China's traditional festivals are diverse and rich in content, and each one has its own wonderful legend.

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival. The first month is the first month, the ancients called the night for the "night", and the 15th is the first full moon night of the year, so the first month of the 15th for the Lantern Festival. It is also known as the "Festival of the New Year". According to Chinese folk tradition, on the night of the 15th day of the first month, the moon hangs high in the sky, on the ground colorful lanterns, people watching the lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, eating Lantern Festival, family reunion, a happy and harmonious.

China's folk custom of eating Lantern Festival. According to folklore, the Lantern Festival originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, King Zhao of Chu. On the fifteenth day of the first month of a certain year, King Zhao of Chu passed through the Yangtze River, see the surface of the river there are floating objects, for a kind of white inside red sweet food. King Zhao of Chu consulted Confucius, who said, "This is the fruit of the floating ping pong, the Lord of the revival of the omen". Lantern Festival and the Spring Festival rice cakes, Dragon Boat Festival dumplings, are the same holiday food. Eating the Lantern Festival symbolizes the reunion of the family like the full moon, and sends people's good wishes for the future life. Lantern Festival in the south called "dumplings", "round", "floating round", "water round", made of glutinous rice, or solid, or with filling. or with filling. Fillings include bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, etc. They can be boiled, fried, steamed or deep-fried.

The custom of lighting lanterns on 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 7th month is the Middle Elements Festival, and the 15th day of the 10th month is the Lower Elements Festival. In charge of the upper, middle and lower Sanyuan were "heaven", "earth", "people" three officials, the heavenly officials happy, so the lanterns should be lit on the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival lanterns and fire, since the Han Dynasty when there has been this custom, the Tang Dynasty on the Lantern Festival doubled the importance of the Lantern Festival in the Lantern Festival Lantern has become a custom. Tang Dynasty poet Lu Zhaolin had in the "fifteenth night to watch the lights" in this way to describe the Lantern Festival burning lanterns in full bloom: "catching the Han suspected that the stars fall, according to the building like the moon hangs." Lantern Festival lamp burning custom, through the inheritance of successive dynasties, the festival of the lamp type more and more, the name of the lamp content is also more and more rich, there are mirror lamps, phoenix lamps, glazed lamps and so on. Lantern Festival in addition to lighting, but also fireworks to help.

"Guess the lantern riddle" is also called "playing lantern riddle", is the Lantern Festival after the increase of an activity, appeared in the Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the capital Lin'an every Lantern Festival riddles, riddles, riddles of many people, the beginning of the good thing is the riddles written on paper strips, pasted on the colorful lanterns for people to guess. The riddles were popular among people from all walks of life because they were both intellectually stimulating and interesting.

Some places of the Lantern Festival and the custom of "walking a hundred diseases", also known as "baked a hundred diseases" "scattered a hundred diseases", the participants are mostly women, they walk in pairs or walk along the wall, or across the bridge, walking in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside, or in the countryside. or cross the bridge and walk in the countryside, the purpose is to drive away diseases and disasters.

With the passage of time, the Lantern Festival activities are more and more, and many local festivals have added dragon lanterns, lion dances, stilt walkers, dry boats, rice-planting songs, and drums, etc. This festival has been passed down for more than 2,000 years, and is the first of its kind in China. This traditional festival, which has been passed down for more than 2,000 years, is not only prevalent on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but is also celebrated year after year in overseas Chinese settlements.

Ching Ming Festival

Among the 24 festivals of the year, folklore attaches special importance to the Qingming Festival, which falls on April 5 of the lunar calendar. Literature records: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to Ding, for the Qingming, when everything is clean and clear, cover when the gas is clear and bright, everything is obvious, hence the name."

The popularity of the Qingming rituals for graves has been inherited since the Han Dynasty. Later, the popularization of folk, after two thousand years and not decline. On this day, the filial sons and daughters of every family should go to the outskirts of the countryside to worship their ancestors' graves, hoeing for the cemetery, adding soil for the graves, folding a few young green branches to insert in the graves, and cleaning and repairing a good deal.

The Qingming Festival, also known as the Treading Green Festival, according to the solar calendar, it is between April 4 and 6 every year, it is the time when the grass and trees are spitting green in the spring, and it is also a good time for people to go on spring excursions (called Treading Green in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of trekking on the Qingming Festival and carrying out a series of sports activities.

[Mid-Autumn Festival origin]

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a remnant of the ancient celestial worship - the custom of honoring the moon. According to the "Zhou Rites - Spring Officials" records, the Zhou Dynasty, there have been "Mid-Autumn night to welcome the cold", "Mid-Autumn offer good fur", "Autumn Equinox Eve Moon (moon worship)" activities; Han Dynasty, and in the Mid-Autumn or Autumn Festival Day Han Dynasty, and on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival or the first day of the Autumn Festival, to honor the old, old age, given to Xiong rough cake. Jin also have the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, but not too common; until the Tang Dynasty will be the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chang'e Run to the Moon, Wu Gang felled cinnamon, the Jade Rabbit pounded pills, Yang Guifei into the moon god, Tang Ming Huang tour of the Moon Palace and other mythological stories combined, so that it is full of romantic colors, play the wind of the moon before the great rise.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the 15th of August was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there was a festival food of "small cakes like chewing the moon, with crispy and syrup". Meng Yuan Lao "Tokyo Dreaming Records" planted; "Mid-Autumn Festival night, the noble family decorative platforms and pavilions, the folk fight to take over the restaurant to play the moon", and "the string heavy boiling, near the residents of the Yan Yan, late at night when I heard the sound of the sheng yu sound, like the clouds outside. Between the children, even the night wedding play; night market parallel, to the dawn." Wu Zimu "dream beam record" contains: "this time the golden phoenix recommended cool, jade dew cool, Dan Gui fragrance, silver toad full of light. Princes, grandchildren, rich families, all of them climbed the dangerous building, Linxuan play the moon, or open the wide pavilion, tortoise feast lined up, the zither clanging, drinking wine and singing, in order to divine the joy of the night. As for the house of the store, also climbed a small platform, arrange family feasts, the group around the children, to reward the festival. Although the poor basket of people in the ugly alleys, the farmers city wine, reluctantly welcome the joy, and refused to waste time. This night, the sky street selling and buying, until five drums, play the moon tourists, granny in the city, to the dawn of the endless." More interestingly, the "new drunken talk about the book" described the custom of moon worship: "dumping the city's children not to rich or poor can be on their own to twelve or thirteen, are decorated with adult eyes, climbed the building or atrium burning incense to worship the moon, each with a dynasty; men would like to step on the Toad Palace, high climbing fairy laurel. ...... The women would like to look like Chang'e and be as round as the white moon."

The Ming and Qing dynasties of moonlight appreciation activities, the prevalence of the unceasing. "Its festival fruit cake must be round"; each family should set up "moonlight bit", in the direction of the moon "to the moon offerings and worship". Lu Qihong, "Beijing Years of Chinese Records", "Mid-Autumn Festival night, the family set the moon officials rune image, rune on the rabbit such as a man standing, Chen fruits and melons in the court, the cake surface painted moon palace toads and rabbits; men and women worship burn incense, and burned on the day." Tian Rucheng "West Lake Tourism Zhiyu" cloud: "is the night, people have a moonlight feast, or with the Park Lake boat, along the tour all day. Above the Su Causeway, the joint song, no different from the day"; "folk invited to the moon cake, take the meaning of reunion". Fuchsia Dun Chong "Yanjing times" said: "mid-autumn moon cakes, before the door to the beauty of the Zhimai for the first in Kyoto, other places are not enough to eat. Presented to the moon moon cake everywhere. Bigger than a foot, painted on the moon palace wax rabbit shape." "every Mid-Autumn Festival, the House of Jumon all to moon cakes and fruit gifts. When the moon is full on the fifteenth day of the month, fruits and melons are displayed in the courtroom for the moon and sacrificed to the hairy bean and the cockle flower. At that time, the white spirit is in the sky, the colorful clouds are scattered, pass the cups and wash the marigolds, the children are noisy, so-called festivals. The only thing is that men do not bow to the moon when it is offered." At the same time, in the past five hundred years, there were also "burning incense", "walking on the moon", "releasing lanterns", "tree mid-autumn festival", "lighting pagoda lanterns", "burning incense", "walking on the moon", "releasing lanterns", "tree mid-autumn festival", and "lighting pagoda lanterns". The festival activities include "Moon Walking", "Release of Sky Lanterns", "Tree Mid-Autumn Festival", "Lighting of Pagoda Lanterns", "Dance of the Fire Dragon", "Trailing of Stones", and "Selling of Rabbits". The custom of enjoying the moon, eating mooncakes and having a reunion dinner has been passed down to this day.