Temple Fair is a traditional folk custom in China. How did it come into being? What was the temple fair like in ancient times?

In ancient times, due to underdeveloped economy and inconvenient transportation, ordinary people never traveled far. At the same time, they have no definition of holiday travel. After all, holiday travel was a kind of destruction at that time. Therefore, most of the time, they just stay at home and around, and the theme activities that can make them relax and entertain seem to have nothing to do with them, only to the rich, but there are also ordinary ways, and "temple fairs" are one of them.

Temple Fair is a traditional folk custom in China. It is very popular in many parts of the country and is usually held on bigger festivals. Temple Fair, called "Temple Fair" in ancient times, was one of the main trade modes in ancient China. The origin of the temple fair is actually easy to guess. The name contains the word "temple", which is of course related to the temple. Naturally, the original purpose of the temple fair was not to buy or sell, but to better pray for the protection of ancestors and gods, and to choose the way of worship in castles or houses. At the same time, in order to better render the atmosphere, there will continue to be some performance theme activities. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism had developed greatly because the rulers at that time believed in Buddhism. At the same time, all festivals are related to Buddhism, and the number of people burning incense is gradually increasing. There will be business in some people's areas, so many businessmen set up stalls outside the temple or on both sides of the road to make money, making the party more prosperous, and temple fairs are gradually emerging here.

Is there a special relationship between the prosperity of temple fairs and the rise and fall of the two Buddhist families? It can be said that the temple fair is to turn the temple fair into a local festival and worship the ancestors in a secular way, while the temple fair in later generations is more like a local festival theme activity. During the Tang dynasty, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were in parallel, and both Buddhism and Taoism developed by leaps and bounds. With the prosperity of economic development, people's demands for spiritual life are getting higher and higher, and various prayer meetings and fasting meetings have appeared. At this time, the temple fair will no longer be limited to holidays. The more developed commercial activities in the Song Dynasty also made the temple fair more prosperous and diversified. Modern temple fairs are also a combination of sightseeing, entertainment and shopping restaurants, with obvious traditional ethnic style.

Although the temple fair is a folk activity with a long history, with the development of society, the improvement of people's spiritual essence and material conditions has promoted the development of the temple fair. Today, there are countless temple fairs all over China. Every festival, many people get together to participate in various temple fair theme activities, which is very auspicious.