A short story about the origin of traditional festivals in China.

In the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, BC 104, astronomers Luo and others formulated a calendar, which restored October as the beginning of the year to the beginning of the year, and later generations gradually improved it into the lunar calendar (that is, the lunar calendar), which is still in use today. Since then, China has been using the Gregorian calendar (also known as the lunar calendar) until the end of the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for 2080.

After the Revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar was gradually changed. Later, in order to distinguish the two New Years, and in view of the fact that the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar just happened around the Lunar New Year, the first day of the lunar calendar was renamed as the "Spring Festival".

2. The origin of Lantern Festival

According to the Taoist "Sanyuan Festival", the fifteenth day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". Since ancient times, the custom of Lantern Festival has been based on the warm and festive custom of watching lanterns.

The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. On the night of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace, which was regarded by later generations as the first sacrifice to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month.

However, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month is indeed a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is related to the eastward spread of Buddhism. During the Tang dynasty, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "lit lanterns for the Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month, so Buddha lanterns spread all over the people. Since the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival has become a legal thing and has gradually become a folk custom.

3. The origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Because the days of Qingming and cold food are close, cold food is the day when people ban fire to sweep graves. Gradually, cold food and Qingming become one, and cold food has become another name of Qingming and a custom of Qingming period. On Qingming Day, fireworks don't move, only cold food is eaten.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called an outing festival, at the turn of mid-spring and late spring. It is a traditional festival in China, and it is also one of the most important festivals to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, which started in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.

4. The origin of Dragon Boat Festival

Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other foods prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that ichthyosaurs, shrimps and crabs were full and would not bite the doctor.

People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that he would stun the dragon water beast with medicine so as not to hurt Dr. Qu.

Later, people were afraid that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, so they came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and then wrapping it with colored silk to make it develop into brown seeds. After that, on the fifth day of May every year, there is the custom of dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine. In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

5. The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of the moon in ancient times and has a long history. The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" was first recorded in Zhou Li. In the ancient calendar of China, the15th day of the eighth lunar month happened to be the autumn of a year, and it was in the middle of August, so it was called "Mid-Autumn Festival".

In addition, in the four seasons of a year, each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji, so the second month of autumn is called Zhong Qiu. It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. Folk myths and legends about "Wugang cutting Guangxi and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon" are still circulating today.