Another name for Xiaonian is Zao Zao.

The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month every year is our Little New Year, also known as the Kitchen God Festival, Kitchen God Festival, and Kitchen God Festival. So, what is the origin of Xiaonian? Let’s do some scientific research together.

Origin of Xiaonian

Appear

Xiaonian is a traditional day for worshiping the Kitchen God among the Han people. The custom of worshiping the Kitchen God has a long history, and as early as the Xia Dynasty he had already become a great god revered by the people. It is recorded in "The Analects of Confucius" that "It is better to flatter the kitchen than to flatter the emperor." In the Pre-Qin period, people would set up a god's tablet when offering sacrifices to the kitchen god and use rich wine and food as sacrifices. You have to display the tripods and sacrificial vessels, set up the bamboo baskets and bowls, welcome the corpse, etc. It bears obvious traces of primitive fetishism.

date

There were different opinions about the date of Kitchen God worship in ancient times. For example, in some places it is the first month, fourth month, fifth month, eighth month, twelfth month and so on. However, regarding the date of the Little New Year, perhaps for the sake of simplicity and unification, and to make it easier to remember and practice, the tradition of the Kitchen God reporting to the Heaven once a month evolved into reporting once a year. And the time is fixed on the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month. This day has become a traditional festival to worship the Kitchen God. The date of the 2017 Little New Year is: January 20, 2017, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which is Friday.