Spring Festival
At the beginning of the year, everything changes. The main activities are eating New Year’s Eve dinner, offering sacrifices and staying up late on New Year’s Eve. In addition, the first, second and third day of the first lunar month are New Year’s Eve. For three days, sacrifices and offerings must also be made. During these three days, you generally don't do any work except cooking, you are taboo to say unlucky words, and you have to visit close relatives and distinguished relatives. From the first to the fifteenth day of the Spring Festival, various temple fairs, social fires, rural operas and other activities are held in various places. It is the most lively and extravagant festival among traditional festivals.
Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival and Lantern Festival. During the festival, there are customs such as eating Lantern Festival, watching lanterns, playing social fire, and guessing lantern riddles. In addition to eating Yuanxiao, there are many different dietary customs in various places. People in Shaanxi eat "Yuanxiao tea", which is made by putting various vegetables and fruits into the noodle soup; people in Luoyang and Lingbao in Henan eat jujube cake; people in Kunming, Yunnan eat more bean dough.
February 2
Commonly known as "Dragon Heads Up", also known as Qinglong Festival, it marks the beginning of agricultural production in the year. Activities include spreading ashes to attract dragons, fumigating insects, picking vegetables, avoiding needlework (to prevent "piercing the longan"), etc. There are records about the customs of this festival in the Tang Dynasty. As for what to eat and drink on February 2nd, instead of eating greasy food during the Spring Festival, we will adopt a vegetarian diet.
Qingming Festival
On the Qingming Festival, visit ancestors’ graves, go out for spring outings, and avoid fireworks.
Dragon Boat Festival
Also called the Duanyang Festival, it is said to commemorate Qu Yuan. The main activities include eating rice dumplings and dragon boat racing. In some places, such as Qinghai, there are also customs such as lansuo (thin rope twisted with five-color silk thread, tied to the hands and ankles), planting willows, and wearing sachets to repel insects. and pray for good fortune and peace.
Qiqiao Festival
Also known as the Qiqiao Festival, it is said to be the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the Magpie Bridge. Folks usually set up an offering table that night, and women beg for gifts in order to give good women workers. There are also young men and women falling in love, which is also called the Chinese Love Festival.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Also known as Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Meeting, Moon Chasing Festival, Moon Playing Festival, Moon Worshiping Festival, Daughter's Day or On the Reunion Festival, on this day, the whole family reunites to enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes. It turns out that there are also "burning incense", "walking on the moon", "releasing sky lanterns", "trees for the Mid-Autumn Festival", "lighting tower lanterns", "dancing the fire dragon", " "Trailing Stones", "Selling Rabbits" and other festival activities. This festival is taken more seriously by overseas travelers, and many ethnic minorities also celebrate this festival.
Double Ninth Festival
It means Double Ninth Festival. The main activities are climbing, chrysanthemum viewing, drinking, etc. It is very popular among the elderly, so it is also called "Senior Citizen's Day".
October 1st
Commonly known as "Ghost Festival" and "Hanyi Festival", it is also an ancestor worship festival. As the saying goes, "October 1st brings cold clothes." On this evening, every family will visit their graves to worship their ancestors. For those who cannot visit the grave or live far away from home for some reason, they draw a circle in the center or at the intersection and burn the paper money.
Winter Solstice Festival
Winter Solstice is a very important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar and a traditional festival. Winter Solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Long Solstice Festival", "Yasui", etc. In northern areas, there is a custom of slaughtering sheep and eating dumplings and wontons during the Winter Solstice. In southern areas, there is a custom of eating winter solstice rice dumplings and winter solstice noodles on this day. Various regions also have the custom of worshiping heaven and ancestors on the winter solstice.
Laba Festival
People customarily call the twelfth month of the lunar calendar the twelfth lunar month, and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month as the laba day or laba festival, and regard it as a traditional festival. Treat it during the Laba Festival. Many customs related to the twelfth lunar month or the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month are often labeled with the word "twelfth lunar month". On this day, Laba porridge is eaten in many places. Laba is actually the beginning of preparations for the Spring Festival.
In addition, there are also traditional festivals with different folk customs in various places. The ancestors of our country created many folk festivals during thousands of years of living and reproduction, including both production and life aspects, including food culture, etiquette culture, and simple and magical scientific thoughts, leaving us with It has a precious spiritual heritage that is worthy of our carrying forward and passing on.
Answer: Piaoyu Hanying - Manager Level 5 6-25 08:20
China’s traditional festivals have basically been established since the Han Dynasty, with certain increases and decreases. After the Republic of China, due to
Great changes have taken place as a result of formal westernization, but the people still persist in some minorities that are not legalized by the government
. Until the Cultural Revolution, the government even reduced the promotion of traditional festivals other than the Spring Festival.
Even the Spring Festival was promoted as "a revolutionary Spring Festival." After the reform and opening up, people began to celebrate some traditional festivals, and newspapers and periodicals also made some introductions and publicity accordingly. At present,
including statutory holidays, traditional festivals celebrated by the people account for about one-third of traditional festivals
.
Traditional festivals contain many folk culture and traditional humanistic concepts, as well as religious factors.
It is of certain significance for studying the culture, history and social life of ancient society. Below< /p>
List the main traditional festivals for the benefit of friends who are interested in this aspect.
1. New Year's greetings in the first month
The first month of the year is also called New Year's Day, or the first day of the first lunar month. The first day of the first lunar month is the day on which the year, four seasons, and twelve months begin. "Spring and Autumn Annals" calls the first month Duanyue. When the cock crows, they rise up and firecrackers in front of the court to ward off evil spirits.
Therefore, the first month of the first lunar month is a festival that has existed in ancient times since the beginning of the calendar.
There are many customs in the first month of the year, such as the elders and the younger ones dressing up in order to congratulate each other. This custom is still maintained today
drinking pepper wine, which is wine made from Zanthoxylum bungeanum. , or cypress wine. However, some specific activities
have now been abandoned, including in the Han and Jin Dynasties. For example, Zhou Chu said in "Feng Tu Ji": "On Zhengdan,
you should swallow a chicken alive, which is called "Tokyo Menghua Lu" records that the Northern Song Dynasty government will hold a large court meeting in the first month, and the emperor and officials will hold a large-scale group worship event and entertain envoys from various countries.
Special attention was paid to the banquets and treatment given to the Liao and Goryeo envoys. This activity remains to this day.
After the Revolution of 1911, the only traditional festival legally retained by the Republic of China government was the first lunar month, but it was renamed
"Spring Festival" and New Year's Day was placed on January 1 of the Western calendar. Only the government and The people pay more attention to the Spring Festival. The People's Republic of China and the Chinese government have a statutory four-day Spring Festival holiday. However, many private companies have not extended the Spring Festival to varying degrees. Some even include weekends and extend to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Two. Beginning of Spring to Worship Farmers
The Beginning of Spring is between the first day of the first lunar month and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is an ancient traditional festival to offer sacrifices to farmers. According to Dong Dynasty
Han Yingshao's "Customs and Customs" , Farm sacrifices were originally held in April, but Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty changed it to February, and in the Jin Dynasty, it was changed to the beginning of spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, officials should personally dress up to celebrate and sit on a small spring cow
to express their support and attention to the agricultural work after the beginning of spring. Folks also have corresponding celebrations. This festival is actually the real festival.
Welcome spring. Fu Xian of the Western Jin Dynasty's "Yan Fu" said: "The fourth era has come, and we should respect and defy its beginning. It should be transported to the east, and Yan is set up to welcome it. [Feather Army] The light wings are different, if they will be Flying
but not taking off. Mrs. He's skills are very similar, and the rituals are similar. When Yu Qingshu praised it, it was written by Yichun."
Few people today know that the Beginning of Spring is a traditional festival.
Three. Lantern Festival lights
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month and is the busiest day of the year, because after this day, most people have to go to work. The Lantern Festival is a grand event with lantern shows and fireworks. Dragon dance
Dragon dance, lion dance, social opera and juggling start from daytime until late at night. In order to maintain the posture of having fun with the people, King Wu couldn’t help but refer to the Jinshui Bridge area in front of the palace. King Wu was the guard guarding the palace. Ordinary people are not prohibited from visiting
for fun. The fireworks were set off near the Jinshui Bridge so that the emperor and his concubines could enjoy them from the imperial city gate tower
. In the old days, fireworks were created by burning various firecrackers mounted on fireworks racks one after another. I saw them when I was a child. They were more exciting and colorful than Western-style fireworks, but they were also more dangerous.
Tang Suwei's poem "Fire trees and silver flowers bloom together, golden bridges and iron cables open, dark dust follows the horses, and flying fireflies chase people."
Vividly summarizes the scene of the New Year's Eve.
With the arrival of the New Year's Eve, many young women who have been confined in boudoirs, as well as officials and their families are allowed to come out to watch the lanterns
This creates a rare opportunity for young men and women to get in touch with each other. , performed
many love stories of love and resentment, which were mostly described in the vernacular novels of the Ming Dynasty. Ouyang Xiuci of the Northern Song Dynasty
"Sheng Chazi." "On the Lantern Festival last year, the lights in the flower market were picturesque, the moon was on the willow branches, and people were making appointments
after dusk. On the Lantern Festival this year, the moon and lights were still the same, no one from last year was seen, and tears filled the sleeves of spring shirts .",
It describes how embarrassing it is to meet each other on New Year's Eve and miss the lover for a year without seeing her again. Xin Qiji's poem "
Looking back suddenly, there is that person, in the dimly lit place!", his sweetheart unexpectedly fell from the sky, and his
excitement can be seen.
The celebrations of New Year's Eve are still maintained in the northern rural areas, and have also recovered to some extent in the south. Most of them are limited to watching song and dance programs on TV.
Four. Qushui in March
On the third day of March, according to the "Records of the Years of Jingchu", "Scholars and people went out together from the rivers and ponds to drink cups of Qushui.
." "Meandering water" refers to the bend in the river where the water speed slows down. In the old days, tourists would ride on the boat and float along the river. Whenever they reached a harbor or a bend in the river, they would stop to drink.
< p>Wine and compose poetry. This festival originated very early, and Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty didn't even know its meaning. Zhiyu repliedHis question was that it existed during the time of Duke Zhou. It turned out that wine cups were filled with wine and floated in the river.
This is the meaning of "Qushui Shang" in Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection". People who are reading ancient Chinese for the first time without reading the annotations can easily be confused by the meaning of Qushui.
Five. Cold food and no fire
Cold food is two days before Qingming Festival and one hundred and five days after the Winter Solstice. On this day, no fire is allowed. From top to bottom
Only eat melons, fruits and snacks. Serve cold.
Cold food originated from the story of Jin Wen Gong burning Jie Zitui.
The story goes:
Jin Gongzi Chong'er and Jie Zitui fled abroad together. Jin Gongzi was hungry and lacked food when he passed through Weiguo.
p>
His attendant Jie Zitui cut off the flesh from his thigh and gave it to Wen Gong. After Duke Wen returned to his country and became the king
when it came to discussing merit and rewards, only Jie Zitui did not get the position. Zitui wrote "Song of the Dragon and the Snake" in
and lived in seclusion. Duke Wen of Jin came to visit Zitui, but Zitui refused to come out. So Duke Wen of Jin set fire to the trees in front and behind the mountain where Zitui lived in seclusion, hoping to force Zitui to come out.
Zitui hugged him Live in the dead willows and let the fire burn them to death. Duke Wen mourned him and ordered the people not to light fires on May 5th. Later, May 5th was changed to the time written above in the Han Dynasty.
This story is not found in the records of "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records". Hong Mai's "Rong Zhai
Essays" of the Southern Song Dynasty has specifically verified it. Yuan Zhang Yanghao's song "Zhonglu". It is also a folk song of Yao. "Cold Food in the Road"
"Smoking is prohibited during the Qingming Festival, and the rain passes through the countryside" seems to mean that cold food comes from the legend of Yao of Tang Dynasty.
I wonder if the Cold Food Festival is still commemorated in Shanxi rural areas today?
Six. Visiting graves during the Qingming Festival
Sacrifice to ancestors and deceased relatives during the Qingming Festival only came into being after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, because
Zong Nao's "Jingchu Sui Sui Ji" of the Southern Dynasties did not record it. In the Northern Song Dynasty, every family was required to place willow branches in the courtyard.
The government would hold a so-called "drilling flint to change fire" ceremony, which was to use elm wood to drill wood to make fire.
There were also The dragon boat race is very lively. It is not just a tomb-sweeping activity. It is so sad as the saying goes: "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road want to die."
The Qingming Festival is still being held up and down today.
Seven. Buddha's Birthday in April
April 8 is the birthday of Buddha, just like Christmas in the West. It is a national religious festival
after Buddhism was spread to the east. This festival appeared around the Tang Dynasty. On this day, Buddhist bathing ceremonies are held in Buddhist temples of all sizes. The monks give perfumes and sugar water to the pilgrims, while the folks cook wine and eat spring melons and fruits to commemorate the occasion.
Nowadays, most young people in China who celebrate Christmas, a foreign holiday, probably don’t know that China used to commemorate the birthday of a Western god.
Eight. Dragon Boat Festival
May 5th is the annual Dragon Boat Festival, which is very lively. Folks spontaneously organize dragon boat competitions
eat rice dumplings, drink realgar wine, and hang mugwort in the door. This festival is said to commemorate the story of Qu Yuan, a doctor of Chu who was worried about the country and the people and threw himself into the Miluo River. The people made rice balls wrapped with glutinous rice and palm leaves and threw them into the river as bait. Let the fish and turtles not eat their respected Doctor Qu. But according to Handan Chun
's "Cao'e Stele": "On May 5th, Wu Jun came up against the waves and was flooded." This is said to be in the The customs of the state of Wu depend on Wu Zixu and have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. "The Legend of Yue Di" says that this custom originated from King Goujian of Yue. It seems that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the custom of Wuyue.
The custom of drinking realgar wine, hanging mugwort, and collecting miscellaneous medicines may have originated from ancient times. "Collecting miscellaneous medicines" is recorded in "Book of Rites."
Xia Xiaozheng": "Storage medicine this month to remove poisonous gas." I have already said it.
The Dragon Boat Festival celebrations are still very lively in China, but they are not as popular as before the 1960s.
The streets are empty to watch the dragon boat performances, and primary and secondary school students can’t sit still in class. . Overseas Chinese only think of it when they see rice dumplings being sold in shops.
Nine. Qixi Qixi Festival
On the night of July 7th, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the sky will cross the bridge of magpies to meet each other across the Milky Way. This is of course not true. The distance across both sides of the Milky Way
is measured in tens of millions of light-years. Even if you take an aircraft as fast as light and cross the Milky Way
< p> system is absolutely impossible to achieve overnight.Ten. Ghost Festival of the Ghost Ghost Festival
The Ghost Ghost Festival falls on July 15th, commonly known as the "Ghost Festival". On this day, it is said that paper money is burned to pay for the souls of the dead.
The temples have to hold pujas and serve as dojos. To save the souls of the dead. This festival originated from the Buddhist scripture "Mulian saved his mother", so it was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and people would set up a stage in the market to sing the opera "Mulian saved his mother".
According to Buddhist scriptures, this story says:
Mulian saw his dead mother among the hungry ghosts in the underworld, and immediately served a bowl of rice for his mother to eat.
There was no rice. When eaten, it turned into charcoal. As a result, Mulian's mother could not get food. Mulian shouted loudly and ran back to report to the Buddha. The Buddha said: "Your mother's sins are so serious that you cannot deal with them on your own
. It requires the power of the divine power of the monks from all directions. By the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you should be here.
The seven generations of parents who have suffered in prison prepare various delicacies and five fruits, put them in basins, and offer them to the great monks in the ten directions
I will tell all the monks to wish the donor’s seven generations of parents to enter meditation. ’, and then
went to receive the food. "Mulian did as the Buddha said, and his mother was relieved of all the pain
of the ghost. Mulian then told the Buddha: "From now on, Buddhist disciples who are filial to their parents should also set up the Ullambana Society to make offerings to eminent monks from all over the world.
"The Buddha said: "Well said!"
So this story actually combines Confucian filial piety and Buddhist scriptures to facilitate the popularization of Buddhism. The Yuan Festival is also called the "Obon Bon Festival". In "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", the Bon Festival is mentioned in many places. When I was a child, I heard the old man say "half of July," many times. "Ghosts are running around", but they don't know the reason. Now most students studying in the United States only know one "Halloween" (Halloween, which falls on October 31st in the Gregorian calendar). ), but I don’t know about the Bon Festival in China. The Bon Festival is much more solemn and serious than the hippie smiles of Halloween.
The Bon Festival may have appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and it is now. Probably only in temples, Taifeng
was superstitious.
Moon appreciation during the Mid-Autumn Festival
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, the moon is shining brightly. It seems extraordinarily bright and big, and the Mid-Autumn Festival commemoration activities
have begun. People sit around to eat moon cakes, and then go out to enjoy the moon, and have a family reunion.
This means. It may come from Su Shi's poem "When will the bright moon come?" Ask the sky for wine. . . . I hope
I wish you a long life and a long life. "This is a poem written by Su Dongpo in memory of his younger brother Su Ziyou. But the origin of looking at the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival does not lie in this meaning. It is obviously about admiring the moon, but it comes from Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty. The beautiful story of traveling to the Moon Palace with the help of the famous Taoist Ye Fashan also contains the myth and legend of the fairy song "The Song of Colorful Feathers". I will explain it in a post, so I won't go into details.
The custom of eating mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival is not found in the records of the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the peasant Red Scarf Army revolted, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated as a round cake. It was very lively during the Song Dynasty. According to "Old Martial Arts", on the Mid-Autumn Night of the Southern Song Dynasty, people would set off one hundred thousand lanterns made of parchment and let them float along the Qiantang River, making them the stars of the night< /p>
The lights on the Qiantang River are like stars, a lot of fun.
Twelve. Climb the Double Ninth Festival
September 9 is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. It's autumn and the air is crisp, it's a good time to go out and climb high to see the distance. Wang Wei wrote in "Climbing High on September 9th to Reminisce about Shandong Brothers": "Being alone in a foreign country." Strangers, we miss our loved ones even more during the festive season. I know from afar that when my brothers climbed to a high place, there was only one less person planting dogwood trees. ”
To show his true longing for his loved ones. On September 9th, wearing dogwood grass, on a sunny day
he climbed to the top of a high slope and drank chrysanthemum wine. It reminds people of the integration of life and nature,
so it reminds people of longevity.
Laba is no longer celebrated after the liberation. Cooking porridge
December 8th is the day to worship the Kitchen God. "Zhou Li" says that "Zhuanxu had a son named Li, who was
Zhu Rong and was worshiped as the Kitchen God. ”, so the origin of the sacrifice to the Kitchen God may be before the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The "Dongguan Han Ji" compiled by Liu Zhen and others of the Eastern Han Dynasty said that when sacrificing the Kitchen God, yellow sheep should be sacrificed. To
< p>In the Song Dynasty, the so-called "Laba Rice" appeared in the activities of worshiping the Kitchen God, which was eaten by cooking porridge with various fruits and miscellaneous ingredients. This custom may come from the Buddhist activities of Chinese folk shamans and gods.On this day, the monks saw that everyone was offering sacrifices to the gods of traditional shamanism. They were afraid that
it would be detrimental to the promotion of their doctrines, so they took advantage of the excitement to hold a porridge party to give alms. It is given to the poor and helpless people
to offset the influence of the "evil cult", but the common people can't care so much and just take it as usual.
Anyway, just eat it in a different way. So "Laba porridge" was invented.
Buddhism's action against "evil cults" was very successful, and the previous activities such as dancing to the gods were completely eliminated.
The "Tokyo Fu" written by Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty was also Said: "At the end of every year, a grand Nuo ceremony is held to drive away all kinds of evil spirits. Fang Xiangshen held weapons, Wu Jin held sweet potato brooms, and tens of thousands of children wearing red scarves and black clothes, holding peach bows and thorn arrows, fired aimlessly everywhere. "There is still a record in "Jingchu's Years
Records", but in "Tokyo Menghua Lu", we can no longer see such joyful celebration scenes
.
However, "Laba porridge" has been passed down, and many families still have this custom, and some modern wives are very experienced in making it.
14. New Year’s Eve: Staying up on New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is the last day of the year. On this day, ordinary families try their best to be reunited. The whole family gathers around the stove, drinks and eats to bid farewell to the old year. , the meaning of welcoming the New Year, and the sound of firecrackers is heard outdoors
The whole family spends a warm last night of the year, which is still strong in China
It remains strong, but the wonderful program of the Spring Festival party destroys the warm atmosphere
In "Jingchu Age", it is recorded:
Every household prepares delicious food and goes to the place to welcome the new year. The whole family enjoys a drink together
Leaves some food to celebrate the New Year on October 12th.
Spreading on the roadside or street; it is believed to mean letting go of the old and bringing in the new.
It seems that the Tuan Nian of people at that time was similar to that of people today, and they also had to keep the New Year's Eve.
Answer: dg9113 - Juren Level 5 6-25 08:24
The main traditional festivals in my country include Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, Laba and so on!
Answer: lrui501 - Director Level 8 6-25 08:29
The twenty-four solar terms should all be counted, as well as the Ghost Festival on July 15, 2 The second day of the twelfth lunar month is also the small year of the twelfth lunar month, the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Chinese Valentine's Day, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, and the Laba Festival.
Answer: s13836593038 - Magic Apprentice Level 6-25 10:12
List of all traditional festivals in China
China’s traditional festivals have been basically established since the Han Dynasty , there has been a certain increase or decrease. After the Republic of China, major changes occurred due to
formal westernization, but the people still persisted in some of the minorities that were not legalized by the government.
Until the Cultural Revolution, the government even reduced the promotion of traditional festivals other than the Spring Festival.
Even the Spring Festival was promoted as "a revolutionary Spring Festival." After the reform and opening up, people began to celebrate some traditional festivals, and newspapers and periodicals also made some introductions and publicity accordingly. At present,
including statutory holidays, traditional festivals celebrated by the people account for about one-third of traditional festivals
.
Traditional festivals contain many folk culture and traditional humanistic concepts, as well as religious factors.
It is of certain significance for studying the culture, history and social life of ancient society. Below< /p>
List the main traditional festivals for the benefit of friends who are interested in this aspect.
1. New Year's greetings in the first month
The first month of the year is also called New Year's Day, or the first day of the first lunar month. The first day of the first lunar month is the day on which the year, four seasons, and twelve months begin. "Spring and Autumn Annals" calls the first month Duanyue. When the cock crows, they rise up and firecrackers in front of the court to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the first month of the first lunar month is a festival that has existed in ancient times since the beginning of the calendar.
There are many customs in the first month of the year, such as the elders and the younger ones dressing up in order to congratulate each other. This custom is still maintained today
drinking pepper wine, which is wine made from Zanthoxylum bungeanum. , or cypress wine. However, some specific activities
have now been abandoned, including in the Han and Jin Dynasties. For example, Zhou Chu said in "Feng Tu Ji": "On Zhengdan,
you should swallow a chicken alive, which is called "Tokyo Menghua Lu" records that the Northern Song Dynasty government will hold a large court meeting in the first month, and the emperor and officials will hold a large-scale group worship event and entertain envoys from various countries.
Special attention was paid to the banquets and treatment given to the Liao and Goryeo envoys. This activity remains to this day.
After the Revolution of 1911, the only traditional festival legally retained by the Republic of China government was the first lunar month, but it was renamed
"Spring Festival" and New Year's Day was placed on January 1 of the Western calendar. Only the government and The people pay more attention to the Spring Festival. The People's Republic of China and the Chinese government have a statutory four-day Spring Festival holiday. However, many private companies have not extended the Spring Festival to varying degrees. Some even include weekends and extend to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Two. Beginning of Spring to Worship Farmers
The Beginning of Spring is between the first day of the first lunar month and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is an ancient traditional festival to offer sacrifices to farmers. According to Dong Dynasty
Han Yingshao's "Customs and Customs" , Farm sacrifices were originally held in April, but Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty changed it to February, and in the Jin Dynasty, it was changed to the beginning of spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, officials should personally dress up to celebrate and sit on a small spring cow
to express their support and attention to the agricultural work after the beginning of spring. Folks also have corresponding celebrations. This festival is actually the real festival.
Welcome spring. Fu Xian of the Western Jin Dynasty's "Yan Fu" said: "The fourth era has come, and we should respect and defy its beginning. It should be transported to the east, and Yan is set up to welcome it. [Feather Army] The light wings are different, if they will be Flying
but not taking off. Mrs. He's skills are very similar, and the rituals are similar. When Yu Qingshu praised it, it was written by Yichun."
Few people today know that the Beginning of Spring is a traditional festival.
Three. Lantern Festival lights
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month and is the busiest day of the year, because after this day, most people have to go to work. The Lantern Festival is a grand event with lantern shows and fireworks. Dragon dance
Dragon dance, lion dance, social opera and juggling start from daytime until late at night. In order to maintain the posture of having fun with the people, King Wu couldn’t help but refer to the Jinshui Bridge area in front of the palace. King Wu was the guard guarding the palace. Ordinary people are not prohibited from visiting
for fun. The fireworks were set off near the Jinshui Bridge so that the emperor and his concubines could enjoy them from the imperial city gate tower
. In the old days, fireworks were created by burning various firecrackers mounted on fireworks racks one after another. I saw them when I was a child. They were more exciting and colorful than Western-style fireworks, but they were also more dangerous.
Tang Suwei's poem "Fire trees and silver flowers bloom together, golden bridges and iron cables open, dark dust follows the horses, and flying fireflies chase people."
Vividly summarizes the scene of the New Year's Eve.
With the arrival of the New Year's Eve, many young women who have been confined in boudoirs, as well as officials and their families are allowed to come out to watch the lanterns
This creates a rare opportunity for young men and women to get in touch with each other. , performed
many love stories of love and resentment, which were mostly described in the vernacular novels of the Ming Dynasty. Ouyang Xiuci of the Northern Song Dynasty
"Sheng Chazi." "On the Lantern Festival last year, the lights in the flower market were picturesque, the moon was on the willow branches, and people were making appointments
after dusk. On the Lantern Festival this year, the moon and lights were still the same, no one from last year was seen, and tears filled the sleeves of spring shirts .",
It describes how embarrassing it is to meet each other on New Year's Eve and miss the lover for a year without seeing her again. Xin Qiji's poem "
Looking back suddenly, there is that person, in the dimly lit place!", his sweetheart unexpectedly fell from the sky, and his
excitement can be seen.
The celebrations of New Year's Eve are still maintained in the northern rural areas, and have also recovered to some extent in the south. Most of them are limited to watching song and dance programs on TV.
Four. Qushui in March
On the third day of March, according to the "Records of the Years of Jingchu", "Scholars and people went out together from the rivers and ponds to drink cups of Qushui.
." "Meandering water" refers to the bend in the river where the water speed slows down. In the old days, tourists would ride on the boat and float along the river. Whenever they reached a harbor or a bend in the river, they would stop to drink.
< p>Wine and compose poetry. This festival originated very early, and Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty didn't even know its meaning. Zhiyu repliedHis question was that it existed during the time of Duke Zhou. It turned out that wine cups were filled with wine and floated in the river.
This is the meaning of "Qushui Shang" in Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection". People who are reading ancient Chinese for the first time without reading the annotations can easily be confused by the meaning of Qushui.
Five. Cold food and no fire
Cold food is two days before Qingming Festival and one hundred and five days after the Winter Solstice. On this day, no fire is allowed. From top to bottom
Only eat melons, fruits and snacks. Serve cold. Cold food originated from the story of Jin Wen Gong burning Jie Zitui.
The story goes:
Jin Gongzi Chong'er and Jie Zitui fled abroad together. Jin Gongzi was hungry and lacked food when he passed through Weiguo.
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His attendant Jie Zitui cut off the flesh from his thigh and gave it to Wen Gong. Wen Gong returned to his country and became the king.
After he returned to his country, he rewarded and guaranteed him according to his merits. He waved his salary, bottle of oil, Pu Huan, Si, wielded his weapon, rose hinge, shook arc, and W Youpu? BR> He wrote "Song of the Dragon and Snake" and lived in seclusion. stand up. Duke Wen of Jin came to visit Zitui, but Zitui refused to come out. So Duke Wen of Jin set fire to the trees in front and behind the mountain where Zitui lived in seclusion, hoping to force Zitui to come out.
Zitui hugged him Live in the dead willows and let the fire burn them to death. Duke Wen mourned him and ordered the people not to light fires on May 5th. Later, May 5th was changed to the time written above in the Han Dynasty.
This story is not found in the records of "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records". It has been specifically verified in "Rong Zhai
Essays" by Hong Mai of the Southern Song Dynasty. Yuan Zhang Yanghao's song "Zhonglu". It is also a folk song of Yao. "Cold Food in the Road"
"Smoking is prohibited during the Qingming Festival, and the rain passes over the countryside" seems to mean that cold food comes from the legend of Yao of Tang Dynasty.
I wonder if the Cold Food Festival is still commemorated in Shanxi rural areas today?
Six. Visiting graves during the Qingming Festival
Sacrifice to ancestors and deceased relatives during the Qingming Festival only came into being after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, because
Zong Nao's "Jingchu Sui Sui Ji" of the Southern Dynasties did not record it. In the Northern Song Dynasty, every family was required to place willow branches in the courtyard.
The government would hold a so-called "drilling flint to change fire" ceremony, which was to use elm wood to drill wood to make fire.
There were also The dragon boat race is very lively. It is not just a tomb-sweeping activity. It is so sad as the saying goes: "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road want to die."
The Qingming Festival is still being held up and down today.
Seven. Buddha's Birthday in April
April 8 is the birthday of Buddha. Just like Christmas in the West, it is a national religious festival
after Buddhism was spread to the East. This festival appeared around the Tang Dynasty. On this day, Buddhist bathing ceremonies are held in Buddhist temples of all sizes. The monks give perfumes and sugar water to the pilgrims, while the folks cook wine and eat spring melons and fruits to commemorate the occasion.
Nowadays, most young people in China who celebrate Christmas, a foreign holiday, probably don’t know that China used to commemorate the birthday of a Western god.
Eight. Dragon Boat Festival
May 5th is the annual Dragon Boat Festival, which is very lively. Folks spontaneously organize dragon boat competitions
eat rice dumplings, drink realgar wine, and hang mugwort in the door. This festival is said to commemorate the story of Qu Yuan, a doctor of Chu who was worried about the country and the people and threw himself into the Miluo River. The people made rice balls wrapped with glutinous rice and palm leaves and threw them into the river as bait. Let the fish and turtles not eat their respected Doctor Qu. But according to Handan Chun
's "Cao'e Stele": "On May 5th, Wu Jun came up against the waves and was flooded." This is said to be in the The customs of the state of Wu depend on Wu Zixu and have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. "The Legend of Yue Di" says that this custom originated from King Goujian of Yue. It seems that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the custom of Wuyue.
The custom of drinking realgar wine, hanging mugwort, and collecting miscellaneous medicines may have originated from ancient times. "Collecting miscellaneous medicines" is recorded in "Book of Rites."
Xia Xiaozheng": "Storage medicine this month to remove poisonous gases." I have already said it.
The Dragon Boat Festival celebrations are still very lively in China, but they are not as popular as before the 1960s.
The streets are empty to watch the dragon boat performances, and primary and secondary school students can’t sit still in class. . Overseas Chinese only think of it when they see rice dumplings being sold in shops.
Nine. Qixi Festival Begging for Skills
On the evening of July 7th, there is already a separate article, so I won’t repeat it.
Ten. Ghost Festival of the Ghost Ghost Festival
The Ghost Festival of the Ghost Ghost Festival falls on July 15th, commonly known as the "Ghost Festival". On this day, it is said that paper money is burned to pay for the souls of the dead.
The temples hold rituals and serve as dojos. To save the souls of the dead. This festival originated from the Buddhist scripture "Mulian saved his mother", so it was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and people would set up a stage in the market to sing the opera "Mulian saved his mother".
According to Buddhist scriptures, this story says:
Mulian saw his dead mother among the hungry ghosts in the underworld, and immediately served a bowl of rice for his mother to eat.
There was no rice. When eaten, it turned into charcoal. As a result, Mulian's mother could not get food. Mulian shouted loudly and ran back to report to the Buddha. The Buddha said: "Your mother's sins are so serious that you cannot deal with them on your own
. It requires the power of the divine power of the monks from all directions. By the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you should be here.
The seven generations of parents who have suffered in prison prepare various delicacies and five fruits, put them in basins, and offer them to the great monks in the ten directions
I will tell all the monks to wish the donor’s seven generations of parents to enter meditation. ', and then
went to receive the food. "Mao Liana did as the Buddha said, and his mother was relieved of all the pain
of the ghost. Mulian then told the Buddha: "In the future, Buddhist disciples who are filial to their parents should also set up the Ullambana Society to make offerings to eminent monks from all over the world.
"The Buddha said: "Well said!"