The origin of all traditional festivals in China.

Three interpretations of the meaning of the year

First, the concept of time. China's earliest dictionary, Erya Shi Tian, said: "Summer is the year of worship, Shang is the year of worship, and Zhou is the new year." It shows that the title of "nian" began in Zhou Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty changed it to Dai and changed it to Nian. After the Revolution of 1911, China implemented the Gregorian calendar, and called 1 month 1 day "New Year's Day", the first day of the first lunar month as "Spring Festival", the solar calendar as "Year" and the lunar calendar as "Year".

Second, the beast in ancient legends. "Nian" feeds on all kinds of animals, scratches and hunts people and animals in the cold winter night. On one occasion, Nian came to the door of a family, and it happened that someone in this family was wearing red clothes and lighting bamboo to keep warm, which happened to make a "snapping" sound. Nian turned and ran away in fear. From then on, people knew that Nian was afraid of light and sound. As soon as New Year arrived, they drove him away in this way, and people congratulated each other the next day. The custom of red paper Spring Festival couplets, setting off firecrackers and paying New Year's greetings on the first day of the first lunar month, which developed in Fu Tao, all originated from this.

Third, the meaning of harvest. Gu Liangchuan: "All grains are ripe for one year." When the grain is ripe, it will be a bumper harvest year. The word "nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions's and Jin Wenzhong's works is the mature appearance of ears of grain. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" also said: "The year is ripe." In this way, "nian" has become the meaning of celebrating the joy of harvest.

Origin of the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the beginning of the lunar calendar and an ancient traditional festival in China. In ancient times, beginning of spring was regarded as the Spring Festival, and the first day of the first month was regarded as New Year's Day or Yuan Day. After the Revolution of 1911, China began to use the Gregorian calendar, with Gregorian calendar 1 month 1 day as New Year's Day and the first day of the first lunar month as Spring Festival. 1949 On September 27th, the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference passed the Law on the Chronology of the AD, and officially designated the Gregorian calendar 1 month 1 day as "New Year's Day".

China folk customs celebrate the Spring Festival from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Laba porridge is eaten, and from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month (off-year) to the New Year's Eve, every household removes dust, buys new year's goods, puts up Spring Festival couplets, covers the New Year with the word "Fu", and window grilles. On the first day of the first month, firecrackers exploded to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. During the Spring Festival, relatives and friends visit each other to express their New Year wishes. In ancient times, posters on doors were mostly mythical figures to ward off evil spirits. The word "Fu" is pasted upside down, which means "Fu has arrived" and "Welcome to the Spring". In the early morning of the Spring Festival, jiaozi is eaten in the north and glutinous rice balls are eaten in the south, which means reunion, auspiciousness and happiness.

The origin of new year's day

Yuan is the beginning of a year, and Dan is the morning of a day. New Year's Day is the first day of the New Year.

Literally, "Dan" vividly reflects the image of the rising sun, and a horizontal line below it represents the surging sea. A red sun is bursting out of the sea and emitting brilliant light. The combination of "Yuan" and "Dan" makes people greet a brand-new beginning with vigorous vigor and enterprising spirit.

Chinese new year, month and day are inconsistent. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that the summer calendar was restored, with the first day of the first month as New Year's Day. Since then, the dynasties have not changed.

After the Revolution of 1911, China designated spring, summer, autumn and winter as four festivals, namely, New Year's Day as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival as the summer festival, Mid-Autumn Festival as the autumn festival, and winter solstice as the winter festival. Call Gregorian calendar 65438+ 10 1 New Year's Day, not New Year's Day. 1 September 27th, 949, the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated 65438+1October1as New Year's Day.

All countries that adopt the Gregorian calendar (Gregorian calendar) take 65438+1 October1as New Year's Day. However, due to different calendars, religious beliefs, customs and seasonal climate, many countries and nationalities in the world have different New Year's Day dates.

Qingming Festival

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Arbor Day, Spring Festival and Smart Day. Traditional folk festivals in China. It is also one of the 24 solar terms in China.

Tomb-Sweeping Day usually falls on April 5th of the Gregorian calendar every year. Tomb-Sweeping Day originated in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and from the Tang and Song Dynasties, it began to form the custom of inserting willows, planting trees, sweeping graves and tramping in the spring.

In Wu's Dream of Liang Lu in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Every family sticks wicker on the door, which is called' Bright Eyes'."

Jiangnan folk proverb: "If you don't wear willow in Qingming Festival, you will be proud of your beauty."

The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty Xuanzong Ji: "In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan (AD 732)," Guimao's cold food went to the grave in May, and five rituals should be compiled, which will always be the same trend. "

Du Mu's poem "Qingming Festival": "It rains in succession during Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. If you want to know where the restaurant is, the shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village. "

Spring outing, also known as spring outing, spring outing, spring outing, outing.

"Old Things in Wulin" records: "Ten days before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the gentry and women in the city wore bright makeup, slapped their hands with gold, danced shoulder to shoulder, and enjoyed it, painting flying flutes and drums all day long."

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, there have been customs such as "eating Qingming Tuan", "sending hundreds of insects" and "playing in the water". Because Qingming is homophonic with cleverness, it is also called cleverness festival. There is a saying in Jiangnan that this is the best day to have a baby. Now there are customs in Qingming, such as offering sacrifices to ancestors, sweeping graves, offering sacrifices to the tombs of martyrs, planting trees, going for an outing and eating green dumplings.

Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. It was the day when Qu Yuan, an ancient patriotic poet, politician and thinker in China, died in the Miluo River.

Dragon Boat Festival, whose real name is "Dragon Boat Festival", is also called "Duanyang". The local custom of the Jin Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty: "The midsummer ends on the fifth day and begins at the end."

The folk customs of the Dragon Boat Festival are: eating zongzi, inserting mugwort leaves and calamus, sprinkling realgar wine and racing dragon boats.

The written record of the Dragon Boat Festival began with Liang's "Continued Harmony": "On May 5th, Qu Yuan, the doctor of Chu, abandoned and died in Miluo, and the Chu people mourned it. He sacrifices rice with a bamboo tube every day and orders a boat to save him. " Later, it evolved into eating zongzi and then evolved into an adult species. Today, during the Dragon Boat Festival, a grand dragon boat race ceremony will be held along the Miluo River. There are also dragon boat races in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan, Zhejiang and other places.

Zongzi was also called jiaomi and fried Zongzi in ancient times.

Realgar is a mineral, and its component is arsenic sulfide, of which arsenic content accounts for 70%. It can be used as medicine and detoxified, and its color is orange-red. On the Dragon Boat Festival, some people like to sprinkle realgar on the corners inside and outside the house to avoid pests, while others paint realgar on children's ears, nose, forehead and cheeks to prevent poisonous insects from biting and dispel the poisonous gas of the plague. Realgar wine contains arsenic, which is toxic and inedible.

Insert Folium Artemisiae Argyi and Rhizoma Acori Graminei into the door to ward off evil spirits or soak in wine. It is said that this wine has the function of prolonging life. According to modern scientific analysis, Artemisia argyi and Acorus calamus are perennial herbs. Folium Artemisiae Argyi is used as medicine, which can stop bleeding and can also be used for moxibustion. The smoke produced by moxibustion burning can drive away mosquitoes and flies. Acorus calamus rhizome can be made into stomach-invigorating medicine for external use to treat toothache and gingival bleeding.

Dragon Head Raising Day (Dragon Head Raising Festival)

According to folklore, every second day of the second lunar month is the day when the Dragon King, who is in charge of heavenly sexuality, looks up. After that, the rain will gradually increase. Therefore, this day is called the Spring Festival. There is a saying in northern China: "On February 2, the dragon looked up; Big warehouse is full and small warehouses are flowing. "Folk proverbs.

Whenever the Spring Festival comes, in most parts of northern China, every family carries lanterns to fetch water from wells or rivers in the morning, and when they get home, they light a fire, burn incense and offer offerings. In ancient times, people called this ceremony "attracting dragons". On this day, every household will eat noodles, fried cakes and popcorn, and compare "picking the dragon's head", "eating gentian", "golden beans blossom, the dragon king ascends to heaven, the clouds and rain rise, and the grains are abundant" to show good luck.

The origin of the Spring Festival, there is such a fairy tale among the people in northern China. Wu Zetian became emperor, which annoyed the Jade Emperor and told the Four Seas Dragon King not to rain on earth for three years. Soon, the Dragon King, who was in charge of Tianhe, listened to the cries of the people, watched the people starve to death, and worried that human life would be cut off, so he went against the jade emperor's will and sent rain for the sky. The Jade Emperor learned that the Dragon King had come down to earth and suffered at the foot of a big mountain. A monument was erected on the mountain:

The rain of the Dragon King violated heaven and should be punished by the human world.

If you want to go back to Lingxiao Pavilion, unless the golden beans bloom.

In order to save the Dragon King, people searched everywhere for golden beans in full bloom. On the second day of February of the following year, when people were drying corn seeds, they thought the corn looked like golden beans. It blooms when it's fried. Isn't it golden beans? Every household popped popcorn and put a case in the yard to burn incense for the "golden beans" that have already blossomed. The Dragon King looked up and knew that people had saved him. He shouted to the jade emperor, "The golden beans are blooming, let me out quickly!" ; As soon as the Jade Emperor saw that the golden beans in the yard of every household in the world were in full bloom, he would send a message to the Dragon King, asking him to return to heaven and continue to give sex to the world. Since then, people have formed a habit. On the second day of February, people eat popcorn.

In fact, after February of the lunar calendar, the "rain" solar term will come, the phenomenon of little rain in winter will end, and the rainfall will gradually increase, which is originally the characteristic of the monsoon climate in North China.

Aunt's day on the sixth day of June

June 6, please aunt. In the past, on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, rural customs invited married girls, old and young, to receive them well and then send them back.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a prime minister named Hu Yan in the State of Jin. He is a hero who protects and follows Wen Gong Zhong 'er into exile in other countries. He is very clever and respected by the state of Jin. Every time Hu Yan celebrates his birthday on the sixth day of June, there are always countless people giving him birthday gifts. In this way, HuYan slowly became proud. After a long time, people are not satisfied with him. However, Hu Yanquan is so powerful that people dare to get angry with him.

Hu Yan's daughter and in-laws were the heroes at that time. He was disgusted with what Hu Yan had done, so he called a spade a spade. But Hu Yan refused to listen to the well-meaning words and scolded her in-laws in public. Zhao was old and weak, and soon he died. His son hates his father-in-law and is determined to avenge his father.

In the second year, the summer grain in Shanxi suffered a disaster, and Hu Yan left Beijing to release grain. When he left, he said that he would definitely come back for his birthday on the sixth day of June. Hu Yan's son-in-law got the news and decided to hold a birthday party on the sixth day of June to kill Hu Yan and avenge his father. Hu Yan's son-in-law sees his wife. Ask her: "Does everyone in the world hate people like my father-in-law?" Hu Yan's daughter was also very angry with her father's behavior, so she replied smoothly: "Even you and I hate him. Why should we say others?" Her husband told the plan. On hearing this, his wife turned red and white and said, "I belong to your family, and I don't care about my mother's family." It's up to you! "

Since then, Hu Yan's daughter has been in fear all day. She hates her father for being arrogant and heartless to her in-laws. But then I remembered my father's kindness, and my own daughter was not immune from destruction. She finally ran back to her mother's house on the fifth day of June and told her husband's plan. Mother was frightened and quickly wrote to Hu Yan overnight.

Hu Yan's son-in-law saw his wife escape and knew that the secret was exposed. He stayed at home and waited for Hu Yan to clean himself up.

On the morning of the sixth day of June, Hu Yan personally came to her in-laws' house. When Hu Yan met his son-in-law, as if nothing had happened, Weng Xu and his wife immediately returned to the Prime Minister's office. At the birthday party that year, Hu Yan said: "I have been distributing food this year, witnessed the sufferings of the people, and I know that I have done something wrong in recent years. Today, my husband tried to hurt me. Although he was too vicious, he didn't do it. He is endangering the people and revenging his father. I will never blame him. My daughter saved her father's crisis and did her filial piety, which deserves my worship. " I hope my husband can take a look at me and make up for it for me, regardless of hatred! "Since then, Hu Yan has really changed, and Weng Xu is closer than before. In order to remember this lesson forever, Hu Yan invites her daughter and son-in-law to reunite every June 6th. The matter was publicized, and the people followed suit. They also took back their daughter on June 6, which should be good luck to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters. As we grow older, we become accustomed to each other, which has been passed down to this day. People call it "Aunt's Day".

Winter Solstice

Winter solstice, commonly known as "Winter Festival", is a grand festival in ancient times. Among the 24 solar terms, the winter solstice is also the most important.

The ancients believed that by the solstice of winter, although it was still in the cold season, spring was not far away. Everyone who goes out at this time will go home for the winter vacation, which indicates that there will be a home at the end of the year. People in Fujian and Taiwan believe that the annual winter solstice is a festival for family reunion, because it is a day to worship ancestors. Going out and not coming home is a person who denies his ancestors.

The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. Many people use this evening to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" on the eve of the Spring Festival, the day before the Winter Festival is called "adding the year" or "dividing the year", which means that the year is not over yet, but everyone has grown up for a year.

Although the customs and people's feelings in different parts of our country are different, they are roughly the same. When making the winter solstice circle, children often pinch some small animals, such as kittens, puppies, rabbits, tigers and so on. The children are very happy at this time. Before eating the winter solstice yen, you should stick a winter solstice yen on the back of the bed lamp in doors, windows, tables and cabinets, which is called "waste day" and "send the stove" before baking food. If there are pregnant women at home at this time, the winter solstice will be full, and boys will be born, otherwise girls will be born. When eating the winter solstice, the entrances must be paired for good luck. In the end, there are only two pieces left. Married people are the best, and single and unmarried people are the best. At night, some families worship their ancestors with seasonal fruits and three kinds of animals. Some people "dry winter rice" on this day, that is, wash white rice with water, dry it on this day, and put it away for the sick to cook porridge later.

"Laba" is a grand festival of Buddhism. Before liberation, Buddhist temples all over the country held Buddhist baths and chanted scriptures, and imitated the legend that a herder offered chyle before Sakyamuni became a monk, and cooked fragrant cereal porridge to offer sacrifices to the Buddha, which was called "Laba porridge". Laba porridge was presented to disciples and kind men and women, and later became a folk custom. It is said that in some monasteries, before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, monks would hold alms bowls along the street and cook the collected rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts and other materials into Laba porridge and distribute it to the poor. Legend has it that eating it can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor call it "Buddha porridge". The poem of Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "Today, Buddha porridge is more mutually beneficial, and the opposite is Jiangcun Village." It is said that Tianning Temple, a famous temple in Hangzhou, has a "rice stack building" for storing leftovers. Usually, monks in the temple dry leftovers every day, accumulate a year's surplus grain, and cook laba porridge for believers on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It is called "Fushou porridge" and "Fude porridge", which means that they can increase their happiness and longevity after eating them. It can be seen that the monks at that time cherished the virtue of food.

Laba porridge was cooked with adzuki beans and glutinous rice in ancient times, and then the materials were gradually increased. People in the Southern Song Dynasty carefully compiled "Old Wulin Stories" and said, "Cooking porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms and persimmon chestnuts is called Laba porridge." Up to now, people in Jiangnan, Northeast and Northwest China still have the custom of eating Laba porridge, which is rare in Guangdong. With different materials, glutinous rice, red beans, jujube, chestnuts, peanuts, ginkgo, lotus seeds, lilies and so on are commonly used to cook sweet porridge. Longan, longan and candied fruit are all ripe. Eating a steaming bowl of Laba porridge in winter is delicious and nutritious, which can really increase happiness and prolong life.

Dietary customs of Laba porridge in various places

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, called Laba by the people, is the first festival before the Spring Festival, and since then, the "annual flavor" has become increasingly rich. The custom of eating Laba porridge has a history of thousands of years in China, and it has different origins.

According to legend, in the northern part of ancient India, that is, in the southern part of Nepal today, there was a king suddhodana in Luowei, Carpil. He has a son named Gautama Siddharta. When he was young, he felt all kinds of pains of birth, illness and death. He found that social life was futile and was extremely dissatisfied with the theocracy of Brahmanism. So, at the age of 29, he abandoned the luxurious life of the royal family and became a monk. According to historical records, this day is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China. Because he was Sakyamuni, Buddhists later called him Sakyamuni, which means Sakyamuni's saint. After Buddhism was introduced into China, monasteries were built everywhere, and the activity of cooking porridge to worship Buddha became popular. Especially on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Sakyamuni offered sacrifices to cultivate Buddha, all monasteries held chanting, and imitated the legendary program of offering a kind of "chyle" before Buddhism became a Buddha, and cooked porridge to worship Buddha. This is the origin of Laba porridge.

In the Song Dynasty, Wu wrote Meng Lianglu for six years: "The eighth day, the temple name is Laba. Dasha Temple and other places have five-flavored porridge, which is called' Laba porridge'. " At this time, Laba porridge has become a folk custom, but at that time, the emperor also used it to win over all ministers. Guo Sun, a native of Yuan Dynasty, wrote a story about his visit to Yan Dou: "On December 8th, Guanbai porridge was sent, which was mixed with rice and fruit. More goods win, and this story follows the story of the Song Dynasty. " "Yongle Dadian" records that "it is the eighth day of the month, which the Zen family calls Laba Festival, and the porridge is cooked for the Buddha." In the third year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1725), Sejong changed the mansion east of imperial academy in Andingmen, Beijing into the Lama Temple. Laba, in Wanfuge and other places in the palace, cooked Laba porridge in a pot and asked lamas and monks to recite scriptures, and then distributed the porridge to palace ministers for tasting for the festival. "Guangxu Shuntian Mansion Records" says: "On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yonghe officials cooked porridge, customized it, sent ministers to supervise it, and covered the rice." Laba porridge is also called "Qibao porridge" and "Wuwei porridge". The earliest Laba porridge was boiled with adzuki beans, which gradually enriched through evolution and local characteristics. The Southern Song Dynasty scholar's "Old Wulin Stories" said: "Cooking porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, milk, persimmons and chestnuts is called Laba porridge." Fu Cha Dunchong, a Qing Dynasty man, said in the Chronicle of Yanjing Age: "Laba porridge is made of yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut and peeled jujube paste. And dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar and miscellaneous grapes for external use. "