China has existed for five thousand years. What are the traditional festivals in ancient China?

Lunar New Year's Eve in December

(New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve. In addition, the original meaning is "go" and it is extended to "change" [alternate]; The original meaning of the word "evening" is "sunset" and it is extended to "night". Therefore, New Year's Eve means "get rid of the old year here and get a new year tomorrow". "Except" means to get rid of the old cloth and make a new one. New Year's Eve originated from the "expulsion" in the pre-Qin period. According to Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Dong Jiji, on the day before the New Year, the ancients used drums to drive away the "ghost of plague" so that there would be no disease or disaster in the coming year. This is the origin of "New Year's Eve" Festival. In ancient times, there were many nicknames for "New Year's Eve", such as "except the night", "except the night", "except the year" and so on. Although there are many names, they always mean to send the old to welcome the new and eliminate disasters and diseases. )

The Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month.

(It is the first year of the lunar calendar, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". The origin of the Spring Festival has a history of about 4000 years in China. This is the most lively and grand traditional festival in China. The ancient Spring Festival refers to the "beginning of spring" season in the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar. It was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that the Spring Festival was changed to the end of the year, generally referring to the whole spring. At this time, spring returns to the earth and everything is renewed. People regard it as the beginning of a new year. In the early years of the Republic of China after the Revolution of 1911, after the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar, the first day of the first month was designated as the Spring Festival. It was not until1September 27th, 949 that the China People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated the New Year on the first day of the first month as the "Spring Festival", so many people still call it the Spring Festival. )

People often call celebrating the Spring Festival "Chinese New Year", but the original meaning of "Year" is fundamentally different from today. It is said that in ancient times, there was one of the fiercest beasts in the world called Nian. It is bigger than a camel. Run faster than the wind and roar louder than thunder. Once out, people eat people, animals are injured, and people's lives are seriously threatened. In order to punish Nian, the gods locked it in the mountains and allowed it to come out only once a year. In the long-term practice, people find that Nian has three fears-fear of red, fear of noise and fear of fire. So, one year on the thirtieth night of the twelfth lunar month, everyone posted red paper at the door, kept beating gongs and drums and setting off firecrackers, and lit lights all night in the house at night. Take a look at the evening of "Nian", and every family is brightly lit; Hearing this, the sound of shooting was everywhere, scaring it into the village. During the day, it sneaked down the mountain again, only to find that the door was still red and drums were everywhere, scaring it to turn around and run back. From then on, Nian never came again. It is said that he starved to death in the deep forest. Later, people turned the prevention of "Year" and "Drive Year" into a safe and steady New Year. "Nian" is gone, but the custom of Chinese New Year is still there. Bright red Spring Festival couplets, brilliant lights, crisp firecrackers, loud gongs and drums, year after year. )

The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han nationality, but more than a dozen ethnic minorities, such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li, have also had the custom of the Spring Festival, but the form of the festival has its own national characteristics and is more meaningful.

develop

The concepts of Spring Festival and New Year originally came from agriculture. In ancient times, people called the growth cycle of the valley "year". Hebe: "in the year, the grain is ripe." . During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the Xia calendar came into being, with the full and short moon as the month, and a year was divided into twelve months. Every month, the day when the moon can't be seen is the new moon, and the first day of the first month is called the beginning of a year, also known as the year. The title of the year began in the Zhou Dynasty and was officially set in the Western Han Dynasty, which continues to this day. However, in ancient times, the first day of the first month was called "New Year's Day". Until the victory of the Revolution of 1911 in modern China, in order to conform to the farming season and facilitate statistics, the Nanjing Provisional Government stipulated that the people would use the summer calendar, and institutions, factories, mines, schools and organizations would adopt the solar calendar, with the Gregorian calendar 1 month 1 day as New Year's Day and the first lunar month 1 day as the Spring Festival.

New year's day and spring festival

1949 On September 27th, New China was founded. At the first plenary session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference, the international use of the Gregorian calendar era was adopted, and the Gregorian calendar 1 month 1 day was designated as New Year's Day, commonly known as the Gregorian calendar year. The first day of the first lunar month is usually around beginning of spring, so the first day of the first lunar month is designated as the Spring Festival, commonly known as the Lunar New Year.

In the traditional sense, the Spring Festival refers to the La Worship sacrificial ceremony from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax. During the Spring Festival, a traditional festival, the Han nationality and most ethnic minorities in China will hold various celebrations. Most of these activities are mainly about offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and praying for the new. The forms of activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics.

One of the legends of the Spring Festival: staying up late for the New Year.

Keeping the old year is the custom of staying up late to welcome the new year on the last night of the old year. Also known as New Year's Eve, the common name is "Enduring the Year". Exploring the origin of this custom, there is an interesting story among the people:

In ancient times, there was a fierce monster scattered in the mountains. People call them nian. Its appearance is ferocious, its nature is ferocious, and it specializes in eating birds, animals and insects. It changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Later, people gradually mastered the activity law of "Nian", that is, every 365 days, people go to places where people live in concentrated communities to taste fresh food. The haunting time is after dark, and when the rooster crows at dawn, they return to the mountains.

After determining the date of the ravages of 2008, people regarded this terrible night as a gateway, and came up with a set of methods to close the New Year's Day: every family prepared dinner in advance, turned off the fire, cleaned the stove, then tied all the cowpeas, sealed the front and back doors of the house, and hid in the house to eat the "New Year's Eve" because this dinner was uncertain. In addition to inviting the whole family to have dinner together to show harmonious reunion, we should also worship our ancestors before eating and pray for their blessing to spend the night safely. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and chatted with courage. Gradually formed the habit of not sleeping on New Year's Eve.

The trend of observing the age rose in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and many scholars in the Liang Dynasty had poems about observing the age. "One night for two years, five hours for two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation.

Legend of the Spring Festival 2: On Calendar Making in Ten Thousand Years

According to legend, there was a young man named Wan Nian in ancient times. Seeing that the festivals at that time were chaotic, he had an accurate plan. But he couldn't find a way to calculate the time. One day, he was tired of chopping wood on the mountain and sat in the shade. The movement of the shadow inspired him. He designed a sundial to measure the time of the day. Later, inspired by the dripping spring water on the cliff, he began to make a five-layer clepsydra to calculate the time. Over time, he found that every 360 days, the four seasons would cycle once, and the length of the weather would be repeated.

At that time, the monarch was called Zu Ti, who was often troubled by the unpredictable weather. Ten thousand years later, he took the sundial and the clepsydra to see the emperor and explained to Zu Ti the truth about the movement of the sun and the moon. Zu Ti was very happy after hearing this and felt reasonable. So I left for ten thousand years and built the Sun and Moon Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven, as well as the sundial platform and the Leaky Pot Pavilion. I hope I can accurately measure the laws of the sun and the moon, calculate the exact time in the morning and evening, and create a calendar to benefit people all over the world.

On one occasion, Zu Ti went to learn about the progress of the perpetual calendar. When he boarded the altar of the sun and the moon, he saw a poem engraved on the stone wall next to the Temple of Heaven:

Sunrise and sunset 360, start all over again.

Vegetation is divided into four seasons, and there are twelve circles in a year.

Knowing that the perpetual calendar was created, I personally boarded the Sun Moon Pavilion to visit the perpetual calendar. Wan Nian pointed to the astronomical phenomena and said to Zu Ti, "It's been twelve months now, the old year has passed and the new year has begun again. Please make a festival for you. " Zu Ti said, "Spring is the first year of a year, so let's call it Spring Festival". It is said that this is the origin of the Spring Festival.

After years of long-term observation and careful calculation, he worked out an accurate solar calendar. When he showed his successor the solar calendar, he was covered with silver whiskers. The monarch was deeply moved. In order to commemorate the achievements of 10 thousand years, he named the solar calendar "perpetual calendar" and named it the birthday star of the sun, moon and moon. In the future, people will hang up the Shou Xingtu during the Chinese New Year, which is said to commemorate the venerable ten thousand years.

The Third Legend of Spring Festival: Sticking Spring Festival couplets and Door Gods

It is said that the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago, which is proved by history. In addition, according to the Jade Candle Collection and the Chronicle of Yanjing, the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Fu Tao".

In the ancient mythology of China, it is said that there is a ghost world, in which there is a mountain, a big peach tree covering three thousand miles, and a golden rooster at the top of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghost who travels at night will rush back to the ghost domain. The Gate of Ghost Domain is located in the northeast of Peach Tree District. There are two gods standing by the door, named Shen Tu and Lei Yu. If the ghost does something unnatural at night, Shen Tu and Lei Yu will immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of Miscanthus and give it to the tiger. So all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Lei Yu. So people carved them into peach trees and put them at their doorsteps to ward off evil spirits and prevent harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the mahogany board, thinking that this could also eliminate disasters. This kind of red board was later called "Fu Tao".

In the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on mahogany boards, one for killing evil spirits, the other for expressing good wishes, and the third for decorating the portal for beauty. They also write couplets on red paper symbolizing happiness and good luck, and stick them on both sides of doors and windows during the Spring Festival to express people's good wishes for good luck in the coming year.

In order to pray for the longevity of the family, people in some places still keep the habit of sticking up doors. It is said that there are two door gods posted on the gate, and all monsters will be afraid. In the folk, the door god is a symbol of justice and strength. The ancients thought that people with strange looks often had magical temperament and extraordinary skills. They are honest and kind, and it is their nature and responsibility to catch ghosts and demons. Zhong Kui, a ghost hunter who is highly regarded by people, is such a strange look. Therefore, the folk door gods are always glaring and ferocious, holding all kinds of traditional weapons in their hands, ready to fight against ghosts who dare to come to the door. Because the doors of China's house are usually two opposite doors, the door gods are always paired.

After the Tang Dynasty, besides peace, people also regarded Qin and Weichi Gong, two military commanders in the Tang Dynasty, as gatekeepers. According to legend, Emperor Taizong was ill, heard ghosts screaming outside, and stayed up all night. So he asked the two generals to stand by with weapons in their hands, and there was no ghost harassment the next night. Later, Emperor Taizong had the images of these two generals painted and pasted on the door, and this custom began to spread widely among the people.

[Edit this paragraph] Lantern Festival

the 15th of the first month of the lunar calendar

(Also known as "Shangyuan Festival", that is, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is an important traditional festival in China. In ancient books, this day is called Shangyuan, and its night is called Yuanye, Yuanxi or Yuanxiao. The name Yuanxiao has been used ever since. Because Lantern Festival has the custom of hanging lanterns and watching lanterns, it is also called Lantern Festival among the people. In addition, there are customs such as eating Yuanxiao, walking on stilts and riddles. The ancient calendars in China were closely related to the phases of the moon. On the fifteenth day of each month, people will welcome the first full moon night of the year, which is naturally considered as an auspicious day. As early as the Han Dynasty, the fifteenth day of the first month has been regarded as a day of offering sacrifices to gods and praying for blessings. Later, the ancients called the fifteenth day of the first month Shangyuan, the fifteenth day of July Zhongyuan and the fifteenth day of October Xia Yuan. At the latest, in the early Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sanyuan was the day when grand ceremonies were held. Of the three elements, Shangyuan is the most valued. Later, the celebrations in the Central Plains and Xia Yuan were gradually abolished, but Shangyuan was enduring. )

Da Chun (The first solar term every year is "beginning of spring", which is usually called "Da Chun". Why do you call it that? There is a custom in Chinese history. On this day in early spring every year, people will put on holiday clothes, carry a big paper cow and parade in the street singing and dancing. After the parade, the cows wrapped in paper were carried to the court of the county government, and the county officials personally whipped them three times, which means: spring back to the earth and hurry up farming. Therefore, people call beginning of spring "Da Chun". )

A popular folk song "Spring" in Shanxi: "Spring breeze moves in spring, and spring water flows along the river. Spring people drink spring wine and spring officials whip spring cattle. " It's about the grand occasion of shooting spring cattle.

[Edit this paragraph] Tomb-Sweeping Day

Cold food Tomb-Sweeping Day the day before.

(A festival in old customs, the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day [two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day]. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, who had been exiled for many years, returned to China and acceded to the throne [that is, Jin Wengong], and all the courtiers who died with him were treated as honorifics, except mesons. Jie Zitui then lived in seclusion with his mother in Mianshan (now southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province). When Jin Wengong learned about it, he wanted to raise the bonus. He found Mianshan, but he couldn't find it, so he wanted to burn the mountain and force him out. But meson push couldn't hold on, and as a result, both mother and son were burned to death. Therefore, Jin Wengong stipulates that people are forbidden to cook on the fire and express their condolences with cold food on this day every year. Later, the custom of eating cold food to sweep the grave at the Cold Food Festival was formed. )

The eighth day of the third lunar month is Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing, so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities. )

Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. The real name of "Dragon Boat Festival" is "Dragon Boat Festival", which means the beginning. "Five" and "noon" are homophonic and universal. This is an ancient festival in China. After being exiled by slanderers, Qu Yuan, the earliest patriotic poet in ancient China, witnessed the increasingly corrupt politics of Chu State and was unable to realize his political ideal and save the endangered motherland, so he threw himself into the river. Since then, in order to prevent fish and shrimp from eating their bodies, people have kneaded glutinous rice and flour into cakes of various shapes and put them in the heart of the river, which has become the source of eating zongzi and fried cakes during the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom has spread abroad.

[Edit this paragraph] Tanabata

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month

(The night on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is called "Qixi". According to China folklore, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge in Tianhe tonight. Later, some women asked Vega for help on this night and other customs. The so-called cleverness is to thread a needle through Vega with colored thread in the moonlight. It would be a "coincidence" if you could pass through seven pinholes of different sizes. The agricultural proverb goes: "On the seventh day of July, it is clear, and the sickle is used to cut rice." It's time to sharpen the sickle and get ready to harvest the early rice. )

[Edit this paragraph] Respect for the Elderly Day

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival in China. It is also a festival to respect the elderly in China. 1989, China designated September 9th as the festival for the elderly, which skillfully combined tradition with modernity and became a festival to respect, love and help the elderly.

Every time I go to Chongyang, people will think of Wang Wei's "Being in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season." I know from a distance where my brother climbed, and there is one person missing from the dogwood. "This poem. Since ancient times, the Double Ninth Festival has been a day when people respect the old and love the young, miss their parents and long for reunion.

There is also a saying in history that the thirteenth day of the seventh lunar month is a day to respect the elderly, but it was revised in 1989.

[Edit this paragraph] Mid-Autumn Festival

the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month

(The 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which falls in the middle of autumn, is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the evening, the full moon in Gui Xiang is regarded as a symbol of happy reunion by the old customs. This is a festival to prepare all kinds of fruits and cooked food to enjoy the moon. Eat moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to overthrow the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the broad masses of the people wrote the date of the uprising on a piece of paper, put it in the stuffing of moon cakes, and secretly passed it on to each other, calling on everyone to revolt on August 15. Finally, a nationwide peasant uprising broke out on this day and overthrew the decadent Yuan Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has spread more widely. )

[Edit this paragraph] Double Ninth Festival

September of the lunar calendar

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. The Double Ninth Festival is also called the Double Ninth Festival and the Festival for the Elderly, because in the Book of Changes in ancient times, six was defined as the number of yin and nine as the number of yang. On September 9, the sun and the moon meet, and the two are in the same phase, so it is called the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival. The ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate and started this festival from a very young age. The activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival are colorful and romantic, which generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high into the distance, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating the Double Ninth Festival cake, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "long", and nine is the largest number in the number, which means long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest in a year, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching influence. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums.

According to legend, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Runan people went to the cinema. Fei Changfang told him that there would be a disaster in Runan on September 9, so he quickly asked his family to sew a small bag, put Cornus officinalis in it, tied it to his arm, and climbed the mountain to drink chrysanthemum wine to take refuge. On this day, the whole family climbed the mountain and went home at night. Sure enough, all the chickens, dogs and sheep in the family are dead. Since then, people make dogwood bags, drink chrysanthemum wine, hold temple fairs, climb mountains and other customs on the Double Ninth Festival. Because "Gao" and "Gao" are homonyms, there is a custom of eating "Chongyang cake" on the Double Ninth Festival. Wang Weiyou, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Thinking of Shandong Brothers in the Mountain Festival": "When people are in a foreign land, they miss their relatives more than ever. I know from a distance where my brother climbed, and there is one person missing from the dogwood. " Recorded the customs at that time. Because of sincere feelings, this poem has become a household name.

[Edit this paragraph] Solstice in winter

Lunar calendar 1 1 22nd.

In ancient China, people attached great importance to the winter solstice and thought it was a grand festival. There is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year, and there is a custom to celebrate it. "Han Shu" said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, and you are long, so congratulations." People think that after the winter solstice, the days become longer and longer and the sun rises. This is the beginning of a solar cycle and an auspicious day, which should be celebrated. The Book of Jin records: "On the winter solstice of Wei and Jin Dynasties, people from all over the world celebrated ... its appearance was not as good as that of Zheng Dan." Explain the ancient emphasis on the winter solstice.

Now, some places still celebrate the winter solstice as a festival. The northern region has the custom of slaughtering sheep and eating jiaozi and wonton from winter solstice, while the southern region has the custom of eating glutinous rice balls and long noodles from winter solstice on this day. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in winter solstice in various regions. )

[Edit this paragraph] Laba Festival

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month

In ancient times, the sacrifice to "gods" in December was called the twelfth lunar month, so the twelfth lunar month was called the twelfth lunar month. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the old custom is to drink Laba porridge. Legend has it that Sakyamuni became a Buddha on this day. In order to celebrate the merits of Sakyamuni, a grand Buddhist ceremony will be held in the temple to commemorate it, burning incense and ringing bells and drums together to cook porridge for the Buddha. Laba Festival is the coldest day in the north. People cook Laba porridge with whole grains and dried fruits and eat it in the morning of the festival. There are at least eight raw materials for cooking Laba porridge. The materials vary from place to place, generally including rice, millet, glutinous rice, barley, wheat, coix seed, red bean, mung bean, kidney bean, lotus seed, ginkgo, peanut kernel, longan, almond, melon seeds, raisins, red dates, chestnuts and preserved fruits. In addition, there are a variety of raw materials such as salty Laba porridge and meat Laba porridge. On this day, people in the north not only drink Laba porridge, but also offer sacrifices to their ancestors, hoping for a bumper harvest next year. During the Laba Festival, in order to welcome the arrival of the Spring Festival, people began to prepare New Year's food, such as Laba vinegar, pickled Laba garlic, preserved meat, preserved duck, preserved fish and so on. Since then, people have followed suit, until today.

[Edit this paragraph] New Year's Eve

Kitchen Festival, Kitchen Day, commonly known as "off-year", also known as off-year, off-year, off-year festival and so on.

On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, people call it "off-year", which means that the year is coming to an end.

In the past, there were "three officials, three people, four places and five monks", that is to say, anyone with a reputation of being a scholar or above had a lunar new year of 23, ordinary people had a lunar new year of 24, and Taoists and monks had a lunar new year of 25. Now most areas in the north spend their off-year holidays on the 23rd.

The main folk activity in off-year is "giving stoves", that is, "king of people". The Kitchen God is also called "Kitchen King", and the folks call it "Kitchen King".