How many festivals are there in a year?

Overview of Chinese traditional festivals

China’s traditional festivals have basically been established since the Han Dynasty, with certain increases and decreases. After the Republic of China, more changes occurred due to

formal westernization. Big changes have taken place, but the people still insist on some of the minorities that the government has not legalized. Until the Cultural Revolution, the government even reduced the promotion of traditional festivals other than the Spring Festival.

Even the Spring Festival was promoted as "a revolutionary Spring Festival." After the reform and opening up,

people began to celebrate some traditional festivals, and newspapers and periodicals also made some introductions and publicity accordingly. At present,

including statutory holidays, traditional festivals celebrated by the people account for about one-third of traditional festivals

.

Traditional festivals contain many folk culture and traditional humanistic concepts, as well as religious factors.

It is of certain significance for studying the culture, history and social life of ancient societies. Below< /p>

List the main traditional festivals for the benefit of friends who are interested in this aspect.

1. New Year's greetings in the first month of the year

The first month of the year is also called New Year's Day, or the first day of the first lunar month. The first day of the first lunar month is the day on which the year, four seasons, and twelve months begin. "Spring and Autumn Annals" calls the first month Duanyue. When the cock crows, they rise up and firecrackers in front of the court to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, the first month of the first lunar month is a festival that has existed in ancient times since the beginning of the calendar.

There are many customs in the first month of the year, such as the elders and the younger ones dressing up in order to congratulate each other. This custom is still maintained today

drinking pepper wine, which is wine made from Zanthoxylum bungeanum. , or cypress wine. However, some specific activities

have now been abandoned, including in the Han and Jin Dynasties. For example, Zhou Chu said in "Fengtu Ji": "On Zhengdan,

you should swallow a chicken alive, which is called "Tokyo Menghualu" records that the Northern Song Dynasty government will hold a large court meeting in the first month, and the emperor and officials will hold a large-scale group worship event and entertain envoys from various countries.

Special attention was paid to the banquets and treatment given to the Liao and Goryeo envoys. This activity remains to this day.

After the Revolution of 1911, the only traditional festival legally retained by the Republic of China government was the first lunar month, but it was renamed

"Spring Festival" and New Year's Day was placed on January 1 of the Western calendar. Only the government and The people pay more attention to the Spring Festival. The People's Republic of China and the Chinese government have a statutory four-day Spring Festival holiday. However, many private companies have not extended the Spring Festival to varying degrees. Some even include weekends and extend to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Two. Beginning of Spring to Worship Farmers

The Beginning of Spring is between the first day of the first lunar month and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is an ancient traditional festival to offer sacrifices to farmers. According to Dong Dynasty

Han Yingshao's "Customs and Customs" , Farm sacrifices were originally held in April, but Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty changed it to February, and in the Jin Dynasty, it was changed to the beginning of spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, officials should personally dress up to celebrate and sit on a small spring cow

to express their support and attention to the agricultural work after the beginning of spring. Folks also have corresponding celebrations. This festival is actually the real festival.

Welcome spring. Fu Xian of the Western Jin Dynasty's "Yan Fu" said: "The fourth era has come, and we should respect and defy its beginning. It should be transported to the east, and Yan is set up to welcome it. [Feather Army] The light wings are different, if they will be Flying

but not rising. Mrs. He's skills are very similar, and the rituals are very similar.

Few people today know that the Beginning of Spring is a traditional festival.

Three. Lantern Festival lights

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month and is the busiest day of the year, because after this day,

most people have to go to work. The Lantern Festival is a grand event with lantern shows and fireworks. Dance

Dragon and lion dances, social opera and juggling, start from daytime until late at night. In order to maintain the posture of having fun with the people, King Wu couldn’t help but refer to the Jinshui Bridge area in front of the palace. King Wu was the guard guarding the palace. Ordinary people are not prohibited from visiting

for fun. The fireworks were set off near the Jinshui Bridge so that the emperor and his concubines could enjoy them from the gate tower of the imperial city. In the old days, fireworks were created by burning various firecrackers mounted on pyrotechnic racks one after another.

I saw them when I was a child. They were more exciting and colorful than Western-style fireworks, but they were also more dangerous.

Tang Suwei's poem "Fire trees and silver flowers bloom together, golden bridges and iron cables open, dark dust follows the horses, and flying fireflies chase people."

Vividly summarizes the scene of the New Year's Eve.

With the arrival of the New Year's Eve, many young women who have been confined in boudoirs, as well as officials and their families are allowed to come out to watch the lanterns

This creates a rare opportunity for young men and women to get in touch with each other. , performed

many love stories of love and resentment, which were mostly described in the vernacular novels of the Ming Dynasty. Ouyang Xiuci of the Northern Song Dynasty

"Sheng Chazi." "On the Lantern Festival last year, the lights in the flower market were picturesque, the moon was on the willow branches, and people were making appointments

after dusk. On the Lantern Festival this year, the moon and lights were still the same, no one from last year was seen, and tears filled the sleeves of spring shirts .",

It describes how it is unbearable to meet by chance on New Year's Eve and miss the beloved after a year.

Xin Qiji's poem "

Looking back suddenly, there is that person, in the dim light!", his sweetheart unexpectedly fell from the sky, and his

excitement can be seen.

The celebration of New Year's Eve is still maintained in the northern rural areas, and has also recovered to some extent in the south. Most of them are limited to watching song and dance programs on TV.

Four. Qushui in March

On the third day of March, according to the "Records of the Years of Jingchu", "Scholars and people went out together from the rivers and ponds to drink cups of Qushui.

. ", "Meandering water" refers to the bend of the river, where the water flow slows down. In the old days, tourists took boats to float along the river, and stopped to drink whenever they reached a harbor or a bend in the river.

< p>Wine and compose poetry. This festival originated very early, and Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty didn't even know its meaning. Zhiyu replied

His question was that it existed during the time of Duke Zhou. It turned out that wine cups were filled with wine and floated in the river.

This is the meaning of "Qushui Shang" in Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection". People who are new to ancient Chinese literature and don't read the annotations can easily be confused by the meaning of Qushui.

Five. Cold food and no fire

Cold food is two days before Qingming Festival and one hundred and five days after the Winter Solstice. On this day, no fire is allowed. From top to bottom

Only eat melons, fruits and snacks. Serve cold. Cold food originated from the story of Jin Wengong burning Jie Zitui.

The story goes:

Jin Gongzi Chong'er and Jie Zitui fled abroad together. Jin Gongzi was hungry and deprived of food when he passed through Weiguo.

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His attendant Jie Zitui cut off the flesh from his thigh and gave it to Wen Gong. Duke Wen returned to his country and became a king.

After that, when the rewards were given based on merit, only Jie Zitui did not get the position. Zitui wrote "Song of the Dragon and the Snake" in

and lived in seclusion. Duke Wen of Jin came to visit Zitui, but Zitui refused to come out.

So Duke Wen of Jin set fire to the trees in front and behind the mountain where Zitui lived in seclusion, hoping to force Zitui to come out.

Zitui hugged him. Live in the dead willows and let the fire burn them to death. Duke Wen mourned him and ordered the people not to light fires on May 5th. Later, May 5th was changed to the time written above in the Han Dynasty.

This story is not found in the records of "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records". Hong Mai's "Rong Zhai

Essays" of the Southern Song Dynasty has specifically verified it. Yuan Zhang Yanghao's song "Zhonglu". It is also a folk song of Yao. "Cold Food in the Road"

"Smoking is prohibited during the Qingming Festival, and the rain passes through the countryside" seems to mean that cold food comes from the legend of Yao of Tang Dynasty.

I wonder if the Cold Food Festival is still commemorated in Shanxi rural areas today?

Six. Visiting graves during the Qingming Festival

Sacrifice to ancestors and deceased relatives during the Qingming Festival only came into being after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, because

Zong Mao's "Jingchu Suishiji" of the Southern Dynasties did not record it. In the Northern Song Dynasty, every family was required to place willow branches in the courtyard.

The government had to hold a so-called "drilling flint to change fire" ceremony, which was to use elm wood to drill wood to make fire.

There were also The dragon boat race is very lively. It is not just a tomb-sweeping activity. It is so sad as the saying goes: "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road want to die."

The Qingming Festival is still being held up and down today.

Seven. Buddha's Birthday in April

April 8th is the birthday of Buddha. Just like Christmas in the West, it is a national religious festival

after Buddhism spread to the East. This festival appeared around the Tang Dynasty. On this day, there are Buddhist bathing ceremonies in various monasteries.

Zhai meetings are held. The monks give perfumes and sugar water to the pilgrims, while the folks cook wine and eat spring fruits to commemorate the occasion.

Nowadays, most young people in China who celebrate Christmas, a foreign holiday, probably don’t know that China used to commemorate the birthday of a Western god.

Eight. Dragon Boat Festival

May 5th is the annual Dragon Boat Festival, which is very lively. Folks spontaneously organize dragon boat races

eat rice dumplings, drink realgar wine, and hang wormwood in the door. This festival is said to commemorate the story of Qu Yuan, a doctor of Chu who was worried about the country and the people and threw himself into the Miluo River. The people made rice balls wrapped with glutinous rice and palm leaves and threw them into the river as bait. Let the fish and turtles not eat their respected Doctor Qu. But according to Handan Chun

's "Cao'e Stele": "On May 5th, Wu Jun came up against the waves and was flooded." This is said to be in the The customs of the state of Wu depend on Wu Zixu and have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. "The Legend of Yue Di" says that this custom originated from King Goujian of Yue. It seems that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the custom of Wuyue.

The custom of drinking realgar wine, hanging mugwort, and collecting miscellaneous medicines may have originated from ancient times. "Collecting miscellaneous medicines" is recorded in "Book of Rites."

Xia Xiaozheng": "Storage medicine this month to remove poisonous gas." I have already said it.

The Dragon Boat Festival celebrations are still very lively in China, but they are not as popular as before the 1960s.

The streets are empty to watch the dragon boat performances, and primary and secondary school students can’t sit still in class. . Overseas Chinese only think of it when they see rice dumplings being sold in shops.

Nine. Qixi Festival Begging for Skills

On the evening of July 7th, there is already a separate article, so I won’t repeat it.

Ten.

Ghost Festival of the Ghost Ghost Festival

The Ghost Ghost Festival falls on July 15th, commonly known as the "Ghost Festival". On this day, it is said that paper money is burned to pay for the souls of the dead.

The temples have to hold pujas and serve as dojos. To save the souls of the dead. This festival originated from the Buddhist scripture "Mulian saved his mother", so it was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and people would set up a stage in the market to sing the opera "Mulian saved his mother".

According to Buddhist scriptures, this story says:

Mulian saw his deceased mother among the hungry ghosts in the underworld, and immediately served a bowl of rice for his mother to eat.

There was no rice. When eaten, it turned into charcoal. As a result, Mulian's mother could not get food. Mulian shouted loudly and ran back to report to the Buddha. The Buddha said: "Your mother's sins are so serious that you cannot deal with them on your own

. It requires the power of the divine power of the monks from all directions. By the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you should be here.

The seven generations of parents who have suffered in prison prepare various delicacies and five fruits, put them in basins, and offer them to the great monks in the ten directions

I will tell all the monks to wish the donor’s seven generations of parents to enter meditation. ’, and then

went to receive the food. "Mao Liana did as the Buddha said, and his mother was relieved of all the pain

of the ghost. Mulian then told the Buddha: "In the future, Buddhist disciples who are filial to their parents should also set up the Ullambana Society to make offerings to eminent monks and great virtues from all over the world." The Buddha said: "Well said!"

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So this story actually combines Confucian filial piety and Buddhist scriptures to facilitate the popularization and promotion of Buddhism. Therefore, the Ghost Festival is also called the "Ollambana Festival" , in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio"

The Bon Festival is mentioned in many places. When I was a child, I heard many times the old man said, "In July and a half, ghosts

are scurrying around," but I didn't know what the reason was. Nowadays, most students studying in the United States only know about "Halloween" (Halloween, October 31st in the Gregorian calendar), but they don't know about China's Bon Festival. , Bon Festival is much more solemn and serious than the playful smiling faces of Halloween.

The Bon Bon Society may have appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but now it is probably only restored in temples. The Taifeng

Buddhists have become superstitious.

Eleven. Mid-Autumn Moon Appreciation

On the Mid-Autumn Festival night on August 15th, the moon looks particularly bright and big, and the Mid-Autumn Festival commemoration activities

begin. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people sit around eating mooncakes, then go out to enjoy the moon, and have a family reunion. This may come from Su Shi's poem "When will the bright moon come? Ask the sky for wine... I hope

A person is long-lasting, and a thousand miles away is the beauty of the moon." This is a poem written by Su Dongpo in memory of his younger brother Su Ziyou.

But the origin of looking at the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival does not lie in this meaning. It is obviously about admiring the moon, but it comes from the beautiful story of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty traveling to the Moon Palace with the help of the famous Taoist Ye Fashan, and it also carries some fairy tunes. I will explain the myths and legends of "The Song of Colorful Feathers" in a post, so I won't go into details.

As for the custom of eating mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Night, it is not recorded in the notebooks of the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that it was at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

When the peasant Red Scarf Army rebelled, they used round cakes as their nickname.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was very lively during the Song Dynasty. According to "Old Wulin Stories", on the Mid-Autumn Night in the Southern Song Dynasty, people would set off one hundred thousand lanterns made of parchment to let them Drifting along the Qiantang River, the stars are dotted at night

The Qiantang River is dotted like stars, which is a lot of fun.

Twelve. Climbing high on the Double Ninth Festival

September 9 is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. This day coincides with the crisp autumn weather, which is a good time to go out and climb high to see the distance

far away. Wang Wei wrote in "Climbing High to Recall Shandong Brothers on September 9th": "I am a stranger in a foreign land. I miss my family even more during the festive season. I know from afar that my brothers are climbing high, and there is only one less person planted with dogwood trees. . ”

Express his true feelings of longing for his relatives. On September 9th, wearing dogwood grass, climbing to the top of a high slope and drinking chrysanthemum wine on a sunny day,

So think of longevity.

There have been no celebrations since the liberation of the Double Ninth Festival.

Thirteen. Cooking Laba Porridge

December 8th is the day to worship the Kitchen God. "Zhou Li" says that "Zhuanxu had a son named Li, who was Zhu Rong. He was worshiped as the Kitchen God.", Therefore, the origin of worship to the Kitchen God may be before the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The "Dongguan Han Ji" compiled by Liu Zhen and others of the Eastern Han Dynasty said that when sacrificing the Kitchen God, yellow sheep should be sacrificed. By

during the Song Dynasty, the so-called "Laba rice" appeared in the activities of worshiping the Kitchen God, which was made of porridge with various fruits and mixed ingredients. This custom may come from Buddhism has infiltrated and transformed Chinese folk witchcraft and god activities. On this day, the monks saw that everyone was worshiping traditional witchcraft gods. They were afraid that it would be detrimental to the promotion of their doctrines, so they took advantage of the excitement. Let's have a porridge party to give alms to the poor and helpless people

to offset the influence of the "evil cult", but the people can't care so much and just bring it as usual.

It's a change anyway. Just eat it in any way, so "Laba porridge" was invented.

Buddhism’s campaign to resist “evil cults” was very successful, completely eliminating previous activities such as dancing to the gods.

Zhang Heng’s "Tokyo Fu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty also said: "Every year at the end of the year, a Buddhist festival is held. A grand Nuo ceremony was held to drive away all kinds of evil spirits

The god Fang held weapons, the witches held brooms, and tens of thousands of children wore red scarves and wore black clothes. , holding peach bows and thorn arrows, shooting aimlessly everywhere. "There is also a record in "The Records of Jingchu Years

", but in "Tokyo Menghua Lu", it has been recorded. I can't see any such joyful celebration scene

.

On the contrary, "Laba porridge" has been passed down, and many families still have this custom. Some modern wives

are also very experienced in making it.

Fourteen. Staying up late on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is the last day of the year. On this day, ordinary families try their best to be reunited. The whole family gathers around the stove, drinks and eats delicious food to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. It means that there is the sound of firecrackers outdoors.

The whole family spent a warm last night of the year together, and so far in China

The earth is still intact, but the wonderful program of the Spring Festival Gala has destroyed it Warm atmosphere

.

In "The Chronicles of Jingchu Years", it is recorded:

Every household prepares delicacies and goes to the place where they watch the New Year to welcome the arrival of the New Year. The whole family

Drink together. Keep some New Year's Eve rice and scatter it on the roadside or street on October 12th of the New Year; it means letting go of the old and embracing the new.

It seems that the Tuan Nian of people at that time was similar to that of people today, and they also had to keep the New Year's Eve.

In "Tokyo Menghualu", we see that the New Year's Eve celebrations have taken on new developments.

It says:

On New Year's Eve On that day, it was forbidden to present a large Nuo ceremony, and the imperial city was used to marry officials. All classes wore masks, embroidered calligraphy and colored clothes, and held golden spears and dragon flags. Meng Jingchu, the envoy of the Jiaofang, was tall and tall. He was a general in gold, gold, shrimp and bronze armor. Yong Zhen

The two generals in the palace also serve as gatekeepers. Jiaofang Nanhetan is ugly and fat, pretending to be a judge. He also pretended to be Zhong Kui, Xiao Mei, Tu Tu, Kitchen God, etc., and killed more than a thousand people. . . In the homes of scholars and common people, they sat around the stove and could not sleep until the end of the day, which was called "watching the New Year's Eve".

This Nuo ritual was a masked performance, but it could not be broadcast live or made into a movie at that time.

It is a pity.

Attachment: Chinese Valentine's Day: Begging for Skills

Yesterday was the 7th day of the seventh lunar month in the old calendar. Legend has it that on the night of July 7th, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the sky would separate from each other

< p>We meet across the bridge of magpies on the Milky Way. This is of course not true. The distance across both sides of the Milky Way is measured in tens of millions of light-years. Even if you take an aircraft as fast as light and cross the Milky Way

< p> system is absolutely impossible to achieve overnight.

Having said that, this legend is poignant and touching, and has been circulated among ordinary people in our country for a long time.

Some people say that July 7th should be designated as China’s Valentine’s Day. It represents the love between men and women in ancient times

Simple, sincere and able to withstand time and space Test of love. . But perhaps in the eyes of today's cynical men and women

it is unrealistic to look across the vast expanse of the Milky Way, carrying a pair of "light bulb" children to the annual event

Meeting in a hurry is really boring. It is better to twist and twist in the deafening bar, or

or the spring breeze, different things, it is affordable, exciting, and irresponsible.

Of course, this mythical story reflects the difficulty of young men and women in ancient China pursuing

free love and happiness in that strict ethical society, but it is precisely the difficulties and dangers that inspire them. Therefore,

this story will be circulated among people for a long time, and will be attached to the midsummer night of July 7th.

Looking at the bright stars in the distance, The Milky Way is vast, and only the Heavenly Sun (Vega) shines brightly, conveying her eternal love to the River Drum

(Altair) on the other side. And that kind of "cup of water", apart from the temporary enjoyment of the senses, really can't talk about much spiritual value.

As early as the Han Dynasty, "Xia Xiaozheng" in "Da Zai Li Ji" said: "It is the moon and the Weaver Girl facing the east, and Gaiyan Xingye", that is to say, at least in the Han Dynasty At that time, people had noticed the regular movement of Vega in the sky, and July was the most prominent. "Historical Records: Book of Heavenly Officials" says that the Weaver Girl "is the grandson of the Emperor of Heaven.", which is the origin of the Grandson of Heaven.

"Star Scripture": "Altair, named Tianguan." Altair is the Cowherd, while Hegu is a later interpretation.

The earliest origin of the story of the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on July 7th can be found in "Xian Tianwen" by Fu Xuan, a writer of the Western Jin Dynasty.

He said: "On July 7th, This legend may have originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Wang Xiangqi's poem in the late Qing Dynasty wrote:

"Marrying a talented person while raising a family, marrying a grandson to a river drum, a couple will pass a hundred years in a hurry, with pink tears and hairpin flowers, and they will never say a word."

What he saw was the problem of mismatched horses, but what he yearned for more was:

"When spring comes, the clouds on the river are like clouds, and the mandarin ducks in the golden water never fly alone."

< p>In the Southern Dynasties, Zong Mao's "Jingchu Sui Sui Ji" records that in the Jianghan area at that time, on the night of the seventh day of July,

Women in every household were ligating colorful silk threads with very thin needles. The people made needles out of gold, silver, and brass, arranged melons, fruits, etc. in the courtyard, and begged Vega for wisdom. If there are spiders weaving webs on fruits, it is considered to be a sign of the arrival of Zhizi Star God. In other words, the night of July 7th not only has the meaning of the meeting between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but also the meaning of begging for wisdom from the Star God Weaver. As the goddess of spinning

in folklore, Vega is a symbol of the diligence and wisdom of ancient working women. On this night, ancient women performed such female-red activities as ligation

colored silk threads. People come to worship her, hoping to get the source of wisdom from her, so on the night of July 7th, it is also called the "Qiao Qiao Festival". This is an enterprising festival.

Later, Meng Yuanlao of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote in "Tokyo Menghua Lu" that during the peak period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Chinese Valentine's Day was extremely lively, "Three days before the Chinese Valentine's Day

On the fifth day, the market is full of cars and horses, and the Luoqi Festival is full , The lotus has not yet bloomed, so everyone made a double-headed lotus to play with for a while.

When the lotus comes back, passers-by often express their love." , which is called the "Qiqiao Tower".

It is called "Qiqiaolou" (note), flower melon, wine moxibustion, pen and inkstone, needlework, or children cutting poems, and the girl shows cleverness.

< p>'Begging for cleverness'. The Southern Song Dynasty recorded in Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" and Zhou Mi's "Old Wulin Stories"

The celebrations of Lin'an Qixi Festival are roughly the same as those in the Northern Song Dynasty. Compared with the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Qiqiao Festival was more popular in the two Song Dynasties< /p>

The animations are more colorful.

I like the Qiqiao Festival. It is not only part of the diverse folk culture of the ancient Chinese people, but also a festival that enlightens

wisdom and evokes reverie about love.

Original note: "Mohele" is the Buddhist scripture "Mahora".