Past years - Kanen

...This is because it celebrates the time when the world surrounding the human world changes from death to life. As the Spring Festival is also called "Guo Nian," it also has the aspect of a New Year's Eve event, so in old China, preparations for the New Year began before or after the "Ci Jiao" ceremony, in which the hearth god is sent to heaven on December 24th (23rd in the north). New Year's pictures, spring couplets, and door gods are replaced, a thorough cleaning is done, and rice cakes called "nian gao" are made in the south and dumplings are made in the north. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "past years" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…それは，これが人間界を取りまく世界が死から生へと転じる時節を祝うものであるからである。春節は〈過年〉ともいわれるように，年越しの行事の側面もあるので，旧中国では12月24日(北方では23日)に竈神（かまどがみ）を天に送る〈辞竈〉の行事前後から，新年を迎える準備が始められる。年画，春聯，門神などを張り替え，大掃除をし，南方では〈年糕〉という餅（もち）や，北方では餃子（ギヨーザ）を作ったりする。…

※「過年」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報