/ch-jieri/ (Traditional Chinese Festival)

The first solar term of the year: Dachun

(The first solar term of each year is "The Beginning of Spring" ", people usually call it "Dachun". Why is it called so? There is such a custom in the history of our country. On the day of the beginning of spring every year, people put on festive costumes, carry a large paper cow, and parade through the streets singing and dancing. After the parade, the paper-made cattle were carried to the county government hall and whipped three times by the county magistrate. This means: the earth has returned to spring, and people must cultivate quickly. Therefore, people call the beginning of spring "Dachun".

January 1st: New Year's Day

(The word "New Year's Day" first came from the poem "Jie Ya" by Xiao Ziyun, a Liang native in the Southern Dynasties: "The four qi New Year's Day, Wanshou begins this dynasty". It means the beginning, the first; Dan is a knowing word, the "日" above means the sun, and the "一" below means the horizon. The sun rises from the horizon, symbolizing the beginning of the day. New Year's Day is the first day of the year.

January 1st in the Gregorian calendar is the New Year's Day recognized in the world today. The dates of New Year's Day in my country's past dynasties are not consistent. For example, it was the first day of the first lunar month in the Xia Dynasty; the first day of December in the Shang Dynasty; and the first day of November in the Zhou Dynasty. 1, etc. On September 27, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Association adopted the "A.D. Calendar" and designated January 1 as New Year's Day)

The tenth day of the first lunar month. Five: Lantern Festival

(also known as "Shangyuan Festival", which is the 15th day of the first lunar month. It is an important traditional festival in my country. In ancient books, this day is called "Shangyuan Festival", and its night It is called "Yuan Night", "Luan Xi" or "Lantern Festival". The name of Lantern Festival has been used to this day. Because of the custom of putting up lanterns and looking at lanterns, it is also called "Lantern Festival" among the people. In addition, it is also known as "Lantern Festival". Customs such as walking on stilts and guessing lantern riddles. The ancient Chinese calendar is closely related to the moon phases. On the fifteenth day of every month, people usher in the first full moon night of the year, and this day is naturally regarded as an auspicious day. In the Han Dynasty, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was used as a day to offer sacrifices to the Emperor of Heaven and pray 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 "Xiayuan". . At the latest in the early Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Three Yuan Dynasties were the days when great ceremonies were held. Later, the celebrations of the Zhongyuan and Xiayuan Dynasties were gradually abolished, but the Shangyuan Festival lasted for a long time. p>

March 8: Women’s Day

March 12: Arbor Day

The day before Qingming Festival: Cold Food

(in old custom On a festival day, on the day before the Qingming Festival [some say two days before the Qingming Festival], the prince of Jin, Chong'er, who had been away for many years in the Spring and Autumn Period, returned to the country and ascended the throne [i.e. Duke Wen of Jin]. He rewarded the officials who had died with him, except for Jie Zhi. Jie Zitui then lived in seclusion in Mianshan [today's southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province] with his mother. After learning about it, Duke Wen of Jin wanted to find him in Mianshan, but when he couldn't find him, he wanted to burn the mountain to force him out. He could not persist, and both mother and son were burned to death. Therefore, Duke Wen of Jin stipulated that on this day every year, people were forbidden to light fires and cook meals, and expressed their condolences with cold food. Later, the custom of eating cold food and visiting graves on the cold food day was formed. )

April 5th: Qingming Festival

(Qingming Festival is a traditional festival in my country and the most important sacrificial festival. It is a day for worshiping ancestors and sweeping tombs. Tomb-sweeping is commonly known as visiting graves and offering sacrifices. An activity for the deceased. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities sweep tombs during the Tomb Sweeping Day. According to the old custom, when sweeping the tombs, people have to bring wine, food, fruits, paper money and other items to the cemetery, and offer the food in front of the tombs of their relatives, and then put the paper money. Burn it, cover the tomb with new soil, break a few green branches and insert them on the tomb, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating wine and food. The poem "Qingming" by Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and it rains heavily on the road. Pedestrians want to die. May I ask where the restaurant is? The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village. "It describes the special atmosphere of Qingming Festival.

Qingming Festival, also known as Outing Festival, falls on the Gregorian calendar. Every year between April 4th and 6th, it is the time when the spring scenery is beautiful and the grass and trees are green, and it is also a good time for people to go out in the spring (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients used to go outing during the Qingming Festival and carry out a series of sports activities. custom.

)

May 1st: Labor Day

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month: Dragon Boat Festival

(The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the "Dragon Boat Festival". "Dragon Boat Festival" "The real name is "Duanwu", and "Duan" means the beginning. "Wu" and "Wu" are homophonic to each other and are commonly used. It is an ancient festival in my country. Qu Yuan, the earliest patriotic poet in ancient my country

was slandered and After his exile, he witnessed the increasingly corrupt politics of the Chu State and was unable to realize his political ideals. He was unable to save the dying motherland, so he threw himself into the Miluo River to die for his country. After that, people used glutinous rice and flour to prevent fish and shrimp from eating his body. Pancakes shaped into various shapes were thrown into the river, which later became the origin of eating rice dumplings and fried cakes during the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom has spread abroad)

June 1st: Children's Day

July 1st: The Founding Day of the Communist Party of my country

July 7th: Memorial Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month: Chinese Valentine’s Day

(The night of July 7th in the lunar calendar is called "Qixi Festival". Chinese folklore says that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met at the Magpie Bridge on the Tianhe River on this night. Later, there were customs such as women threading needles to the Vega and begging for skills. The so-called begging means that Thread a needle with colored thread facing Vega under the moonlight. If you can pass through seven needle eyes of different sizes, it will be considered a "skill". The farmer's proverb says, "On the seventh day of July, when the sky is bright and clear, you can grind the sickle and harvest the rice." This is another example. When grinding sickles and preparing to harvest early rice)

The 13th day of the seventh lunar month: Respect for the Aged Day

August 1st: China’s Army Day

The eighth month of the lunar calendar. 15th: Mid-Autumn Festival

(The 15th day of August in the lunar calendar, this day is in the middle of autumn, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". At night, the full moon is fragrant and the old people regard it as a symbol of happy reunion. It is a festival to enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to legend, in the late Yuan Dynasty, the people wrote the date of the uprising on a piece of paper in order to overthrow the brutal Yuan Dynasty. , placed in mooncake fillings to secretly pass each other, calling on everyone to revolt on August 15th, which finally sparked a nationwide peasant uprising and overthrew the decadent Yuan Dynasty. Since then, mooncakes have been eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The custom spread more widely)

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month: Double Ninth Festival

(The ninth day of the ninth lunar month. In ancient my country, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month was the yang, and the ninth day of the ninth lunar month was the right day. It is a yin moon and a yang day, so it is called "Double Ninth Festival". According to legend, Huan Ying, a native of Runan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, heard Fei Changfang telling him that there would be a great disaster in Runan on September 9th, so he quickly asked his family to sew Xiaodai. On this day, Huan Jing's family climbed mountains and tied them to their arms with dogwoods tied around them. They took refuge in the mountains and drank chrysanthemum wine. As expected, all the chickens, dogs and sheep in the family died on the Double Ninth Festival. There are customs such as making dogwood cakes, drinking chrysanthemum wine, holding temple fairs, and climbing mountains. Because the sound of "gao" and "cake" are the same, there is also the custom of eating "Double Ninth Cake" on the Double Ninth Festival. The poet Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty wrote "September 9th". A poem called "Reminiscences of Brothers from Shandong": "I am a stranger in a foreign land, and I miss my family even more during the festive season. I know from afar that my brothers have climbed to a high place, and there is only one less person planted with dogwood trees." "Records the customs and habits of the time. Because of the sincere feelings of the poem, it is still popular today.)

September 10: Teachers' Day

October 1: National Day

November 22 of the lunar calendar: Winter Solstice

(In ancient my country, the winter solstice was taken very seriously, and the winter solstice was regarded as a major festival. There was a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the new year", and there are The custom of celebrating the winter solstice. "Hanshu" says: "On the winter solstice, the Yang Qi rises, so the emperor congratulates you." People believe that after the winter solstice, the days get longer day by day, and the Yang Qi rises, which is the beginning of a solar cycle. It is also an auspicious day and should be celebrated. "Book of Jin" records that "the winter solstice in the Wei and Jin Dynasties is praised by all nations and officials... Its ceremony is inferior to that of Zhengdan." This shows the importance of the winter solstice in ancient times.

Now. , some places also celebrate the Winter Solstice as a festival. In the north, there is the custom of slaughtering sheep and eating dumplings and wontons on this day. In the south, there is the custom of eating winter solstice rice dumplings and winter solstice noodles on this day. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors on this day.

)

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month: Laba Festival

(In ancient times, the "gods" worshiped in December were 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 Drink Laba porridge. Legend has it that Sakyamuni attained enlightenment and became a Buddha on this day, so the temple would cook porridge for Buddha on this day, and it has been a custom among the people since then.)

It is the twelfth lunar month. New Year's Eve: New Year's Eve

(The night of New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve. The original meaning of "Chu" is "to go", which is extended to "Yi" [alternation]; the original meaning of "Xi" is "sunset". ", extended to "night". Therefore, New Year's Eve has the meaning of "the old year is here to get rid of, and the new year will be replaced tomorrow". "Chu" means to get rid of the old and establish the new. New Year's Eve originated from the "eliminate the old year" in the pre-Qin period. ". According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Season Jidong Ji", the ancients used drumming on the day before the New Year to drive away the "ghosts of epidemics and disasters" so that they would be free from disease and disaster in the coming year. This is the origin of the "New Year's Eve" festival "New Year's Eve" had many other names in ancient times, such as New Year's Eve, Zhuchu, Suizhu, Daji, Daji, etc. Although there are many names, they always mean to see off the old and welcome the new, and to get rid of diseases and disasters.

The first day of the first lunar month: Spring Festival

(It is the first of the first year of the lunar calendar, commonly known as "New Year". The origin of the Spring Festival has a history of more than 4,000 years in our country . It is the most lively and solemn traditional festival in our country. The ancient Spring Festival refers to the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. After the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Spring Festival was moved to the end of the year and generally refers to the entire year. In spring, when the earth returns to spring 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 month of the year was designated as the Spring Festival until 1949. On September 27, 2010, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated the New Year on the first day of the first lunar month as the "Spring Festival", so many people still call the Spring Festival the Chinese New Year)

年:

(Everyone often refers to the Spring Festival as "Celebrating the New Year", but the original meaning of "Nian" is fundamentally different from today's. It is said that in ancient times, there was one of the most ferocious beasts in the world called "Nian" It grows bigger than a camel, runs faster than the wind, and roars louder than thunder. When it comes out, it eats people and hurts animals, and the lives of people are seriously threatened. ", locked it in the mountains, and only allowed it to come out of the mountains once a year. Through long-term practice, people discovered that "nian" has "three fears" - fear of red color, fear of sound, and fear of fire. So one year, the twelfth lunar month On the night of the 30th, everyone put red paper on the door, kept beating gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers. At night, the house was lit with lights all night long. When I came to see it in the evening of the "New Year", every house was brightly lit; when I heard the sound of firecrackers everywhere, It was so frightened that it didn't dare to enter the village. During the day, it secretly came down the mountain. When it saw that the doors were still red and there were banging noises everywhere, it was so frightened that it turned around and ran back. If you dare to come again, it is said that you will starve to death in the deep mountains and old forests. Later, people turned to guarding against the "Nian" and "driving the New Year" to celebrate the New Year peacefully. However, the custom of celebrating the New Year is still maintained. Bright red Spring Festival couplets, brilliant lights, crisp firecrackers, and loud gongs and drums are like this every year. )

Wow, I searched a lot of information to find these traditional festivals. I learned about ancient festivals while typing, and it turned out that they all came from this.