The 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in 2022 falls on January 30 (Sunday). The twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month, as the saying goes, put on decorations on twenty-eight. As the New Year is approaching, people have cleaned their houses and started preparing food.
According to tradition, everyone will make sure that all the New Year decorations are in place by today. “Hua Hua” in the common saying refers to all forms of Chinese New Year decorations. People will stick the Spring Festival couplets at the very top. In addition to the window grilles on the windows, many people like the New Year pictures, like the door god poster in the picture above. In Chinese religion, a door god holding a spear is attached to each of the two doors to prevent ghosts from town.
Also, in some regions, people make New Year’s pastries today. In the past, social development was low, and other foods will be rotten easily when prepared a few days in advance. Only the noodles will not be rotten easily, so the noodles were made on the 28th day, to welcome the arrival of the Chinese New Year. This is also why the old tradition that steamed buns should not be steamed during the period from the first to the fifth day of the new year.
Then, on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the ancestors of the local people were old landlords, and the hired servants had to go back to their homes for Chinese New Year before the 30th, so the old landlord’s house had no servants to serve on the 30th night. Go to the twenty-eighth Chinese New Year in advance, let the servants serve the New Year’s dinner, and then send the servants home after dawn with wages and goods. Because of the inconvenience of transportation in ancient times, servants leave in the morning and usually arrive home in the evening.
Although there are no landlords today, in order to celebrate the festivity, the local people still keep the tradition of celebrating the 28th lunar month, and of course the 30th lunar month. Today, the 28th Chinese New Year on the twelfth lunar month has gradually become a year of reunion for the local people.
The twenty-eighth year of the twelfth lunar month is a year of great reunion. Generally, uncles, aunts, daughters, sons-in-law, cousins, and sisters-in-law from other places get together for a reunion dinner. They all have dinner at 5 or 6 in the morning on the twenty-eighth. Eat until dawn before leaving the table. New Year’s Eve in the year of small reunion where the family reunites.
