Festive Customs in Tang Poetry

The Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties were a period of epochal change in Chinese festival customs. The characteristics of festivals underwent a major

change, and the customs of festivals that had been characterized by taboos, superstitions, purification and sacrifice since the Han and Wei dynasties were transformed

into recreational and ceremonial customs, and they became real "festivals of festivals and good times". With this characteristic

transformation, many of the festival customs also changed, in the New Year's Day, firecrackers to drive away the ghosts of the meaning of the gradual fading

desert, and become the people in addition to the old year to celebrate the New Year's entertainment and festive activities. Drums to drive away the ghosts in addition to the plague in the form of sacrifice

- drive away exorcism, although it still contains strong religious colors, but the entertainment component is greatly strengthened to become a

"entertaining and entertaining" songs and dances. Lantern Festival Lantern Festival Festival of the gods into people traveling to see the lanterns.

Purifying the purification of purification has been replaced by trekking in the spring. Mid-Autumn Festival moon worship rituals into the literati to play the moon, the moon

pastime. Every festive season, the court feasts, singing and dancing all night long, to celebrate the beauty of the night. Folk

is

"Women as clouds, car and horse jam road". Sui book - Liu Yu biography, said: Sui Wendi, the capital and foreign states,

Every first month of the night of hope, "high trellis across the road, the wide curtains of Lingyun, ZZZ dress beautiful makeup, car and horse fill choking. The spirit of food and drink, silk

bamboo will be busy, all the costs of bankruptcy, competing for this time". This text reflects the Sui Dynasty Chang'an Lantern Festival night,

also reflects the change in the nature of the festival customs.

This period, not only the original content of the festival customs to entertainment, but also produced many

new customs, greatly enriching the content of the ancient festival customs. For example, a large number of recreational activities appeared

in the festival customs, swinging, kite flying, playing polo, step playing, tug-of-war, archery, horseback riding, cockfighting,

fighting, begging for coincidences and so on, in a variety of forms, the content is colorful. These recreational activities in different seasons

season, different festivals, with a distinct seasonal, greatly increased the festival customs

entertainment factors.

The Tang Dynasty also produced some new festivals, such as the Thousand Autumn Festival and the Zhonghe Festival. In addition, the Lantern Festival

was formalized as the 15th day of the first month. The sending of the poor to the poor on the obscure day, tomb-sweeping at Qingming, changing the name of "Duanwu" to "Duanwu,"

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, and the official designation of Chongyang as a holiday all began in the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Sui-Tang Five Dynasties period, the myths and legends about the festival, no longer shrouded in a mysterious fog

in the original full of demons, calamities, good and bad luck, taboos, divination and other superstitious colors of the content began to be

humanity and romantic flavor of the content instead, reflecting the festival of the more and more life. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the legend of Zhong Kui (钟馗) appeared and spread widely among the people, so that in the late Tang and Fifth Dynasties, the funny Zhong Kui (钟馗) replaced Shentan (神荼) and Yubi (郁垒), the murderous gods of the Han Dynasty and Wei Dynasty, and became the door god of every household to drive away ghosts and avoid evil spirits.

This is the first time that Zhong Kui (钟馗) has been used in the Tang Dynasty, but he has been used in the Fifth Dynasty. The moon worshipping custom, which originated in nature worship, has evolved into recreational activities such as enjoying the moon and playing with the moon. People

looked up at the moon, produced endless visions and reveries, and then produced Wu Gang cut down the laurel tree,

Tang Xuanzong night tour of the moon palace and other beautiful legends. This all reflects the flourishing

mid-autumn festival customs

profile of this period, but also reflects the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period of people's rich interest in life and the new face of the festival customs.

One of the characteristics of Chinese festival customs is the close integration of rituals and customs. This feature was fully manifested in the Sui-Tang Dynasty

Five Dynasties period. For example, the Qingming Festival was originally a folk custom, to the Tang Xuanzong included in the ritual

Canon, it became a ritual custom. In the Sui and Tang dynasties in the rituals, held on New Year's Day to welcome the spring, welcome the ceremony of the gods, social

sacrifices on the day of the community gods, on the day of the spring purification, the festival of the thousand Autumn Festival celebrations, the change of the number of the year, the Prince, the Princess of the wedding and auspicious signs of the country's great celebrations, held by the drink and so on is an important rituals and customs, and, at the same time, these are the festivals

order the customs in the essential content.

The new contents of the festival customs in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties are discussed below.

Door god Zhong Kui "door god" term, first seen in the "Rituals - funeral big record" Zheng Xuan note: "Jun release dishes,

ritual door god. In ancient times, there were five rituals, the so-called "five rituals", i.e., sacrifices to the door, household, well, stove,

land and other five gods. The door god is one of them. Zhou Dynasty, the door god has no name and no surname, although the "Book of Rites"

there are records of the door god, but at this time the door god has no specific object to refer to. It was only during the Warring States period and the two Han dynasties that it was gradually

figurative, with the emergence of the gods of the door - Shentian and Yubi - who were depicted in drawings and paintings.

Around the time of the Late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the gods of the door were replaced by Zhong Kui (钟馗). In the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo (沈括), "Supplementary

Pen Talks," Volume 3, citing Wu Daozi's bell kui painting with a Tang inscription and Gao Cheng (高承)'s "The Chronicle of Things," said: "During the reign of the Kaiyuan emperor,

Tang Emperor Xuanzong, coming back from the schoolyard at Mt. Li, was stricken with malaria, and the sorcerers, with all their ingenuity, worked hard for a month or so and could not be cured. Late one night, Emperor Xuanzong dreamed of a large and small two ghosts, the little ghost dressed in reddish-colored clothes,

a foot with boots, a foot barefoot, a boot hanging from the waist, to steal Yang Guifei's purple scented pouch and Emperor Xuanzong's

jade flute. At this time, a large ghost "wore a hat, dressed in blue, bared an arm and feet, but caught the small one, routed its eyes,

and then broke and masticated it." Tang Xuanzong asked, "Who are you?" The big ghost replied, "I am Zhong Kui, the

unsuccessful scholar in the martial arts examination. Swear to get rid of the world's demons with Your Majesty." Tang Xuanzong woke up from a big dream and got better

at once. He called Wu Daozi, a great painter, and told him about the image he saw in his dream. Wu Daozi is worthy of a generation of great painting

master, after listening to the paintings, a moment will be painted. Emperor Xuanzong stared at it for a long time and said, "I really don't want to

to see the same image as in my dream!" He rewarded Wu Daozi with a hundred gold and inscribed a poem.

This is a legendary story, but it is based on historical facts. In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Daozi did paint Zhong Kui

like. Tang Zhang Yanyuan "record of famous paintings through the ages," Volume IX, said: "Wu Daozi has 'ten fingers Zhong Xu' transmitted in the generation.

"Zhong Xu" should be "Zhong Kui". Song Huang Huofu "Yizhou famous painting record" records, Wu Daozi Zhong Kui picture

After the death of the Tang Dynasty, was the Shu later master Wang Yan obtained. After Wu Daozi painted Zhong Kui, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Zhong Kui to be

displayed as a deity to ward off evils and drive away ghosts, which was also

done by the Emperor. This point can also

can be Zhang said "thank you to give Zhong Kui and the calendar table", Liu Yuxi "for Li Chancellor thank you to give Zhong Kui calendar table",

"for the Huainan Du Xianggong thank you to give Zhong Kui calendar table" and other articles to get evidence. At that time, every new year, the Tang

emperor gave the Zhong Kui statue and the new calendar day to his close ministers, and the purpose of giving the Zhong Kui statue was to "write a picture of the God of Might, to drive away

groups of liars, and to increase the nobility of the gateway. Increase the nobility of the portal." Visible, Zhong Kui already has the function of the door god.

Dunhuang popular in the Tang Dynasty, a six-syllable ballad, called "children Wei drive exorcism", is sung in December each year when the people

drive exorcism. In the Dunhuang stone room in the remains of a "children Lang Wei", the title is "New Year's Eve Zhong Kui drive

Nuo Nuo Wen". Nuo text sings: "Pro Lord year leading 100,000, bear claws hard, copper head and silver forehead, soul (muddy) body always

with leopard skin, all make the red sand dyeing, the sense that I am Zhong Kui, to catch the river swimming wave ghosts." Tang Dynasty New Year's Eve drive away exorcism

ceremony, Zhong Kui as a ghost-exorcisting god and respected, which from another perspective that Zhong Kui in the Tang Dynasty people

the popularity of the degree of interactions.

In short, Zhong Kui was established as a door god from the Tang Dynasty, and it took several hundred years until the Song Dynasty for it to be widely popularized.

Tang Dynasty Dunhuang Spring Couplets Spring Couplets, also known as couplets, couplets, door pairs. It also originated from the ancient peach charms. At the very

beginning, people drew door gods or wrote the four characters of Shentian and Yubi on peach charms, and later, they wrote

some words on peach charms to drive away calamities, avoid evils and bless peace. Records of China's earliest spring scrolls are very inconsistent. According to Huang Huofu

"Maoting Guest Words" records: five generations after Shu every year, the palace door to a pair of peach symbols, generally write "Yuan,

Heng, Li, Ching" four words. At that time, the Prince of Shu is long in words, in the Palace of the Caixun Fu peach symbols on the title of the "sky drooping

Yuqing, the ground to the spring" eight words, "that the word Han of the United States". Some people believe that this is China's earliest

Spring Festival couplets. According to "Shu legend" and "Song history - West Shu Meng family" records: after Shu Meng Chang in the return to the Song

one year before the first year of Qiande (963 years), the year in addition to the day, the self-titled pen title Peach Symbol, the words:

"New Year's Day Na Yuqing, Jiajie No. Changchun." Later, most people believe that "the pillar post began with the peach symbol, Shu Meng Chang

'Yuqing, Changchun' the most ancient couplet." (1) Most of the later people think that the spring couplets originated from Hou Shu in the Five Dynasties.

In the 1940s, China's earliest spring

couplets were found in the Dunhuang relics in the Mogao Grottoes' hidden scripture caves. The volume number is Stein 0610, and the recorded text is as follows:

Yearly day: the three suns begin to spread, the four sequences begin to open.

Fortunes and celebrations are new, and longevity and prosperity are prolonged.

At the beginning of the three suns, the four sequences come to be auspicious.

This is a new day of blessings and a new day of longevity.

On the first day of spring: the first celebration mat of Tonghun, and the beginning of Wanglv's adjustment of the sun.

Five blessings in addition to the three evils, Wan Gu □ (coffin) a hundred disasters.

Baoji can prevent the evil, Ruiyan solution to present good luck.

The Spring Festival is on the doorsteps of your family, and your children and grandchildren will prosper.

The three suns are beginning to spread, and the four mengs are beginning to open.

The old is gone, the new is coming.

There will be many celebrations every year and no disasters every month.

The rooster will ward off evil, and the swallow will bring you wealth.

God of the door protects you, and ghosts hide and bury you.

Shukumon is around the door, and I am in good health! ①

The above text from the content, form of analysis is indeed the Spring Festival undoubtedly. First of all, the time match. "Year

Day", "Spring Festival Day" is the time of the Spring Festival in our country to write the Spring Festival couplets. Second, the text of the couplet, for the couplet

format. Spring Festival couplets originated from the couplet, by the Han and Wei era of parallelism, Sui and Tang dynasty poems of the long-term influence, gradually

The formation of the text of the couplet characterized by the Spring Festival style. Most of the Dunhuang Spring Festival couplets are in pairs, and the noun, adverb

word and verb pairs are comparable, which is in line with the style of Spring Festival couplets. Third, the content is mostly about praying for luck and avoiding disasters. Pairs of

sentences and couplings have a very early origin, but they can't be considered as Spring Festival couplets because they don't have the content of the New Year celebrations.

But Dunhuang's couplets, such as "Fortune celebrates the new year, longevity and prosperity are prolonged" and "Yearly celebrations and monthly disasters are avoided," reflect people's good wishes for the New Year.

These couplets are not only about the new year, but also about the new year, which is the most important time of the year for the people. Fourth, the Dunhuang Spring Festival couplet ends with a clear statement: "The book door is around,

my casual health!" It shows that these lines are written around the door, so, when the spring couplet is undoubtedly.

Dunhuang spring couplets written on the back of the S0610 volume, before and after no inscription, the front of which is the Qiyanlu

transcripts, the end of the title: "Kaiyuan eleven years eight months on the fifth day of the month was written, Liu Qiu Zi cast the second uncle." This would date the spring

links to around the eleventh year of the Kaiyuan reign (723), 240 years before Meng Chang wrote them. In this way,

we can say that the Dunhuang spring couplets are the earliest spring couplets in China that have been preserved so far.

The last day of each month of the lunar calendar is called "Hi", of which the "Hi" day of the first month is regarded as the

beginning of the year, so it was valued by the ancients and formed a festival called "Hi Festival". The festival was called the "Festival of Observance".

In the Tang Dynasty, there was an important element in the custom of the Hi-Day - sending the poor.

With the development of social production and economic prosperity in the Tang Dynasty, the contradiction between the rich and the poor was further intensified; people hoped to get rid of the poverty

distressed life, and live a beautiful and rich life, so the custom of sending the poor came into being.

The custom of sending the poor originated from the legend about the "poor god" (poor ghost). Tang Sishibaojian" recorded: "high

Yang's son good clothes and food mince, the first month of the obscure day of the alley died. The world made surimi, abandoned the broken clothes, is the day to wish in the alley, said in addition to the poor

also." Gao Yang clan, that is, Zhuan Xu, the legendary leader of the Yan Huang Alliance. Song Chen Yuanliang "time and age" Volume 10

Three "poor son" article cited the "Wenzong ready to ask" cloud: "the former Zhuan Di, the palace gave birth to a son, sex does not wear complete clothes,

make new clothes with the, that is, cracked to fire burned to wear, the palace number for the poor son. After the death of the first day of the month, the palace

buried, said: 'today to send the poor son also'." Can be seen, the legend of the "poor God" is Zhuan Xu's son

son, born like to wear rags, drink rice, even if the new clothes to him, but also to use the fire to burn broken before

willing to wear, people call him the "poor son". Later on, the poor man died on the day of the first month. People sacrificed to him,

and gradually inherited into a custom, called "send poor son", "in addition to the poor".

The specific date of sending the poor, some say it is the day before the day of man (the seventh day of the first month of the lunar calendar); some say it is the first month of the second

nineteen (called "poor nine"); but most of them say it is in the first month of the day of obscurity, because the Tang people recorded that "the poor god" died

on that day.

On this day, the custom of sending the poor reflects the ancient people's desire to be poor. The custom of sending the poor reflects the ancient people's wish to send

the old years of poverty, sorrow and suffering, and usher in a happy and beautiful life, at the time of the New Year's Eve, when the old is over and the new is welcomed. As described by Tang Dynasty poet Yao

He in "Three Songs for Sending Off the Poor on the Obscure Day," "Every year on this day, I leech wine and worship in the street. Ten thousand households with thousands of

doors to see, no one does not send the poor." Every year, on this day of darkness, every household spills wine in the street to send off the god of poverty, in the hope

of bringing wealth to their own families. However, the reality of class oppression in feudal society made the "God of Poverty" only patronize the poor

working people. Therefore, year after year, the God of Poverty is sent to the poor, but it cannot be sent away. Yao He revealed

this reality with his pungent writing style. In his poem, he said, "What is the purpose of sending the poor to the poor? Today, the official's house, how long will it take to stay here? All the ancients hated to part with each other, but this parting hates the soul. I'm not going to go out every year."

The specific practice of sending the poor is to combine "sending the poor" with "cleaning the court". According to the Tang Si

Shi Baojian, people at that time, according to the "poor son" "good clothes and food mince" characteristics, in the first month on the day of the obscure

"make mince, abandon the broken clothes! "The "Mee" is congee. The six canons of the Tang Dynasty have a section of "festival food"

, cloud: "the day of the obscure, paste rice." The "creamy rice" is the current meat porridge. "Abandon Tattered Clothes" is to abandon the old and tattered clothes to express the farewell to the poor. Han Yu, a great writer of the Tang Dynasty, paid great attention to the description of the secular

popular customs of the time, and he wrote a poem called "Sending off the Poor", which truly describes the custom of sending off the poor in the Tang Dynasty at this time of the year.

He said: "In the first month of the sixth year of Yuanhe (811), the master made the slave star knot willow as a car, tied grass as a boat,

carrying dry provisions and food, oxen tied under the yoke, and led the sails on the mast. He bowed three times to the poor man and said, 'I hear that your son is traveling for a day'."

①Sending the poor also involves preparing "transportation" for the poor ghosts to go on their way, i.e., carts and boats made of willow and grass, while "food"

(dry food) and "rice" (rice) are for the poor ghosts on their way. (rice) are the "dry food and snacks" for the poor gods to eat on the way. After paying homage to the god of poverty, the car and boat are burned as a sign that the god of poverty has been sent away.

The custom of sending the poor on the obscure day has been passed down to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has become an important custom in the first month of the year.

Chung Ho Festival The Chung Ho Festival on the first day of the second lunar month was a festival that appeared only in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Its appearance is

interesting. Before the mid-Tang Dynasty, people attached importance to the Shangsi Festival on March 3 and the Chongyang Festival on September 9. Tang Dezong

Zhenyuanyuan year (785 years) on September 2, issued an edict, to "Fang now the border is not a problem, the masses of small people," for the reason that

Determine the first day of the month of Hijri, March 3, September 9 for the "three orders of the Festival". Every three orders of the festival, will hold a great

great feast, the emperor and the hundred officials with the same music. In the fifth year of the reign of King Jeongwon (789), Emperor Dezong decided to establish a new festival. According to the biography of the family of Li Artemisia Yehou, one day in the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Zhenyuan, Emperor Dezong said to the chancellor Li Ch'ü: In the past, there were banquets in the Shangsi and Chongyang periods, but the Shangsi period was often close to the Cold Food Festival, and there was no festival in the spring period to celebrate and drink, so he would like to create a festival in the second month of the lunar calendar, but which day is suitable for this purpose? Li Yu replied: February 15

after, although the spring blossoms, but with the cold food festival is similar. On the first day of February, the peach and plum blossoms bloomed, and it was close to the festival of obscurity.

The Obscure Day, with its bad name, is not suitable for the festival. Therefore, I ask that the first day of February be the Festival of Neutralization. Emperor De Zong was very

in favor of this, and issued an edict to make the first day of February as the Zhonghe Festival, replacing the Hi Day, and officials inside and outside the country would take a day off and hold a

banquet. The "Three Orders Festival" was changed to consist of the Zhonghe Festival, the Shangsi Festival on March 3, and the Chongyang Festival on September 9.

In order to congratulate Emperor Dezong on his royal installation of the Zhonghe Festival, the emperor held a banquet at the Qujiang Pond, inviting all officials.

The emperor and his officials drank wine and composed poems to celebrate the festival. Emperor Dezong's poem

"Seven Rhymes for the Banquet of the Emperor and Ministers on the Festival of the Middle Kingdom" said, "The east wind has changed

Plums and willows, and all the rivers and streams are in the springtime. Zhonghe Ji Lunar Festival, Fang and heaven and earth long." The poem depicts the scene of blossoming flowers in the middle of the month. Li Ju and other ministers also have poems and praise. Li Yu's poem

By the way of the Holy Spirit, he wrote, "There are changes in customs, but the festival is only new. The banquet was held on the banks of the Qu River." Lu Wei's poem

The Emperor

Moves the Day of Obscurity to the Festival of Medium Harmony

is the most wonderful, which reads: "The Emperor's heart is not toward the day of obscurity, and the festival's number has been changed to Medium Harmony. The Emperor

made the same scenery, and the name of the festival was sung in a different way. The newest and most important of all, the newest and most important of all, the newest and most important of all is the newest and most important of all. The first of its kind, the "Prayer of the World" is a contribution to the four seas

Many of them. The spring flowers are sprouting, and the sun is setting. Heaven and earth are celebrating together, and the sound of joy is ready to swell the waves." In the poem, the lines "giving ruler

under the new subject" and "contributing heavily to the four seas" refer to the "giving ruler" and "brewing Zhonghe wine" on the occasion of the Zhonghe Festival.

The two lines refer to the custom of "giving ruler" and "brewing Zhonghe wine" during the Zhonghe Festival. Song Chen Yuanliang, "Years and Seasons Guangji" Volume 13, citing the "Book of Tang" records: "to be the day, into the book of agriculture,

the Division of Agriculture to offer late-planted grain; princes and relatives on the spring clothing, the common people to the knife ruler to leave each other; the village community to make the Zhonghe wine, sacrificing the hook mang,

gatherings and banquets, known as the enjoyment of the hook mang, praying for the year grain." Every Zhonghe Festival, a grand ceremony

was held in the imperial court, in which the hundred officials presented agricultural books, and the Sinong Temple, which was responsible for managing agricultural and water conservancy affairs, presented early-planting grain (the name of the grain) to

signify the meaning of farming. The emperor, on the other hand, would hold a plowing ceremony and symbolically give the people the fruits of a hundred grains,

as a sign of urging the people to work hard at plowing and weaving. At the same time, sword rulers and Zhonghe wine were given to his ministers as a sign of favor. New

Tangshu (Book of Tang), Volume 139, Biography of Li Ch'u: "Ch'u wei: "Abolish the first month of the year Hsi, and take the first day of the second month as the festival of Zhonghe, because of

giving ministers chi li rulers, which is called the cutting of the degree." The emperor's intention of giving rulers to his ministers was that he wanted his ministers to adjudicate whether their

words and deeds were correct. The ruler given by the emperor was provided by the Zhongshang Agency, which was in charge of the suburban rituals of kuibi, and the affairs of the son of heaven's artifacts, and the consort's costumes, etc.

Service, and there were "the ruler of the openworked tooth and the ruler of the wood-painted wooden wood". In the private sector, people give each other

swords and rulers.

The making and drinking of Chunghwa-ju is also one of the main customs of the Chunghwa Festival. There are many kinds of Zhonghe Wine, also known as Yichun Wine

. At the Qujiang Banquet held in the sixth year of the reign of Zhengyuan (790) to celebrate the Zhonghe Festival, Minister Quan Deyi (权德舆)

作《奉和圣制中和节赐百官宴集因示所怀》, which contains the line "continue to sing on the side of the military, and forever be blessed with Xuanhwaol,

". Xuanhuaol was a kind of neutralizing wine drunk at official banquets in the Tang Dynasty.

The reason for the establishment of the Zhonghe Festival, in addition to the personal factors of Emperor Tang Dezong, also has to do with the spring equinox in the second month of the lunar calendar

Since ancient times, there has been a custom of sacrificing to the god Goumang. Goumang is the legendary god of sun and spring. The reason why the sun god Goumang

is also the god of spring is due to a popular view in ancient times that spring and summer are the yang,

the sky and the sun, and autumn is the yin, the earth and the moon. Therefore, the god of the sun is also the god of spring. Kong Yingda

Note "Rituals - Moon Festival", said: "The god Goumang, said that since ancient times, the main spring ministers of merit, its sacrifice to

as a god. It is the Goumang, the official of the main wood, when the wood is first born, the hook flexes and has awn horns, so it is said that the Goumang."

See, the hook man a, is a term with climatic significance, is a symbol of the first spring crops.

Sui-Tang-Five Dynasties period of the specific method of sacrifice hook mango, due to a lack of information, it is difficult to express. According to the customs of the later generations, it is assumed that the sun cake was made at that time and used to offer the sun. The method of making the sun cake

is to make a cake made of rice, and to make a one-inch-long chicken on the cake with rice noodles, or to stamp the image of a chicken on the cake

as a symbol of the chicken. The use of the image of a chicken in the sun cake is rooted in the ancient belief that there is a three-legged bird (golden chicken)

in the sun. In addition to the sun cake, the folk festival of the sun god, the sun god hook sacrifice, but also recite the "sun star ruler scripture,

Scripture about the content of agriculture, explaining the relationship between the festival and agriculture, indicating that the Tang Dynasty, the creation of "in the peace of the

Festival," in fact, for the prayers for a bumper crop harvest festival.

The custom of giving fire and sweeping tombs Cold Food and Qingming are two festivals in the third month of the lunar calendar. During the Cold Food Festival, you can only

eat cold food, so it is also called the "Cold Festival". It is also known as the "No Smoking Festival" because of the custom of banning fire. Prohibition of fire habits

Customs to the Tang Dynasty more prevalent, and very strict. Tang Xuanzong Tianbao ten years (751 years) in March edicts,

Strictly Shen cold food ban on fire. At that time, the official implementation of the ban on fire is very strict, every time this festival, the village community is using the chicken feather plume to

each family stove ash to sweep, if the plume becomes charred, we must be punished, see the Tang people on the importance of the festival of cold food.

Nevertheless, if authorized by the emperor, the rich and powerful could light fire on the night of the Cold Food Festival. Han Shide's poem "Cold Food"

satirized this injustice by drawing on ancient times. The poem says: "There is no place where flowers do not fly in the spring city, and the east wind of the cold food festival is

slanting the willows. At sunset, candles are passed in the Han Palace, and light smoke is scattered into the houses of the five lords."

In the Tang Dynasty, the cold food, Qingming custom, in addition to the ban on smoking is more strict, but also produced a new

customs, that is, in the Qingming this day, re-drilling wood for fire, called "take new fire". According to the Tang dynasty under the carriage of the year

recorded: "Changan every year Qingming, (still food) within the garden official children in front of the temple drilling fire, the first to get into the person,

give three silk, gold bowl a mouthful." The emperor held a grand fire-giving ceremony on Qingming Day every year to give new fire

seeds to his ministers to show his imperial favor. Song Chen Yuanliang's Autumns and Times, Volume 17, cites The Poetry of the Pedant

The cloud: "In Tang, the only thing that was taken on Qingming Day was the fire of the elm and willow to be given to the homes of the close ministers and their relatives." In Tang poems, there are real depictions of the fire banning and fire giving

scenes. Han Sol's poem Giving New Fire to Hundred Officials on Qingming Day reads, "The Zhu Rider passes the red candles, and the Heavenly Kitchen

gives them to the ministers; the fire is seen with the yellow road, and the smoke is new around the white elm. The honor is divided into other days, and the light of grace **** this hour." Wang Chu "Qing

Ming day give hundred bureaucrats new fire" poem also Yun: "Royal fire spread incense hall, Chinese light and ministers. The stars streamed in to make the horses, and the candles flared

nine quartiers." On the Qingming Festival, it was a great honor to be given a new fire by the emperor, so the near

servants who got the new fire were all grateful, especially those minor officials. During the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty, Dou Shuxiang, the county magistrate of Lishui (now belonging to Jiangsu Province)

suddenly got a new fire from the emperor, which made him feel more honored. He wrote a poem titled Enchanting Fire on Cold Food Day: "En

Light and small ministers, Chinese candles suddenly startled the spring. The movie followed the Chinese ambassador, and the starlight brushed the passers-by. Fortunately, because of the warmth of the elm and willow, a light of grass and grass

poor." From these poems, we can see that in addition to giving the new fire to his close ministers, the Tang emperors often sent eunuchs

officials (Chinese ambassadors) with candles to send the new fire to local officials to show their encouragement and favor. The official who got the new fire

used a willow to catch the new fire from the ambassador and stuck it in front of his door to show it off to the people. Later, people followed suit, and it became a custom to insert willow branches in front of their homes during the winter eclipse and Qingming Festival.

Tomb-sweeping is an important activity during the Cold Food and Ching Ming festivals. Although the custom of sweeping graves originated a long time ago,

Tomb-sweeping during the Cold Food and Qingming Festival began in the Tang Dynasty. According to the "Old Tang Book - Xuanzong Ji": open

Twenty years (732 years) April 29, Tang Xuanzong, in view of the "cold food on the tomb, rituals and scriptures,

Nearly generations have been passed down, soaked in custom," the status quo, issued an imperial edict, "the House of the common people, it is desirable to allow on the tomb, codified in the five rituals,

We will always

This is the first time that we have seen this kind of custom in the Tang Dynasty.

Forever

for the usual style". Since then, the cold food to sweep the tomb with an edict formally established, and included in the five rituals.

It is worth

noting that in the Tang Dynasty, the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival were gradually merged into one, so there were

tomb-sweeping activities in both festivals, and in the Song Dynasty, tomb-sweeping was mainly carried out in the Qingming Festival.

Tomb-sweeping was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Whenever the Cold Food and Ching Ming Festival came, "the fields and roads were full of soldiers and women,

soap and clay servants and beggars, all of them were allowed to go up to their parents' mounds and tombs." ① people far away from home, when the cold food also want to find a way to rush home

country for the ancestors to sweep the tomb. After Liu Yuxi was relegated to the post of Secretary of Yongzhou, he was unable to go home to visit his ancestors' graves, and he lamented, "My ancestors' graves are in the southern part of the city, and the rituals in recent times have been very important. Recent rites heavy worship sweeping, now queers four years carry on, every cold eclipse, then northward long horn." To

Tang after the mid-Tang Dynasty, the court more active for the official cold food on the tomb to provide convenience. For example, in the third year of the Changqing period (823)

it was stipulated that "civil and military officials who have tombs outside of the city and within the capital city should be allowed to go to pay their respects." Those in other states were allowed to take a leave of absence for a period of two years and were allowed to travel by post to pay their respects. ①

Sweeping the tomb included adding soil to the tomb, cutting weeds, trimming trees, and burning paper in front of the tomb in honor of ancestors. Tomb-sweeping

is the remembrance of the dead. The death of a loved one and the parting of life and death are always sad, so tomb-sweeping is always

with sentimental feelings. Bai Juyi's poem Cold Food and Wild Hope Minstrelsy describes the bleak scene of tomb-sweeping during the Qingming Festival. The poem

writes: "The crows and magpies cry and the trees are darkened, and who cries during the cold eclipse of the Qingming Festival? The wind is blowing the paper money flying in the wilderness, and the ancient graves are covered with spring

grass green. The flowers of the pear and the poplar tree are all the places where the dead and the living are parted from each other. The cry of the heavy springs is not heard, and the people return in the evening rain

go." From the poem, we can see that in the Tang Dynasty, the cold food and Qingming are the same thing in sweeping the graves. At the same time, it also shows that at that time

tomb-sweeping has been made and burned paper money custom, this paper money is special, also known as the "money" or "Dizhi

money", is given to the ghosts and gods or the dead in the underworld to use. The pre-Qin era mostly used the actual circulation of the silk cloth,

to the Han Dynasty was used in accordance with the circulation of coins minted "Dizhi money", to the Tang Dynasty began to have the custom of cutting paper for money.

The Old Book of the Tang Dynasty - Wang Yu biography, said: "Since the Han Dynasty, the burial of all the money, after the slang a little paper cut money for the ghost

things." The custom of burning paper money at tombs is also mentioned in Tang poems. Wang Jian's "Cold Food Row" said, "There is no fire to burn paper money on the third

day, and the paper money goes to the Yellow Springs." Zhang Ji's "Mang Xing" also said, "Every family sends paper

money during the cold eclipse, and the scops owl makes a niche on the tree." By the time of the Five Dynasties, the burning of paper money was not only very common, but also entered the palace,

becoming the content of the royal rites and music. The New History of the Five Dynasties, Volume IX, recorded Tianfu eight years (943 years), Jin

Emperor "cold food, looking forward to the sacrifice of the mausoleum in Nanzhuang, burned royal clothes, paper money." Note: "Burning clothes wild sacrifice and so on,

are between the lane thing also, with the son of heaven, see the rites and music is very bad." "Qing Yi Lu" also recorded: "Zhou Shizong hair

lead day, gold and silver money treasure are allegorical to shape, and kozo as big as the mouth of the marigold, and its seal for: yellow said 'silk on the treasure',

white said 'meditating on the sub-bao'. '." Visible, the custom of burning paper money has been accepted by the Royal, and the pattern of paper money shape

System is also increasing.

The Tang Dynasty, the custom of burning paper money has been inherited to this day, become one of the main contents of the Qingming tomb sweeping,

And the paper money custom essentially reflects the traditional Chinese concept of death as life.

The Thousand Autumns Festival and the Emperor's Birthday Festival The Chinese emperors' birthday festival began with the Thousand Autumns Festival, which was set in the 17th year of Emperor Tang Xuanzong's reign (729

). According to the Tang Hui Yao, Volume 29, on August 5 of the 17th year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign,

Shangshu Left Prime Minister Qian Yao and Right Prime Minister Zhang Shuo led the civil and military officials to submit a petition, requesting that Emperor Xuanzong's birthday, August 5, be designated as the Thousand

Autumn Festival. Emperor Xuanzong agreed and announced it to the world. In the second year of Tianbao's reign (743), he changed the name of the festival from "Thousand Autumns Festival" to "Tian

Chang Festival". Since Emperor Xuanzong, the Tang and the Five Dynasties emperors, except for Emperor Daizong to Muzong and Emperor Wenzong did not specialize in the name of the festival,

have their own name of the birthday festival. The following is a brief list:

Emperor's Name Birthday Festival Name

Tang Xuanzong Li Longji August 5, Thousand Autumn Festival (Tianchang Festival)

Tang Suzong Li Heng September 3, Tiancheng Di Ping Festival

Tang Jingzong Li Zhan October 10, Qingcheng Festival

Tang Wuzong Li Yan June 1, Qingyang Festival

Tang Xuanzong Li Chen June 22 Shouchang Festival

Tang Yi Yi Zong, the first of his kind in the Tang Dynasty, had his own birthday festival name

Tang Xuanzong Li Zhen, a member of the Tang dynasty, had his own festival name.

Yanqing Festival, November 14th, Emperor Yi of Tang

Yingtian Festival, May 8th, Emperor Xi of Tang

Jiahui Festival, March 22nd, Emperor Zhaizong Li Ye of Tang

Qianhe Festival, September 3rd, Emperor Ai of Tang, Li T柷(唐哀帝李柷)

Daoming Festival, October 21st, Emperor Zhu Wen of Houliang

Mingyothi Festival, September 12th, Emperor Zhu Jie of Houliang

The Last Emperor of Houliang, Zhu Ceng (朱瑱) Castrol Li Cunxin, Emperor Zhuang of the Later Tang Dynasty, celebrated the Wanshou Festival on October 9

Li Siyuan, Emperor Ming of the Later Tang Dynasty, celebrated the Ying Sheng Festival on September 9

Li Congke, the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, celebrated the Thousand Years' Spring Festival on the 23rd day of the first month of the lunar year

Tianhehe Festival of Heavenly Harmony on the 28th day of February, Gaozu Shi Jing瑭, Emperor Shi Chonggui, Emperor Dai of the Later Jin Dynasty, celebrated the Qidian Festival on the 27th day of the sixth month of the lunar year

Liu Zhiyuan, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Han Dynasty, celebrated the Shengshou Festival on the 4th day of the lunar month of the year

Liu Chengyou, the Hidden Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, celebrated the Jiaqing Festival on March 9

Guo Wei, the Great Ancestor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, celebrated the Yongshou Festival on July 28/Yongshou Festival

Chai Rong, the Shizong Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, celebrated the Tianqing Festival on September 24

Chai Zongxun, the Gong Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, celebrated the Tianshou Festival on August 4

Everytime the emperor's birthday came around, the whole country was given a vacation of three days for the grand celebrations, and the "court was celebrating together! ". At

the palace, courtiers toasted the emperor's birthday, offering nectar, shochu, and "long-life wine". In addition, princes, foreign

relatives, scholars and commoners offered birthday gifts, and the provincial governors offered a large number of treasures to win the emperor's favor. In the second year of Yongtai (766), on the birthday of Emperor Daizong, "all the provincial governors offered more than 200,000 tons of treasures, clothes, and famous horses." ①Dahe four years (830 years), salt and iron ambassador Wang Ya into the birth of damask brocade color, etc. *** 14,800

pi, 100 pieces of silverware. According to the "New Tang Book - Ritual and Music Zhi" records: the group of ministers on the birthday, generally by the service on behalf of the

table group of ministers kneeling: "Called a thousand autumn order festival, the ministers do not win on the celebration, I would like to be on the ten million years of life." The emperor then lifted the wine

and replied, "I am honored to have the longevity wine offered by the ministers, and I would like to celebrate with the ministers inside and outside." Then the emperor rewarded the princes

ministers with gold mirrors, bead bags, thick waterproof colors, silks, silks, and silverware according to their rank, and gave banquets to all the officials to enjoy the songs and dances. Wine

When the wine is sound, the courtiers and ministers have poems to help. The Tang Dynasty poet Zheng Mass wrote a long poem called "Poem on the Gate of Jin Yang,"

describing the grandeur of Emperor Xuanzong's "Thousand Autumns Festival". The poem reads, "The Thousand Autumns Festival was held in August, and all the nations

were present at the Chinese and foreigners' meetings. Calyx building south of the big music, eight sound nine play luan to Yi. The Dulu search is really nasty, the Gongsun jianshi Fang

magical. The horse knows that the dance is over, and the man is sorry that the song ends with a feathered coat." The poet's note says: "The first day of the Birthday of the Holy Spirit

was the Festival of a Thousand Autumns. Every big drink will be, will be in the Qinzheng downstairs so that the Chinese and foreigners to watch. There is Gongsun Daniang sword dance, then the number

for the majestic and marvelous. And set up even collapse, so that the horse dance on it. And make the courtesans comb nine riding fairy buns, dressed in peacock cui clothes,

pei seven jewels celluloid, for the Neishang Yuyi and so on." ② This can be a glimpse of the Tang Dynasty emperors over the feast of the Birthday of the Sacred Day. In

folk, the people to make "birthday wine feast", and with the name of "Sai Baidi", "report field god" music,

and then drink with each other.

Tang Xuanzong's poem "A Thousand Autumns Banquet", which reads: "Everywhere we worship our ancestors in the fields, and every year we feast in the townships of the staffs"

reflects the folk custom of the Thousand Autumns Festival.

The Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty was the heyday of Buddhism, so its influence was even more extensive and profound. There were many Buddhist festivals,

including the "Buddha's Birthday". Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Xuanzong began to birthday as a festival, fear and Buddhism

influence has something to do. This point can also be reflected from the emperor's birthday festival with a strong Buddhist color. From

Dai Zong Dali four years (769 years), "descending birthdays, hundred bureaucrats in Zhangjing Temple to repair fasting, incense, Chen music Assembly."

Starting from, later emperors in the birthday, are to "gather Velvet yellow, more for the puja", civil and military officials, the

Dao into the official, Shamen Taoist priests go to the temple to repair the fasting incense, preaching on Buddhism. The emperor himself often invited

Shamen Taoist priests into the palace to talk about Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, or the differences and similarities between the three religions, or to talk about the classics of Buddhism and Taoism. For example, after the Tang Dynasty Mingzong "should

Saint Festival", all the officials in the Jing Ai Temple set up monks fasting, called the Velvet Huangzhong in the Zhongxing Hall of the difficult to discuss the meaning of the sutra. Most of the emperors banned the slaughtering of animals on the holy days of the festival, and only ate vegetarian food or jerky and meat paste (called "dried meat" and "minced meat" in ancient times), with the aim of promoting the Buddhist doctrine of "no killing" and "no killing". The purpose is to promote the Buddhist doctrine of "no killing". In addition, the emperor's birthday this day also shaved

degree monks and nuns, such as Dali eight years (773 years), the birthday of Emperor Daizong, had "degree monks and nuns where more than two hundred people".

Tang Xuanzong began to set the emperor's birthday festival has a great influence on future generations. In the Song Dynasty, emperors and some of their dowager mothers named their birthdays the So-and-So Festival. Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperor, the dowager mother's birthday is called "Sheng

Shou Festival" or "Wan Shou Festival", the empress, the crown prince's birthday is called "Thousand Autumn Festival", and no longer a single festival name!

Said.

The Emperor's Birthday Festival has a strong feudal color, is the product of China's feudal autocracy, but it also

enriched the cultural connotation of Chinese festivals and customs, reflecting the Chinese festivals and customs influenced by the ruling class

point.