Questions about traditional Chinese festivals

Traditional Chinese Festivals

The first festival of the year: Ta Chun

(The first festival of the year is "Lichun", which is usually called "Ta Chun". Why do you call it that? China's history has such a custom, every year on the day of spring, people dressed in festive costumes, carrying a large papier-maché ox, singing and dancing on the streets. After the parade, the papier-maché plowing ox carried to the county office of the public hall, by the magistrate of the new self-whip three, meaning: the earth back to spring, hurry to plow. Therefore, people called the spring "spring".)

January 1: New Year's Day

("New Year's Day" is the earliest word from the poem "Jieya" by Xiao Ziyun, a Liang scholar of the Southern Dynasty: "New Year's Day of the four qi, the first day of the ten thousand lifetimes". Yuan is the beginning, the first meaning; Dan is a Chinese character, above the "day" means the sun, below the "one" means the horizon. The sun rises over the horizon, symbolizing the beginning of the day. New Year's Day is the first day of the year.

January 1, Gregorian calendar, is recognized as New Year's Day in today's world. China's New Year's Day through the ages, the date is not consistent. Such as the first day of the first month of the Xia Dynasty; the first day of December in the Shang Dynasty; the first day of November in the Zhou Dynasty, and so on. September 27, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Association through the use of the "A.D. chronology", will be January 1 as New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar.)

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar: the Lantern Festival

(also known as the "Festival of the New Year", that is, the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It is an important traditional festival in China. In ancient books, this day is called "on the Yuan", and its night is called "Yuan night", "Yuan Xi" or "Lantern Festival". The name "Lantern Festival" has been used until now. Since the Lantern Festival has the custom of opening and watching the lanterns, it is also known as the "Festival of Lights" in folklore. In addition, there are also eating Lantern Festival, stilt walking, riddles and other customs. China's ancient calendar and the phase of the moon has a close relationship with the fifteenth day of the month, people ushered in the first full-moon night of the year, this day is rightly regarded as an auspicious day. As early as the Han Dynasty, the fifteenth day of the first month was used as a day to worship the emperor and pray for blessings. Later, the ancients called the 15th day of the first month "Shangyuan", the 15th day of the 7th month "Zhongyuan", and the 15th day of the 10th month "Xiayuan". At the latest, in the early North and South Dynasties, Sanyuan was already a day to hold a grand ceremony. Among the three elements, the first element was the most important. Later, the celebrations of the Middle and Lower Yuan were gradually abolished, while the Upper Yuan has endured.)

March 8: Women's Day

March 12: Tree Planting Day

The day before Qingming Festival: Cold Food

(A festival in the old custom, one day before the Qingming Festival [two days before the Qingming Festival in one case]. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Prince of Jin, Chong Er, who had been dead for many years, returned to his country and assumed the throne [i.e., Duke Wen of Jin], and rewarded the ministers who had died with him, but only Jie Zhi Tui was left out. Jie Zhitui then took his mother to live in seclusion in Mianshan Mountain [now southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province]. Duke Wen of Jin learned of this and wanted to reward him, so he went to Mianshan Mountain and couldn't find him, so he tried to burn the mountain to force him to come out. However, Jie Zhi Tui insisted on not coming out, and as a result, both mother and son were burned to death. Duke Wen of Jin then stipulated that people should be forbidden to burn rice on this day every year to mourn the death of his mother and son. Later, the custom of eating cold food and sweeping graves on the day of cold food was formed.)

April 5: Ching Ming Festival

(Ching Ming Festival is a traditional festival in China and the most important festival of worship, a day for ancestor worship and tomb-sweeping. Tomb-sweeping is commonly known as visiting the graves, an activity to honor the dead. Most Han Chinese and some ethnic minorities sweep their tombs on Qingming Day. According to the old custom, when sweeping tombs, people should bring wine, food, fruits, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer the food in front of their loved ones' graves, then incinerate the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, fold a few tender green new branches and stick them on the graves, then bow down and perform rituals to worship, and finally eat the wine and food and go home. Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem entitled "Qingming": "The rain falls one after another during the Qingming Festival, and the pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Where can I find a tavern? The shepherd boy points to the apricot blossom village." It writes about the special atmosphere of Qingming Festival.

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

May 1: Labor Day

Fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar: Dragon Boat Festival

(The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival. Duanwu" is originally called "Duanwu", and "Duan" means the beginning. "Five" and "Wu" for each other as a harmonic and universal. It is an ancient festival in China. China's earliest ancient patriotic poet Qu Yuan

Being exiled by slander, witnessed the growing political corruption in Chu, and not to realize their own political ideals, inability to save the perilous motherland, and then threw himself into the Bioluo River in order to martyrdom. After that, people in order not to make the fish and shrimp eat their bodies, have with glutinous rice and flour into various shapes of cakes into the river, which later became the Dragon Boat Festival to eat zongzi, fried cake source. This custom has spread abroad.)

June 1: Children's Day

July 1: Founding Day of the Chinese **** Producers Party

July 7: Memorial Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar: Tanabata Valentine's Day

(The evening of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is known as "Tanabata". China's folklore is that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet on this night at the Bridge of Magpies in the Sky River, and then there are women who beg for coquettish things by threading needles to the Weaving Maiden star on this night. The so-called begging for coquettish, that is, under the moonlight to the Vega star with colored thread through the needle, such as can pass through seven different sizes of the eye of the needle, even if it is very "coquettish". Farmer's proverbs say "the seventh day of the seventh month is clear and bright, grinding sickle cut good rice." This is the time to sharpen the sickle and prepare for the early rice harvest.)

Thirteenth day of the seventh lunar month: Respect for the Elderly

First day of the eighth lunar month: China's Army Day

Fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month: Mid-Autumn Festival

(On the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the day is right in the middle of the autumn season, and so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival. In the evening, the moon is full and the fragrance of laurel, the old custom people see it as a symbol of reunion, to prepare a variety of fruits and cooked food, is a good festival to enjoy the moon. Mid-Autumn Festival also eat moon cakes. According to legend, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to overthrow the brutal Yuan Dynasty, the people wrote the date of the riot on a note and put it in the mooncake filling so as to pass it secretly to each other, calling for an uprising on August 15th. Finally, on this day, a nationwide peasant uprising was baked, overthrowing the corrupt Yuan Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating mooncakes at mid-autumn has spread even more widely.)

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month: Chongyang Festival

(The ninth day of the ninth lunar month. In ancient China, nine is Yang, September 9 is the yin and yang day, so the name "Chongyang". Legend has it that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ru Nan Huan Ying, heard Fei Changfang said to him, September 9 Ru Nan will have a big disaster, and quickly asked the family to sew a small generation, filled with cornelian cherry, tied to the arm, climbed the mountains, drink chrysanthemum wine, to take refuge. Huanjing this day the whole family mountaineering, home at night, really home chickens, dogs, sheep all dead. Since then, the folk have been in the Chongyang Festival do Cornus generation, drink chrysanthemum wine, hold a temple fair, climb high and other customs. Because "high" and "cake" sound the same, so the Chongyang Festival and eat "Chongyang cake" custom. Wang Wei, a poet of Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Remembering the Brothers of Shandong on September 9", which reads: "Being a stranger in a foreign land, I think of my relatives twice as much at festivals. I know from afar where my brothers are climbing up, and I have less Cornus officinalis to plant." The poem records the customs of the time. The poem is still popular today because of its sincerity of feeling.)

September 10: Teachers' Day

October 1: National Day

(October 1, 1949, is the anniversary of the founding of New China. It should be clarified here that in many people's minds, the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China*** and the State of China was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on October l, 1949 with the participation of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians. In fact, this impression in people's minds is not accurate. Because the ceremony held in Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949 was the founding ceremony of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, not the Founding Ceremony. In fact, the "founding" of the People's Republic of China, that is to say, the establishment of the People's Republic of China, had already been announced a week before October 1 of that year. At that time, it was not called the "Founding Ceremony", but the "Founding Ceremony". The date was September 21, 1949, when the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was held. On that day, Mao Zedong, head of the preparatory committee for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), announced the birth of a new China in his opening speech at the first session of the CPPCC).

The 22nd day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar: the winter solstice

(In the ancient times of China, the winter solstice is very important, the winter solstice is regarded as a big festival, there was "winter solstice is as big as the year", and there is a custom of celebrating the winter solstice. The book of han said: "winter solstice yang qi up, jung dao long, so congratulations." People think: after the winter solstice, the day is longer than one day, Yang Qi rise, is the beginning of a cycle of festivals, is also an auspicious day, should be celebrated. The Book of Jin" on the record "Wei Jin winter solstice day by all the countries and bureaucrats to congratulate ...... its instrument subdivided into the first day." This shows the importance of the winter solstice in ancient times.

Now, some places still take the winter solstice as a festival. Northern regions have the custom of slaughtering sheep, eating dumplings and wontons on the winter solstice, while southern regions have the habit of eating winter solstice rice balls and winter solstice long thread noodles on this day. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to the sky and ancestors on the day of winter solstice in various regions.)

The eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar: Lunar Festival

(In ancient times, the December sacrifice to the "gods" was called Lunar, so the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is called Lunar. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the old custom to drink Laha congee. Legend has it that Siddhartha Gautama attained Buddhahood on this day, so monasteries cook congee for Buddha every day, and then folk custom until today.)

Third day of the Lunar New Year in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar: New Year's Eve

(The night of the thirtieth day of the Lunar New Year is called New Year's Eve. The original meaning of the word "除" is "去", which is derived from "易"[交替]; the original meaning of the word "夕" is "日暮", which means "sunset". The original meaning of the character "夕" is "sunset", which is derived from "night". Therefore, the night of New Year's Eve contains the meaning of "the old year will be removed here, and the new year will be replaced tomorrow". The word "New Year's Eve" means to get rid of the old and bring in the new. New Year's Eve first originated in the pre-Qin period, "by removing". According to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals - The Record of the Seasonal Winter", the ancients used to beat drums on the day before New Year's Eve to get rid of "epidemics and plague ghosts", so that the coming year would be free from diseases and calamities. This is the origin of the "New Year's Eve" festival. "New Year's Eve" in ancient times there are many other names, such as in addition to the night, in addition to the year, in addition to the year, in addition to the big, big end and so on. The name of the festival, though many, is always the meaning of sending the old to welcome the new, and getting rid of illnesses and disasters.)

The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar: the Spring Festival

(is the first year of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the "big year". The origin of the Spring Festival has a history of about four thousand years in China. It is one of the most lively and grandest traditional festivals in China. Ancient Spring Festival, refers to the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, "spring" season, after the North and South Dynasties will be the Spring Festival at the end of the year, and refers to the entire spring, when the earth back to spring, everything is renewed, people will take it as the beginning of a new year. In the early years of the Republic of China after the Xinhai Revolution, the first day of the first month of the year was designated as the Spring Festival after the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian [solar] calendar. It was not until September 27, 1949, that the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated the first day of the first month of the new year as the Spring Festival, and many people still call the Spring Festival the Chinese New Year).

Nian:

(Everyone often refers to the Spring Festival as "Chinese New Year", but the original meaning of "Nian" is not the same as today's. It is said that in the very ancient times, the word "Nian" was used to refer to "Chinese New Year". It is said that in ancient times, there was the most vicious beast in the world called "Nian". It grew bigger than a camel. It ran faster than the wind and roared louder than thunder. When it came out, it ate people and hurt animals, and people's lives were seriously threatened. In order to punish the "year", the gods locked it into the mountains, only allowed it to come out once a year. People in the long-term practice, found that the "year" has "three fears" - afraid of red color, afraid of loud noise, afraid of fire. So, one year, on the night of the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, people put red paper on the door, and constantly beat the gongs and drums, firecrackers, and light up the house all night long. "Year" came at night to see, bright lights in every house; listen, everywhere the sound of firecrackers, scared it did not dare to enter the village. During the day, it sneaked down the mountain, see still red on the door of every house, thud everywhere, scared it scared, turned around and ran back. Since then, the "year" has not dared to come back, it is said to starve to death in the mountains and old forests. Later on, people turned the prevention of "Nian" and "Nianxuan" into a peaceful and stable New Year. There is no more "Nian", but the custom of celebrating the New Year still remains. Bright red spring couplets, brilliant lights, crisp firecrackers and loud gongs and drums are still celebrated every year.)

4, the second day of February, the "Spring Dragon Festival", also known as the Dragon Head Lifting Festival

5, February 15, the Flower Festival

6, Cold Food Festival: the day before the Qingming Festival

7, the third day of March, the Festival of the Peach Festival Legend says that the Queen Mother opened the Peach Festival

8, the Qingming Festival: the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox, which is now usually set on the fifth day of the fourth month of the solar calendar

9, the first day of the month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the lunar calendar.

9, April 8, the eighth day of Buddha's birthday, but also known as the Ox Festival after this day the ox is going to the ground.

10, May 5 Dragon Boat Festival

11, Summer Solstice

12, June 6: Sun Fu Festival "June 6, sun red and green." "Auntie Festival" "June 6, please auntie", in ancient times or another festival, called Tian Kuang (give gift meaning) Festival, June

6 is also a festival of Buddhist temples, called the festival of turning the sutra.

13,July 7, commonly known as Tanabata, July 7, Beggar's Day

14,July 15 is the Mid-Yuan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, Bon Festival.

15,July 30 is the "Festival of the Earth"

16,August 15 is the Mid-Autumn Festival

17,September 9 is the Chung Yeung Festival

18,The first day of October is called the "October Pilgrimage" and is also known as the "Festival of the Ancestors"

19,October 15 is the Lower Yuanshi Festival

20,October 15 is the "Festival of the Lower Yuanshi"

20,October 15 is the "Festival of the Lower Yuanshi"

20,October 15 is the "Festival of the Lower Yuanshi"

20,October 15 is the "Festival of the Lower Yuanshi".

20, winter solstice

21, December 8 for the Lahai Festival

22, Zaosi Festival: Lunar month 23 for the Zaosi Day, commonly known as "over the small year", also known as the small year, the small year, small year under the small year festival

23, the year in addition to the day, the last day of the month of Lunar New Year is in addition to the day, in addition to the night is called New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, the night of the festival, the big end, etc., the folk said the year 30, the New Year's Eve

There are also several sages of the birth date:

Guandi birth :June 24

The most sacred teacher Confucius birth :August 27

Cangjie the most sacred teacher of the birth : March 28

Lu Ban Gong birth :June 13 (the first seven days of May):

Fuxi's Birthday :May 13th (the legendary birthday of the dragon)

Yan Di Shennong's Birth :April 26th

Huang Di's Birth :February 2nd

Zhuge Kongming's Birth :July 23rd

Meng Zi's Birth :April 2nd

Yue Fei's Birth ;February 15th

Lao Zi's Birth :February 15th

Birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha: 8th day of April

Birthday of Qu Yuan: 21st day of the first month

Birthday of Sixth Patriarch Huineng: 8th day of February

Attachment 1:

Stove worship on the 23rd/24th day of the Lunar month

Bathing on the 27th/28th day of the Lunar month

Lunar month 29th day of the Lunar New Year's Eve

Worshiping of the God of Fortune on the 2nd day of the first month

The third day of the first month of the lunar calendar Burning the paper of the God of Wealth/Guzi's birthday/Small New Year's Day

The fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the 5th day of the 5th year of the first year of the lunar calendar Folklore says that many taboos before the 5th day of the 5th year of the first year of the first year of the lunar calendar can be broken on this day

The seventh day of the first month of the first year of the first year of the first year of the lunar calendar People's Day/Pancake stalling/Steamed Soup Also known as "People's Victory Day", "People's Celebration Day", "People's Population Day", "People's Seventh Day"

The eighth day of the first month of the lunar year, Gu Ri/ Shun Xing, the day when the stars come down to the world, is also known as "Sacrificing the Stars",

The tenth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the stone, the "stone does not move", the "ten does not move", and the marriage of the mouse

Attachment 2: Other festivals:

"Half-Year Festival" is a festival that is celebrated on the tenth day of the first lunar month, the "Half-Year Festival".

Guanyin Festival: February 19 June 19 September 19 November 19 The belief in the Goddess of Mercy has gone beyond the scope of Buddhism, he is a culture, a desire !!!!

The 23rd day of the third month of the lunar calendar is the birthday of Mazu every year!

The first day of the seventh month, commonly known as the opening of the interest gate

Fill the Cang Festival Traditional Chinese Han folk festival, on the 25th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It is also called Tim Cang Festival and Tian Cang Festival, and is a festival to honor the god Cang