The Origin and Customs of Daughter's Day

The Origin and Customs of Daughter's Day

Speaking of the origin and customs of Daughter's Day, I believe many people will find it strange, and some even don't know the existence of Daughter's Day at all. It is very important in the traditional daughter's day in history. The following are the origins and customs of Daughter's Day.

The origin and custom of Daughter's Day 1 the origin of the festival

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Daughter's Day, also known as Shangsi Festival, commonly known as March 3rd, is a traditional festival of Han nationality. This festival was designated as the fourth day of March before the Han Dynasty, and was later fixed on the third day of March in the summer calendar. The traditional Shangsi Festival is on the fourth day of the third lunar month, which is also a day of infancy, that is, spring bath day.

In ancient times, the third day of March was regarded as "thinking", and the Han Dynasty was designated as a festival. "Today is the third day of the month, and the officials and the people are all on the east running water (clean). It is called "removing dirt (disease)" (Book of Rites). Later, water banquets and outings were added. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi Festival was changed to March 3, which was followed by later generations, thus becoming a festival for Han people to drink by the water and have a spring outing in the suburbs.

As early as the Zhou Dynasty, on the first day of March (Shangsi Festival), people would go to the water to worship Shangsi Festival and bathe with fragrant herbs. Later people called it Mao. Zhou Lichun said, "When the witch is old, she needs to take a bath." It means that the witch's job is to remove rituals every year to relieve people's disasters. Zheng Xuan noted: "In the old days, water must be removed in March, and bathing means bathing with fragrant medicine." In addition to its religious function, this day also produced unexpected benefits.

Because young men and women will gather by the river on this day, which provides an opportunity for the ancients to fall in love freely. The Book of Songs, Zheng Qin Fengyan, wrote about how boys and girls fell in love while they were mourning. "Song Shuli II" quoted: "The custom of the State of Zheng began in March, and it has been evocative, lingering on water flowers, and it is unlucky to catch bluegrass."

Of course, when young men and women meet, girls must dress up, until it gradually evolved into "Daughter's Day". After the Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism prevailed, ethics became stricter, and the customs of Shangsi Festival declined.

Local custom

The most common custom of Daughter's Day is all kinds of begging activities carried out by women. Most girls try their best to make small things and put some melons and fruits on them. Different regions have different ways to please others, and each has its own interests.

In Xihe County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, unmarried girls in Xihe County, Longnan City, Gansu Province hold a grand ritual song and dance activity every year from the evening of June 30 to the seventh day of July in the lunar calendar, praying for "Qiao Niangniang" to bless their intelligence, dexterity and happiness in marriage.

"West and Begging for Cleverness" is known as the living fossil of the ancient custom of begging for cleverness in China. Every year from the evening of June 30th to the evening of July 7th, lasting seven days and eight nights. This is one of the longest-lasting folk activities. The whole activity is divided into seven parts: sitting skillfully, welcoming skillfully, offering skillfully, worshiping skillfully, entertaining skillfully, giving skillfully and sending skillfully. Every link is accompanied by songs and dances, and there are several special ceremonies, so a large number of begging lyrics, music scores, dance forms and sacrificial ceremonies related to farming civilization, as well as textile women workers, costumes, props and fruit offerings related to life are preserved. Its activities have a long time, a large scale, a large number of participants, and well-preserved folk programs, which are unique in the country.

Begging activities in Jinan, Huimin, Gaoqing and other places in Shandong are very simple, just showing melons and fruits for begging. If there are cobwebs on melons and fruits, begging is very skillful. However, in Juancheng, Cao Xian, Pingyuan and other places, the custom of eating clever rice and begging for cleverness is very interesting: seven good girls collect food and vegetables, wrap jiaozi, and wrap a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three jiaozi respectively. After begging for wisdom, they got together to eat jiaozi. It is said that they were rich, good at sewing and got married early. In some places, the activities of Daughter's Day are competitive, similar to the ancient custom of skillful fighting. Modern people are used to piercing needles, steaming and branding fruits skillfully, and some places also make clever bud soup. Generally, a handful of grains are soaked in water at the beginning of July, and the buds are cut to make soup on Tanabata. Children in this area pay special attention to eating smart buds, and decorations made of dough sculpture, paper-cutting and colored embroidery are the evolution of the custom of fighting smart buds. The shepherd boy will pick wild flowers and hang them on the horns on Daughter's Day, which is called "Happy Birthday to the Cow" (it is said that Daughter's Day is the birthday of the Cow).

Zhucheng, tengxian and Zouxian call the rain "acacia rain" or "acacia tears" because it is caused by the meeting of cowherd and weaver girl. Legend has it that there are very few magpies in Jiaodong and Southwest Shandong, and they have all gone to build a magpie bridge. Today, there are still similar begging customs in various parts of Zhejiang. For example, in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places, on this day, all kinds of small objects are made of flour and fried in oil, which is called "Tuoguo". At night, Tuoguo, lotus, white lotus root and Hong Ling are displayed in the yard. The girl put a needle on the moon and begged the Weaver Girl to give her a clever skill, or caught a spider and put it in a box. If you open the box the next day, it's called cleverness.

In the countryside of Shaoxing, there will be many young girls hiding under the lush pumpkin shed that night. If you can hear the whispers when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet in the dead of night, the girl to be married will definitely get this eternal love in the future.

In order to express people's hope that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can live a happy family life every day, in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, every family will kill a chicken on July 7, which means that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet on this night, and if there is no rooster to announce the dawn, they will never part.

In the west of Guangxi, it is said that fairies want to go down to the earth to take a bath, and drinking their bath water can ward off evil spirits, cure diseases and prolong life. This kind of water is called "Double Seven Water". When chickens crow on this day, people scramble to get water from the river and then take it back and put it in a new urn for future use.

Guangzhou's Daughter's Day is very unique. Before the festival comes, the girls prepare colored paper, medulla tetrapanacis, string, etc. in advance and make up all kinds of ingenious gadgets. They also put seeds and mung beans in a small box and soaked them in water to germinate them. Buds grow to more than two inches and are used to worship the gods, which are called "worshipping the immortals" and "worshipping the gods". From the sixth night to the seventh night, the girls put on new clothes and jewelry for two nights in a row. After all the arrangements are made, they burn incense and light candles and bow down to the stars, which is called "welcoming the immortals". From the third night to the fifth watch, they will worship seven times in a row.

After worshipping the immortals, the girls passed through the pinholes with colored threads in their hands. For example, those who can wear seven pinholes in one breath are called skillful hands, and those who can't wear seven pinholes are called skillful hands. After Daughter's Day, the girls gave each other their small handicrafts and toys to show their friendship.

In Fujian, Weaver Girl should be allowed to enjoy and taste fruits and vegetables on Daughter's Day, so that she can wish a bumper harvest of fruits and vegetables in the coming year. The offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruit, five kinds of seeds (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds), flowers, pollen from female cosmetics and a censer. Generally, after fasting and bathing, everyone takes turns to burn incense and worship God and pray silently. Women not only seek wisdom, but also children, longevity, beauty and love. Then everyone eats fruit, drinks tea and chats, and plays clever games. There are two kinds of begging for wisdom: one is "divination", that is, asking yourself whether you are smart or stupid with divination tools; The other is clever match, that is, whoever wears the needle quickly is clever, and the slow one is called "losing cleverness". People who "lose their intelligence" should prepare some small gifts for smart people. In some areas, "Daughters' Clubs" are also organized, and the "Daughters' Clubs" from all over the country gather in Zongxiang Guild Hall and put on various incense tables to offer sacrifices to the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The "incense table" is all made of paper, and the table is filled with flowers, fruits, rouge powder, paper-made floral dresses, shoes, daily necessities and embroidery. Daughter parties in different regions will work hard on the incense table to see who makes it exquisite. Nowadays, this activity has been forgotten, and only a few ancestral halls still set up incense tables on this festival to worship the cowherd and the weaver girl. Incense tables are usually prepared on the seventh day of July, and at night they begin to plead with the Weaver Girl.

In Nantong, Jiangsu, the second day of the second lunar month is Daughter's Day. Nantong proverb says: On February 2nd, every family picks up their daughter. If their parents don't invite them, they will be poor. If their daughter doesn't have bad legs, their son-in-law is a turtle. The social status of housewives in feudal society was very low. "Married daughters are splashing water". Once a woman gets married, she will leave her family. Nantong dialect says that people who eat Yangjiajiao water are Yangjiajiao people. During the Spring Festival, Nantong has the habit of "eating New Year's wine", and close relatives must walk around each other. In February of the lunar calendar, my daughter and son-in-law didn't go to her parents' house for almost a month. Nantong people attach great importance to family ties and think that married daughters should often visit their parents' homes. This is probably the reason for Nantong Daughter's Day. Come on. I still remember how warm this affection of Nantong people is.

Guangyuan, Sichuan, September of Gregorian calendar 1 is Daughter's Day. Activities have female characteristics, such as the unique "Phoenix Boat Race", where the boat is a phoenix boat and the rowers are all women, which is different from the dragon boat races in other places, so it is unique; Guangyuan Daughter's Day is completely formed spontaneously by folk women and passed down from generation to generation, retaining rich folk culture and good traditional culture, which is a tradition; Many women took part in Guangyuan Daughter's Day spontaneously. During festivals, thousands of women from Guangyuan city and its surrounding areas come from home to participate in various activities of Daughter's Day, with a wide mass; Guangyuan Daughter's Day has developed from simply offering sacrifices to Wu Zetian and boating in the bend of the river to today, and has become a platform and comprehensive festival activity to show the elegance of modern women.

The Origin and Custom of Daughter's Day 2 "Chinese Valentine's Day" is also called "Begging for Clever Sisters" or "Daughter's Day". Daughter's Day is an ancient traditional festival in China, which existed before the Han Dynasty. The appearance of this festival reflects people's concern for women and vulnerable groups.

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the most romantic traditional festival in China and the most important day for young girls in the past. On this day, girls not only pray for God to give them ingenuity, but also pray for a happy marriage and a safe family.

The most common custom of "Daughter's Day" is that women engage in various begging activities on the night of the seventh day of July. According to legend, the Weaver Girl is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. On the night of the seventh day of July, ordinary women begged her for wisdom and skillful skills, and also prayed for happiness in marriage. Most girls try their best to make small things and put some melons and fruits on them. Different regions have different ways of being clever and have their own interests.

According to folklore experts, Tanabata in modern society is endowed with more love meanings. In the Qin Dynasty, Qixi was the anniversary of his wife's death. Weaver Cowherd, one is immortal and the other is mortal. Because of the shackles of feudal ethics, it was blocked by the Milky Way and failed to get married. The seventh day of July has become a taboo time for civil marriage. By the Han Dynasty, the theme of "Qixi" had changed a lot, and people placed their beautiful ideals in the story. The tragic legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was changed into a comedy story in which two people met at the Queqiao Bridge, and it became an auspicious day for men and women to get together.

The eating customs of Tanabata vary from place to place. It is generally called "food cleverness", among which jiaozi, noodles, avocado and wonton are the foods of this festival. There are also many pastry shops that like to make some crisp sweets with the image of a weaver girl, commonly known as "capable people" and "Su Qiao", and when they sell them, they are called "sending capable people".

Now, many traditional customs and activities of Valentine's Day in ancient China have weakened or disappeared, but the beautiful legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which symbolizes loyalty and love, has been remembered and passed down.

In modern times, we still attach great importance to Daughter's Day. During the festival, parents will buy some gifts and beautiful clothes for their daughters. Daughter's Day represents people's respect for women and lets more people know the culture of this festival.

The Origin and Customs of Daughter's Day 3 Daughter's Day Customs

The most common custom of Daughter's Day is all kinds of begging activities carried out by women. Most girls try their best to make small things and put some melons and fruits on them. Different regions have different ways to please others, and each has its own interests.

"Oolong Feeling Pregnant" —— The Legend Origin of Daughter's Day

According to legend, during the Wude period of the Tang Dynasty (AD 624), during the Duanyang Festival, there was an official boat rowing here in Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan), a major town in northern Sichuan, at a place called Jiangtan by the Jialing River outside the city. The orchestral strings on board are melodious, and the songs and dances are light and graceful. Suddenly, the sky was overcast, and a golden dragon suddenly rose from the middle of the river, scaring Mrs. Yang, who was sitting on the boat, half to death. The governor's wife got pregnant soon after she returned, and later gave birth to a baby girl. When she grew up, she became the only female emperor in the long history of China. She was an outstanding female politician in China feudal society, replacing Wu Zetian who ruled the world in the Tang Dynasty.

In order to commemorate this outstanding woman who was born here, Lizhou in Tang Dynasty held a grand celebration every year on Wu Zetian's birthday, "On the 23rd day of the first month, women swam around the river", and all the women in the city gathered on both sides of Jialing River in gorgeous costumes. Singing and dancing, they moved the boat to Hechi. This custom continues to this day. 1988, Guangyuan Municipal People's Government decided to restore this colorful and fascinating folk festival and named it "Daughter's Day", and set it on September 1 day of Gregorian calendar.

Yingjie food

Appropriate fruit is the most famous holiday food for girls' day. Proper fruit, also called "daughter fruit", has many styles. The main materials are oil, flour, sugar and honey. "Dream of China in Tokyo" refers to it as "laughing boy" and "eating fruit patterns", and the patterns include holding incense and winning prizes. In the Song Dynasty, my daughter's fruit was sold in the market. The proper fruit is made by melting sugar into syrup in a pot, then mixing it with flour and sesame seeds, spreading it on the table, cooling it, cutting it into cubes with a knife, and finally folding it into spindle-shaped proper fruit embryo and frying it until golden brown. Handy women will also create various patterns related to the legend of Qixi.

In addition, there are many changes in the melons and fruits used in Qiqiao: either the melons and fruits are carved into exotic flowers and birds, or the surface of the melon skin is embossed; This kind of melon is called "flower melon". Until today, Daughter's Day is still a romantic traditional festival. However, many customs have weakened or disappeared, and only the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, which symbolizes loyal love, has been circulated among the people.