The origin of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year What are the customs of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year

The God of Wealth is an important figure among Chinese folk and a symbol of wealth. Every Spring Festival, every household welcomes the God of Wealth to wish for prosperity in the coming year. So what is the origin of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and what are the customs of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day?

The Origin of Welcoming the God of Wealth on the Fifth Day of the Lunar New Year

Welcoming the God of Wealth is an ancient custom during the Spring Festival of the Han Chinese people. According to Han folklore, the fifth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, and is also considered the God of Wealth Festival.

There are many folk theories about why the fifth day of the Lunar New Year becomes the birthday of the God of Wealth, but there are two main ones: one is that Cai Jing of the Song Dynasty was very wealthy; the other is that it is related to Wang Yuanbao. Wang Yuanbao, who lived during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, was a wealthy man who made his fortune by trafficking in colored glaze. Many of Wang Yuanbao's life habits, such as worshiping the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month, had a great influence on his contemporaries, and had an even more profound impact on the customs and folkways of later generations. The custom of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month has been passed down to this day.

In Qing Dynasty Gu Tieqing's "Qing Jia Lu", a bamboo poem by Cai Yun was quoted, which described the situation of Suzhou people welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month: "Seek wealth on the fifth day, and a year's wish will be fulfilled at once; beware of other places welcoming the gods early, and hurriedly embrace the road head the night before." The "embrace the road head" here means "welcoming the God of Wealth"; and the merchants who believe in Guan Yu, the Holy Lord, will offer sacrifices to Guan Gong, set off firecrackers, burn gold paper to worship him on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and pray to Guan Yu to bless them with good fortune in the year.

Although "welcoming the God of Wealth" on the fifth day of the first lunar month is only a widely popular custom among the Han people, it does reflect people's traditional desire to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, to send away the poverty and hardship of the past and to welcome a better life in the new year.

What are the rules for welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month?

1. Don’t disturb the ground

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the old folk custom is that it is not advisable to do anything, otherwise you may suffer financial losses. It is forbidden to do any earth-moving work on this day, otherwise disasters may occur. Also, you should avoid eating lotus root and combing your hair. Although these are traditional customs left by the older generation, it turns out that they are all superstitions.

2. Don’t visit other people’s homes

According to the older generation, not visiting neighbors on the fifth day of the New Year is to avoid meeting the God of Poverty. But now, except for some older people who pay attention to these, most young people don’t care about these superstitious beliefs.

3. Worship the God of Wealth

Many areas in the north and south have the tradition of worshiping the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month. People also call the God of Wealth the "Five-Road God", that is, the household god, the kitchen god, the land god, the door god, and the travel god. The five roads refer to the east, south, west, north, and center, which means that you can make money by going out of any of the five roads. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, people will open doors and windows early, light incense and set off firecrackers to welcome the God of Wealth.

4. Send away the God of Poverty

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, people not only welcome the God of Wealth, but also send away the "God of Poverty". This is also a very distinctive custom in my country. In many places, it is also called "sending away the five poor", "driving away the five poor", or "sending away poor clothes", which means sending away the God of Poverty so that the family can gather wealth. There are many ways to send away poverty. The simplest way is to find a place with a pit in the yard and set off firecrackers in it, which means to blow up the "poverty pit". In fact, sending away poverty is not just a custom, it also reflects people's mood of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, sending away poverty and welcoming a better life in the new year.

5. Set off firecrackers

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, every household will get up early to set off firecrackers, and they will set them off while walking out the door, meaning to drive out all the unlucky things in the house. I remember that when I was a child, the firecrackers on the night of the 30th and the morning of the 5th were all given to me to make. I seldom set off firecrackers when I grow up, but I will still be woken up by the sound of firecrackers on the fifth day of the New Year.

6. Eat dumplings

In many places, there is a custom of eating dumplings on the fifth day of the New Year. It is commonly known as "pinching the villain's mouth" among the people. It is said that this can prevent the villains around you from talking nonsense. When making dumplings, people will put coins, candied dates, etc. in the dumplings, which means that good luck and wealth will come early. In addition, on this day, people have to find a few old clothes and take them apart, which means "taking apart the villain."

7. Sweep the house

As soon as the fifth day of the Lunar New Year comes, people get up to set off firecrackers and clean the house. Every house must be cleaned thoroughly and there must not be any garbage in the house. Because there is a custom that from the night of the 30th to the fourth day of the New Year, the house cannot be swept or trashed, because people are afraid of throwing away the "blessings", so they wait until the fifth day to clean the house thoroughly. Finally, putting a firecracker on the garbage means driving away all the bad luck.