China has some cultures and living habits that will surprise foreigners.

The most solemn traditional folk festivals in China generally refer to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month, also known as the lunar calendar, commonly known as "Chinese New Year" and "Chinese New Year". But among the people, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial ceremony from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th of the first lunar month in La Worship, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax.

2. Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the first lunar month is the traditional Lantern Festival in China. The first month is January, and the ancients called the night "Xiao". The fifteenth day of the year is the night of the full moon, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. Also known as "Shangyuan Festival". According to the folk tradition in China, the moon is high in the sky and there are 10,000 lanterns on the ground on the festival night of Spring Festival, so people can watch lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns, eat Yuanxiao and have family reunion.

On February 2nd, the dragon looked up.

According to folklore, every second day of the second lunar month is the day when the Dragon King, who is in charge of heavenly sexuality, looks up. After that, the rain will gradually increase. Therefore, this day is called the Spring Festival. There is a saying in northern China: "On February 2, the dragon looked up; Big warehouse is full and small warehouses are flowing. "Folk proverbs.

Whenever the Spring Festival comes, in most parts of northern China, every family carries lanterns to fetch water from wells or rivers in the morning, and when they get home, they light a fire, burn incense and offer offerings. In ancient times, people called this ceremony "attracting dragons". On this day, every household will eat noodles, fried cakes and popcorn, and compare "picking the dragon's head", "eating gentian", "golden beans blossom, the dragon king ascends to heaven, the clouds and rain rise, and the grains are abundant" to show good luck.

Four. Qingming Festival

Qingming is one of the 24 solar terms in China. Because the 24 solar terms objectively reflect the changes of temperature, rainfall and phenology throughout the year, ancient working people used them to arrange agricultural activities. Huainanzi? Astronomical training says: "On the 15th day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." According to the centenarian question, "everything grows clean and bright at this time." So it's called Qingming. "As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time for spring ploughing and spring planting. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "before and after Qingming, point melons and plant beans" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production.

According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional folk festival in China-Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, General Festival, Mid-Day Festival, Dachang Festival, Mulan Festival, Daughter's Day and Children's Day. It is one of the traditional festivals of the Han nationality. The Dragon Boat Festival is also called Dragon Boat Festival and Duanyang. In addition, there are many nicknames for the Dragon Boat Festival, such as: Noon Festival, Chongwu Festival, May Festival, Magnolia Festival, Daughter's Day, Zhongyuan Festival, Dila Festival, Poet's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Ai Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Summer Festival. Although the names are different, on the whole, the customs of people everywhere are more similar than different. Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still a very popular grand festival among the people of China.

6. Aunt's Day on the sixth day of June

June 6, please aunt. In the past, on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, rural customs invited married girls, old and young, to receive them well and then send them back.

Seven. Seven nights festival

In the past, July 7th was a very lively festival for people. At that time, young women were most interested in this day. They wear new clothes, worship double stars and seek wisdom.

The mythical Tanabata, as a "Valentine's Day", should also be meaningful.

Eight. Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. Like other traditional festivals, it develops slowly. The ancient emperors had a system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. As early as in Zhou Li, the word "Mid-Autumn Festival" was recorded. Later, aristocratic scholars followed suit. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people watch and worship the bright and round moon in the sky, pinning their feelings. This custom spread to the people and formed a traditional activity. Until the Tang Dynasty, people paid more attention to this Yue Bai custom, and the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. Tang Taizong recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, which was popular in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was as famous as New Year's Day and became one of the major festivals in China.

Nine. the Double Ninth Festival

The ninth, 29th and 29th day of the ninth lunar month is very important, which is called "Double Ninth Festival". Because in ancient China, six was the number of yin and nine was the number of yang, so the Double Ninth Festival was called "Double Ninth Festival".

In addition to wearing dogwood, chrysanthemum is also inserted in the Double Ninth Festival. This happened in the Tang Dynasty and has been popular since ancient times. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of Beijing Double Ninth Festival was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on the doors and windows, "to eliminate evil and filth, and to make money and treasure." This is the vulgarization of the chrysanthemum on the head. In the Song Dynasty, some people cut ribbons into dogwood and chrysanthemum and gave them to each other.

X. laboratory animal breeders association

The most important festival in the twelfth lunar month is the eighth day of December, which was called "La Ri" in ancient times and commonly known as "Laba Festival". Since the pre-Qin period, Laba Festival has been used to worship ancestors and gods and pray for good harvest and good luck. It is said that Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, realized enlightenment on the eighth day of December, so Laba is also a Buddhist festival, called "Buddhist Enlightenment Festival".

Xi。 Winter solstice festival

The winter solstice is the year with the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. After the solstice in winter, the days will get longer day by day. The ancients said that the winter solstice: when the cathode arrived, the yang began to grow, the sun went south, the day was short and the shadow was long, so it was called "the winter solstice". After the winter solstice, the climate everywhere has entered the coldest stage, which is often called "entering the ninth". In China, there is a folk saying that "it's cold in March, and it's dog days".

According to modern astronomical science, the sun shines directly on the tropic of Capricorn from the winter solstice, and the sun is most inclined to the northern hemisphere. The northern hemisphere has the shortest day and the longest night. After this day, the sun gradually moved to the north.

Now, some places still celebrate the winter solstice as a festival. The northern region has the custom of slaughtering sheep and eating jiaozi and wonton from winter solstice, while the southern region has the custom of eating glutinous rice balls and long noodles from winter solstice on this day. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in winter solstice in various regions.