Why can't we visit relatives on the third day of the first lunar month? When to visit relatives during the Spring Festival

Among the traditional Spring Festival customs, one is that you cannot go out to visit relatives on the third day of the first lunar month. Although this traditional concept has gradually faded nowadays, we can still understand its significance through the reasons and stories behind it.

Why can't we visit relatives on the third day of the first lunar month?

The third day of the first lunar month is the Red Dog Day, which is an unlucky day, so it is not suitable to go out to visit relatives.
The third day of the Chinese New Year is also known as "Red Dog Day" and it is an unlucky day to avoid New Year's greetings. Red Dog is an angry god and encountering it will bring misfortune. Therefore, people usually stay at home on this day to avoid encountering evil spirits. Therefore, it is not advisable to go out or pay New Year's greetings, whether to relatives or friends' homes. If anything bad happens to this family in the future, they will blame you for the rest of their lives. Of course, this also depends on local customs. For example, in some places in Jiangxi, the first day is for sons, the second day is for husbands, and the third and fourth days are for visiting all directions. That is, on the first day, one should go to one's parents' home, on the second day, one should go to one's father-in-law's home, and on the third and fourth days, one should go out to wish others a happy new year. However, if a family member has passed away that year, one cannot go to wish others a happy new year, nor accept others' greetings.

Spring Festival visiting relatives time

Each region has different requirements. The 28th day of the twelfth lunar month before the New Year and the second day of the New Year after the New Year are often chosen .
When visiting relatives, people usually follow the custom and get up early and leave early. This is an old custom that has been passed down for generations. Go before noon to show respect to others and give people a serious feeling. I guess it has something to do with the inconvenient transportation in the old days. At that time, everyone had to walk. It was a distance of 10 to 20 miles, and it would take more than two hours, so it would be impossible to arrive by noon. If you go to eat, lunch will have already passed and your relatives will have to prepare food for you, which is quite troublesome. However, for elders, it is more in line with etiquette to go in the morning and have lunch at the relative's house at the end, which shows the seriousness of the matter and makes people naturally happy.