What is rooster day?

December 27th of the lunar calendar is a festival in China traditional culture, also known as "Year of the Rooster". On this day, people will sacrifice ancestors and commemorate this festival through the ceremony of killing Nian chicken.

The ceremony of killing Nian chicken means that on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, people will kill a chicken and paint its blood on the door to ward off evil spirits. The origin of this ceremony can be traced back to ancient farming culture. In ancient times, farmers relied on the predictive ability of chickens to predict the weather, so chickens played an important role in farming. The ceremony of killing Nian Chicken is to commemorate this festival and pay tribute to the chicken.

In addition, the ceremony of killing Nian Chicken has another meaning to commemorate Yu, a legendary figure in ancient mythology. Yu is a famous figure in ancient myths and legends of China, and is considered as the first emperor in the history of China. According to legend, Yu used the prophetic ability of chicken to help him control water, so chicken has a special position in China culture. Therefore, the ceremony of killing Nian chicken is also considered as a way to pay tribute to Yu.

However, this kind of ceremony is no longer popular in modern times, and not every place has such a custom. Modern people usually celebrate this festival by eating Nian Chicken instead of killing Nian Chicken. However, this custom still exists in some traditional rural areas.