Can I go out on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year? What are the precautions on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?

During the Chinese New Year holiday, highways will be free for everyone to use. After the busiest first and second days of the New Year, many people choose to go out for fun on the fifth day. So can we go out on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year? What should we pay attention to on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?

Can I go out on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?

People are not allowed to go out on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. This day is commonly known as "Po Wu". Every household will be very busy, so it is best to stay at home to help with the worship, and by the way, to get some of the God of Wealth's good fortune and pray for good luck in the new year.

There are records in ancient books. "Yanjing Sui Shi Ji" says: The fifth day of the lunar month is called "Po Wu". During "Po Wu", raw rice cannot be used for cooking and women are not allowed to go out. On the sixth day, princesses, noble ladies, eunuchs and others came and went in their attire and congratulated each other. Newly married women also returned home on the same day, and merchants gradually resumed their trade.

On the other hand, it is said that the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the day to "send away the five poverty", which refer to poverty of wisdom, poverty of learning, poverty of life, poverty of literature and poverty of communication. The morning of this day is the best time to pray for good luck and health, and every household will start setting off firecrackers to drive away bad luck and "poor ghosts". Therefore, some places believe that it is not appropriate to go out or visit relatives and friends on this day. If you do so, you will bring bad luck to others.

What are the precautions for the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?

1. Avoid changing or washing clothes and quilts

According to the old saying, changing or washing clothes and quilts in the first month of the lunar year is unlucky.

2. Avoid funerals

In some places, it is customary to avoid funerals in the first month of the lunar year. If you encounter this, it is considered unlucky, indicating that disaster will befall you within the year. However, in some places, funerals are considered auspicious because "coffin" (coffin) and "official" (official) are homophones, and "material" (material) and "wealth" (wealth) are homophones, so they can bring good luck, which means promotion or getting rich.

3. Avoid shaving your head

In the old days, it was taboo to shave your head in the first month of the lunar calendar. It is said that shaving one's head will hurt one's uncle. According to old local chronicles, the Qing Dynasty issued an edict to shave the hair, which was implemented in the first month of the fourth year of Shunzhi, and the Ming Dynasty system was changed. When people shave their heads, they think of their old kings, so it is called "thinking of the past." It has been passed down for a long time and was mistakenly written as "dead uncle".