What are the customs of the leap fourth month?
The leap fourth month has no specific customs, but there are two relatively famous local customs.1. Leap Month Meal
In the Fujian region, there is a custom called "Leap Month Meal", also known as "Six Relatives Meal". This means that during every leap year and leap month, parents and siblings must invite their daughters and sisters back home for a meal. When the parents are alive, the parents invite their married daughters back home. If the parents have passed away, the brothers invite their married sisters back to have a "Leap Month Meal".In the traditional cultural customs of the Hakka people, the "Leap Month Meal" refers to the meal that an unmarried daughter brings to her mother during the leap month. Elders say that this tradition originated from the famine period when food was scarce. In those difficult times, the leap month meant an extra month, making the food even more insufficient. Daughters were worried about their mothers starving, so they would borrow food just to bring a meal to their mothers during the leap month. Of course, this is mainly to promote the filial piety of daughters. In reality, a single meal brought by a daughter can't really solve any practical problems. It's better to say that this "Leap Month Meal" is a traditional culture, rather than just a mere act of filial piety.
2. Leap Month Shoes
The "Leap Month Shoes" is a folk custom in China. During the lunar leap year or leap month, children should buy a pair of shoes for their parents to express gratitude for their upbringing and to wish them good health and safety. Some areas have the custom that during the leap month, the married daughter should buy a pair of shoes for her mother. The "Leap Month Shoes" must be worn in the previous month to be effective. In 2009, which was the lunar leap fifth month, smart merchants launched the "Filial Piety Card" and "Warmth Card" in advance to attract customers, and women's shoes sold well everywhere. "Leap month, leap shoes, leap month elders live for a thousand years." According to folklore, during the leap year and leap month, children should buy a pair of shoes for their parents to express gratitude for their upbringing and to wish them good health and safety.Another explanation says that giving leap month shoes is a traditional Chinese custom of respecting the elderly. In the past, people were poor and had no shoes, working barefoot, causing foot wounds and bleeding. When the traveling sons and daughters returned home during the leap year, they would buy a pair of cloth shoes for the elderly as a sign of filial piety.
"Leap year, stay with mother year," the leap month shoes must be worn in the previous month to be effective.
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