小年被视为“忙年”的开始
预示着即将到来的春节庆祝活动
人们开始置办年货、扫尘、祭灶等
准备干干净净过个好年
The Kitchen God Festival is referred to as “小年”[xiǎo nián] (literally meaning little new year) and considered the beginning of the busy New Year celebration.
People usually set about purchasing new year gifts, cleaning up the house, worshiping the Kitchen God, etc., and getting everything ready for the coming New Year.
由于地域不同，各地拥有不同的风俗
对于小年的具体日期，也众说纷纭
北方认为是腊月廿三，南方认为是腊月廿四
江浙沪地区则把除夕前一天也看作小年
The customs vary in different regions and there’s still debate on the exact date of 小年[xiǎo nián] .
People from the North regard the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month as 小年[xiǎo nián] while people from the South recognize the 24th of the twelfth lunar month as the official day.
Nevertheless, in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the day before the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve was taken as 小年[xiǎo nián] .
小年，是中国汉族民间祭灶的日子
因此也被称为祀灶日或者灶王节
这个习俗，源于古人拜火习俗
在中国民间已经有几千年的历史了
小年[xiǎo nián] is also the time for worshiping the Kitchen God, hence its English translation.
With thousands of years of history, the custom stems from the fire worship in ancient China.
传说灶神是非常重要的居家神明
平日里执掌灶火，管理饮食
在小年夜上天向玉皇大帝禀报人间善恶
因此受到老百姓的顶礼膜拜
大家都希望灶神能够多说好话
也寄托着人们消灾迎福的美好愿望
The Kitchen God is said to be in charge of the stove and the people’s diet and reports to the Yuhuang Emperor in the heaven about human behavior.
Everyone hopes that the Kitchen God will say a good word in their favor so and therefore, the Kitchen God always gets the highest level of reception, indicating our wishes for good luck.
扫尘也是小年的重要习俗之一
原本是先民驱疫鬼，祈安康的宗教仪式
后来由于“尘”与“陈”谐音
也就有了辞旧迎新的意味
One of the important customs is “dust sweeping”, which used to be a ritual ceremony for keeping away evil spirits and praying for good luck.
In Chinese language, “dust” has the same pronunciation with “past” so the custom also embodies the significance of “saying goodbye to the past and welcoming the new”.
除了祭灶，扫尘
贴春联和窗花也是春节前夕需要准备的
昨天，六悦体验官们在匾额馆
一起进行了写对联和剪窗花的活动
将喜庆的年味带回家
In addition to worshiping the Kitchen God and Sweeping dust, posting couplets and paper-cuts for window decoration is also necessary for the New Year preparation.
Yesterday, our experience card members participated in the activity of writing couplets and paper-cutting for window decoration, and everyone brought home great joy and expectations for the New Year.