What are the holidays related to agricultural production

International "May Day" Labor Day ah! There are many festivals, including the 24 solar terms, which are all related to agricultural production, the Chinese Spring Festival, the folk festival of plowing cows, the Peach Blossom Festival, and ------------ the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is the traditional Chinese festival of Tanabata, also known as Beggar's Day or the Feast of the Seven Deadly Charms.

The Tanabata is celebrated by the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, but the Japanese have also switched to celebrating Tanabata on July 7 of the solar calendar because they switched to the Western dollar during the Meiji Restoration.

Shangsi Festival is an ancient Chinese traditional festival, commonly known as the third of March, which was designated as the sixth day of the first half of March before the Han Dynasty, and later fixed on the third day of the third month of the summer calendar. "On the Si" first appeared in the early Han Dynasty literature. Zhou Li" Zheng Xuan note: "years of purification, now March on the Si such as water and so on". According to records, the Spring and Autumn period on the Si Festival has been in vogue. On the Si Festival is held in ancient times "purification shore bath" activities in the most important festival. The Analects of Confucius says, "In the late spring, when the spring uniforms are ready, the crowned five or six people, the children six or seven people, bathing in seven yi, wind and summer dances, singing and returning. This is the situation that was written at that time.

The 14th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar (the 15th day of the 7th month in some places) is known as the Mid-Yuan Festival in Taoism, the Bon Festival in Buddhism, and the Ghost Festival in folklore, and the half of the 7th month. Legend has it that on that day, the gates of hell will open and the ghosts of the underworld will be released to ban out. Those who have a master go home; those who don't wander around, looking for something to eat wherever people go. Therefore, people have been chanting sutras and performing rituals in the month of July to hold "Pudu" in order to generally overthrow orphaned souls, to prevent them from causing trouble on earth, or to pray for the ghosts' help in curing illnesses and blessing the peace of the family home. Therefore, it is customary in the southern region to hold a Pudu ceremony on this day.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk festival in East Asia, celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a Chinese festival, but also a traditional festival in Japan and Korea, influenced by Chinese culture.

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the eighth month of the lunar calendar is the second month of autumn, which was known as the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times, and is therefore known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Autumn Sunset, the August Festival, the half of the eighth month, the Moon Festival, the Moon Festival, and the Festival of the Moon, and is also known as the Festival of the Reunion of the Family because of the symbol of reunion symbolized by the fullness of the moon on this day.

The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Yuanxi or Lantern Festival, takes place on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year, which is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. On this day, people have to eat Yuanxiao, have lantern festivals, guess lantern riddles, carry lanterns, and many places have the custom of releasing sky lanterns. It is one of the grand festivals of Chinese folklore.

In Foshan, Guangdong Province, there is a traditional custom of the Lantern Festival, "Walking on the Tongji Bridge without closing the cataracts". It implies that if you walk across the Tongji Bridge, you will be healthy and free from closed cataracts.

In Taiwan, in addition to lantern-viewing activities and the famous Taiwan Lantern Festival, there is also the release of sky lanterns in Pingxi Township, Taipei County in northern Taiwan. In addition, there is the famous Yanshui Beacon Cannon in Yanshui Township, Tainan County in southern Taiwan. In Taitung City in eastern Taiwan, there is the Frying of the Cold Single Masters, which is also dominated by the Beacon Cannon, but is not carried out in the same way as the Yanshui Beacon Cannon.

In the early days of Taiwan, there was a saying that unmarried women had to steal green onions on the night of the Lantern Festival for good omens. As the saying goes, "Stealing green onions means marrying a good husband; stealing vegetables means marrying a good son-in-law."

Origins

According to historical records, the Lantern Festival began more than 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty. According to legend, after the death of Liu Ying, Emperor Hui of Han Dynasty, the Empress Lu clan took control of the regime. After the death of Empress Lu, Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and other patriarchs rose up to quell the "Rebellion of the Lüs", and crowned Liu Heng as Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen took the advice of his ministers and ruled the country with great care, making the Han Empire strong again. Since the elimination of the Zhulu Rebellion fell on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every year on the evening of this day, Emperor Wen went out of his palace to play with the people to commemorate the event. Therefore, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty designated the 15th day of the first month as the Lantern Festival.

The Cold Food Festival is the three days before, during and after the Qingming Festival in the Chinese lunar calendar. According to legend, Chong Er (重耳), the son of Jin, traveled around the world and went through a lot of hardships. Once, when he was starving and had no other choice, Jie Zhitui cut off the meat from his thigh and gave it to him to eat. When Chong Er became king (Duke Wen of Jin, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period), he went to look for Jie Zhitui, who was hiding in the mountains with his mother. When he couldn't find him, he ordered the mountain to be set on fire to force him out, but in the end, he and his mother were found burned to death. Heavy ear is very regrettable, it is stipulated every year at this time not to make fire, all eat cold food, known as the Cold Food Festival (Shanxi Province, the local residents of the city of Jiexiu still remember this, but only limited to the idea of the actual festival of these three days has not eaten the activities of cold food). In fact, the real origin of the cold food festival, is from the ancient system of drilling wood, seeking new fire. Ancient people used different trees to drill fires for different seasons, and it was a custom to change the fire for different seasons. After each change of fire, a new fire was needed. Before the new fire arrived, people were forbidden to make fire, which was a big event at that time. Customs of the Cold Food Festival include visiting graves, picnics, cockfighting, swinging, playing rugs, and pulling hooks (tug-of-war), etc. Among them, the custom of visiting graves is a very important one. Among them, the custom of visiting graves is very old.

Chinese spring festivals used to be celebrated on the Winter Festival until it was changed to the Qingming Festival. In Korea, however, the tradition of spring festivals on the day of the winter eclipse is still maintained.

The Spring Festival, referring to the festival that begins on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, is a festival traditionally celebrating the new year in many parts of East Asia. and is one of the most important festivals in mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and pre-Meiji Restoration Japan.

The traditional name for the Chinese New Year is New Year, or Da Nian, but it is often referred to verbally as New Year; in ancient times, Chinese New Year used to refer exclusively to the beginning of spring in the solar term, while the Lunar New Year was known as "New Year's Day", meaning the first day of the year.

After the Xinhai Revolution in China, the government of the Republic of China abolished the lunar calendar and replaced it with the solar calendar, and attempted to prohibit people from celebrating the Lunar New Year, but the insistence of the people was unsuccessful. Later, during Yuan Shikai's rule, January 1 was designated as New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was designated as the Spring Festival, but the old people continued to celebrate New Year's Day, and writers continued to write about New Year's Day. The term "Spring Festival" became popular after 1949. Lunar New Year is now also known as Lunar New Year or Old Year. Japan abolished Lunar New Year at the time of the Meiji Restoration and had banned folk celebrations.

The Lunar New Year is called "T?t Nguyên ?án" (Festival New Year's Day) in Vietnamese, "Old New Year's Day" in Japanese and "?" (meaning New Year's Day).

There are three definitions of Chinese New Year:

In the narrowest sense, Chinese New Year refers only to the first day of the first month.

The second definition is in line with the government's holiday schedule, which roughly refers to the period from New Year's Eve to the third day of the first month of the lunar year.

The third is the traditional customary Chinese New Year, which starts from the Lunar New Year (the 23rd or 24th day of the Lunar New Year) until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of the New Year.

It is difficult to say when the New Year's Eve custom originated, but it is generally believed to have originated in China during the Yin and Shang dynasties, when sacrifices to the gods and ancestors were held at the end of the year (the La Sacrifice); it is said that the Spring Festival was first celebrated during the time of Yao and Shun. The first month of the lunar calendar is the beginning of the year, and the first or middle part of the first month coincides with the beginning of spring in most cases (in a few cases, the beginning of spring falls in the second half of the lunar month). The timing of the festival is believed to be related to the effects of agricultural labor; the character for year in both oracle bone and gold inscriptions has the image of ripening ears of grain. The last day of the year on the lunar calendar (the 30th day of the big month and the 29th day of the small month) is called "New Year's Eve", and on the evening of New Year's Eve the whole family reunites for the New Year's Eve dinner (the last meal of the year on the lunar calendar), after which there is the custom of handing out New Year's money and staying up for the New Year's Eve, which is said to be from the last day of the previous year of the lunar calendar to the first day of the next year.

The timing of the Spring Festival varied from period to period. In the Xia Dynasty, it was the first day of the year; in the Shang Dynasty, it was the winter festival among the four seasons. It is also said that in ancient times the so-called "Spring Festival", meaning the seasonal sequence of spring, used to also refer exclusively to the Lichun of the twenty-four solar terms, and sometimes referred to the whole of spring in general. It was only when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty introduced the solar calendar that the first day of the first month of the summer calendar was specified as the first day of the year, which was taken as the summer new year. [1]

The Spring Festival travels between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar. Lichun falls on February 4th or February 5th.

Songkran Festival (泼水节), April 13 to April 16, is the grandest traditional festival of the Dai and Deang ethnic groups, on which people in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and other countries, as well as in Yunnan Province, China, get up early in the morning to bathe and salute the Buddha, and after that they start celebrating for a few consecutive days, during which they splash each other with pure water in a prayer to wash away the past year, and to start afresh in the new year.

The sixth month of the Dai calendar marks the beginning of the year on the seventh day after the Chinese Qingming Festival, from April 13th to April 16th, which is equivalent to the Chinese New Year.

Ching Ming was originally one of the twenty-four solar terms in the summer calendar. The Almanac: "Fifteen days after the vernal equinox, when the dou refers to the ding, it is Qingming, when everything is clean and clear, and when the air is clear and the landscape is bright, and everything is visible, hence the name". The origin of the Qingming Festival is said to have started with the ancient ritual of "tomb sacrifice" of emperors and generals, which was later copied by the people, who made sacrifices to their ancestors and swept their tombs on this day, and it has been inherited by the Chinese people through the generations and has become a fixed custom of the Chinese nation. Since it is customary in many parts of China to pay homage to ancestors, sweep tombs and trek on the day of Qingming, it has gradually evolved into a traditional Chinese festival in which Chinese people commemorate their ancestors by sweeping their tombs and paying homage to them, which is celebrated at the turn of mid-spring and late-spring, generally 106 days after the winter solstice and one day after the Cold Food Festival. Tomb-sweeping activities can continue for about ten days before and after the festival.

The customs of the Qingming Festival vary in scale and manner between southern and northern regions of China. Generally speaking, people in the north of the heavy tomb sacrifice; the south of the people more through this trekking excursions. There are also activities such as inserting willow branches, flying kites, taking firewood, painting eggs, fighting chickens, swinging on swings, etc. This custom is also popular among the Bai people, the Chinese people, and the Chinese people. This custom is also popular among the Bai, Miao, Mongolian, Naxi and other ethnic minorities.

Because the Qingming Festival is based on the solar calendar, it is one of the few traditional Chinese festivals that coincides with the Western calendar; it is the only vacation in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan that is based on the solar calendar.

The current Qingming Festival has merged with a very famous and now lost festival from ancient times, the Cold Food Festival. The Cold Food Festival is also known as the Cooked Food Festival, the No Smoking Festival and the Cold Festival. Its date is one hundred and five days from the winter solstice and just one or two days from Qingming. The main custom of this day is to prohibit fire, not allowed to make fire to cook food, can only eat prepared cooked food, cold food, hence the name. Since the Qingming festival falls on the third day of the cold food, later generations gradually moved the custom of cold food to Qingming. After the Song Dynasty, the custom of sweeping graves was moved to Qingming. The customs of spring excursions and swinging on swings were also held only during the Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival was then elevated from a mere agricultural festival to a major festival, and the influence of the Cold Food Festival disappeared. However, some of the food customs of the Cold Food Festival have been passed down in a modified form and are preserved in the Qingming Festival.

The Sea Sacrifice Festival is a traditional sea-sacrifice activity in Zhougezhuang, Jimo City, Shandong Province, which has a history of 500 years. It was held again on March 18, 2004, and the Jimo City Government renamed the event "Folk Culture Sea Festival".

The culture of "Sea Sacrifice" began in the Ming Dynasty. Legend has it that 2.5 kilometers to the west of Zhougezhuang, there is a Huangshan Mountain with a temple of an immortal nun on it. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, fishermen would go to the temple every year before going out to sea (on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar) to ask the goddess for her blessing for smooth sailing, and so the tradition has gradually continued.

The Zaos Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, also known as Xiao Nian, which falls on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year.

Because the Chinese basically eat rice, cooked food is generally not easy to preserve and must be cooked at all times. Unlike bread in the West, which can be baked and preserved for many meals at a time. Therefore, for the Chinese, "Chai" (fuel) is the first and most important of the "Seven Things" (Chai, Rice, Oil, Salt, Sauce, Vinegar, and Tea) in their lives, and without fuel, even if they have the basic food, they will not be able to eat it. In the West, one bread oven is enough for a village, but in China, every family must have a stove.

Because every family has a stove, a legend has arisen that the Jade Emperor assigned a supervisor to each family, the Zao Shen (Zao Wang Wang), to supervise and inspect the family's behavior for a year, and on the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year, the Zao Shen would go up to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor, who would decide whether to reward or punish the family for the next year, and then come back in the New Year of the next year to continue to The next New Year, the Zaoshen will come back and continue to supervise the behavior of this family. The day of the Zaosai Festival is actually a festival for all families to send the Zaosai God to heaven.

Specifically, since each family has a portrait of the god of the stove near the stove, sometimes accompanied by a portrait of the grandmother of the king of the stove, after a year of smoke and fire, the portrait has been old, dark face. The old image should be removed and a straw horse should be tied with straw for the god of the stove. In order to make him "say good things in the sky and return to the palace for good luck", he should also be bribed with a piece of sticky sugar gourd or a cake stuck on his mouth to make his "mouth sweet" and only say good things, and then burned together with the straw horse. This process is called quitting the stove. After the New Year, a new portrait is bought and the god of the stove is invited back to put it on. In the intervening days, without the supervision of the god of the stove, people generally indulge in overeating and drinking, gather in crowds to gamble, and indulge themselves in doing minor faults that they usually think they shouldn't commit either.

The Zaos Festival is actually a reflection of the secular social order in ancient China, showing the fear of the common people towards the emperor and his officials at the grass-roots level, as well as the culture of bribing the officials at the grass-roots level, the so-called "concealment from the top, not from the bottom", as long as one bribes the officials closest to oneself, the emperor will not know what one is doing, and even if there is a minor violation of the law, one can still escape punishment.

Making sugar melons and offering sacrifices to the stove are the main activities on this day, and from then on it is the stage of preparing for the New Year, when people start to relax mentally....

Duanwu Festival, a traditional Chinese festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. It is also known as Duanyang Festival, Noon Festival, May Festival, Five Days Festival, Ai Festival, Duanwu, Chongwu, Wuzhi, Summer Festival. It is generally accepted that the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates Qu Yuan, an ancient Chinese patriotic poet who threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month to die for his country. However, many of the Dragon Boat Festival customs that were prevalent in the world had been passed down long before that. Moreover, many of these customs have the element of driving away the plague and avoiding epidemics, so some people speculate that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the taboo on the evil day (the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the month when the plague was prevalent in midsummer, hence the name). In addition, the scholar Mr. Wen Yiduo believes that the two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival - the race and eating dumplings, are related to the dragon (see "Dragon Boat Festival"). There is another theory, is to welcome the Tao God sacrifice totem said. Legend has it that in ancient southern China there was an ethnic minority (probably in the area of today's Zhejiang and Shanghai) who believed themselves to be the descendants of the dragon, and every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of May, they would hold a ceremony to sacrifice the totem, in order to seek a favorable wind and rainfall in the coming year, and a good harvest. They wrapped their food in leaves or put it in bamboo and threw it into the river. Later, they also have the practice of visiting friends and relatives on this day with a dugout canoe. When they were happy, they held impromptu canoe races, which slowly evolved into today's custom of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival.

The Laha Festival, also known as "Laha", refers to the eighth day of the Lunar New Year (December) in the Chinese calendar, and it is customary to drink Laha congee on the Laha Festival in China.

Because it is said that this day is the day when Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and founded Buddhism under the Buddha Yabodhi, it is also known as "Buddha's Enlightenment Festival".

After Buddhism was introduced to China in the 1st century A.D., in order to honor Siddhartha Gautama on the day he became a Buddhist, monasteries would recite sutras and make congee to honor the Buddha on this day, i.e., Lapa congee. Qing Dynasty, the Yonghegong Lapa ceremony is extremely grand. Yonghe Palace has a diameter of 2 meters, 1.5 meters deep ancient copper cauldron, weighing about 4 tons, dedicated to boiling congee. The first day of the waxing moon, the Palace General Administration of the House of Representatives to send the Secretary of the congee material and firewood to the Yonghe Palace.

The porridge material varieties, there are top cream, mutton diced and grains and cereals, as well as a variety of dried fruits, etc., to the fifth night ready, the sixth emperor sent ministers together with the Ministry of the Interior General Manager Minister, led by more than three officials and civil servants to the temple to supervise the weighing of food, transport firewood. Early in the morning on the seventh day, the emperor sent the Minister of supervision of porridge ordered to build a fire, and has been monitoring to the early morning of the eighth day, porridge all boiled until. At this time, the emperor sent for porridge minister led officials began to porridge in front of the Buddha, the palace lights shine, smoke curls, ancient music, all lamas into the hall chanting, and then the porridge was offered to the court, while canned and sealed, with a fast horse sent to the Chengde Palace and all over the country. Until dawn after the porridge, the ceremony came to an end.

According to historical records, each pot of congee with millet 12 stone, grains, dried fruit 50 kilograms each, 5000 kilograms of dry firewood, *** boiled 6 pots. The first pot for Buddha, the second pot offered to the emperor and the palace, the third pot to the princes and ministers and big lamas, the fourth pot to the civil and military officials and sealed in the provinces of the big officials, the fifth pot distributed to the Yonghegong all lamas, the sixth pot as alms.

Flower Dynasty Festival

The old custom was to celebrate the 15th day of the second month of the lunar calendar as the "Birthday of the Hundred Flowers", hence the name.

There are too many to mention----