How many traditional festivals are there in China?

Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is the most grand traditional festival among the people in China, and it is a folk festival integrating blessing, entertainment and food. The Spring Festival has a long history, which evolved from praying for the New Year at the beginning of the year in ancient times, and bears rich historical and cultural connotations in its inheritance and development. During the Spring Festival, various New Year celebrations are held all over the country. Due to different regional cultures, there are differences in customs content or details, which have strong regional characteristics.

dusting

dusting is one of the new customs of getting rid of old cloth in New Year's Day. The folk proverb says, "On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house". At the end of 23/24, we officially began to prepare for the Chinese New Year. Sweeping dust means year-end cleaning, which is called "house sweeping" in the north and "house sweeping" in the south. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of appliances, tear down and wash bedding curtains, sweep the six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge open channels and culverts. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of engaging in sanitation and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly

According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "removing the old and replacing the new". The purpose of sweeping the dust is to sweep away all "poor luck" and "bad luck" in order to pray for the next year; This custom entrusts people's prayers and wishes to ward off evil spirits and disasters, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and welcome the good fortune.

The kitchen god

On the 23rd or 24th day of December of the lunar calendar, the kitchen stove is to be cleaned after dark, and the old kitchen god is to be taken down and burned, and a new portrait will be posted early on the morning of New Year's Eve. Every time you get a gift, you will have to place an offering.

Sticking Year Red

Sticking Year Red is a general term for sticking Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year pictures, blessings, banners, window grilles, etc. Because these are red festive elements pasted during the New Year, they are collectively called "Sticking Year Red". Because these are red festive elements posted during the Chinese New Year, they are called "New Year Red". Sticking New Year's Red is a traditional Chinese New Year custom, which reflects the customs and beliefs of the people, adds festive atmosphere, and places people's good expectations for the new year and new life.

Worship the gods and ancestors

Sacrificing ancestors on New Year's Eve is one of the important customs in Chinese New Year. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has a tradition of being cautious and pursuing the future, and it will never forget to worship ancestors and repay their kindness in the holidays. On New Year's Eve, people will put on dishes, pour wine and hold a grand sacrifice ceremony to express their memory of their ancestors and pray for their protection. This traditional custom has been passed down from generation to generation. Sacrificing ancestors not only covers all the ancient traditional festivals in China, but also is the eternal theme of folk festivals in China.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is one of the customs of New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve dinner, reunion dinner, etc., especially the family dinner on New Year's Eve. The New Year's Eve dinner originated from the ancient year-end sacrificial ceremony, which was a reunion dinner after worshipping the gods and ancestors. The reunion dinner is the highlight of the year before, which is not only colorful, but also very particular about meaning. Worship the gods and ancestors before the reunion dinner, and eat after the worship ceremony. Generally, there are chicken (which means there is a plan), fish (which is more than enough every year), oyster sauce (which is good for the market), Nostoc flagelliforme (which is rich), yuba (which is rich), lotus root (which is smart), lettuce (which is rich) and raw garlic (which is calculated) for good luck. China people's New Year's Eve dinner is a family reunion dinner, which is the most abundant and important dinner at the end of the year.

Lucky money

Lucky money (called "giving benefits" in Guangdong) is one of the Spring Festival customs. The lucky money is distributed by the elders to the younger generation. After dinner, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that the lucky money can suppress evil spirits, and the younger generation can spend one year safely when they get the lucky money. In some families, parents put them under their pillows after their children fall asleep at night. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the concern and sincere blessing of the elders to the younger generation. Lucky money in folk culture means exorcising evil spirits and keeping peace. The original intention of lucky money is to suppress evil and drive away evil, because people think that children are vulnerable to sneaky attacks, so they use lucky money to suppress evil

keep the old age

keep the old age, which is also known as wasting time, keeping the old age on fire, keeping the old age on the old age, etc. It has a long history and is one of the folk activities in China. On the night of New Year's Eve, the folk activities are mainly characterized by lighting the fire and keeping the fire. Every room should be brightly lit all night, and the whole family will be reunited to welcome the arrival of the new year; On New Year's Eve, lights and candles are burned all night, which is called "wasting". It is said that after this, the wealth at home will be enriched in the coming year. In ancient times, there were different customs in the north and the south. In some places, the custom of keeping the old age was mainly to stay up all night, that is, to keep vigil all night; For example, Zhou Chu of the Jin Dynasty wrote "Records of Local Customs", saying: On New Year's Eve, everyone gives gifts in different phases, which is called "giving gifts to the old"; Young and old get together and wish a complete song, which is called "dividing the age"; Sleeping all the year round, waiting for dawn, is called "keeping the age." In some places, on New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, and keep vigil all night, symbolizing driving away all evil diseases and looking forward to good luck in the new year.