The Relationship between Traditional Festivals and Time in China

Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient and traditional festival in China. Whenever this time, the family is reunited and happy. There are many stories about the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival. They are very interesting.

As early as the Three Dynasties, China had the custom of "Twilight in Autumn". The moon at night is to worship the moon god.

According to historical records, the word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in Zhou Li. In the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, activities to welcome the cold and offer sacrifices to the moon were held.

Usually, many people say that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated in the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. According to historical records: "Yesterday, Chang 'e took the medicine of the Queen Mother of the West to live forever, so she went to the moon with the essence of the moon. "Chang 'e paid hard labor for this move, and she can't return to the world for life. Li Bai was very sad for this, and wrote a poem: "The white rabbit pounded medicine in autumn, and came back to life in spring. Who is the female neighbor? " Although Chang 'e herself feels good about the Moon Palace, she can't bear loneliness. She returns to Earth to reunite with her husband all night on August 15 every year, but she must return to the Moon Palace before dawn. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the world not only wants to get together with Chang 'e on the moon, but also hopes that Chang 'e can come down to see her beauty. Therefore, when many people burn incense in Yue Bai, they pray that "men wish to leave themoon early and ascend to the immortal laurel" ... while women wish to look like Chang 'e and be as round as the bright moon. "Year after year, people celebrate this day as a festival.

In the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was a record of "telling Shangshu Town about cattle confusion, crossing the river in mid-autumn and evening".

Some people think that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival in the early years of the Tang Dynasty. The Book of Emperor Taizong recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15. The Mid-Autumn Festival began in Ming Di in the Tang Dynasty. The book "The Legacy of Kaiyuan" in the Tang Dynasty records that on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, Tang and Yang Guifei played under the moon and swam to Xing. They went to the Moon Palace, where Tang learned half of the colorful feathers, and later supplemented them and became a masterpiece. Tang will never forget this trip to the Moon Palace. At this time of year, we should enjoy the moon. People follow suit and get together at the full moon to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the earth. Over time, it has become a tradition. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The prevalence of Mid-Autumn Festival began in Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, people gave each other moon cakes as a symbol of reunion. In the evening, there are activities such as enjoying the moon and swimming in the lake.

It has been suggested that the Mid-Autumn Festival was originally the anniversary of the uprising that overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people could not stand the government's rule. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, they wrote, "Kill Tatars and destroy the Yuan Dynasty; The note "Let's do it together on August 15" is hidden in a small round cake made of chromium and passed to each other. On the evening of August 15, every family United and overthrew the rule of the yuan dynasty. Later, every Mid-Autumn Festival, we all eat moon cakes to commemorate this historic victory.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was as famous as New Year's Day and became one of the major festivals in China. This is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival.

The origin of this Mid-Autumn Festival is really varied. I don't know which statement is correct. I'm confused anyway.

On the Origin of Ghost Festival

The first statement:

Every July 14 is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Ghost Festival or Magnolia Festival, which is a big festival to worship ghosts.

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from Taoism, and later Buddhism changed to what is now commonly known as Ghost Festival. In India, Magnolia Festival means "hanging upside down". "Hanging upside down" means that after the death of the mother of the ten sons of Sakyamuni, she was hungry and could not eat. Later, I got help from Sakyamuni. Support the ten gods and buddhas with a hundred flavors and five fruits, and save the mother with merits. So now, in order to worship the ghosts, Purdue Festival is held in July of the lunar calendar, which is now called Ghost Festival.

Generally speaking, in ancient times, people were reluctant to do important things such as getting married this month.

The second statement:

As for the origin of the Ghost Festival, it is said that the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha, also known as [the Lord of Hell], came to the underworld after her mother died, was imprisoned in her cell, and suffered from various eighteen levels of hell. Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha is a dutiful son and can't bear to see his mother suffer. On July 15, he had an affair and asked the boy guarding the cell to secretly open the cell door and let his mother out. Who knows it's not important? Those ghosts who run back to their hometown ask for money from home, let them go back to life and get through their joints, hoping to support their lives as soon as possible. Later, people designated this day as Ghost Festival.

On Halloween, people will burn paper money and offer sacrifices to show their respect for their deceased relatives.

The Double Ninth Festival was mentioned in Chu Ci during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Qu Yuan's Journey wrote: "Set Chongyang into the Emperor's Palace and see the capital of Qing Dynasty ten days later." The "Double Ninth Festival" here refers to the sky, not just festivals. In Nine Days Zhong You written by Cao Pi, Wei Wendi in the Three Kingdoms period, it was clearly written that the Double Ninth Festival: "From the year to the month, I suddenly returned to September 9. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. It is well known and considered suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. "

Tao Yuanming, a scholar in Jin Dynasty, said in the preface to the poem "Idle for Nine Days": "I am idle and love the name of Nine. Autumn chrysanthemums are full of gardens, but they are sad, empty for Jiuhua, and precious words are like gold. " Chrysanthemum and wine are mentioned here at the same time. Probably in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a custom of drinking and enjoying chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, Chongyang was officially designated as a folk festival.

In the Ming Dynasty, on the Double Ninth Festival in September, the palace would eat flower cakes together to celebrate, and the emperor would personally climb the Long Live Mountain to celebrate his autumn ambition. This custom has been passed down to the Qing Dynasty.

Legend of Double Ninth Festival

Like most traditional festivals, the Double Ninth Festival has ancient legends.

According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in Ruhe. As soon as it appeared, people in every household fell ill and died every day, and people in this area were ravaged by plague demons.

A plague killed the parents of the teenager Hengjing, and he almost died of illness himself. After he recovered from his illness, he bid farewell to his beloved wife and fellow villagers and decided to go out to study in immortals to rid the people of the plague. Heng Jing visited teachers everywhere and famous scholars all over the world. Finally, he found an oldest mountain in the east. There is a miraculous fairy on the mountain. Under the guidance of the crane, Hengjing finally found the mountain and the immortal with magical power. The immortal was moved by his spirit, and finally took in Heng Jing, taught him the sword to subdue the demon, and gave him a sword to subdue the demon. Hengjing forgot to eat, sleep and practice hard, and finally became an extraordinary martial art.

On this day, the immortal called Heng Jing to his side and said, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of September, and the plague god will come out to do evil again. When you learn the skill, you should go back and kill the people. " Xianchang gave Hengjing a pack of dogwood leaves and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, and secretly taught him how to ward off evil spirits and let Hengjing ride a crane home.

Hengjing returned to his hometown. On the morning of the ninth day of September, according to the fairy's instructions, he led the villagers to a nearby mountain and gave everyone a dogwood leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine to prepare for subduing the evil spirits. At noon, with several strange calls, Mo Wen rushed out of the Ruhe River, but just as Mo Wen jumped down the mountain, he suddenly smelled the strange fragrance of Cornus officinalis and the alcohol smell of Chrysanthemum, and his face suddenly changed. At this time, Heng Jing chased Mo Wen down the mountain with a demon sword in his hand, and stabbed him to death in a few rounds. Since then, the custom of climbing mountains on the ninth day of September to avoid epidemics has been handed down year after year. Wu Yun, a native of A Liang, recorded this point in his book Qi and He Xu.

Later, people regarded the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival as an activity to avoid disasters. In addition, in the traditional concept of people in the Central Plains, the Double Ninth Festival still means longevity, health and longevity, so the Double Ninth Festival was later established as the festival for the elderly.