言，祈求来年降福免灾。