China Popular Itineraries |
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A General Survey of the Important Traditional Chinese Festivals and |
According to statistics, it is estimated that there exist 60-odd important traditional Chinese festivals remaining popular in the 20th century. About 50% of these festivals enjoy popularity mainly among people of Han nationality. Since Han nationality lives in different parts of the country, accounting for the majority of the Chinese population, and since the overseas of Han nationality constitute the main body of the Chinese overseas, these festivals have exerted widespread influence both domestically and internationally. These influential festivals are usually fixed following Lunar calendar. Some of the most typical and influential festivals, whose origins might be traced back to thousands d years ago, include the Spring Festival, the Beginning of Spring, the Lantern Festival, the Pure Brightness Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Begin-ning of Summer, Mid-Autumn Day, the Beginning of Autumn, Double Ninth Festival, the Beginning of Winter, the Eighth Day of the Last Lunar Month, the Lunar Small Year. As they have enjoyed popularity with pertinacity in China, customs evolved from them have become an essential part of the lifestyle of the Chinese people in the 20th century.
* The Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the most ceremonious traditional festival in China. In ancient times, it was also known as Lunar New Year (their Chinese names are Yuandan, or Yuanzheng, Zhengshuo, or Xinzheng, or Guonian, or Guodanian). Thus it was termed in about 30 different ways though it was set on the same day -- January 1st on lunar calendar. After the Revolution of 1911, lunar calendar was changed into Gregorian calendar by the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, and officially designated as the Spring Festival observed on January 1st on lunar calendar. On the other hand, Jan-uary 1st on Gregorian calendar was fixed as New Year. In practice, the Spring Festival has been customarily considered as a celebration of a new year, for January 1st on lunar calendar got to be regarded in the Xia Dynasty as the be-ginning of a new year. The earliest records about festivals can be found in "Shangshu" written in the Spring and Autumn Period. By the time of the Han Dynasty, many festival customs had been formed among the mass of peo-ple.
he day before the Spring Festival, namely, December 30th or December 29thon lunar calendar, has been called the Last Day of Old Year, popularly known as The 30th(called in Chinese Danian San Shi), or the Spring Festi-val's Eve (Chuxi, or Dajin ), etc. On that occasion, families get together, sitting up through the whole night, enjoying a substantial feast while chat-ting. This custom is known as sitting up through the Spring Festival's Eve (called Shousui in Chinese), whose origin is not clear. It is said that the pur-pose to stay up wakeful on the Spring Festival's Eve is to be on guard against attacks by the ferocious "New Year Beast, " or to take advantage of this pre-cious movement involving double years for family celebrations. In the latter case, this custom arises from a love for life and time. In the Tang Dynasty, there were already records about Shousui ; in the Song Dynasty, this custom became very popular. So far, it has developed into an entirely new practice. People all over China will spend the whole evening watching the Spring Festi-val's Eve gala celebrations on CCTV. Traditionally, many gaieties take place on the 30th of the last year, such as putting up Spring Festival scrolls (chun-lian), pictures, paper-cuts, offering sacrifices to God and ancestry, lighting up lanterns and firing fireworks.
One of the important activities is to have Chinese dumplings (jiaozi). There are a variety of Chinese dumplings with various associations, but mainly symbolizing family reunions, and hopes for happy and harmonious life.
Early on the first morning of the Spring Festival, families set out to pay a lunar New Year visit to each other after the members of each family greet each other with lunar New Year wishes. This is called in Chinese Bainian, mean-ing paying the Spring Festival visits and greetings. Usually, the young pay a visit to the old while the people about the same age share equal greetings; then, visits are paid in sequence to relatives of close kinship, relations, neigh-bors, teachers, friends and colleagues. To kowtow used to be one of the rites involved in paying the spring Festival visits, but now it is replaced by the Spring festival greetings with best wishes, for instance, wishes for a good for-tune. When the junior pay the senior the Spring Festival visit, the latter are supposed to give the former some money as a gift, which is known "money for an added age. " Nowadays, those working in official organizations, enterpris-es, various societies and schools usually participate in what is known as "col-lective visits and greetings of the Spring Festival" formally organized as a sub-stitute for calling at each other's house to exchange the Spring Festival greet-ings. In the countryside, after the first day of the spring Festival, visits are paid to relatives, in addition to other forms of celebrations and entertainment, which last until the Lantern Festival.
* The Beginning of Spring
The Beginning of Spring (called Lichun in Chinese), the first of the 24 Chinese solar terms, marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. By traditional computation, the sun moves to 315 degree of the zodiac on that day (February 2nd on Gregorian calendar); since then the temperature starts to rise. Since Lichun indicates the coming of spring and a revival of nature, it was officially and generally considered as one of the important occasions in the feudal society. According to A Record of Etiquette, on the very day of Lichun, Zhou the Emperor would take a trip with his dukes and ministers to the eastern suburb to welcome spring while doing something benevolent. It was also recorded in Biographical Records of the Hun Dynasty' s History that Goumang, God of Spring, would be worshipped that day, too . In the 20th century, it is still customary to take a trip to the countryside as a way to wel-come spring. Besides, such customs as whipping spring -- hipping clay ox, biting spring -- eating raw radish or other vegetables of hot taste, eating spring rolls, dumplings and noodles have been popular activities to celebrate the Beginning of Spring.
* The Lantern Festival
January 15th on lunar calendar is what is called the Lantern Festival, or Upper Yuan Festival. Chinese Taoism classifies January 15th as upper Yuan, July 15th as middle Yuan and October 15th as lower Yuan, which respective-ly mark the birthday of the sky, the earth and man. Since the Lantern Festi-val is set on the evening of upper Yuan, it is also called Upper Yuan Festival. Its main celebration involves appreciating lanterns in all shapes. That is why it is generally known as the Lantern Festival.
This festival had its origin in the Western Han Dynasty (180 - 140 B. C.), but devoid of the custom of appreciating lanterns, which probably oc-curred in the Eastern Han Dynasty (58 - 75 A. D. ) and became popular in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the government legally established this custom as a social rule. After the 1911 Revolution, the Provisional Govern-ment of the Republic of China laid it down that the Lantern Festival should run a span of three days: one day before and one day after January 15th. Nowadays, the Lantern Festival lasts only one day, on which different lantern appreciation activities are held. Apart from these, other entertainment in-eludes guessing riddles on lanterns, drum beating, walking on stilts, playing dragon lanterns, rowing boats in streets, and going to fairs. At home, people usually eat dumplings and sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice. This cus-tom started in the Song Dynasty and has lasted until today.
* Pure Brightness
Pure Brightness is the 5th of the 24 Chinese solar terms. On the day of Pure Brightness -- April 5th or 6th- the sun moves to 15 degree of the zodiac, and it gets warmer with sunny skies and gentle breeze; trees turn green or burst into blossoms. The old saying goes, "On the day of Pure Brightness, nature clears up to refreshed brightness, " from which, the name of Pure Brightness Festival (called qingming in Chinese, meaning clear and bright) is derived. As one of the important festivals, it originated in the Zhou Dynasty. Activities include excursions, sweeping graves and worshipping at ancestry's graves, wearing flower brooches, swinging, flying kites, and so on and so forth. In the countryside, Cold Food Festival runs into the Pure Brightness Festival, hence the custom of refraining from cooking and eating cold food that day. As some of the most important activities then are worshipping at ancestry's graves and sweeping graves, it is also called "Ghost Festival. " Nowadays, it offers an occasion for young people to commemorate the revolu-tionary martyrs by sweeping their graves and paying tributes at them.
* The Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival -- the 5th day of the 5th lunar month -- is also called Daughters' Festival, or Poets' Festival. There are various interpreta-tions about its origins. The most widely accepted one is that it is in commem-oration of a great patriotic poet Qu Yuan in Chu State during the Warring States Period. On the 5th of May on lunar calendar, he committed suicide by throwing himself into the river. People put rice into bamboo and threw it into the river to feed his ghost, or held dragon boat races to commemorate the at-tempt to save him. This gradually evolved into a custom. By about 200 A.D. it became customary to eat Zongzi -- glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves into the shape of pyramids. Other activities include drinking real-gar wine, wearing perfume pockets, and hanging colorful ribbon on the door, eating eggs and expelling "five toxins. " Girls usually wear pomegranate flow-ers on the head or as brooches that day. Most of the people across the country eat Zongzi, which is the most important commemorating activity.
* The Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice the 10th of the 24 solar terms -- is in May on the lunar calendar or on June 21"st or 22nd on Gregorian calendar when the sun moves to 90 degree of the zodiac and reaches the northernmost point in the e-cliptic. After that day, the day becomes shorter in the northern hemisphere. Compared with other solar terms, the Summer Solstice is relatively impor-tant. So it is customary to eat cold noodles to mark the day, hence the popular saying "dumpling on the Winter Solstice and noodles on the Summer So1-stice. "
* Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival -- August 15th on lunar calendar -- is a festival for family reunion. It is so termed because it occurs in the middle of autumn, the day of the Autumn Equinox ( the 16th of the 24 solar terms), when the sun shines over the side of the moon facing the earth. As the moon is brighter up in the clear sky, and the air is crisp, people have long before developed the habit to appreciate and worship the moon. The Chinese word " zhongqiu" (meaning mid-autumn) first appeared in A Record of Etiquette in the Zhou Dynasty. At that time, there had emerged the term of autumn equinox. In the Qin Dynasty and the Han dynasty, it was customary on Mid-Autumn Day to offer the elderly people glutinous rice cakes as a gesture of respect. In the Tang Dynasty, this festival was associated with the fair tale of Chang E rising to the moon, thus adding a romantic tinge to the occasion. Eating moon cakes is one of the important activities. There are three interpretations about its 0ri-gin. Firstly, as the story goes, it was evolved from the custom of presenting the elderly glutinous rice cakes to show them respect. Another interpretation traces its origin to the Yuan Dynasty. The leaders of rebellors against the rule of Yuan nationality inserted into Moon Cakes the notes calling for uprising. When people ate cakes, they saw the notes and answered to the call for rebel-lion. Since then, it has become a custom to eat Moon Cakes. Still another in-terpretation is that eating round Moon Cakes on a fullmoon night symbolizes family reunion. Today, there is a variety of Moon Cakes, and among them are the famous Beijing-styled Moon Cakes, Guangzhou-styled ones, Suzhou-styled ones, Chaozhou-styled ones, and Yunnan-styled ones. In addition to these, there are also Moon Cakes of different flavors for Hui nationality.
* The Beginning of Autumn
The Beginning of Autumn -- in July on lunar calendar or on August 7thor 8th on Gregorian calendar -- is the 13th of the 24 solar terms. On that day, the sun moves to 135 degree of the longitude, marking the beginning of the au-tumn. As early as in the Zhou Dynasty, it was regarded as an important occa-sion, on which the emperor would go with his officials to the suburb to wel-come autumn. Since the Song Dynasty, it has been customary to wear peach tree leaves as ornaments or eat melons and beans, or drink water from wells. Noodles or dumplings are the main food that day. Besides, people are not al-lowed to take a bath in ponds. After the Beginning of the Autumn, it is advis-able not to eat sweet melons and watermelons.
* The Double Ninth Festival
The Double Ninth Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The number "nine" is classified in The Book of Changes, one of the famous Chinese Five Classics, as a number of Yang. The term "double ninth" refers to the fact those two nines in September on both lunar and Gregorian calendars coincide with each other, hence the term "double yang." The Double Ninth Festival began to be observed in the Warring States Period. In the Han Dy-nasty, it was called Zhuyu Festival, or Chrysanthemum Festival as there was a custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine, eating colored cakes, and hanging an herb called zhuyu (cornus officinalis) on the door. The festival comes when the day is clear with sunny skies and crisp air -- a favorable time for climbing mountains. So climbing is a popular activity to mark the day in many places. The custom of hanging zhuyu on the door and climbing mountains started in the Han Dynasty, which was endowed then with the significance of eliminating diseases and subjugating disasters. In the Tang Dynasty, the cus-tom of climbing and appreciating chrysanthemum became so widely spread as to be taken as the main activity on this occasion, and to these, there added other activities, such as going to the mountain fair, offering sacrifices at the ancestral graves, hunting outsides, worshipping the God of fortune, bounding girls' feet. Nowadays, the Double Ninth Festival day is fixed as the Elderly Day, on which activities are held to show respect and love to the elderly peo ple.
* The Eighth Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month
The Eighth Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month is called in Chinese Laba or Lari because the twelfth month on lunar calendar is called in Chinese Layue. In ancient times, Laba was a day to offer sacrifices to ancestors and gods as well as a day to celebrate harvests. It had its origin in the Xia Dy-nasty. At that time it was known as Jiaping ; but, in the Shang Dynasty, as Qingsi ; in the Zhou Dynasty, as Dala. Originally, it was observed with ac-tivities in the last lunar month, and there was no fixed day for it. During the period between the year 420 A.D. to 589 A. D., it was set on the eighth day of December on lunar calendar. It was said that Sakyamuni, the founder d Buddhism, attained Buddhahood on that day. To commemorate this, all the temples in the city of Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, would hold a ceremony of bathing Buddha and cooking porridge of five fla-vors, which, it was said, could bring about happiness. Therefore, this por-ridge was also termed as Buddhist porridge or Laba porridge. Due to the con-nection between Buddhist porridge with Buddhism, Laba was also known as "the Day of Buddha Attainment. " After the Song Dynasty, it was customary to cook Laba porridge on the Eighth Day of the Last Lunar Month in almost every dynasty. This custom has remained as popular today as before. In addi-tion, there are also customs of distributing alms to the poor, and making La-ba vinegar as well.
* Lunar Small Year
Lunar Small Year, the festival on the 23ra or 24th of the last lunar month is known as a festival to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god. Since its main ac-tivity is to see the kitchen god off to the sky offering him sacrifices, it is also called "saying farewell to the kitchen god. " As a traditional activity handed down from the ancient time, it used to be held in summer, then in winter in the Han Dynasty, and finally was set on 24th of the last lunar month. Never-theless, officials in the Qing Dynasty made by the officials on the 23rd and by the common people on the 24th in the Ming Dynasty, but on the 23rd sacri-fices. Since then, this day has been taken as a lunar minor new year. The kitchen god is also addressed as the kitchen lord. As the folklore goes, he is sent by the Supreme God of Taoism to monitor evils and benevolence on the earth, and every year, required to return to the sky to report to the Supreme God what was going on. Therefore, he has been awed to such a degree that every household will offer him sacrifices when he leaves for the sky, hoping he will put in good words for them in his report and bring back happiness when he returns from his mission. Since he is also regarded as the head of each fami-ly, couplets expressing good wishes are put up beside his large picture hung in each household. At the ceremony of saying him farewell, the old picture of the kitchen god is burned down, sometimes with fodder and grains, which signifies seeing him off to the sky, provided with provisions. Then a new por-trait of him is put up on the wall beside the stove. The sacrifices usually con-sist of sweets, glutinous cakes with dates, offered with the view of winning his favour so that he will not speak ill of the family where he stays as an envoy of the Supreme God. On the day of Lunar Small Year, every household in many places goes in for a thorough cleaning to tidy up everything. This good habit of taking care of the environment has lasted until today. When the day passes, it is time to do the shopping and prepare for the Spring Festival.
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