The Chinese New Year is the most important festival for the Tujia and Miao people. They celebrate the New Year one day earlier than the Han people, so it is called "Guo Gan Nian". If the twelfth lunar month is long, the New Year is celebrated on the 29th, and if the twelfth lunar month is short, the New Year is celebrated on the 28th. "Busy fields in spring, busy New Year in twelfth lunar month" is an old rule passed down by the Tujia and Miao people for thousands of years. When the twelfth lunar month arrives, every household will kill the New Year pig, make glutinous rice cakes, grind bean skin, cook sweet wine, go to the market to buy New Year goods, etc. On the day of the New Year, every household must clean the house inside and outside, post Spring Festival couplets, eat reunion dinner, set off firecrackers, and everyone will take a bath and change into new clothes. In the evening, the family sits by the fire pit to roast the big fire and stay up all night, and the children wait for the elders to give them New Year's money. At midnight, when the glutinous rice cakes are made, each family will set off firecrackers, which is called "going out to the sky". Starting from the second day of the first lunar month, people would bring glutinous rice cakes, noodles, white wine, bacon or pig's feet to visit relatives to wish them a happy new year. Generally speaking, the New Year's greetings should be completed before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Legends of celebrating the New Year (I) During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the chieftain of Huguang was ordered to fight against the Japanese pirates and led his soldiers to fight on the front line of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Once, at the end of the year, it was expected that the Japanese pirates might take advantage of our army's unpreparedness during the New Year and launch a surprise attack. So our side celebrated the New Year one day in advance, prepared for the battle, and waited for it. On the 30th day, the Japanese pirates really attacked our army in a big way. We suddenly counterattacked the enemy and defeated them. From then on, the Tujia people celebrated the New Year one day in advance to commemorate the great achievements of their ancestors. (II) In a battle, our side celebrated the New Year one day in advance and launched a surprise attack on the enemy on the New Year's day. When the enemy was unprepared, we defeated them. Therefore, in order to commemorate this day, the descendants later celebrated the New Year in advance. There were two other story plots in this battle, which also enriched the content of the New Year. First, during the New Year, no guests were allowed to come, because if outsiders came, they were afraid that the news would leak out, which became a reason for celebrating the New Year earlier. Second, before this battle, someone made a plan to make straw sandals more than one foot long and throw them on the roadside, and to build bamboo tubes with rice husks, yellow mud, and vegetable leaves and throw them on the roadside. After the enemy found out, they thought that the opponent had long legs and a tall body, and it was difficult to defeat them, so they lost confidence. In addition, they were suddenly attacked during the New Year on the night of the 30th, which led to their defeat. In order to commemorate this victory, the Tusi not only did not allow any guests to come during the New Year, but also set up an incense table next to the central pillar to worship the benefactor who made the plan. (3) The Tujia ancestors failed in a war and celebrated the New Year one day earlier to prepare for retreat. During the New Year, they secretly killed a pig in the main room and hid it behind the door, covering it with a straw raincoat to avoid being discovered by the enemy. Only three parties sat at the reunion banquet, and the party facing the gate was left empty to observe the enemy. There was a large piece of meat on the banquet, with each person getting a piece. If the enemy came, they could eat it while walking. This is the origin of killing the pig behind the door and eating large pieces of meat.