Introduces the origins of the four traditional folklore events of "Lantern Viewing, Cold Food, Ascending to Heaven, and Begging for Coquettish Handicrafts".

During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty (58-75 A.D.), when Emperor Ming advocated Buddhism and Cai Chuan returned from India, he claimed that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the country of Magadha, monks would gather to venerate the Buddha's relics, which was an auspicious time to visit the Buddha. Han Mingdi in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the 15th of the first month in the palace and the temple "lighted table Buddha". Since then, the Lantern Lantern custom by the original only held in the palace and spread to the people. That is, every first month of the fifteenth, regardless of the scholarly or common people to hang lights, urban and rural all-night lights.

The custom of releasing lanterns on the first night of the new year developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty, when Chang'an, the capital, was already the world's largest metropolis with a population of one million people and an affluent society. Under the personal advocacy of the emperor, the Lantern Festival was held more and more luxurious. After the Middle Tang Dynasty, it became a national carnival. Tang Xuanzong (A.D. 685 - 762), the beginning of the heyday, Chang'an lamp market is very large, burning lamps 50,000, lanterns, lanterns, the emperor ordered to do giant lamp building, as wide as 20 rooms, 150 feet high, bright gold, extremely spectacular.

Song Dynasty, Lantern Festival Lantern Festival in both the scale and the lanterns of the fantastical and exquisite than the Tang Dynasty, and the activities of a more civilized, stronger national characteristics. Later generations of Lantern Festival continues to develop, the festival of lights is also getting longer and longer,. Tang Dynasty Lantern Festival is "one day before and after the first yuan", the Song Dynasty and in the sixteen days after the addition of two days, the Ming Dynasty was extended to eight to eighteen by the whole ten days.

To the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus dominated the Central Plains, the court no longer run the Lantern Festival, but the folk Lantern Festival is still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days, and continues to this day.

Lanterns have the meaning of light and add a child to the Taiwanese folklore, lighting the lanterns has the meaning of illuminating the future, and the Taiwanese language lamps and ding resonate with the representation of the birth of a boy, so in the past, the Lantern Festival, women will deliberately swim under the lanterns in the hope of "drilling lamp feet to give birth to eggs" (that is, drilling under the lamps to swim, so as to give birth to a boy).

Cold food, Qingming winter solstice one hundred and five days after the cold food, once upon a time this day, the ban on fire, cold food, so it is also known as the "Cold Festival", "Smoke-free Festival". Folk legend has it that the cold food is to commemorate the Spring and Autumn period of jie zi push was burned in the fire in Mianshan, Jin Wendong ordered to ban fire. Jie Zi push is Shanxi people, so the cold food custom in Shanxi first popular. In the old days, cold food fire break, the next day in the palace there are drilling wood for new fire ceremony, folk also more to willow each other beg for new fire.

Fifteen days after the vernal equinox for the Qingming, is a good day for excursions. Qingming is also a day to sweep the graves of ancestors, also known as the folk "ghost festival", "festival of the underworld", and the 15th of July, October 1, collectively known as the "Three Underworld Festival", with the ceremony of the city god out of the patrol.

Cold food, Qingming was originally two festivals, but most of the folk in Shandong to the two festivals into one. Generally called Qingming, a few areas called Cold Food Festival, but the festival is in the Qingming day. Kenli place since the Qingming Festival three days before the count, called "big cold food", "two cold food", "three cold food", the fourth day for the Qingming, people in the four days to sweep the tomb, trekking. The day before Qingming is the Cold Food Festival in Jancheng, which is also known as the "Ghost Gate Festival".

The Chongyang Festival is also known as the Festival of Ascending Heights. On this day, people climb up to see the distance and miss their relatives. As the poem says: "Every festive season is twice as important as thinking of relatives." So how did the Chongyang Festival come about?

Originally, China's ancient nine called "Yang number", the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, two nine overlap, are Yang number, so called "Chongyang". Chongyang Festival from the Taoist story of a fairy:

Eastern Han Dynasty, Ru Nan County, there is a young man called Huan Jing's countryside, parents, wife and children of a large family. Although the day is not good, half food and half grain can get by. Who knows the unfortunate thing came. Both sides of the Ru River caused a plague, families are sick, corpses all over the place, no one buried. This year, Huan Jing's parents also died of illness.

When Huanjing was a child, he heard his elders say, "There is a plague demon living in the River Ru, and every year it comes out and walks around the earth. Wherever it went, it brought the plague with it. Huanjing was determined to learn from his masters, to fight the plague, and to rid the people of the plague. When he heard that a great immortal named Fei Changfang lived in the southeastern mountains, he packed his bags and set out for the mountains to learn from his master.

Fei Changfang gave Huanjing a Demon Busting Green Dragon Sword. Huanjing woke up early and went to bed late, wearing stars and moonlight, practicing day and night. In the blink of an eye is another year, that day Huanjing is practicing sword, Fei Changfang came to the front and said: "This year, September 9, Ruhe plague demon again to come out. You should hurry back to your hometown to get rid of the plague for the people. I will give you a bag of cornelian cherry leaves and a bottle of chrysanthemum wine, so that your hometown fathers and mothers can ascend the heights to avoid the disaster." After the Immortal Weng said that, he pointed with his hand, and an immortal crane flew in with its wings spreading and landed in front of Huanjing. Huanjing straddled the crane and flew toward Ru Nan.

Huanjing returned to his hometown and gathered his folks. He told the people about the words of the Great Immortal. On the ninth day of the ninth month, he led his wife, children, townspeople and elders up a nearby mountain. The dogwood leaves each person divided a piece, said so that carry with you, the plague demon dare not close to you. And the chrysanthemum wine poured out, each person pecked a mouthful, said drink chrysanthemum wine, not infected with the plague disease. He put the townspeople arrangements, with his Demon Green Dragon Sword back to the home, sitting alone in the house, waiting for the plague of demons to come to the battle of demon-subduing.

Not long ago, only to hear the roar of the River Ru, strange winds swirling up. The plague demon came out of the water and walked up the bank, through the village, walked thousands of string ten thousand households did not see a person, suddenly looked up to see people are in the high mountain gathering. It scurried to the bottom of the mountain, only to feel the wine gas pungent, cornelian flush lungs, do not dare to come close to the mountain, and then turned back to the village. Only to see a man is sitting in the house. Then he roared and pounced forward. Huan Jing saw the plague demon pounced, hastily dance sword to meet the battle. After a few rounds of fighting, the plague demon could not defeat him and ran away. Huanjing "whoosh" throws the Demon Green Dragon Sword, only to see the sword flashing cold light to the plague demon chase, through the heart through the lungs of the plague demon stabbed down to the ground.

After that, the people on both sides of the Ru River were no longer victimized by the plague. People passed down the story of the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, when Huanjing stabbed the plague demon with his sword, from father to son, and from son to grandson, all the way to the present day. Since then, people have celebrated the Chung Yeung Festival with the custom of ascending the heights on the ninth day of the ninth month.

The Chongyang Festival is nearly late in the fall, the atmosphere is cool, the air is fresh and the visibility is high, which is probably why people choose to climb up to the top of the mountain and look out from afar!

The Beggar's Tree Festival

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is known as the "Beggar's Tree Festival". On the evening of this day, women, especially young girls and young daughters-in-law, begged the star Vega for wisdom and skill. The rise of this custom, by the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden myths and legends. According to legend, the Cowherd is a kind and poor folk afterbirth, the Weaving Maiden is the heavenly palace down to earth a beautiful and wise fairy. They were a happy and loving couple, but were separated by the cruel Queen Mother in heaven. The Queen Mother drew a Milky Way between them and forbade them to see each other, but only allowed them to see each other once a year on the evening of the seventh day of the seventh month. People sympathize with the couple's misfortune, even the world of magpies also for their injustice, to the seventh day of the seventh month, the world of magpies are flying to the two sides of the Milky Way, the wood built a magpie bridge, so that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden across the bridge to meet. The Weaving Maiden is the Palace of Heaven's famous ingenuity, women will be in the evening, while she left the Palace of Heaven and the Cowherd to meet, to her begging for wisdom, so the people of July 7 known as the "Begging for ingenuity Festival".