What are the customs on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year? What is the origin of the Po Wu Festival?

When the Chinese New Year comes, the most important thing is to post couplets and set off firecrackers, but in addition to that, there are many customs and rules to abide by. So what are the customs on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year? What is the origin of Po Wu Festival?

What are the customs on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?

1. Pinch the villain's mouth

Pinching the villain's mouth means making dumplings. When making dumplings, you need to put the dumpling filling on the dumpling and pinch the dumpling skin tightly one by one, commonly known as "pinching the villain's mouth". Moreover, when preparing the dumpling filling, usually meat filling is used today, and the filling needs to be chopped hard and make a noise, commonly known as "chopping the villain". In fact, whether it is "pinching the villain's mouth" or "chopping the villain", it all means to stay away from villains, stay close to noble people, have no bad people do bad things, and have everything go smoothly and as expected.

2. Send away the poor ghost

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, taboos are broken and people are busy sending away the ghost of poverty, also known as driving away the five poor things. In the past, the so-called "five kinds of poverty" referred to "poor in intelligence, poor in learning, poor in literature, poor in fate, and poor in relationships", commonly known as poor ghosts. Early in the morning, people are busy setting off firecrackers to drive away the ghost of poverty. Usually, people play the music from home to outside to see whose house is the loudest, and to drive away the god of poverty completely.

3. Welcome the God of Wealth

Legend has it that the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so on this day, every family will open the doors and windows, burn incense, set off firecrackers, and light fireworks to welcome the God of Wealth, hoping that the whole year will be smooth and prosperous.

4. Sweep the house

There is a custom of sweeping the house on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, which means giving the house a thorough cleaning. Because from the 30th day of the 12th lunar month to the 5th day of the 1st lunar month, cleaning is generally not allowed. The floor can only be swept inside the house and the garbage can only be placed in the corner of the house. On the fifth day of the New Year, the garbage can be swept out of the house.

What is the origin of Po Wu Festival?

The origin of "Po Wu" comes from an ancient legend:

Legend has it that during the reign of King Xia, the country enjoyed peace and prosperity, and people lived and worked in peace and contentment, with ample food and clothing. They lived a very good life. But later, after who knows how many years or which dynasty, the world fell into chaos. Sometimes it is dry, sometimes it is flooded, sometimes there is strong wind, and sometimes it rains heavily.

Some people became poor, some became rich, some became wealthy, and some became slaves. The Jade Emperor sent Maitreya Buddha to manage people's food, clothing, housing and transportation. The first thing Maitreya Buddha did when he arrived was to let people have a happy new year, eating well, wearing good clothes and not having to work. So, people followed his wishes and went to the market to buy New Year's goods and got busy. Maitreya Buddha also made specific regulations: on the 24th, sweep the house; on the 25th, grind tofu; on the 26th, steam buns; on the 27th, go shopping; on the 28th, kill the pig; on the 29th, make rice wine; on the 30th, eat dumplings. At the same time, all the gods should be invited, and incense, foil, and paper ingots should be prepared. On the first day of the New Year, every family gets up early, sets off firecrackers, dresses neatly, congratulates each other, and eats, drinks and has fun. At the same time, people also visit relatives and friends and go to the graves to pay homage to their ancestors.

In this way, the world will truly be peaceful. The Jade Emperor parted the clouds and looked down at the human world. It was a joyous scene and he was naturally happy. A few days passed like this, and on the fifth day, just as the sky was getting light, there was a sudden noise. It turned out to be Jiang Taigong’s wife (people called her the dirty god, in charge of toilets and excrement) who was arguing with the big-bellied Maitreya Buddha.

It turned out that on New Year's Eve, when people invited the gods, they forgot about the dirty god. She was so angry that she went to make trouble with Maitreya Buddha. Maitreya Buddha had a smile on his face but did not say a word. This dirty guy was so angry that he beat his chest and stamped his feet, and smoke came out of his seven orifices. Seeing that the matter was about to get out of hand, Maitreya Buddha spoke up and said, "How about this! Today is the fifth day of the first lunar month. Let people light a few more cannons for you, make some dumplings for you, and spend some money for you!"