The forth day of the Chinese New Year in Taiwan

Meaning and customs

The fourth day is associated with the return of deities who, according to folk belief, went to heaven near the end of the lunar year to report to the Jade Emperor. In Taiwan, people traditionally welcome the gods back to homes and temples; the Kitchen God is especially associated with the household.[3]

The ritual can involve setting out offerings and burning incense. A Taiwan folk-culture dictionary lists meat, fruit, wine, cooked dishes, sweets and ritual paper among the offerings, while noting that customs vary. Some families also welcome the God of Wealth on this day or in the evening.[3]

Temple customs can differ from household observances. The dictionary describes some temples putting away divination lots after sending the gods off, then making them available again after the welcoming ceremony on the fourth day.[3] These are folk practices, not requirements for everyone in Taiwan.

A place in Taiwan’s New Year season

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan describes Lunar New Year as a period with customs shaped over time by the island’s local experience. Its account of the holiday identifies the fourth day with welcoming the gods in the afternoon, following the saying that they should be sent off early and welcomed back later.[4]

The observance is one part of a longer New Year season. The same account describes the fifth day as the time when shops reopen and people prepare to return to work.[4] This gives the fourth day a traditional place in the sequence of New Year customs, though families and communities may observe it differently.

Holiday status and practical planning

The fourth day’s cultural observance does not by itself establish a paid day off. Taiwan’s Directorate-General of Personnel Administration states that the official Lunar New Year holiday runs for five days, from the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve through the third day of the first lunar month. The Labor Ministry’s current national-holiday guidance gives the same end point. The fourth day falls outside that stated period.[1][2]

For employees, paid leave applies to statutory national holidays that fall on an agreed workday; the Labor Ministry says an employer and employee may move a holiday by agreement. When a statutory holiday falls on a regular rest day or a rest day, the Ministry says a substitute day off must be arranged by agreement.[2] Check your employer’s schedule for the fourth day. Check opening hours with individual shops and bank branches, and check transport schedules with operators.