What are the four major festivals in China?

1. Chinese New Year: A Great Year of Reunion

New Year's Eve is the eve of the Chinese New Year, also known as New Year's Eve. There is a legend: there is a vicious beast called Xi in ancient times, every end of the year will come out to harm people, and later, people know that Xi is afraid of red and sound, so the night of the New Year's Eve, every family posted red couplets, firecrackers, to drive away the Xi beasts, in order to seek peace and quiet in the new year. This custom has been passed down since then, the night of New Year's Eve will be called New Year's Eve. On this day, people eat, drink, play and have fun. People in the north make dumplings and people in the south make rice cakes. On New Year's Eve, the whole family eats "New Year's dinner" together, which has the flavor of a family reunion for the New Year.

2. Mid-Autumn Festival: Originating from the Moon Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar originated from the Moon Festival in ancient times. As a festival, the Western Han Dynasty has taken shape, the Jin Dynasty has been enjoying the moon, to the Northern Song Dynasty when the official name of the Mid-Autumn Festival, has flourished. This is the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival moon is perfect, symbolizing reunion, and therefore also called "reunion festival". Mid-Autumn Festival night, most parts of China have branding "reunion" custom, that is, branding a symbol of reunion, similar to the moon cake, small cakes, after the moon festival, by the elders of the family will be the cake according to the number of people cut into pieces, each person a piece, such as some people are not at home, that is, leave a copy of it, that is, the reunion of the whole family.

3. Dragon Boat Festival: more than 2,000 years of history

Duanwu is also known as Duanwu, Duanyang. According to folklore experts, the Dragon Boat Festival began in China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and has a history of more than 2,000 years. About the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, there are commemorating Qu Yuan said, commemorating Wu Zixu said, commemorating the East Han Dynasty filial daughter Cao E said. As a traditional festival, China's folk over the Dragon Boat Festival a variety of activities, the more common customary activities is to race the dragon boat, eat zongzi, Pei incense sacs and inserted ai leaf calamus, of which, eat zongzi is the most common.

4. Qingming: the day of ancestor sweeping

Qingming Festival in China has a history of more than 2,500 years, Qingming first began to be a characterization of the climate of the festival. Later, due to the Qingming and cold food days close, according to the ancients, "winter solstice hundred six days for the Qingming," the projected cold food in the day before the Qingming, so the ancients often extend the cold food to the Qingming. Ancestor sweeping is the centerpiece of the Qingming Festival in the Central Plains.