The fourth day of the first three months of the lunar calendar is the ancient "Shangsi Festival", which is a traditional folk festival in China. Because the fourth day of March is different every year, in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the third day of March was replaced by the third day of the coat as the fourth day of the first part.
Shangsi Festival originated in Zhou Dynasty. At first, it was a witchcraft activity, that is, through waterfront sacrifices and bathing activities, to eliminate disasters and ward off evil spirits and seek fertility. It can be said that Shangsi Festival was originally a festival for strict education of ancient ancestors. After the Han Dynasty, there were still activities to eliminate disasters and seek advice on Shangsi Festival, but the content of showing off wealth and having fun in spring was added. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi Festival was changed to March 3, and entertainment activities became the main content of the festival, such as hiking, spring outing, dragon boat rowing and swinging. Fasting and bathing, eliminating disasters and evil spirits have taken second place, and the ritual of seeking advice has almost disappeared. In the Tang Dynasty, Shangsi Festival was designated as one of the three major festivals throughout the year, which was very popular. Shangsi Festival in Song Dynasty is also a festival for people to drink water by the water and have a spring outing in the suburbs. Until modern times, this festival was celebrated in many places.
The significance of Shangsi Festival
The so-called "Shangsi" refers to the first day of March and Shangsi Festival in the summer calendar, also known as March 3, which is one of the traditional festivals with a long history in China. Tracing back to the origin of Shangsi Festival can be traced back to ancient times. According to legend, Fu and Nu Wa made people by kneading earth, which made future generations respect Fuxi as the "ancestor", and built the Taiwuling Ancient Temple in Huaiyang area. Every year, a temple fair was held from February 2 to March 3 of the lunar calendar, during which Fuxi was honored. Later, it was gradually decided to hold various celebrations on the last day. Because it is a sacrifice to the ancestors who created mankind, many of the initial activities of Shangsi Festival are related to the reproduction of children and grandchildren.
The custom of Shangsi Festival
Shangsi Festival mainly holds activities such as offering sacrifices to lapels, making babies, swimming around the water, meeting men and women, gathering peaches, and praying for a bumper harvest.
Jingao
Noble, that is, the god who manages marriage and childbirth. The original high chest, appearing as a pregnant woman, is a symbol of reproduction. It is obviously a witchcraft activity related to seeking children to sacrifice high lapels.
tie
Disease is a ritual of bathing, purification and blessing. In ancient times, people thought that some women were infertile because of ghosts and gods, so they held a bathing ceremony on Shangsi Festival to treat infertility. Du Fu's "Two Ways": "On March 3rd, the wind is crisp, and many beautiful people enjoy the cool by Chang 'an Waterfront" describes the grand occasion of young women walking by the water on March 3rd. Cui Hao's poem "On Thinking" wrote: "The emperor is in the city in spring, and the capital is in ruins in the morning". It also tells the scene that Chang 'an Qingcheng was sent to hold a baby. And Wang Wei's "March 3 Qujiang waiter system" and other sentences such as "welcome to the garden, limp to the middle" have related descriptions. The festival of thinking in the Song and Ming Dynasties is not as important as that in the Tang Dynasty, but it is also quite great, which is also reflected in literati poems.
Drink water in the winding canal with a glass floating on it to wash away evil.
The winding water surface is obviously the remains of floating eggs near the water. Eggs near Shui Piao are a very old water activity, which is to put boiled eggs in the river and let them drift around. Anyone who finds them can eat them. Until today, the custom of "boiling eggs with local vegetables on March 3" is still popular in many places. It is said that it can cure headaches. Similar to eggs near Shui Piao, there is a custom of floating dates on the water. Red dates are used to replace boiled eggs, and anyone can eat them in water. It also implies the meaning of "having a baby early". In fact, this is a relic of witchcraft activities such as seeking children in ancient times. With the development of Qushui, the custom of Shangsi Festival has become an entertainment program for literati.
Hui men and women
It is a strange custom for men and women to meet on Shangsi Festival. The last spring outing is a good time for men and women to meet, even if they have sex. In fact, this custom originated from the group marriage custom in the clan period. Some scholars believe that the original intention of Shangsi Festival is sexual carnival. In primitive society, in order to prohibit mutual killing caused by competing for the opposite sex, a sexual taboo system was implemented during the production period, so that men and women lived separately. On those days when taboos are not observed, it becomes a sexually open festival, and then it is fixed at the spring party, and gradually evolves into the original form of the folk custom of March 3.