Allusion to Festivals

Most of the important traditional festivals in China are related to the calendar system. Ms. Li Lulu, a researcher at the National Museum of China, summarizes the more important traditional Chinese festivals in her new book "Chinese Festivals - Illustrated Traditional Folk Festivals" (Fujian People's Publishing House, 2005) into 20, of which 16 come from or are related to the meeting of the sun, moon, and seasonal seasons: the Spring Festival, the Lichun Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Zhonghe Festival (February 2), Shangshi Festival (March 3), Qingming Festival, Tian Kuang Festival (June 6), Summer Solstice Festival, Tanabata Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chung Yeung Festival, Winter Solstice Festival, all of which are related to the rhythm of the seasonal time and weather; and a few of which have nothing to do with the seasonal time and weather on the surface, such as Duanwu Festival, Lahai Festival (the first eight days of December), Zaosi Festival (the 23rd days of December), New Year's Eve Festival, which, after detailed investigation of the ancient system, is also related to the seasonal time and weather. Folk beliefs believe that May is a poisonous month, and the fifth day of the month is also a poisonous day, with five poisons, i.e. snakes, centipedes, scorpions, lizards and toads. This month is plagued with disasters, and even the birth of children are back to the early death, so we must take all kinds of ways to prevent, to avoid the five poisons is the "Dragon Boat Festival" of the original intention. Lapa, sacrificial stove and New Year's Eve Festival, are the Spring Festival's "companion festival", naturally, is also related to the time, while the remaining four festivals on the seventh day of the first month of the "Festival of Human Victory", the eighth day of the fourth month of the "Festival of the Buddha" (Sakyamuni's birthday), the seventh day of the seventh month of the "Festival of the Buddha" (Sakyamuni's birthday). (Sakyamuni's birthday) on the 15th of July, and the "Festival of Ghosts" on the 15th of October, the "Festival of the Lower Yuan (Birthday of the Emperor of the Water Palace)" are derived from legends, deifications and religions. Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Zhonghe Festival (February 2), Shangshi Festival (March 3), Qingming Festival, Tian Kuang Festival (June 6), Summer Solstice Festival, Tanabata Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chrysanthemum Festival, Winter Solstice Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Lunar New Year Festival (December 8), Zaosi Festival (December 23), and New Year's Eve Festival. Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Tanabata, Mid-Yuan Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chungyang Festival, Lapa Festival, New Year's Eve.

1, the Spring Festival: the Spring Festival and the concept of the year, the original meaning comes from agriculture, people in ancient times the growth cycle of the grain is called "year", "Shuowen. Wo Department": "year, the grain is also ripe:. In the Xia and Shang dynasties produced the summer calendar, the cycle of the moon for the month, a year divided into twelve months, each month to not see the moon for the day for the first day of the first month of the first day of the month of the son of the time known as the first of the year, that is, the beginning of the year, also known as the year, the name of the year is from the Zhou Dynasty, to the Western Han Dynasty to formally fixed, and has been continued to the present day. But the first day of the first month in ancient times was known as "New Year's Day", until China's modern Xinhai Revolution victory, the Nanjing Provisional Government in order to comply with the farming season and facilitate statistics, the provisions of the summer calendar in the civilian population, in the government agencies, factories, mines, schools and organizations in the implementation of the Gregorian calendar to the Gregorian calendar for the first day of the first month of New Year's Day, the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, known as the Spring Festival.

September 27, 1949, the new China was founded, in the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, adopted the use of the world's common calendar calendar, the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar as New Year's Day, commonly known as the solar year; the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is usually in the spring before and after the start of the first lunar month, and thus the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is designated as "Spring Festival ", commonly known as the year of the lunar calendar.

Traditionally, the Spring Festival refers to the period from the Lunar New Year festival on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, or the Zaos Festival on the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year, until the fifteenth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, which culminates in New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of the lunar year. In the Spring Festival this traditional holiday period, China's Han Chinese and most ethnic minorities have to hold a variety of celebratory activities, most of these activities to worship God and Buddha, ancestors, in addition to the old and new, to welcome the Jubilee to receive the blessing, and pray for a good year as the main content. Activities in a colorful form, with a strong ethnic characteristics.

2, Lantern Festival: Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, as early as 2,000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty, Lantern Festival began in the Eastern Han Dynasty Ming Di period, Ming Di advocate of Buddhism, I heard that the Buddhist monks on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Buddha's relics, lamps and honor the Buddha's practice, the order of the night in the palace and temples, lamps and honor the Buddha, so that the common people of the clergy and the general public are hanging lamps. Later, this Buddhist ceremonial festival gradually formed a grand folk festival. The festival has gone through a process of development from the palace to the folk, from the Central Plains to the whole country.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, the 15th day of the first month was designated as the Lantern Festival. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the festival of "Taiyi God" was held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. (Taiyi: the god who dominates everything in the universe). When Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar", the Lantern Festival was already recognized as a major festival.

Another theory is that the custom of burning lanterns at the Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "Three Elements"; the 15th day of the first month is the Upper Elements Festival, the 15th day of the seventh month is the Middle Elements Festival, and the 15th day of the tenth month is the Lower Elements Festival. In charge of the upper, middle and lower three yuan respectively for the sky, earth, human three officials, the heavenly officials happy, so the festival to light.

3, Dragon Boat Festival: Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient traditional festival, began in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period in China, has a history of more than 2000 years. Dragon Boat Festival has many origins and legends, here are only the following four: from the commemoration of Qu Yuan; from the commemoration of Wu Zixu; from the commemoration of filial piety Cao E; from the ancient Vietnamese national totem sacrifice

4, Tanabata: Tanabata begging for coquettishness, the festival originated in the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Ge Hong's "Saikyo Miscellaneous Records" there is "the Han colorful women often to the seventh day of the seventh month in seven holes pierced with needles in the Kaixiao building, people are all used to the! "This is the earliest record of begging for money that we have seen in ancient literature.

5, Zhongyuan Festival: the name of Zhongyuan began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Zhongyuan Festival is also known as the "Ghost Festival" or "Bon Festival". Buddhism also holds the Puja of Transcendence, also known as the Bon Festival, on this day. The meaning of Obon is to hang upside down, the pain of life is like a bat hanging upside down from a tree, hanging and suffering. In order to save all beings from the pain of hanging upside down, it is necessary to recite sutras and give food to the lonely ghosts. This coincided with the Chinese Ghost Month worship, and thus the Mid-Yuan Festival and the Bon Festival were passed down at the same time.

6, Mid-Autumn Festival: Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, and other traditional festivals, is also the slow development of the formation of the ancient emperors had the spring festival of the sun, the autumn festival of the moon ritual, as early as in the book of the "Zhou Rites", there has been the word "Mid-Autumn Festival" recorded. Later, the aristocrats and scholars also followed suit, in the mid-autumn festival, to the sky and bright and round round moon, ornamental worship, send sentiments, this custom is so spread to the people, forming a traditional activity, until the Tang Dynasty, this moon festival custom more people attach importance to, the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival, "Tang Book - Taizong record" recorded "August 15 Mid-Autumn Festival "

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the major festivals in China, and it was celebrated in the Song Dynasty, and has become one of the major festivals in China, along with the New Year's Day.

The legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival is very rich, Chang'e Runs to the Moon, Wu Gang Fells the Cinnamon, the Jade Rabbit Pounds Medicine, and other mythological stories are widely spread.

7, Chongyang Festival: nine nine suns, first seen in the "I Ching", "I Ching" nine as the number of Yang. On the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the two suns are heavy, so it is called the Chongyang Festival. Qu Yuan once wrote the poem "Setting the sun into the emperor's palace", indicating that the custom had already been formed more than two thousand years ago during the Warring States period.

There is an interesting legend about the Chongyang Festival. According to the Southern Liang Dynasty - Wu Jun wrote "renewed Qi Harmonic Records": the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ru Nan, Ru River area plague demon damage, epidemic. There was a man named Huan Jing, who studied with the Taoist priest Fei Changfang, and learned the magic of eliminating disasters and saving people's lives. One day, Fei Changfang told Huanjing that on the ninth day of the ninth month, the plague demon is going to harm people again, you quickly go back to save the folks. He also told him to leave his home on the 9th day, put the cornelian cherry in a red bag, tie it on his arm, and drink chrysanthemum wine, so that he could defeat the plague. Huanjing went home and told all the villagers. September 9, the day, the Ru River surging, clouds and fog, the plague demon came to the mountain, but because of the chrysanthemum wine pungent, cornelian cherry incense piercing the heart, it is difficult to approach. Huanjing wielded his sword and beheaded the plague demon at the bottom of the mountain. In the evening, people returned home, see home "chickens, dogs, cows and sheep, a sudden violent death", and people out of the high and free from disaster. Since then, the festival has been passed down to the present day.

8, Lapa: the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is the day of the Buddha. On this day, the temple will be held in commemoration of the puja, called into the Tao will be, Lapa will be, and to "Lapa porridge" for the Buddha to entertain the masses.

Why do we offer Lapa congee on the day of the Buddha's death? The reason goes back to Prince Siddhartha before the Buddha became a Taoist, he had been in the austere forest six years of austerity, eating one hemp and one wheat, in order to be indifferent to the material to sharpen the desire to seek the Tao. Gradually, the Prince realized that: the world's people chasing material desires, obsessed with the sound of sex and pleasure in the excessive enjoyment is not easy to achieve the path of liberation, and if you insist on austerity, in vain to make the physical and mental suffering, the same as the dead wood and dust, and can not be enlightened Bodhi, the best is to give up the two sides of the bitterness of the two sides of the life of the middle way of no suffering and no happiness, in order to progress towards the path of liberation.

The Prince, having realized this, understood that austerity was not a reality, and immediately got up from his seat of austerity and walked down the Nirvana River, letting the long years of pure flowing water wash away the dirt on his body. But because of the Prince's thin and weak form, he collapsed on the side of the Nirvana River, and after a while, the Prince climbed the branches hanging on the bank and stood up, but he could not walk for a few steps, and then collapsed on the bank again.

At this time, there was a shepherdess named Nandabhara grazing in the meadow by the river, and she suddenly saw a thin young Shamun lying beside the riverbank, as if he had no energy, and she immediately felt sympathy for him, and came to offer milk to the prince with her hands.

The prince received a cup of milk from the shepherdess, and the taste of it was beyond description. After drinking it, his body felt refreshed, and he gradually regained his strength. He crossed the river and walked to the vajra seat under a luxuriant bodhi tree on Mount Gaya, sat down in meditation, and finally attained enlightenment on the night of the eighth day of the twelfth month, when he saw the star and realized the truth.

Because of the allusion to the shepherdesses' offering of millet, the Chinese Buddhists later followed suit, making congee with grains and fruits for the Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, which is known as "Lapa congee". Since then, this custom has gradually spread to the people, and the general public also cook congee on this day, which has become one of the folk customs.

9, New Year's Eve: New Year's Eve refers to the evening of the last day of the lunar month every year, which is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month). "New Year's Eve" in the word "except" is "go; easy; alternating" meaning, New Year's Eve means "the month is poor and the year is over! ", people have to get rid of the old part of the new, there is the old year to this and removed, the next year for another new year means, is the last night of the lunar calendar throughout the year. Therefore, the activities during this period are in addition to the old part of the new, eliminate disasters and pray for blessings as the center.

Zhou, Qin period, the end of each year, the palace to hold a "large exorcism" ceremony, beat the drums to expel the plague of ghosts, known as "by the removal of", and then called the day before the New Year's Eve for the small in addition to the small New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve for the big in addition to the big New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve is the most memorable night of the year. New Year's Eve, the most lively, noisy, the sky is dark, the children or half a young man, has long been holding incense, east a sound, west a sound firecrackers to come, bold to put a big firecracker, young one hand over his ears, far away from the body to explore the point, the other children with two hands over their ears, tense and anxious waiting for the ....... This scene, hair gray can not be forgotten. China's traditional festivals are: New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chrysanthemum Festival, Tanabata, New Year's Eve, Lapa, Lichun, National Day, Qingming Festival, Labor Day, Arbor Day, Learning Lei Feng Day, Army Day, Women's Day, Teachers' Day and so on, which are more common traditional festivals. China's legal holidays are:

New Year's Day (January 1); Spring Festival (Lunar New Year); International Working Women's Day (March 8); Arbor Day (March 12); International Labor Day (May 1); Chinese Youth Day (May 4); Nurses' International Day (May 12); Children's Day (June 1); the anniversary of the birth of China's ****anufacturing party (July 1); Chinese People's Liberation Army Founding Day (August 1); Teachers' Day (September 10); National Day (October 1); Journalists' Day (November 8)