Why do people buy salt at the beginning of the year and buy lime at the end of the year?

At the beginning of the year, when buying salt, at the end of the year, buying lime was one of the traditions in our people. But why is that?

Beginning of the year to buy salt at the end of the year, buying lime is followed and inherited for many years in our people with the aim of wishing good luck and smoothness to the family. But why is it, where does it come from?

Why is this idiom there?

a. At the end of the year buy lime

Previously, lime played an important role in every Vietnamese family, it used to whitewash the house after a long year of wind and storm, it was also used to eat with betel nuts or spread evenly in four corners of the house. in order to ward off evil things.

ArtworkSource: Baodautu.

In addition, the old Vietnamese were also very interested in and attention to the use of words, they conceived that white lime could symbolize the coldness and coldness in relationships (like the sentence: Silver like lime ).

So when the old year ends, buy lime to prepare the house, use it every day, early next year will avoid this, which means the concept of avoiding the misery in the whole year.

b. Early in the year to buy salt

In contrast, the purchase of salt at the beginning of the year is equally important in the lives of the ancients. According to the previous concept, salt represents the salty, passionate, warm feelings in family and loved relationships.

At the beginning of the year, buying salt is also an act to pray for the family to be warm, harmonious and passionate for the whole year between grandparents, parents and descendants or between brothers and sisters.

Not only in that sense, salt is also considered to be able to bring luck to people, remove the blackness and malice of the old year, chase bad things. Therefore, buying salt at the beginning of the year is also to make a new year full, lucky, unaffected by the blackness of the old year.

Illustration

Because of that, in the past, walking salt sellers were always filled with salt bowls with tops, not just deceiving the bowl with the hope that emotions could be so full.

In addition, the white color of salt also represents pure, pure. It can be seen that it is only a small spice, not heavy in economic but has a great cultural significance.

c. Other layers of meaning

In fact, most of the idioms and proverbs of the ancients have many meanings, the more we learn, the more profound it is.

In the context of the phrase "At the beginning of the year when buying salt, buying lime at the end of the year", the ancients still implicitly sent a different meaning, a reminder for their children, and at the beginning of the year, they should live economically and sparingly, then at the end of the year, they could building houses (buying lime often represents building or repairing houses).

So until today, the purchase of salt at the beginning of the year is still preserved and valued. Even inside there are many street vendors or small shops selling small salt bags to get some spring buds.