【小知识】春节习俗(1)——除尘 House Cleaning

春节还有不到一个月就要来了!我们来一起学习春节的各种习俗吧!

CNY is less than a month away! Let’s learn the various customs of the Spring Festival.

““除尘”就是打扫房屋。这个传统可以追溯到几千年前。按照习俗,除尘的日期一般是农历腊月廿四日,也是今年的公历1月29日。

‘chuchen’ means house cleaning. This ritual can be traced back thousands of years ago. According to the ritual, house cleaning usually takes place on 24th Dec of the Agricultural calendar, which falls on 29th Jan this year.

在新年前,各家各户会进行大扫除,把房间的每个角落彻底地打扫得干干净净。

Before CNY, every family will do a thorough cleaning, do not leave any corner unattended.

“尘”与“陈”谐音,于是“灰尘”象征着陈旧的东西,打扫房屋、清除灰尘便意味着“辞旧迎新”。把一切晦气的东西赶出家门,好把好运迎进家门。

‘chen’ sounds like ‘chen’, hence ‘huichen’ symbols old items. Therefore, house cleaning and clears out the dust means ‘cijiuyingxin(say goodbye to the old and welcomes the new’. Chasing out the bad luck so that the house will have room for good luck.

Keywords:

习俗(xísú)custom, ritual

除尘(chúchén)house cleaning. 除 means get rid of sth. 尘is dirt and dusk.

大扫除(dàsǎochú)thorough cleaning. 大is big. 扫除means the action of cleaning

干干净净(gāngānjìngjìng)this is a reduplication form of 干净, both means sth. is very clean

陈旧(chénjiù)old, ancient

辞旧迎新(cíjiùyíngxīn)say goodbye to the old and welcomes the new

晦气(huìqì)adj. unlucky. n. bad luck

好运(hǎoyùn)good luck