Besides Tomb-Sweeping Day, what other seven festivals are there?

Speaking of traditional festivals in China, eight of them are collectively called "eight festivals in a year". There is a folk saying that "live, don't forget the eight festivals in a year", which means to remember these eight festivals in a year; At the same time, related holiday customs are also more important. They are Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice and New Year's Eve. Why do you think these festivals are the most important? Combing the relevant information, we will find that it is only because these eight festivals have a common custom.

If we subdivide these eight festivals, there are six festivals and two solar terms (Tomb-Sweeping Day and winter solstice). Spring Festival is the first day of the first month, the first day of the year, also known as "January Day". It is connected with the New Year's Eve at the end of the old year and becomes the most important Spring Festival in China, also known as "China New Year". Lantern Festival is the first full moon night of the New Year, also known as "Yuanxiao". In terms of time, it should actually be regarded as the continuation and end of the Spring Festival. These three festivals are also the biggest of the traditional festivals, and they are celebrated with the whole world, so there is more joyful atmosphere.

In late spring in Tomb-Sweeping Day, a hundred flowers blossom, grass grows and warblers fly, and everything recovers. Spring is a good time to enjoy flowers. But in addition, the most important custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day is ancestor worship, which is a tradition left over from ancient times. Going to the grave, adding soil and sweeping the grave are the main ways of sacrifice. In the eighth festival of the year, there is also a Mid-Autumn Festival, which is called "Three Ghosts Festival" together with Tomb-Sweeping Day. The Mid-Autumn Festival is the first full moon night in autumn, and some religious views believe that it is the biggest ghost festival.

As for the Dragon Boat Festival, it is also called Dragon Boat Festival and Duanyang. It is said that the origin of this name is because December corresponds to one year according to the twelve earthly branches, and May corresponds to "noon". People commemorate the Dragon Boat Festival by rowing dragon boats and making dumplings. At the same time, there are sayings in some areas to commemorate Qu Yuan or Wu Zixu. Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion and autumn harvest, celebrating the joy of harvest and offering sacrifices to grains.

Finally, the "winter solstice", that is, from this day on into the "nine cold days", which is a festival ignored by modern people, but in ancient times, the winter solstice was very important. Because it is the starting point to determine the solar terms of a year, the so-called "winter solstice and a sun" means that the appearance is getting colder and colder, but below the surface, it is the time when the essence of the sun begins to rise. During the Zhou Dynasty and the Qin and Han Dynasties, this festival was called the "Spring Festival", which had the custom of celebrating the New Year, but it was also a festival of sacrifice.

Through the above classification of "eight festivals", you may have found that these eight festivals are actually festivals related to sacrifice. It can be seen that the custom of celebrating festivals in China since ancient times is combined with ancestor worship, which is also our memory of our ancestors' cautious pursuit of the future. It is precisely because of China people's "not forgetting roots and roots" that there is a reunion of festivals and a family style can be spread; The custom of ancestor worship, the so-called worship, is also a spiritual reunion.