What is the festival on the sixth day of the first lunar month? Do you know what the sixth day of the first lunar month is?

The sixth day of the Lunar New Year is a day of joy and sadness for working people. Some people go out early. So what festival is on the sixth day of the first lunar month?

What festival is on the sixth day of the first lunar month?

The sixth day of the first lunar month is also known as Horse Day. Sending away poverty is a unique Chinese folk custom. Different parts of China have their own ways of sending away poverty, and each one is different. But the meaning is basically the same, which is to send away the poor ghost. It reflects the traditional mentality of the Chinese people who generally hope to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, to bid farewell to the poverty and hardship of the past and to welcome a better life in the new year.

Folk customs on the sixth day of the first lunar month

Fertilizer

The sixth day is the Horse Day, known as Yifei in ancient times. People really start working or doing business on this day. Since the beginning of the first lunar month, the toilet cannot be cleaned until the fifth day, and the feces accumulate in the toilet. So on this day, a major cleaning is done to clean the usually dirty toilet. That’s why it’s called “挹肥” (but nowadays most families use new bathroom equipment, so this custom no longer exists). This day also represents the day when the working people in old China began to go to the fields to prepare for spring ploughing.

Send away poverty

The sixth day of the first lunar month is the horse, which means sending away the poor ghost. Legend has it that the Goddess of Poverty was Jiang Ziya's wife. In order to prevent the Goddess of Poverty from entering their homes during the Spring Festival, people hang red notes on their doors to ward off her. At some point, Beijing's God of Poverty became a male and became the god worshipped by porters. On this day, housewives of the house have to throw out the garbage accumulated during the festival, which is called sending away the ghost of poverty. The hanging notes on the door can also be taken down and thrown out at the same time, which is called sending away the god of poverty.

The most popular people on this day are boys who turn 12 years old that year. 12 is twice 6, which can be called a lucky number. On this day, every household has to throw out the garbage accumulated during the festival, which is called sending away the ghost of poverty.

"Sending away poverty" on the sixth day of the first lunar month is a very distinctive seasonal custom among the ancient Chinese people. The meaning is to offer sacrifices to the poor ghost (the god of poverty), also known as the "poor son".

Good luck in opening the market

On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, shops and restaurants officially open for business, and firecrackers are set off, just as loudly as on New Year's Eve. The sixth day of the first lunar month was the day when all businesses, big and small, would "open for business" in the old days, and a big red couplet with the words "Good luck in opening the business, and everything will go well" would be posted on the door panels. Firecrackers are set off before opening to bring good luck.