小年最重要的习俗就是“祭灶”了。
The most important customs of the Minor Spring Festival is ‘Ji Zao’.
神话传说里，生活在灶底的神仙，“灶王爷”，会在小年这一天上天庭汇报人间事项。
According to traditional mythology, ‘Zao Wang Ye’, who is a god living under cooking stoves, will visit the Palace in Heaven and report on affairs on earth on Minor Spring Festival.
所以人们会“祭灶”，给灶王爷献上好吃的，请他在玉帝面前多多美言，保佑来年平安。
Therefore, people will ‘Ji Zao’ and offers delicacies to Zao Wang Ye, so that he can send good words to Emperor Yu in Heaven, who will guarantee prosperity of the next year.
人们还会揭下就得灶神像，请回一幅新的。
People would also peel off the old portrait of the God of Zao and welcome home a new one.
不过，现代社会中很多人不那么相信神话传说，灶神相关的习俗也越来越少了。
In modern society, many people do not believe in mythologies. There are fewer and fewer customs relating to the God of Zao.
但是，大部分人还是保留了除尘、沐浴理发、贴窗花这些更接近生活，也更美观的习俗。
However, most people still preserve customs such as house cleaning, showering, hairdressing, pasting paper-cut arts on windows, which not only are closer to life, but also beautify you and your house.
仪式不那么重要，求个心安就好。
Rituals are not so important, it is the peace of our mind that matters.
Keywords:
祭灶（jìzào）祭means offer up a sacrifice to divine beings. 灶 means cooking stoves. 祭灶 is the ritual where you offer delicacies to the God living under cooking stoves
神话（shénhuà）mythology, stories regarding gods
传说（chuánshuō）legend
神仙（shénxiān）god
天庭（tiāntíng）paradise in heaven
多多美言（duōduōměiyán）在（zài）sb. 前（qián）多多美言means say more kind words in front of sb. This term is often used as pleasantry in the workplace.
灶神像（zàoshénxiàng）portrait of the god of the stoves
贴窗花（tiēchuānghuā）贴means paste, 窗花directly translate to window flower, refer to the paper-cut art that is frequently pasting onto windows during Spring Festival