Abstract: China is one of the oldest countries in the world, with 5000 years of traditional civilization, which was handed down by her descendants. All kinds of old ethical codes have a great influence on Chinese descendants. They can spread because their importance is irreplaceable. This article describes some traditional festivals, their origins, development, customs and the way people celebrate them. This article can help people better understand the festivals in China and pay more attention to them.
Keywords: festivals, sources, customs, culture
I. New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve. In addition, the original meaning is "go" and extended to "change" (alternate); The original meaning of the word "evening" is "sunset" and it is extended to "night". Therefore, New Year's Eve means "get rid of the old year here and get a new year tomorrow". "Except" means to get rid of the old cloth and make a new one. It originated from the "divide and rule" in the pre-Qin period. According to Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Dong Jiji, on the day before the New Year, the ancients used drums to drive away the "ghost of plague" so that there would be no disease or disaster in the coming year. This is the origin of "New Year's Eve" Festival. There are many names for New Year's Eve, but the basic meaning is nothing more than sending the old and welcoming the new, and eliminating disasters and diseases.
Since the development of New Year's Eve, many changes have taken place, but the significance remains the same. Now on New Year's Eve, people will say goodbye to the old year by eating New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers and setting off fireworks, which is called "getting rid of the old with firecrackers". Its lively scene is the most lively festival in a year, and it belongs to one of the most lively festivals in China. Nowadays, more and more foreign friends are paying attention to China's New Year's Eve. Watching the Spring Festival Gala has become an indispensable dish in people's New Year's Eve dinner. Wonderful program, family members get together, happy and happy, with people's good wishes, hoping for a new atmosphere in the New Year.
Second, the Spring Festival
The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival has a history of about 4000 years in China. This is the most lively and grand traditional festival in China. The ancient Spring Festival refers to the "beginning of spring" season in the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar. It was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that the Spring Festival was changed to the end of the year, generally referring to the whole spring. At this time, spring returns to the earth and everything is renewed. People regard it as the beginning of a new year. In the early years of the Republic of China after the Revolution of 1911, after the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar, the first day of the first month was designated as the Spring Festival. It was not until1September 27th, 949 that the China People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated the New Year on the first day of the first month as the "Spring Festival", so many people still call it the Spring Festival. There is also a legend about nian.
People often call the Spring Festival "Chinese New Year", and the original meaning of "Year" is fundamentally different from today. It is said that in ancient times, there was a fierce beast called Nian in the world. It is bigger than a camel. Run faster than the wind and roar louder than thunder. Once out, people eat people, animals are injured, and people's lives are seriously threatened. In order to punish Nian, the gods locked it in the mountains and allowed it to come out only once a year. In the long-term practice, people find that Nian has three fears-fear of red, fear of noise and fear of fire. So, one year on the thirtieth night of the twelfth lunar month, everyone posted red paper at the door, kept beating gongs and drums and setting off firecrackers, and lit lights all night in the house at night. Take a look at the evening of "Nian", and every family is brightly lit; Hearing this, the sound of shooting was everywhere, scaring it into the village. During the day, it sneaked down the mountain again, only to find that the doors of every household were still red and drums were everywhere, which scared it to turn around and run back. From then on, Nian never came again. It is said that he starved to death in the deep forest.
Later, people turned the prevention of "Year" and "Drive Year" into a safe and steady New Year. "Nian" is gone, but the custom of Chinese New Year is still there. Bright red Spring Festival couplets, brilliant lights, crisp firecrackers, loud gongs and drums, year after year.
Three. the Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival", that is, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is an important traditional festival in China. In ancient books, this day is called Shangyuan, and its night is called Yuanye, Yuanxi or Yuanxiao. The name Yuanxiao has been used ever since. The ancient calendars in China were closely related to the phases of the moon. On the fifteenth day of each month, people will welcome the first full moon night of the year, which is naturally considered as an auspicious day. As early as the Han Dynasty, the fifteenth day of the first month has been regarded as a day of offering sacrifices to gods and praying for blessings. Later, the ancients called the fifteenth day of the first month Shangyuan, the fifteenth day of July Zhongyuan and the fifteenth day of October Xia Yuan. At the latest, in the early Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sanyuan was the day when grand ceremonies were held. Of the three elements, Shangyuan is the most valued. Later, the celebrations in the Central Plains and Xia Yuan were gradually abolished, but Shangyuan was enduring.
On the Lantern Festival, people decorate lanterns, hang lanterns, eat Yuanxiao, solve riddles on the lanterns and set off fireworks, which is very lively. There is also the custom of walking on stilts in some areas (there are different ways to celebrate it according to different regions). The difference between the types of Yuanxiao is mainly in the stuffing. Yuanxiao, a traditional food in China, is delicious and deeply loved by people.
Fourth, play with spring.
The first solar term every year is "beginning of spring", which is usually called "Da Chun". Why is it called "Da Chun"? There is a custom in Chinese history. On this day in early spring every year, people will put on holiday clothes, carry a big paper cow and parade in the street singing and dancing. After the parade, the cows wrapped in paper were carried to the court of the county government, and the county officials personally whipped them three times, which means: spring back to the earth and hurry up farming. Therefore, people call beginning of spring "Da Chun".
There are not many customs of playing spring, and the folk song of spring is popular in Shanxi: "Spring breeze moves in spring, and spring water flows along the river." Spring people drink spring wine and spring officials whip spring cattle. "It's about shooting a spring cow.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) Cold Food Festival
Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day, which belongs to a festival in the old customs. It comes from the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin who died for many years in the Spring and Autumn Period, returned to China and acceded to the throne [that is, Jin Wengong], honoring the courtiers who died with him, except Jie Zitui. Jie Zitui then lived in seclusion with his mother in Mianshan (now southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province). When Jin Wengong learned about it, he wanted to raise the bonus. He found Mianshan, but he couldn't find it, so he wanted to burn the mountain and force him out. But meson push couldn't hold on, and as a result, both mother and son were burned to death. Therefore, Jin Wengong stipulates that people are forbidden to cook on the fire and express their condolences with cold food on this day every year. Later, the custom of eating cold food to sweep the grave at the Cold Food Festival was formed. Nowadays, people pay little attention to the Cold Food Festival.
Sixth, Tomb-Sweeping Day.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is the eighth day of the third lunar month. The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Tomb-Sweeping Day is first of all a very important solar term. As soon as Tomb-Sweeping Day arrives, the temperature rises, which is a good season for spring ploughing and planting. Therefore, there is a saying that "melons and beans are planted before and after Qingming". Agricultural proverb "Planting trees is not as clear as Qingming". Later, as the days of Qingming and cold food approached, cold food was the day when people banned fire to sweep graves. Gradually, cold food and Qingming became one, and cold food became another name of Qingming and became a custom of Qingming. On Qingming Day, there are no fireworks, only cold food.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. 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.
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing, so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities.
Seven, Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. The real name of "Dragon Boat Festival" is "Dragon Boat Festival", which means the beginning. "Five" and "noon" are homophonic and universal. This is an ancient festival in China. After being exiled by slanderers, Qu Yuan, the earliest patriotic poet in ancient China, witnessed the increasingly corrupt politics of Chu State and was unable to realize his political ideal and save the endangered motherland, so he threw himself into the river. Since then, in order to prevent fish and shrimp from eating their bodies, people have kneaded glutinous rice and flour into cakes of various shapes and put them in the heart of the river, which has become the source of eating zongzi and fried cakes during the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom has spread abroad.
Nowadays, people eat zongzi and race dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is very lively. Therefore, Zongzi has become one of the traditional foods in China. Zongzi is usually wrapped in reed leaves or bamboo tubes. Other kinds of zongzi are also very distinctive.
Eight, China Valentine's Day
The evening of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is called "Qixi". China folk legend Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet at Tianhe Bridge tonight. The so-called cleverness is to thread a needle through Vega with colored thread in the moonlight. It would be a "coincidence" if you could pass through seven pinholes of different sizes. The agricultural proverb goes: "On the seventh day of July, it is clear, and the sickle is used to cut rice." It's time to sharpen the sickle and get ready to harvest the early rice.
Valentine's Day in China, known as "Purple Valentine's Day" in modern times, belongs to Valentine's Day in China. . On this day, couples exchange gifts to express their love, which is a romantic festival.
Nine, Double Ninth Festival
Double Ninth Festival is also called Double Ninth Festival. In ancient times, nine were Yang and six were Yin. Double Ninth Festival is called Double Ninth Festival. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival in China. It is also a festival to respect the elderly in China. 1989, China designated September 9th as the festival for the elderly, which skillfully combined tradition with modernity and became a festival to respect, love and help the elderly.
Every time I go to Chongyang, people will think of Wang Wei's "Being in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season." I know from a distance where my brother climbed, and there is one person missing from the dogwood. "This poem. Since ancient times, the Double Ninth Festival has been a day when people respect the old and love the young, miss their parents and long for reunion.
Mid-autumn festival
On the fifteenth day of the first month, Han people call it Shangyuan Festival to celebrate Yuanxiao, which has existed since ancient times. On July 15, the Han people called the Mid-Autumn Festival a festival to worship ancestors. 1October15th, the Han people call it the next yuan festival, which is a cold food to commemorate the sages. It is a traditional folk custom of the Han nationality to light river lanterns and pray for blessings by Taoist priests in the Mid-Autumn Festival. July 15th in the old calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, just like Shangyuan Festival on the 15th of the first month and Xiayuan Festival on October 15th.
Mid-Autumn Festival is a Taoist festival. Taoism believes that "Sanyuan" is another name for "Three Officials". Shangyuan Festival, also known as Shangyuan Tianguan Festival, is the birthday of Emperor Wei Zi blessed by Shangyuan. The Mid-Yuan Festival, also known as the Mid-Yuan Festival, is the birthday of Qing Xu, an official who pardoned evil in the mid-Yuan Dynasty. The next Yuan Festival, also known as "Xia Yuanshui's joint", is the birthday of Emperor Xia Yuanshui's Guandong Yin. The Taoist Sutra of Three Officials in Taishang says: "Heaven protects the people, local officials forgive sins, and water officials relieve Eritrea", and "all beings are under the control of heaven and earth water officials". On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taoist temples, such as the Fire Temple in Di 'anmen and the Baiyun Temple outside Xibianmen, routinely hold "Dojo for Good Luck" to pray for "good weather, peace and prosperity".
Buddhists will hold grand bonsai on this day, also called bonsai, bonsai. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were more than 840 temples in Beijing, such as Guangji Temple, Fayuan Temple, Nianhua Temple, Guanghua Temple, Jiaxing Temple and Changchun Temple. Where conditions permit, Yulan Club and Zhongyuan Law Club of different scales are held. Since the Republic of China, Beihai Park, Zhongshan Park Concert Hall and other places have held "memorial ceremonies for fallen soldiers" at this time over the years. Fan (Lama), Tao (Taoist) and Zen (monk) are used to worship the memorial tablet of "soldiers killed in the land, sea and air" for public sacrifice.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, old Beijing will hold activities such as building boats, setting off lotus lanterns, playing lotus lanterns, worshipping ancestors and singing "Yingjing Jing".
Eleven, Mid-Autumn Festival
August 15th of the lunar calendar is in the middle of autumn, so it is called Mid-Autumn Festival. In the evening, the full moon in Gui Xiang is regarded as a symbol of happy reunion by the old customs. This is a festival to prepare all kinds of fruits and cooked food to enjoy the moon. Eat moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to overthrow the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the broad masses of the people wrote the date of the uprising on a piece of paper, put it in the stuffing of moon cakes, and secretly passed it on to each other, calling on everyone to revolt on August 15. Finally, a nationwide peasant uprising broke out on this day and overthrew the decadent Yuan Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has spread more widely.
There is also a legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Chang 'e stole the elixir that her husband Hou Yi begged from the Queen Mother of the West and flew to the Moon Palace. However, Qionglou Yuyu is too high to be cold. After Chang 'e confided her regrets to her husband, she said, "Tomorrow is a full moon night. You make pills out of flour, round like a full moon, put them in the northwest of the house, and then keep calling my name. At midnight, I can go home. " The next day, do as my wife says, and then the fruit of Chang 'e flies from the middle of the month and the husband and wife reunite. The custom of making moon cakes for Chang 'e in the Mid-Autumn Festival is also formed.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is very warm for families to get together, eat moon cakes and enjoy the moon.
Twelve, the winter solstice
The seventh day of November in the lunar calendar is the winter solstice. In ancient China, people attached great importance to the winter solstice and thought it was a grand festival. There is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year, and there is a custom to celebrate it. "Han Shu" said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, and you are long, so congratulations." People think that after the winter solstice, the days become longer and longer and the sun rises. This is the beginning of a solar cycle and an auspicious day, which should be celebrated. The Book of Jin records: "On the winter solstice of Wei and Jin Dynasties, people from all over the world celebrated ... its appearance was not as good as that of Zheng Dan." Explain the ancient emphasis on the winter solstice.
In the north of China, there is a custom of slaughtering sheep and eating jiaozi and wonton on the winter solstice, while in the south, there is a custom of eating dumplings and long noodles on the winter solstice. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in winter solstice in various regions.
Thirteen. Laba Festival
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is Laba Festival. In ancient times, the sacrifice to "gods" in December was called the twelfth lunar month, so the twelfth lunar month was called the twelfth lunar month. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the old custom is to drink Laba porridge. According to legend, Sakyamuni became a Buddha on this day, so every time the temple cooked porridge for the Buddha on this day, the people followed suit and became a custom, which continues to this day.
People usually drink Laba porridge on this day, which adds a little warmth in the cold winter.
There are many special festivals in China, but not all of them are traditional festivals. For example, National Day, Army Day, Party Day and so on. These are all festivals developed in the later period. I won't introduce it in detail here.
Traditional festivals are diverse in form and rich in content, and they are part of the long history and culture of our Chinese nation. The formation of traditional festivals is a process of long-term accumulation and cohesion of national or national history and culture. All these festivals listed above developed from ancient times. From these festivals and customs that have been passed down to this day, we can clearly see the wonderful pictures of the ancient people's social life.
The origin and development of festivals is a process of gradual formation, subtle influence and gradual infiltration into social life. Like the development of society, it is the product of the development of human society to a certain stage. These festivals in ancient China were all related to the astronomy, calendar, mathematics and the solar terms divided later. This can be traced back to Zheng Xiao and Shangshu in Xia Dynasty at least in literature. By the Warring States period, the 24 solar terms in a year were basically complete, and later traditional festivals were also closely related to these solar terms.
Solar terms provide a prerequisite for the emergence of festivals. Most festivals began to appear in the pre-Qin period, but the enrichment and popularization of customs still need a long development process. The earliest custom activities were related to primitive worship, superstition and taboo; Myths and legends add a bit of romance to the festival; There is also the impact and influence of religion on festivals; Some historical figures have been endowed with eternal remembrance, infiltrated into festivals, and all of them have been integrated into the content of condensed festivals, giving China festivals a profound sense of history.
It is worth mentioning that in the long history, scholars and poets of all ages have written many famous works for festivals. These poems are well-known and widely praised, which makes the traditional festivals in China permeated with profound cultural heritage, wonderful romance and elegant elegance.
Festivals in our country have strong cohesion and extensive inclusiveness, which are celebrated all over the country as soon as they are over. They are in the same strain as our nation's long history and are valuable spiritual and cultural heritage. Every nation has its own cultural customs, and various traditional festivals have become the treasures of all ethnic groups.
I believe that our children and grandchildren will carry forward traditional festivals, and China's traditional festivals and even traditional culture will surely shine in the world cultural forest.