First, let's learn about the history of killing pigs. Killing pig has a long history in rural areas of China. Long, long ago, there was no custom of killing pigs. At that time, people killed pigs not for Chinese New Year, but for sacrifice. In ancient China, because it was a small-scale peasant economy, people paid special attention to the bumper harvest of grain, especially the bumper harvest of farmers. Because it is a feudal society, people are generally superstitious, so there is a custom of offering sacrifices every Spring Festival. People sacrificed slaughtered pork and prayed for good weather in the coming year. They will think that whoever sacrifices more meat will reap more food in the coming year, so there is a great demand for pork at that time of year, so it is popular to kill pigs for the New Year.
With the development of the times, people have abandoned the concept of killing pigs as sacrifices. But the custom of killing pigs is completely passed down. Nowadays, most of the pigs killed in rural areas are bacon cooked in the New Year, and they are eaten when guests come to our home around the year before last. However, because of the outflow of rural labor, there are many people who specialize in raising pork, and pork is also very easy to buy. Therefore, the phenomenon of killing pigs in rural areas is becoming less and less.
I remember when I was a child, every New Year, the good dreams in the morning were often broken by the cries of pigs. Because every household has to kill Nian pig, and every time it kills Nian pig, it will entertain neighbors and relatives and friends around it, which is very lively. Children will peek curiously and then be scolded by adults. The lively custom of "killing pigs" added a bit of interest to the countryside in those days. Now, due to the development of science and economy, some rural customs have been abandoned and lost the original flavor of the New Year.