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i see what your question is now.
per legend...i told this story once in here already...only to be rediculed by so called "scholars". and of course, they are "correct" in their views too...only becuase hmoob tsi mmuab written down. but i find this story to make the most sense. even now, i keep saying the typical usa new year is really a hauvtoj. and most scholars/people can't seem to differentiate the two.
here is the origin of the hauvtoj. after our great leader lost the war to the chinese (some say it is chiyou)...his generals took off and escaped to a mountainside. the only way to "regroup" is to cut two very tall trees...cut off all the branches...and raised the tree at the top of the mountain and put our leaders flag on it. the purpose of this to let the "scattered" soldiers know/see where the regrouping location is. this one is called ncej ntxheb..or some call it ncej paag....and the other one, is to be raised at a lower level where the people are actually regrouping. tis is called ncej ntxhoo... in simple terms..ncej ntxheb ncej ntxhoo are just flag poles.
however, after 3 days of waiting...after everyone is regrouped...hmoob tsawg heev lawm. so those who wanted to leave, started moving down south to the east and south...thus we have "lajfab" and toobfab"...note that we never say "peg fab and xib fab" because we only moved southeast toward the south and the sea. so keep in mind, the chinese are also after them..but of course, the chinese also lost many. so they sent spies to spy on the hmong group. some way that this is why...hmong started playing qeej to communicate..and this is why txiv qeej always play the first song and the last song...during the first song, after txiv qeej "raised" the pole, he climed it and when he gets tot the top, he set the flag there. after during the last song, after plays, he climed and took off the flag. during the last song, some say, that "peb yuav tshuab, peb yuav hais.." actually means "peb yuav tsi..peb yuav mus..."
also note that this is not "tsa hauv toj" as we know it now yet..it is only tsa ncej ntxheb/ntxhoo to attract mong on the move. so, still scared, the mong started moving south/east after 3 days. after a certain miles/or after they are tired, they tsa ncej ntxheb/nthoo again to let those who are still behind know where the mong are heading.
after many years....tsi muaj war lawm. tebchaws tiaj tus lawm...and of course, tsa ncej ntxheb/ntxhoo is getting monotonous for the people. so...the people decided to raise the poles only once a year....so they decided to place this event with the new year, during THE THREE DAYS OF CAIV DURING NEW YEAR.
however, over time, the meaning of tsa ncej ntxhe has a bigger meaning...it is a time to "regroup" as mong, and not as "war rregroouping." it is a time uas sawvdaws los sibcuag as a ethnic group lawm xwb...NOTE THAT THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NEW YEAR. tsa ncej ntxheeb changeed its purpose too in anotyher way..tsa hauvtoj is mixed with it. or to put it in simple term, mong added a new "purpose" to the tsa ncej ntxheb. it is during this time and event that "pov pob" got mixed into it. but the most important ritual is the "tsa hauvtoj" addition. the purpose of this yog ib lub "yeem" los pov niaj pov xyoo rau peb hmoob xwb. thaum koj tsa ncej ntxheb ces koj tsa lub hauvtoj (in hope of a fruitful year for the hmong and of course, some say, a leader to lead the mong).
so in simple term, hauvtoj is a newer ritual of the tsa ncej ntxheb...where pov pob, and lub yeem got mixed into it. mong also started has lugtxaj, tso nyuj fight, etc..during this event. eventually, the name "tsa hauvtoj" has a more focused meaning....so people started calling it tsa hauvtoj lawm. but keep in mind, tsa hauvtoj is a newer adopted ritual of tsa ncej ntxheb xwb. keep in mind, kwvtxhiaj noj tsiab, nws muaj nws..kwvtxhiaj noj30 nws muaj nws...kwv txhiaj tsa ncej ntxheb ncej ntxho/ or lub hauv toj, nws muaj nws. tom tshav pob, ces peb yuav tsum pauv li no...tsi muaj ib zaug peb qhib lub hauvtoj, es peb yuav tias "noj tsiab." cov no yog nws tsi paub xwb. lam tau lam hais lawm.
now, to asnwer your question...how long do we tsa ncej ntxheb before we tsa hauvtoj. the two events are one...as soon as we tsa ncej ntxheb, that's when we pauj lub yeem from the previous year....and that's why we "fiv" lub yeem to be "pauj" in the next year. thus this is when we "tsa lub hauvtoj" los pov pejxeem hmoob kom noj qab nyob xzoo xwb.
so hais txog lub hauvtoj, we can do it anytime we want..it is more of a convenience of time. the 7/4 of MN can be a hauvtoj or tsa ncej ntxheb event. but certainly, the new year celebrations that we keep on having can never be new yyear event, because it is only a tsa ncej ntxheb/hauvtoj. only in american are we this messed up...especially the scholars/leader.
hais txog kev txhaum dabqhua...tsa ncej ntxheb tsi muaj dab involve so nws tsi txhaum dabtsi...however, keep in mind, yog koj fiv es koj tsi pauj...ces txhaum mas....seb koj fiv li cas xwb?
peb sab moospheeb, cov laus yeej hais meej li no...which is why i question many people of many other places...calling a hauvtoj event a new year is not how we r taught. peb hais tias "peb mus noj 30" or peb mus noj tsiab" or "lawd noj tsiab 30"...WE ARE ONLY REFERRING TO THE INHOUSE FEASTS THAT WE HAVE during new years. these are family dinners/feasts....occurs inhouse..and per calendar.
hauvtoj, on the other hand, can be anytime....the main reason why we like to perform hauvtoj during new year is just that we want to start the new year with something good just as any other "beliefs"...xyoo tshiab lawm ces pib tshiab...yeem tshiab...siab tshiab..etc.