What is the name of the cleaning tradition before Chinese New Year?

The cleaning tradition before Chinese New Year is called spring cleaning.

Families traditionally clean their homes thoroughly in the days before the festival. The practice is symbolically understood as sweeping away the bad luck, dust, and troubles of the old year while preparing space for good fortune in the new one. It is part of the broader preparation for the Spring Festival, not a separate autumn or winter holiday custom.

Historical accounts connect the development of house-cleaning practices with older end-of-year exorcistic rites. In traditional belief, cleaning should be completed before New Year’s Day: sweeping during the first days of the new year could symbolically sweep away newly arrived luck. For the same reason, brooms and dustpans might be put aside temporarily.

The preparation often extends beyond floors and furniture. Families may wash windows, clean doorframes, repaint areas, replace decorations, and tidy household altars. Red paper couplets and auspicious images are then displayed. Practices vary by region and household, but the central idea remains a fresh physical and symbolic start before the new year begins.