Chinese festival customs

Sweeping the dust - folk proverb says: the 24th day of the Lunar New Year, dusting and sweeping the house". The north is called sweeping, the south is called dusting. Indoor and outdoor, room after room, thoroughly cleaned, clothes and utensils, scrubbed, clean to welcome the New Year.

Door painting - according to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" said: Tang Taizong Li Shimin was sick, often heard the sound of ghosts crying and howling in his dreams, so that the night does not sleep. At this time, the general Qin Shubao, Yuchigong two volunteers, fully clothed to stand on both sides of the palace door, the results of the palace is really safe and sound, Li Shimin that the two generals are too hard, the heart of the heart, and then ordered the painter will be the two of them, the image of the mighty painted in the palace door, known as the "door god". East Han Cai Yong, "Dictatorship" records, the Han Dynasty folk have been posted on the door "Shentan", "Yubi" idol, to the Song Dynasty evolved into woodblock prints. Later, the folk competed with each other to follow suit, and after several evolutions, formed their own unique style, which is now the New Year's Paintings. China's earliest surviving New Year's paintings are the Song version of the "Sui Dynasty Myrtle Presented to the Kingdom of the Fangcheng Tu".

Chinese New Year scrolls evolved from the "peach stalks" of the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago. According to the Huainanzi, peach symbols (i.e., peach stalks) were carved from peach wood. It was engraved with the incantation to extinguish blessings, and was changed once a year. When Emperor Meng Chang of Shu had a whim during the Spring Festival in the Five Dynasties, he had a peach tree sliced and he wrote a couplet on it: "New Year's Day is a blessing for all, and the festive season is an everlasting one". This is the earliest Spring Festival couplet in China. As for the official birth of the name of Spring Festival couplets, it was in the Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang built the capital of Jinling, had in the new year's eve when the decree: "public officials and the common people's families, must write a pair of spring couplets to decorate the new year". Later, the Spring Festival couplets were popularized and inherited to this day on New Year's Day, every household has to post Spring Festival couplets.

Blazing firecrackers - the custom of burning firecrackers in the Spring Festival began in the Han Dynasty. According to the South Liang people Zong懔撰写的 "荆梦岁时记 "记载："The first day of the first month ...... chicken song up, first in front of the court firecrackers from the mountain demon evil spirits." In ancient times, firecrackers, is to use bamboo into the fire burning, due to heat expansion of the air inside the bamboo, it will send out "crackling" sound, as a way to ward off evil spirits, praying for good luck and happiness in the coming year. After the Tang and Song dynasties, the firecrackers made of gunpowder were developed.

Welcome to the New Year--according to the Ming Dynasty Lu Rong "Beans Garden Miscellany" records, the New Year's Eve custom was first practiced in Kyoto in the Ming Dynasty. Officials, regardless of whether they know each other to pay respect to each other, the people pay respect to friends and relatives. In the Qing Dynasty, it was fashionable to send a "worship box" during the Spring Festival, in which a New Year's invitation was placed in an exquisite and beautifully decorated box and sent to friends and relatives to show the solemnity of the occasion. Today, Chinese folk, "New Year" has become a traditional custom, the most dear friends and colleagues, home to home, door to door to pay tribute to the New Year, greetings to each other.

In ancient times, it was popular for literati to give each other New Year's diamonds. The New Year's diamond is the New Year's card today, which is evolved from the ancient business card. According to the Qing Dynasty Zhao Yi test, the Western Han Dynasty, there is no paper, cut bamboo and wood for the thorns, on the book name, called "name thorns". Later also used red floss in brocade embroidered words for "business card". After the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper was used instead of wood, called "name paper". Six Dynasties, referred to as "name", the Tang Dynasty called "door". Song Dynasty, also known as "hand prick", "door prick". Ming and Qing dynasties had called "inch Chu", "red single".

Duanwu customs

Duanwu Festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, is one of China's largest traditional festivals. Dragon Boat Festival is also known as Duanwu, "end" means the same as "first", "Duanwu" is also known as "first five"; Duan five of the "five" word and "Wu", according to the order of the Earth's branches projected, May is the "Wu" month. And because of the noon for the "Yang Chen", so the end of five also called "Duan Yang". May 5, the month, the day is five, so weigh five, also known as lunch. In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival also has many aliases, such as: Summer Festival, Bath Orchid Festival, Daughter Festival, Day in the Festival, the ground wax, Poet's Day and so on.

The Dragon Boat Festival's many aliases, indirectly explains the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival divergence. The fact is exactly the same. On the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, to date, at least four or five say, such as: commemorating Qu Yuan said; Wu Yue national totem sacrifice said; from the three generations of the summer solstice said; bad month and bad day to drive to avoid said, and so on. So far, the most widely influential point of view of the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan said. In the field of folk culture, China's people put the Dragon Boat Festival Dragon Boat Race and eat zongzi are associated with Qu Yuan. Legend has it that after Qu Yuan cast into the river, the local people hurt its death, they boat rescue, because there is a custom of racing; also said that people often put food into the water to sacrifice Qu Yuan, but more for the dragon to eat, and then because of Qu Yuan's prompting to use the neem leaves wrapped rice, wrapped around the outside of the colorful silk, made into a zongzong like later.

The main customs of the Dragon Boat Festival: eat zongzi in the door or calamus to drive away evil spirits, tie the long-life wisp, drink xionghuang wine or disinfectant, racing dragon boats and so on. Zongzi also called "corner corn", "tube zongzi", the former is due to the shape of angular, wrapped in sticky rice and got its name, the latter as the name suggests is probably a bamboo tube with rice cooked. Dragon Boat Festival to eat zongzi, in the Wei and Jin Dynasties has been very popular. This food was eaten during the two annual festivals of Dragon Boat Festival and Summer Solstice. Zongzi were also a kind of gift for festival exchanges. By the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, zongzi had become extremely famous and were often sold in the market. Now, we still can't avoid eating a few dumplings at the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi have a lot of patterns, there are differences between North and South, East and West. South commonly used dates, peanuts, salted meat and other mixed in glutinous rice made, but also see not mixed with other foods, and go to taste the fragrance of the zongzi leaves; the north more dates, dried fruit, etc. as zongzi filling. Small zongzi, seems to have become a symbol of Chinese tradition, in people's hearts occupy a certain position. In the past, the Dragon Boat Festival and the custom of avoiding the noon, this custom stems from a belief that: May for the "evil month", the plague sores spread, heavy five is an unlucky day, so the parents are so the day will be under the age of children to take to Grandma's house to avoid to escape from the disaster, so called avoiding the noon. This is undoubtedly the ancient scientific underdevelopment and the concept, because the May heat will come, mosquitoes breeding, in the absence of medical and health equipment in the folk, prone to infectious diseases, so bring a fear of people, so the custom of avoiding the noon, now some of the ancient customs of this festival has disappeared along with the social changes, but eat zongzi, dragon boat racing and other customs are still popular.

Customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

China's folk over the Dragon Boat Festival is a more solemn, celebratory activities are also a variety of activities, the more common activities are the following forms: dragon boat race: dragon boat race, is the main custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Legend has it that the origins of the ancient Chu people because they could not bear to see the wise minister Qu Yuan threw himself into the river to die, many people rowed to catch up with the rescue. They scrambled to be the first to chase to the Dongting Lake when they disappeared. After that, they rowed dragon boats on May 5 every year to commemorate it. The dragon boat was used to disperse the fish in the river, so that the fish would not eat Qu Yuan's body. Racing habits, prevalent in Wu, Yue, Chu. In fact, "dragon boat racing" as early as the Warring States period. In the sound of drums, rowing carved into the shape of a dragon canoe, do the race game, to entertain the gods and people, is the ritual of semi-religious, half-entertainment programs. Later, the dragon boat race in addition to commemorate the Qu Yuan, people around the world also paid a different meaning. Zhejiang and Jiangsu areas rowing dragon boat, both to commemorate the significance of the local birth of modern female democratic revolutionaries Qiu Jin. Night on the dragon boat, lights and colors, back and forth, water and underwater, the scene is moving, interesting. Miao people in Guizhou in the lunar calendar May 25-28 held "Dragon Boat Festival" to celebrate the victory of rice-planting and wishing a good harvest. Yunnan Dai compatriots in the Water Festival Dragon Boat Race, to commemorate the ancient hero rock red nest. Different ethnic groups, different regions, paddle dragon boat legend is different. Until today in the south of the many near the rivers, lakes and seas of the region, the annual Dragon Boat Festival will be held in their own characteristics of the Dragon Boat Race activities. In the 29th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1736), Taiwan began to hold dragon boat races. At that time, Chiang Yuan-jun, the governor of Taiwan, presided over a friendly race at the Half Moon Pond of Fahua Temple in Tainan City. Nowadays, dragon boat races are held in Taiwan every year on May 5th. In Hong Kong, races are also held. In addition, rowing dragon boat has been introduced to neighboring countries such as Japan, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. 1980, dragon boat racing was included in China's national sports competitions, and held annually "Qu Yuan Cup" Dragon Boat Race. 1991 June 16 (the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar), in the second hometown of Qu Yuan in China's Hunan city of Yueyang, held the first International Dragon Boat Festival. Prior to the race, the "Dragon Head Festival" was held, which preserved traditional rituals and injected new modern elements. The "dragon head" was carried into the Qu Zi Ancestral Hall, where the athletes "reddened" the dragon head (draped with a red sash), the officiating priest read out the sacrificial text, and the dragon head was "enlightened" (i.e., lighted). Then, participate in the sacrifice of the dragon of all personnel three bows, the dragon is carried to the Buro River, running to the dragon boat race course. More than 600,000 people participated in the race, fair and celebration, which was an unprecedented event. After that, Hunan will regularly organize the International Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat racing will be passed down to the world. Dragon Boat Festival food dumplings Dragon Boat Festival to eat dumplings, which is another traditional custom of the Chinese people. Zongzi, also known as "corn", "tube dumplings". Its long history, a variety of patterns. According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn period, with Mizushu leaves (wild rice leaves) wrapped in millet into a horn-shaped, called "corner of millet"; bamboo tube with rice sealed and baked, called "tube zong". The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to grass ash water soaked in millet, because the water contains alkali, with Mushroom leaves wrapped in millet into a quadrangular shape, cooked, became the Guangdong alkaline water dumplings. Jin Dynasty, zongzi was officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, the package zongzi raw materials in addition to glutinous rice, but also add the Chinese medicine Yi Zhi Ren, cooked zongzi called "Yi Zhi Zong". Zhou Zhou, "Yueyang customs and local records" recorded: "Commonly wrapped in millet with Aizome leaves, ...... cooked, and rotten, in the fifth of May to the summer solstice to eat, a zong, a millet." North and South Dynasty period, the emergence of mixed rice dumplings. Rice mixed with animal and poultry meat, chestnuts, jujubes, adzuki beans, etc., more varieties. Zongzi also used as a gift for interaction. To the Tang Dynasty, rice dumplings with rice, has been "white as jade", the shape of its conical, diamond-shaped. Japanese literature recorded in the "Tang dumplings". Song Dynasty, there has been "candied rice dumplings", that is, fruit into the dumplings. The poet Su Dongpo has "in the dumplings see prunes" poem. At this time also appeared with zongzi piled up into buildings, pavilions, wooden cars, cows and horses for the advertisement, indicating that the Song Dynasty to eat zongzi has been very fashionable. Yuan, Ming period, zongzi parcel material has changed from zongmu leaf for Ruo leaf, and later appeared with reed leaf package zongzi, additional material has appeared bean paste, pork, pine nuts, jujube, walnuts and so on, varieties more colorful. Until today, at the beginning of May every year, the Chinese people have to dip glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves, package zongzi, its color varieties are more varied. From the filling point of view, the north more packages of small jujube Beijing jujube dumplings; the south has bean paste, fresh meat, ham, egg yolks and other fillings, which is represented by the Zhejiang Jiaxing zongzi. Eat zongzi custom, for thousands of years, in China prevailed, and spread to North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Perfume Sachet: Dragon Boat Festival children wear perfume sachets, legend has it that the meaning of the evil spirits to drive away the plague, is actually used for the lapel head embellishment decoration. The scented capsule inside the vermilion, andrographis, incense medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, fragrant, and then the five-color silk string buckle into a rope, for a variety of different shapes, knotted into a string, colorful, exquisite and lovely. Suspension of moxa leaves calamus: folk proverb: "Qingming willow, Dragon Boat Festival moxa". In the Dragon Boat Festival, people put the moxa and calamus as one of the important contents. Every family sweeps the court, to calamus, moxa inserted in the door eyebrow, hanging in the hall. And with calamus, moxa, pomegranate, garlic, dragon boat flower, made of human or tiger-shaped, known as Ai man, Ai tiger; made of wreaths, ornaments, beautiful and fragrant, women compete to wear, to drive away miasma. Mugwort, also known as family mugwort, Artemisia absinthium. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oil. It produces a peculiar aroma that can repel mosquitoes and flies, insects and ants, and purify the air. In Chinese medicine, moxa is used as medicine, which has the functions of regulating qi and blood, warming the uterus, and dispelling cold and dampness. The leaves of moxa are processed into "moxa velvet", which is an important herb for moxibustion. Acorus calamus is a perennial aquatic herb, its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oils, which is a drug for refreshing the mind, strengthening the bones and eliminating stagnation, and killing worms and sterilizing bacteria. It can be seen that the ancient people inserted wormwood and calamus is a certain role in disease prevention. Dragon Boat Festival is also passed down from ancient times, "Health Festival", people in this day to clean the courtyard, hanging moxa sticks, hanging calamus, sprinkle andrographis water, drink andrographis wine, stirring up turbidity in addition to corrosion, sterilization and disease prevention. These activities also reflect the fine tradition of the Chinese nation. Dragon Boat Festival on the mountains to pick medicine, is the countries of China's individual national **** the same custom.

All over the Mid-Autumn Festival customs

China's geography is vast, the population is large, customs are different, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a variety of ways, and with a strong local characteristics. Some places have also developed many special mid-autumn customs. In addition to enjoying the moon, sacrificing to the moon and eating mooncakes, there are also fire dragon dances in Hong Kong, piling up pagodas in Anhui, tree mid-autumn festival in Guangzhou, burning pagodas in Jinjiang, watching the cascading moon in Shihu, Suzhou, moon worship of Dai ethnic group, moon jumping of Miao ethnic group, stealing of moon vegetable of Dong ethnic group, and dancing of tokusu (ball) of Gaoshan ethnic group, and so on. In Fujian - Pucheng, women spend the Mid-Autumn Festival crossing the Nanpu Bridge for longevity. In Jianning, Mid-Autumn Festival night is celebrated by hanging lanterns as an auspicious omen to seek children from the Moon Palace. When people in Shanghang County celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, their children mostly invite moon aunts when they worship the moon. When Longyan people eat mooncakes, parents will dig out round cakes two or three inches in diameter in the center for the elders to eat, meaning that secret things should not be known to the younger generation. This custom stems from the legend that the mooncake hides a message against the Yuan and kills the enemy. Before worshipping the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival in Kinmen, one has to pay homage to the God of Heaven. In Guangdong - Chaoshan, there is a custom to worship the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children, and there is a proverb that says, "Men don't worship the full moon, women don't worship the stove". At night, when the moon rises, women will set up cases in the yard and on the balcony to pray and worship in the sky. Silver candles burning high, smoke, the table is also full of good fruit and cakes as a gift. There is also a local custom of eating taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chaoshan has a proverb: "Hexi to the mouth, taro food to". August, is the taro harvest, farmers are accustomed to taro to worship ancestors. This is certainly related to farming, but there is also a widely circulated folk legend: in 1279, the Mongolian nobles destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled over the Han Chinese brutally. Ma Fa defended Chaozhou against the Yuan, and when the city was destroyed, the people were massacred. In order not to forget the suffering of the Hu people's rule, the descendants took taro and "Hu head" resonance, and the shape of the human head, in order to pay tribute to their ancestors, passed down through the generations, and still exists today. Guangzhou's tree in the Mid-Autumn Festival - Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangzhou has a kind of interesting traditional customs, called "tree in the Mid-Autumn Festival". Every Mid-Autumn Festival, each family should use bamboo strips to tie lamps, the beginning of a variety of lamps, not fruit lamps, but also birds, animals, fish and insects lamps, can also be built into the word lamp. At night, it is in the lamp burning candles, and then link many small lamps below, with a rope tied to the bamboo pole. Then the bamboo poles inserted in the high places of the house, such as platforms, roofs or high trees. At night, the city lights, such as stars, and the bright moon in the sky, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as "vertical Mid-Autumn Festival". Jiangnan folk in the Mid-Autumn Festival people customs are also diverse. Nanjing people love to eat mooncakes on Mid-Autumn Festival, must eat Jinling famous dish osmanthus duck. "Cinnamon duck" in the cinnamon fragrance when the market, fat but not greasy, delicious flavor. After drinking, we must eat a small sweet taro, poured with osmanthus syrup, the beauty of it goes without saying. The name "Cinnamon Syrup" is taken from Qu Yuan's "Chu Ci? Shao Siming", "Aid the North closed and drink cinnamon syrup". Osmanthus syrup, a sugar osmanthus flowers, picked around mid-autumn, pickled with sugar and sour plums. The women of Jiangnan are so skillful that they have transformed the aphorisms in the poem into delicacies on the table. Nanjing people enjoying the moon together as a family is called "celebrating reunion", sitting and drinking together is called "full moon", and going out to the market is called "walking the moon". Nanjing - early Ming Dynasty, Nanjing, there is a moon tower, play the moon bridge, the Qing Dynasty, under the Lion Rock building towards the moon building, all for people to enjoy the moon, but to play the moon bridge for the most. People in the bright moon hanging high, with the company of the moon tower, play moon bridge, to **** see the jade rabbit for fun. "Play Moon Bridge" in the Fuzhi Temple Qinhuai River South, next to the bridge for the famous whore Ma Xianglan mansion, this night, the scholar gathered at the bridge sheng xiao playing and singing, reminiscent of the cattle islets playing the moon, poetry to the moon, so this bridge for the play moon bridge. After the death of the Ming Dynasty, gradually declining, the descendants have a poem to: "the wind flow of the South Song has been smoke, left the west wind longboard bridge, but remember the jade sitting on the bridge, the moon relative to teach blowjob". Longboard Bridge, that is, the original play moon bridge. In recent years, Nanjing Fuzimiao has been repaired to restore some pavilions during the Ming and Qing dynasties and dredge the river, so that when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, you can enjoy the fun of playing with the moon in this place with your friends. Jiangsu Province - Wuxi County Mid-Autumn Festival night to burn incense. The incense bucket is surrounded by gauze and silk, painted with the scenery of the moon palace. There are also incense pipes made of threaded incense, which are inserted with a paper star and colorful flags. The Shanghainese Mid-Autumn Festival feast is served with osmanthus honey wine. In the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Ji'an County, Jiangxi Province, every village burns a tile pot with straw. After the tiles are burned red, vinegar is put in. At that time, the fragrance will be wafted all over the village. In Xincheng County, when the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated, the straw lamps are hung since August 11th night until August 17th. Anhui Province - Wuyuan Mid-Autumn Festival, children to brick pile a hollow pagoda. Pagoda hangs with tent plaque and other decorations, and set a table in front of the tower, set up all kinds of honor "tower god" apparatus. At night, inside and outside are lit with lights and candles. Jixi Mid-Autumn Festival Children's Mid-Autumn Cannon. The Mid-Autumn Cannon is made of straw tied into a braid, soaked in wet and then picked up to the stone to strike, making a loud noise and the custom of swimming fire dragon. The fire dragon is a dragon made of straw with incense sticks stuck in its body. When traveling with the fire dragon, there are gongs and drums with the same team, and then sent to the river after traveling through the villages. Sichuan Province - in addition to eating mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival, it is also necessary to hit the poi, kill ducks, eat hemp cakes, honey cakes and so on. Some places also point orange lanterns, hanging in front of the door to celebrate. There are also children in the pomelo full of incense, dancing along the street, called "dance meteor incense ball. Jiading County, the Mid-Autumn Festival sacrifices the land god, play miscellaneous dramas, vocal music, cultural relics, known as "see will". In Shandong Province, farmers in Qingyun County offer sacrifices to the God of the Earth on August 15, which is called "Qingmiao She". In Zhucheng, Linyi and Jimo, in addition to the moon festival, they also visit the graves of their ancestors. Landlords in Guanxian, Laiyang, Guangrao and Yucheng also feasted their tenants at the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Jimo, there is a kind of food called "Mai Arrow" for Mid-Autumn Festival. In Shanxi Province, Lu'an hosted a feast for their sons-in-law on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Datong County calls mooncakes "reunion cakes" and has the custom of keeping vigil on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. Hebei Province - Wanquan County called the Mid-Autumn Festival "Small New Year's Day", and the moonlight paper was painted with the image of Taiyin Xingjun and Guandi reading the Spring and Autumn Festival at night. The people of Hetao County consider mid-autumn rain to be bitter rain, and if it rains on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the locals believe that the green vegetables must have a bad taste. Shaanxi Province - In Xixiang County, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, men go on a boat to climb the cliffs, and women arrange a good feast. No matter how rich or poor they are, they must eat watermelon. There are drummers blowing drums along the door in mid-autumn to ask for reward money. In Luochuan County, parents and students bring gifts to pay respect to Mr. Luochuan for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and lunch is mostly held in the school. Burning towers on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival is also very popular in some places. Tower height ranging from 1-3 meters, mostly made of broken tiles, large towers are also made of bricks, about 1/4 of the height of the tower, and then stacked with tiles and into the top of the tower to leave a mouth, for putting fuel with. Mid-autumn night will be burning fire, fuel wood, bamboo, husk, etc., when the fire is strong, splash rosin powder, lead flame to help, extremely spectacular. Folk there is a race to burn tower regulations, who burned the whole seat of the tower red through the win, not as good as or in the burning process of the collapse of the negative, the winners by the host to send colorful flags, prizes or prizes. It is rumored that the burning tower is also the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han Chinese people against the brutal rulers, in the Mid-Autumn Uprising for the origin of the fire. "Séance" is an interesting activity on the Mid-Autumn Festival night, in which incantations and rituals are used to bring to life the gods that have been sent down, including the Table God, Moon Goddess, Eight Immortals, and the Basket God (which is a goddess), among others. "Listening to incense" is an ancient Mid-Autumn custom that has been passed down in Taiwan, in which a woman burns incense and prays in front of the statue of a god enshrined in her home, indicating what she wants to divine in her heart (e.g., her feelings, her wealth, etc.), and then, after asking for instructions on the direction in which to go out, she flicks incense and goes out to the road, and all the conversations and singing she hears on the road can be used to divine the things she is asking for. Things, and then ask God with a cup of wild rice is the answer, such as the answer is not, then continue to move forward until the answer to the instructions of the gods; unmarried girls also have in the Mid-Autumn Night to steal other people's gardens in the vegetables or onions of the custom, if it is a success means that she will get a good love.