The avoidance of doing laundry on New Year’s Day is a tradition observed across various cultures, particularly those celebrating the Lunar New Year, but also within certain Western practices marking January 1st. This custom involves prohibiting washing clothes on the first few days of the new year. The practice is rooted in ancient beliefs that a person’s actions at the beginning of the year dictate the luck and circumstances of the next twelve months. This superstition guides households seeking to start the calendar with good fortune.
The Core Belief: Washing Away Fortune
The laundry prohibition centers on the symbolic connection between water and wealth. In many traditional views, water represents prosperity, accumulated fortune, and the financial well-being of the household. Washing clothes involves rinsing and draining large amounts of water, which is metaphorically seen as actively draining the family’s good luck and wealth down the drain. This represents a deliberate removal of the resources meant to sustain the family throughout the year.
The belief extends beyond merely losing money; some older traditions suggest that washing laundry on the first day is analogous to “washing for the dead” or inviting the loss of a loved one. This interpretation reinforces the avoidance of the chore, emphasizing the high stakes associated with the new year’s initial activities.
Association with Water Spirits and Deities
A specific mythological context for this taboo exists within East Asian traditions, where the first and second days of the Lunar New Year are observed as the birthday of the Water God. This deity, often revered as Shui Shen or the Dragon King (Lung Wang), governs the element of water. Washing clothes during this period, especially when disposing of dirty laundry water, is considered an act of disrespect.
The large-scale use and discard of water is viewed as polluting the deity’s sacred day, potentially leading to misfortune or unfavorable weather conditions for the community. To avoid offending the Water God and ensure a year of balance and plentiful rain, households suspend all activities that involve the unnecessary release of water.
Contextualizing the Taboo: Other Cleaning Prohibitions
The laundry taboo is part of a broader set of prohibitions concerning cleaning and removal of items from the home during the New Year period. Sweeping the floor is forbidden because it is seen as sweeping away the good fortune that has settled within the home. Similarly, taking out the trash or garbage is avoided, as this symbolizes throwing out wealth and prosperity.
These activities share the same underlying principle: nothing representing positive energy or accumulated wealth should be removed from the dwelling. Even washing one’s hair is discouraged, as the Mandarin word for hair (fà) is a near homophone for the word for wealth (fā). The prohibition of these strenuous chores also served a practical purpose by mandating a day of rest and celebration, ensuring the new year began with ease and not with domestic labor.