What are the origins of traditional festivals?

1, Spring Festival

Time: the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar in the narrow sense, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar in the broad sense of the first day of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first year.

Originality: the Spring Festival, is the first year of the lunar calendar, the Spring Festival, another name for the New Year, is China's grandest, most lively and most important of an ancient traditional festivals, but also unique to the Chinese people's festivals. It is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of Spring Festival has been extended until today. The Spring Festival generally refers to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month. However, in folklore, the Spring Festival in the traditional sense refers to the Lunar New Year's festival on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year or the sacrificial stove on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year until the fifteenth day of the first month of the first month of the lunar calendar, of which New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

2. Lantern Festival

Time: the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

Originality: the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Lantern Festival. Also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the night of the first yuan, Lantern Festival. According to legend, the emperor of han wen di (179 - 157 years ago) to celebrate zhou bo in the first month of the fifteenth survey leveling zhu lu chaos, every night, must go out of the palace to play, and the people of the same music, in ancient times, the night with the night, the first month is also known as the yuan month, the emperor of han wen di the first month of the fifteenth day of the first month of the yuan yuanshan festival, the night is called the yuan yuanshan. Sima Qian created the Taichu Calendar, which listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival. When with the changes in society and the times, the customs of the Lantern Festival has long been a big change, but it is still a traditional Chinese folk festival.

3, Qingming Festival

Time: around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar.

Origin: the origin of the Qingming Festival, according to legend, began in ancient times, the emperor and generals "tomb sacrifice" of the ceremony, and then the folk also follow suit, in this day to ancestral tomb, and has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation.

4, Dragon Boat Festival

Time: the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

From: Dragon Boat Festival originated in China, initially for the ancient Baiyue region (the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the south of the belt) worship of the dragon totem tribes held totem sacrifice festival, Baiyue place before the Spring and Autumn in the fifth day of the fifth month of the Lunar Calendar in the form of a dragon boat race held in the tribal totem sacrifice custom. Later, because of the Warring States period of Chu (now Hubei) poet Qu Yuan in the day to hold the stone jump Miluo River to kill themselves, the rulers to establish the loyalty of the ruler and patriotism label will be the Dragon Boat Festival as a memorial to Qu Yuan; part of the region also commemorates the Wu Zixu, Cao E and other sayings.

5, Tanabata Festival

Time: the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

From: Tanabata began in the Han Dynasty, is popular in China and the Chinese cultural circle of the countries of the traditional cultural festivals. Legend has it that on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar or the night of the sixth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, women in the courtyard to the Weaving Maiden star to beg for wisdom, so it is known as "begging for coincidence". It originated from the worship of nature and the women's needle begging, and later was given to the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden so that it symbolizes the festival of love.

6, Mid-Autumn Festival

Time: 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

Originality: Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, has become one of the Chinese traditional festivals with the Spring Festival. Influenced by the Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival in some East and Southeast Asian countries, especially for local Chinese. The Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national legal holiday since 200, and on May 20, 2006, the State Council included it in the list of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages.

Formation of Traditional Festivals

Most of the ancient traditional festivals originated from primitive beliefs, and the festivals were formed when the ancient people chose auspicious days to offer sacrifices to thank the gods of heaven and earth and their ancestors for their kindness. Many traditional festivals have been included in the national "rituals", and then for the convenience of memory some festivals in the date of adjustment (such as the Dragon Boat Festival date from the "noon noon" in the Han Dynasty changed to "the fifth day of the fifth month"). Chinese traditional festivals in various forms, rich in content, is an important component of the long history and culture of the Chinese nation, is the basic framework of civilized countries.

The origin and development of festivals is a "gradual formation and gradual improvement of the cultural process" of human society, and is a product of the evolutionary development of human civilization. China's traditional festivals are characterized by primitive beliefs, astronomy, geography, numerology, calendars and other humanistic and natural cultural contents. Some traditional festivals were attached to a "legend of historical figures" after the Qin Dynasty as their "origin", but in reality, these claims were made much later than the birth of the festivals, and were constructed by future generations. The vast majority of folk festivals come from the ancient needs of people's daily lives and beliefs, and heroes and heroes are often man-made constructed into the results.

Traditional festivals with existing documentary records can be traced back to at least "Xia Xiaozheng", "Shangshu", in the pre-Qin period, the year is divided into twenty-four festivals, has been completed, and then some of the traditional festivals, but also with these festivals are closely related to the festivals, festivals for the festival of the prerequisites. Each traditional Chinese festival has its own origin and the necessary conditions for its formation.

The above references? Baidu Encyclopedia - Origin of Chinese Traditional Festivals