The sixth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is also called Horse Day. On this day, people are sending the poor away.
There are also different ways of sending the poor all over China. But the meaning is the same, it is to send the poor ghost away. It reflects the traditional psychology of the Chinese people who generally hope to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, to bid farewell to the poverty and hardships of the old days, and to welcome a better life in the new year.
The traditional view is that the first day of the first month is the chicken day, the second day is the dog day, the third day is the pig day, the fourth day is the sheep day, the fifth day is the cow day, the sixth day is the horse day, and the seventh day is the human day. In Chinese folklore, this is because when Nuwa created all living beings, she created the six animals first and then the human beings. Therefore, the first to the sixth day of the first lunar month is the day of the six animals.
People start work or do business on this day. Since the beginning of the first lunar month, the toilet cannot be cleaned until the fifth day of the first lunar month, and the feces in the toilet have accumulated, so on this day, a major cleaning is done, and the toilet gods are worshipped to clean up the toilet that is usually dirty. This day also means that farmers in the old days began to leave the fields on this day to prepare for spring ploughing.
Stepping into the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, everything will return to normal, the store will open and work as usual. Before opening the door, firecrackers are often set off, the number of which lasts as long as the situation on New Year’s Eve. Residents will also pick up their aunts and go back to their parents’ home for the Chinese New Year on the same day, and they will return on the same day.
