A survey report on folklore and folk customs

Chinese surnames were created in matrilineal clan societies, when people formed clans centered on their mothers, and in order to distinguish themselves from each other, they used their surnames as the titles of their clans.

The origin of the family name, there are probably the following cases: First, matrilineal clan society, the name of the mother's name, so many of the ancient family name has a "female" character, such as Jiang, Yao, Ji, etc., even the word "family name" itself is also by the "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", "female", and so on. Even the word "surname" itself is synthesized from the words "female" and "birth". Secondly, people in ancient times worshipped creatures as surnames, such as horses, cows, sheep, dragons and so on. Third, take the country of ancestors as the surname, such as Zhao, Song, Qin, Wu and so on. Fourth, to the ancestor's official position as the surname, such as Sima, Situ and other ancient official positions, it became the surname of the descendants. Fifth, to the title of the ancestors as the surname, such as Wang, Hou, etc.. Sixth, to live in the direction and scenery for the family name, such as Dong Guo, West Gate, pool, willow, etc.. Surname by occupation, such as pottery maker's surname Tao. Eight, to the name of the ancestor as a surname, such as the Chinese ancestor of the Yellow Emperor named Xuanyuan, later, Xuanyuan became a surname.

The Chinese have a one-word surname, and there are two words and more than two words. Those with one character are single surnames, and those with two or more characters are compound surnames. There are no accurate statistics on how many surnames there are in China. During the Song Dynasty, a scholar wrote a book called "A Hundred Surnames", which contained more than 500 surnames, 60 of which were compound surnames. By some counts, there are more than 5,000 Chinese surnames that have appeared in Chinese literature, and just over 200 are common today. Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao and Liu are the most common single surnames in China, and Zhuge, Ouyang, Situ and Sima are the most common compound surnames in China.

Chinese names also have their own traditions and characteristics. Chinese people's names are all surnames in the front and first names in the back. There are one-word names and two-word names. People in the same family, the name to be arranged by generation, the same generation of people in the name, often have to have the same word. The names of the ancients were more complicated than those of the modern people, and those who were cultured and had status had characters and numbers in addition to their surnames and first names. For example, Su Shi, a Song Dynasty literary scholar, was surnamed Su, Shi, Zizhan, and called Dongpo. Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai lived in Sichuan's Qinglian Township when he was a child, he named himself "Qinglian Jushi".

Chinese names often have a certain meaning, indicating a certain desire. Some names contain the place, time or natural phenomena at birth, such as "Beijing", "morning", "winter", "snow "etc. Some names express the wish to have certain virtues, such as "loyalty", "righteousness", "propriety", "faith", and so on. Some names have the meaning of wishing for health, longevity and happiness, such as "Jian", "Shou", "Pine", "Fu "and so on. Men's names and women's names are also different, men's names are often used to indicate the words of might and valor, such as "tiger", "dragon", "male", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great", "great" and "great". Wei", "just", "strong" and so on. Women's names are often used to express gentle and beautiful words, such as "wind", "flower", "jade", "color", "Juan", "Jing" and so on.

Nowadays, the Chinese name has not been so much attention to the ancients. The average person only has a nickname and a first name, and names are not always arranged by generation anymore.

Chinese Tea

Chinese people like to drink tea and often use tea to entertain friends and guests. Tea is a necessity in Chinese life.

The tea tree is native to China. After the ancient Chinese discovered the tea tree, tea was first used as a medicine, and later as a beverage. As early as 2000 years ago, the Chinese people have the habit of drinking tea, and later gradually learned to cultivate the tea tree and the technology of tea production. China is the home of tea.

Chinese tea according to the production method is divided into green tea, black tea, oolong tea, flower tea, tuo tea, brick tea and other categories, various types of tea, including many varieties.

Green tea is tender and bright green, and is unfermented tea. Famous green tea varieties are Hangzhou West Lake Longjing tea, Jiangsu Biluochun tea, Anhui Huangshan Maofeng tea and produced in Anhui Lu'an County around the Lu'an Gua Pian tea.

Black tea is fermented tea, steeped tea color red. Famous black teas in China are Qi Hong tea from Anhui Province and Dian Hong tea from Yunnan Province.

Oolong tea is a kind of semi-fermented tea, tea leaves loose coarse, tea color golden. The best oolong tea is Wuyi Rock Tea produced in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province.

Flower tea is a unique type of tea in China, which is made by adding fragrant flowers to tea leaves. The most famous flower tea is jasmine tea from Fujian.

Tuocha is a kind of tea produced in Yunnan and Sichuan, which is pressed like a round steamed bun.

Brick tea, shaped like a brick, is a favorite tea of ethnic minorities such as Mongolians and Tibetans.

Drinking tea can not only quench your thirst, but also eliminate fatigue, help digestion and prevent some diseases. Drinking tea for a long time is very beneficial to one's health.

A long time ago, China passed on the experience of growing tea and the seeds of the tea tree to people all over the world. Tea has become the world's most widely consumed beverage, loved by people.

Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs

There is a traditional custom in Chinese folklore that once a person is born, he or she is assigned an animal as his or her Zodiac sign. The Chinese Zodiac, also known as the Chinese Zodiac, is a traditional way of dating and calculating age in Chinese folklore.

According to the world's common calendar dating, as long as you say the calendar year so-and-so can be, such as: 2002 AD. But the Chinese lunar calendar is different. The ancient Chinese invented the "stem and branch" method of dating. The "Stem" is the "Heavenly Stem", which consists of 10 characters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, C, N, N, K. The "Stem" is the "Heavenly Stem", which consists of 10 characters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, C, N, K. The "Branch" is the "Branch". "Branch" is the "Earth Branch", composed of 12 words, the 12 words are: son, ugly, c, d, chen, si, noon, not yet, shen, you, huxu, ohai. The 10 words of the Heavenly Stem and the 12 words of the Earthly Branches in order to match up, can be composed of 60 pairs of chronological symbols, such as: A Zi, B ugly, C Yin ...... These 60 pairs of symbols week after week, the cycle of use, each year there is a chronological symbols. Such as the calendar year 2001, is the year of the lunar calendar Xin Si. The year 2002 of the Gregorian calendar, is the year of the lunar calendar of the nonnative. Later, people used the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig 12 kinds of animals to match the twelve earthly branches, composed of twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, also known as the twelve phases. These are: Zi rat, ugly cow, c tiger, d rabbit, chen dragon, Si snake, afternoon horse, ungoat, Shen monkey, You chicken, Huxu dog, Ohio pig. In this way, Zi year is the year of the rat, ugly year is the year of the ox, Yin year is the year of the tiger ...... So, as soon as a person is born, there is an animal for his genus. Zi born in the year of the rat, born in the year of the ugly ox, Yin born in the year of the tiger ...... 2002 is the year of the lunar calendar nonwo, is the year of the horse, the children born in this year should belong to the horse.

Now, the Chinese people in the use of the Gregorian calendar and calculate the age of the same time, still accustomed to the use of the genus chronology and projected age. As long as people know the approximate age of a person and his genus, they can project his exact age and year of birth.

Auspicious Patterns

In Chinese folklore, there are many patterns with auspicious meanings. Whenever there is a festival or a happy day, people like to decorate their rooms and objects with these auspicious patterns to express their desire for a happy life and to celebrate a good day.

Auspicious patterns in China began more than 3,000 years ago in the Zhou Dynasty, and later spread in the folklore. Today, auspicious motifs are still an indispensable part of the lives of Chinese people.

China's auspicious patterns are extremely wide-ranging, and the most common ones are introduced here:

"Double Happiness" character, which means double happiness and great fortune, is often used by the folk when organizing happy events.

"Shou" character, the word head is processed and beautified into a symmetrical pattern, is the meaning of longevity.

"Fukushou Shuangquan" is a pattern composed of bats and the character for longevity. "Bat" and "Fortune" have the same sound, which means happiness and longevity.

The symmetrical pattern of two characters "有", meaning "顺也有" and "倒也有". In rural China, it is often used to stick on the utensils that collect grains, indicating a good harvest and affluence.

"Ruyi head" symbolizes smoothness and goodwill.

"Baiji", also called "Panchang". It has no head, no tail, no beginning and no end, and can be imagined as many "knots", harmonizing with the sound of "Baiji", as a symbol of good luck and good fortune in all things, and also has the meaning of prolonged good fortune and life, which is never-ending.

"Four Ruyi", four Ruyi from the four sides around the hook together, symbolizing all things as expected.

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival, one of the twenty-four solar terms in China, is also an ancient traditional Chinese festival. It falls in the third month of the lunar calendar (around April 5), when the spring is bright and the air is clean, so the festival is called "Qingming Festival".

Qingming Festival people have the custom of sweeping tombs and ancestors and trekking in the green willow.

Chinese people have the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly, and they remember and respect their deceased ancestors. Therefore, every Qingming Festival day, every family will go to the countryside to sweep the graves of their ancestors. People remove the weeds and add new soil to the graves, light incense, put food and paper money in front of the graves to show their thoughts and respect for their ancestors. This is called visiting the graves, also known as sweeping the graves.

Qingming Festival, mountain grass sprouting, riverside willows long leaves, everywhere a new green, it is a good time to play outdoors. Ancient people had the custom of walking in the countryside, which is called "trekking"; but also folded a willow branch to wear on the head, called "insertion of willow". It is said that the willow can drive away the ghosts and disasters, so people have inserted and wear willow branches, pray for peace and happiness.

Now, the way of burial has changed a lot. After the implementation of cremation and abolition of burial, there are fewer and fewer graves in the fields. However, ancestor worship and trekking on Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese custom. On this day, people still remember their ancestors in various ways, and also go to the countryside to breathe fresh air and enjoy the blue sky, green trees, grass and flowers.

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the May Festival, is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people eat zongzi and race dragon boats. It is said that these activities are held in honor of Qu Yuan, the great patriotic poet of ancient China.

Qu Yuan was a native of Chu during the Warring States period. Among the seven states of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin during the Warring States period, Qin was the strongest and always wanted to annex the other six states and dominate the world. Qu Yuan was a great doctor of the state of Chu and was very talented. He advocated reforming the politics of Chu and uniting all the states to ****together to resist Qin. However, Qu Yuan's idea was opposed by bad people. The king of Chu listened to these bad people and not only did he not adopt Qu Yuan's ideas, but also drove him out of the capital of Chu. After Qu Yuan left the capital, he was still concerned about the fate of his country. When he heard the news that Chu had been defeated by Qin, he was very sad and felt that he had no power to save his country, so he jumped into the Miluo River and committed suicide. This day was the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar in 278 BC.

When people heard the news that Qu Yuan had jumped into the Miluo River, they all rushed to salvage his body with their boats, but they never found it. In order to prevent the fish and shrimp eat Qu Yuan's body, the people will be food still into the river to feed the fish. After that, every year on the fifth day of the fifth month people have to do this. Over time, people changed to use the leaves of the reed glutinous rice wrapped into dumplings still into the river. Thus. It formed the Dragon Boat Festival to eat dumplings, dragon boat racing custom.

Mid-Autumn Festival

The 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Chinese festival of Mid-Autumn Festival.

According to the Chinese calendar, the seventh, eighth and ninth months of the lunar calendar are the fall season. August is the middle month of the fall, and August 15 is the middle day of August, so this festival is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese people have the custom of enjoying the moon and eating mooncakes.

In the fall, the weather is sunny and cool, there are few clouds in the sky, and the moon looks especially bright in the night sky. The night of August 15, the night of the full moon, becomes the best time for people to enjoy the moon. People see the full moon as a symbol of reunion and happiness, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival".

Traditionally, Chinese people eat fruits and mooncakes while enjoying the moon. Because mooncakes are round and symbolize reunion, some places also call it "reunion cake". There are many varieties of mooncakes in China, and the way they are made varies from place to place. Mooncakes are filled with sweet, savory, meat, vegetarian, mooncakes, mooncakes on the top of a variety of patterns and characters, it is really beautiful, but also delicious.

In the fall, people's year's labor is rewarded. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family sits together to enjoy the moon and eat mooncakes, and their hearts are filled with the joy of harvest and the joy of reunion. At this time, people who are far away from home will also look up at the moon and miss their hometown and relatives. Because the full moon symbolizes happiness and reunion.

Since ancient times, there have been many myths and legends about the moon in China, the most famous of which is "Chang'e Runs to the Moon". Chang'e was the wife of Hou Yi in ancient Chinese mythology. It is said that she stole the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, became immortal, and flew to the Moon Palace.

Chung Yeung Festival

The Chung Yeung Festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. It is a very ancient festival with a history of more than 1700 years.

In Chinese numbers, one, three, five, seven and nine are yang numbers and two, four, six and eight are yin numbers. Therefore, the ninth day of the ninth month of September is known as Chongyang or the ninth day of the ninth month. In ancient China, Chongyang Festival was an important festival, and various activities were held on this day, such as: climbing high, enjoying chrysanthemums, inserting dogwoods and eating Chongyang cakes.

Climbing up is the main custom of Chongyang Festival. Ancient people believed that the nine nine suns, climbing high can avoid disasters and avoid disaster. Later, the Chung Yeung Festival climbing mountains, gradually evolved into a relaxing, physical exercise sports and tourism activities.

Cornus and chrysanthemum are also traditional customs of the Chrysanthemum Festival. Cornus is a plant, the fruit can be eaten, stems and leaves are medicinal herbs. Chrysanthemums bloom in September and are known as "longevity flowers". In order to avoid the plague, to drive away the bad gas, the day of the Chongyang Festival, people will be cornelian cherry and chrysanthemum inserted in the body, but also ornamental chrysanthemum, drink chrysanthemum tea and chrysanthemum wine.

Chongyang cake is a kind of food made of flour, you can add jujube, ginkgo, pine nuts, almonds made of sweet, you can also add meat made of salty, sophisticated but also made into nine layers, and then do two sheep on top to harmonize the "Chongyang (sheep)" sound.

Now the Chongyang Festival, has not seen the insertion of dogwood and other customs, but many people will still be on this day to climb the chrysanthemums, to enjoy the beauty of the fall. In recent years, this ancient festival has added a new content, become an annual "respect for the elderly festival". Whenever the festival comes, people organize various activities to honor the elderly and wish them good health and longevity.

The Spring Festival

The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Chinese New Year. Among the traditional Chinese festivals, this is one of the most important and lively ones. It is also called "Spring Festival" because it is celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

The Chinese have many traditional customs for the Spring Festival. From the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, people start to prepare for the New Year. During this period of time, families clean up, buy New Year's goods, put up window decals, hang up New Year's paintings, write Spring Festival couplets, steam New Year's cakes, and make all kinds of food in order to prepare for the old and welcome the new.

The night before the Chinese New Year is called "New Year's Eve". New Year's Eve is a time for family reunions. The family sits together, eat a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, talk and laugh until dawn, which is called the New Year's Eve. When the clock strikes zero on New Year's Eve, people also eat dumplings. Ancient times called the zero hour for the "Zi Shi", New Year's Eve Zi Shi is the time of the new year and the old year, people at this time to eat dumplings, is to take the meaning of "more years of the child". This is also the origin of the name "dumpling".

After New Year's Eve, it is the first day of the New Year. Starting from the first day of the year, people have to visit relatives, see friends, and pay respect to each other. The New Year's greeting is an important custom of the Spring Festival. When paying tribute to the New Year, everyone has to say something auspicious to wish for happiness and health.

Setting off firecrackers is a favorite activity of children during the Spring Festival. Legend has it that firecrackers can drive away demons, so every year from the night of New Year's Eve, everywhere on the sound of firecrackers one after another. The bursts of fireworks and the sound of firecrackers add a lively and festive atmosphere to the festival.

During the Spring Festival, many places also organize temple fairs. The wonderful dragon and lion dance performances, various kinds of handicrafts and local snacks at the temple fairs attract millions of people who celebrate the festival.

With the development of the times, the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival has also undergone some changes. For example, many cities have banned fireworks to prevent environmental pollution. But this does not affect the lively atmosphere of the festival. On the night of New Year's Eve, families still have to get together and eat New Year's Eve dinner while watching wonderful TV programs until the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The Spring Festival will always be the most important festival in the hearts of Chinese and Chinese descendants around the world.

Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Lantern Festival in Chinese folklore. Because the first month is also called the New Year's month, and the night of the fifteenth day of the first month is the first full-moon night of the year, and the word "night" means "night", so the festival on the night of the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival.

On the Lantern Festival, Chinese people have the custom of enjoying lanterns and eating lanterns. As the saying goes, "the 15th day of the first month is the Lantern Festival", therefore, the Lantern Festival is also called the Festival of Lights.

The custom of viewing lanterns at the Lantern Festival began in the Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,000 years. On the day of the Lantern Festival, lights and colors are displayed everywhere, and it is very lively. As soon as the night arrives, people go in groups to see the lanterns. Colorful palace lanterns, wall lanterns, character lamps, flower lamps, horse lanterns, animal lamps, toy lamps ...... into a sea of lights. Some lanterns are also written on the riddles, attracting people to guess.

Eating Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese custom. As early as the Song Dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago, there was this food. Yuanxiao is a kind of small round ball made of glutinous rice flour, which is covered with a filling made of sugar and various kinds of nuts, and when it is cooked, it tastes sweet and delicious. Because this food is eaten on the day of Lantern Festival, people later called it Yuanxiao. Chinese people want all things to be complete, and eating the Lantern Festival on the first full moon night at the beginning of the year means that they want their families to be reunited, harmonious, happy and full.

Twenty-four Sets of Seasons

On the Chinese calendar, there are two Sets of Seasons in each month, and 24 Sets of Seasons in a year***.

The festivals are unique to the Chinese lunar calendar and are the creation of the Chinese working people. Ancient people in the long-term production and labor, and gradually recognized the law of climate change, they based on the interrelationship between the sun and the Earth, the number of days in a year into 24 equal parts, used to indicate the seasons and climate change. In this way, there is one solar term almost every 15 days, and there are two solar terms in each month. The dates of the twenty-four solar terms in the Gregorian calendar are almost fixed, with the first half of the year (January to June) falling on and around the 6th and 21st of each month; and the second half of the year (July-December) falling on and around the 8th and 23rd of each month.

The names of the twenty-four solar terms are: Lichun, rain, hibernation, vernal equinox, Qingming summer, Xiaoman, Mangzao, summer solstice, Xiaozhu, Dahe summer, Lichu, Shenshu, Bailu, Autumnal Equinox, Cold Dew, Frost, Lichun, Xiaoxue, Daxue, Winter Solstice, Xiaohan, Dahan.

The setting up of spring, summer, fall and winter indicates the beginning of the four seasons.

The spring and fall equinoxes are the two days of the year when day and night are as long as each other.

The summer solstice is the day with the longest day and shortest night in a year. The winter solstice is the day with the shortest day and the longest night in a year.

Yushui means the beginning of rain.

Hibernation, means the hibernating insects are awakened after the spring thunder.

Qingming, which means that after the arrival of spring, bright and clean spring colors replace the cold and withered landscape of winter.

Grain Rain, which means that from now on, there will be more rain, which is good for the growth of grains.

Xiaoman, which means that the seeds of crops that matured in the summer are beginning to be full.

Mangseed, telling people that wheat has matured.

Xiaoshu and Daoshu, indicate the degree of heat, Daoshu is the hottest time of the year.

The first day of the summer, indicating that the hot weather is almost over.

White Dew, which tells people that dew is starting to fall and the weather is about to get cold.

Cold Dew, indicating that the dew has become heavy and the cold is intensifying.

Frostfall means the beginning of frost.

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow.

Little Cold, Big Cold, indicates the degree of coldness in winter, and Big Cold is the time of the year

Chinese Wine

In China, the history of wine is even longer than that of tea, and a jug of wine unearthed in 1986 in Henan Province is an ancient wine from more than 3,000 years ago.

There are many famous wines in China, Moutai, Wuliangye, Fenjiu, Zhuyeqing, Luzhou Laojiao, Gujing Gongjiu, Jiayin, Zhangyu Wine, Great Wall Dry Red Wine, and so on, all of which are world-famous.

There are more stories about wine in Chinese history: Tao Yuanming, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, couldn't live without wine for a day; Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, "drank wine and wrote a hundred poems", and the more he drank, the better he wrote his poems; Wusong, a hero of the Liangshan Mountain of the Song Dynasty, drank 18 bowls of wine in one gulp, and beat a tiger to death with his bare hands and empty fists ... ...

In 1915, at the Panama World's Fair, China sent Maotai wine to exhibit and participate in the evaluation. It is said that the Americans who presided over the exposition felt that the yellow porcelain bottles containing the wine were not good-looking, and were not allowed to exhibit Maotai wine. The Chinese delegation was furious. In a heated argument, a Chinese winemaker in a hurry, deliberately a bottle of Maotai wine fell to the ground, suddenly bottle broken wine sprinkles, full of strange fragrance. The delegates were amazed. In the end, Moutai was recognized as the "world's famous wine" and won the Gold Award.

Maotai wine and Scotch whisky, French brandy and known as the world's three great wines.

The Four Spirits - Ancient Symbol of Auspiciousness

In ancient China, the unicorn, phoenix, tortoise and dragon were considered to be spiritual animals, and therefore, they were called the Four Spirits as a sign of auspiciousness. In fact, except for the tortoise, the other three are legendary animals, imagined and created by people themselves.

Legendary unicorn, body like a deer, covered with scales and armor, head long one-horn, horn Bu born with a meatball, feet like a horse's hooves, tail like a cow's tail. The unicorn is considered to be a benevolent beast with virtue, and emperors have seen it as a symbol of peace and prosperity. The unicorn can be found in the residences and gardens of the emperors such as the Striking Palace and the Summer Palace in Beijing, both cast in bronze and carved in stone. In folklore, the unicorn is also highly valued. During the Spring Festival, people in the south of the Yangtze River in China often carry paper-made kylins to perform in front of their houses to express their good wishes. In addition, there is also the legend of "the unicorn sends a son" in China, people use the unicorn to symbolize the future of the children and grandchildren on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also expresses the hope that the early birth of a noble son, the family's prosperity meaning.

The phoenix, with its beautiful crown of feathers and colorful plumes, is an image imagined by combining the characteristics of many birds and beasts. The phoenix is the "king of all birds" in Chinese legend, symbolizing good fortune, peace and political clarity. Like the dragon, the phoenix was regarded as a symbol of power and dignity by emperors and kings. Phoenix crowns, phoenix carriages and other phoenix-related items could only be used by royalty and immortals. However, later on, the phoenix also became a good-luck symbol for the folk people. Especially in traditional weddings in the Middle Self, the wind became a decoration on the bride's gown and headdress, representing good luck and festivity. The phoenix is also widely used in traditional folk motifs and patterns, signifying good fortune and peace. The phoenix is also often combined with other auspicious objects to form patterns, such as "dragon and phoenix presenting samples", "phoenix and qi presenting auspiciousness", etc., is also a symbol of good luck.

The turtle is the only animal that exists among the four spirits, and it also has the longest lifespan among the animals. People not only take the turtle as a symbol of health and longevity, but also believe that it has the spirit of foretelling the future. In ancient times, whenever a major event is held before the sorcerer has to burn the tortoise armor, and then according to the tortoise armor on the cracked lines to divine good or bad luck. Therefore, people called the tortoise "divine tortoise" and "spiritual tortoise". Turtle in China has been greatly respected, in the ancient imperial palace, mansion and mausoleum, there are stone or bronze casting of the tortoise, used to symbolize the country's long-lasting luck.

The dragon is considered to be the greatest Chinese deity and the greatest good-luck charm. People are familiar with the image of the dragon, but no one has ever seen a real dragon. The dragon and the wind, like the unicorn, is an imaginary animal, it has a bull's head, antlers, shrimp eyes, eagle claws, snake body, lion's tail, the whole body is also full of scales and armor, is compounded by a variety of animals. In people's imagination, the dragon can walk on the ground, can swim in the water, can fly in the clouds, full of infinite power. For thousands of years, feudal emperors regarded it as a symbol of power and dignity, and ordinary people also considered it as the embodiment of virtue and strength, and an object of good fortune. Therefore, the image of the dragon can be seen everywhere in China. Palaces, temples on the ridge, the royal utensils, everywhere carved with dragons, painted dragons; the old white family name in the days of celebration, but also to post the dragon pattern, but also dance dragon lanterns, rowing dragon boat; to give the child's name is also willing to use the "dragon" word. Dragon as the "four spirits" in the largest auspicious objects, has become a symbol of the Chinese nation. Chinese people all over the world consider themselves to be "descendants of the dragon".

The Temple Fair

The Temple Fair is a kind of social activity in Chinese folklore, which is said to have originated from the ancient rituals of sacrificing to the gods of the land, and gradually became a kind of bazaar for the exchange of folk goods and a place for cultural performances.

Temple fairs are generally located in temples and empty fields near temples, and are held on festivals or specified days. Some are held only during the annual Spring Festival. Although the time to organize the temple fair is different, but the basic content is similar: during the temple fair, farmers, traders with their own production of agricultural products, souvenirs and from all over the collection of antiques and jade, flowers, birds, fish and insects, to the temple fair for trading; all kinds of craftsmen set up stalls to sell folk handicrafts and specialty snacks; folk artists on the stage to perform songs, dances, music and art...

The temple fair is generally located in the temple and temple near the open field on festivals or specified days. ...The people who visit the temple fair come to buy and sell goods, watch the show, taste the snacks, it is really very lively.

Now, the Beijing Municipality every year in the Spring Festival are organized temple fair. The more famous ones are Baiyunguan Temple Fair, Ditan Temple Fair, Longtan Lake Temple Fair, Longfuji Temple Fair and so on. Beijing's temple fairs have retained many traditional customs, like riding donkeys around the temple fair and playing money eye squat at the Baiyunguan Temple Fair. The items sold at the temple fair are also very northern characteristics, like air bamboo, windmills, swords, guns, swords and halberds and other toys; big sugar gourds, tea soup and other snacks, are very popular among the people.

Weddings

China is a large country with a long history of multi-ethnicity, different periods, different ethnic groups have different wedding customs, the Chinese people regard marriage as a very important thing in life, so the Chinese wedding ceremony has a lot of elaboration, very complex.

The traditional Chinese wedding ceremony includes saying three books and six rites (the book of engagement, the book of rites, the book of welcoming the bridegroom, nacai, asking for the name, naji, nazheng, the period of invitation, and kissing and welcoming), exchanging the geng spectrum, going through the wending, passing the rite of passage, settling down the bed, the dowry, the first head, welcoming the bridegroom, going out, going through the door, and returning to the door in three dynasties, etc. The wedding ceremony is very complicated.

Modern weddings still retain some of the traditional customs, but have been simplified a lot, and there are many new weddings continue to appear, but in general the Chinese wedding to emphasize grand, festive, lively. Friends and family will congratulate the couple, wishing them a long life, a son, etc.

In addition, the Chinese wedding ceremony will be held at the same time.

In addition, other ethnic groups in China also have their own ethnic wedding customs.