民间流传着这样的歌谣：二十三糖瓜粘，二十四写福字，二十五扫尘土，二十六割大肉，二十七杀小鸡，二十八把面发，二十九对联贴门口，三十晚上熬一宿，大年初一扭一扭。
Xiaonian (literally Minor New Year) falls on the 23rd (Northern China) and 24th (Southern China) of La Yue, the last month on the Chinese calendar, marking the start of the countdown to Chinese lunar New Year.
事实上，传统小年是在腊月二十四。南宋名臣、文学家范成大《祭灶诗》云：“古传腊月二十四，灶君朝天欲言事。云车风马小留连，家有杯盘丰典祀。”
从清朝中后期开始，帝王家于腊月二十三举行祭天大典，顺便祭拜灶王爷，因此，上行下效，北方地区百姓也提前一天在腊月二十三过小年。南方大部分地区，仍然保持着腊月二十四过小年的传统。
In ancient times like the Tang and Song dynasties, the date of 24th is set for all. It is said that in the Qing Dynasty, the emperors offered sacrifices to gods on the 23rd, and reported his annual work to them. To make it more cost-effective, the Kitchen God was also included in this day.
Because of the geographical adjacency, the northerners were influenced by the emperors' activity, and start to celebrate Xiaonian on the 23rd, while the southerners keep the old traditions.
过小年，不论南北，普遍的习俗是祭灶神和扫房子。这一天还会有“糖瓜”“麻糖”等糖果出售。鲁迅在1926年腊月《送灶日漫笔》中所写的这段文字，描绘的正是小年时候的景象：
“灶君升天的那日，街上还卖着一种糖，有柑子那么大小，在我们那里也有这东西，然而扁的，像一个厚厚的小烙饼。那就是所谓‘胶牙饧’了。本意是在请灶君吃了，粘住他的牙，使他不能调嘴学舌，对玉帝说坏话。”
民间传说里，糖瓜粘住了灶神的嘴，大家都希望他上天“多言好事”，至少别说家里的坏话。这样的传说同时也赋予了灶神爱“八卦”的人间烟火式可爱。不过，不管是糖瓜还是麻糖，其实最后都成了小孩子嘴里的甜蜜美味。
On the day of Xiaonian, people buy some sweets made of malt sugar, such as Tang Gua and Guandong candy, to sacrifice to the Kitchen God. The purpose is to make him say more good things when he reports to the Jade Emperor. In addition, it also has the intention of sticking the mouth of the Kitchen God with sugar to prevent him from saying bad things.
可见
南北小年虽相差一天
但大家在这一天都有着
同样的仪式感
和对美好生活的期盼
下面，就让我们一起学习
关于小年习俗的英文表达
👇👇
扫尘 Spring Dust
贴“灶王爷”像 Stick the picture of the Kitchen God
写对联 Write couplets
贴窗花 Stick window decorations
祭灶 Kitchen God Worshipping
洗浴理发 Bath and hair-cut
举办婚事 Wedding ceremony
怎么样？
都学会了吗？
如果在小红书上遇到“老歪”
可以多多介绍我们的年俗哦~
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来源丨中国日报双语新闻、深i她
