Interpretation of Traditional Festivals Dragon Boat Festival Winter Solstice Mother’s Day

1. Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. According to the "Records of the Years of Jingchu", because when climbing in midsummer, Shunyang is above, and May is midsummer, and its first noon is a day of good weather when climbing in Shunyang, so the fifth day of May is also called "Duanyang". Festival". In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival is also known as "Day Festival, May Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Bath Orchid Festival" and so on. [1] The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional cultural festival popular in China and other countries in the Chinese character cultural circle.

The word "Dragon Boat Festival" first appeared in "Fengtu Ji" written by Zhou Chu, a famous official in the Western Jin Dynasty. This document has become an important reference for modern people to check the customs of traditional festivals such as the Dragon Boat Festival. When did the Dragon Boat Festival originate? There have been many different opinions and endless debates for a long time. There are four main views on the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival:

1) The widely circulated view of "commemorating historical figures" is based on "Xu Qi Xie Ji" by Wu Jun, a Liang native in the Southern Dynasty, and Zong Xi's "Jing Chu" "Chronicles of the Year", it is believed that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from commemorating Qu Yuan. Others think it is to commemorate Wu Zixu, Cao E, etc.

2) Mr. Wen Yiduo believes that the Dragon Boat Festival is a festival where the ancient Baiyue people held dragon totem worship activities. He wrote in "Dragon Boat Examination" and "Historical Education of the Dragon Boat Festival" (see "The Complete Works of Wen Yiduo" 》) His views are demonstrated in detail in two papers.

3) It is believed that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from evil days (see Zhang Xinqin's "The Dragon Boat Festival is not due to Qu Yuan").

4) It is said that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the summer solstice (see Liu Deqian's "Another Theory of the Origin of the Dragon Boat Festival" for details).

Among the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, people are well-known for dragon racing, eating palm seeds, inserting mugwort, wearing purses, taking medicinal baths and other memorial, celebration, cultural and sports activities, etc.

2. Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Changzhi Festival", "Yasui", etc. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, China had already used Tugui to observe the sun and determine the winter solstice. It is the earliest one of the twenty-four solar terms to be formulated, and the time is from December 21 to 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year. between days.

The ancients believed that since the winter solstice, the days are getting longer day by day, the yang energy has risen, and the yang energy in the world has begun to rise and strengthen, which represents the beginning of the next cycle and is an auspicious day.

According to records, during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, November in winter was the first month, and the winter solstice was the beginning of the new year. "The Book of Han" says: "The Yang Qi rises during the winter solstice, and the king and Taoist minister congratulate you..." In other words, people start celebrating the winter solstice to celebrate the arrival of the new year. The ancients believed that starting from the winter solstice, the yang energy of heaven and earth begins to rise and strengthen, which represents the beginning of the next cycle and an auspicious day. Therefore, customs such as ancestor worship and family dinners during the Spring Festival were often held during the Winter Solstice. The winter solstice is also called the "small year". First, it means that the new year is approaching and there are not many days left; second, it means the importance of the winter solstice.

Celebrating the Winter Solstice as a festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and is still used today. The first month of the Zhou calendar is the eleventh month of the summer calendar. Therefore, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to the eleventh month of the current Gregorian calendar. Therefore, there is no difference between greeting the new year and greeting the winter. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the lunar calendar that the first month and the winter solstice were separated. It can also be said that simply celebrating the "Winter Solstice Festival" only existed after the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and is still used today.

3. Mother's Day

This festival first appeared in ancient Greece; while modern Mother's Day originated in the United States and is the second Sunday in May every year. Mothers usually receive gifts on this day. Carnations are regarded as flowers dedicated to mothers, and the mother flower in China is daylilies, also called forget-me-nots.

The tradition of Mother's Day originated in ancient Greece. On January 8th, the ancient Greeks paid tribute to Rhea, the mother of the Greek gods (English: Rhea, Cybele, Greek: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Hestia). Ya's mother, so called the mother of the gods) to pay tribute. In ancient Rome, the scale of these activities became larger, and the celebrations often lasted for three days. Of course, people's worship of goddesses in ancient times was just a kind of superstition, which is very different from today's respect for motherhood.

In May 1913, the House of Representatives of the United States of America unanimously passed a resolution calling on the president, as well as all officials of the cabinet, the House and Senate, and the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914, the Congress of the United States of America officially named the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and asked the president to issue a proclamation calling on government officials to fly the national flag on all public buildings. Immediately afterwards, President Wilson announced that citizens across the country should also hang flags on their homes to express people's love and respect for all mothers in the United States of America. Since then, the President of the United States of America has issued a proclamation with the same content every year. Since then, Mother's Day has been carried out in various countries.