In the long history of China, many traditional festivals have been founded in the country. Some of the festivals can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty(16th century B.C.-1046B.C.) and the Zhou Dynasty(1046B.C.-221B.C.). The festivals can be classified into three categories by their different origins, namely, agricultural events, religious rites and social celebrations. China is a huge country with a territory of 9.6 million square kilometers(3.7 million sq.mi.), and is the home of 56 nationalities. Therefore, some of the festivals are celebrated nationwide, and some are held by certain ethnic groups. Following are the most grand nationwide festivals of Chinese people.
The Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is also known as Chinese Lunar New Year. It lasts from the first day to the fifteenth day of each lunar year. The gaiety of festival permeates the whole country. Streets and shops are decorated with red lanterns. Half a month before the festival, people are usually busy shopping, cleaning houses and preparing everything for the carnival. On the Lunar Near Year Eve, they stick the portraits of house-guardians onto doors with sheets of red paper on which a couplet is written. All family members go home for a family reunion. After a sumptuous meal, they sit together watching the live Spring Festival Gala on TV. At midnight, all the households let off fireworks and firecrackers to welcome the Kitchen God back to their houses, who brings good fortune from heaven for the family in the coming year. From the first day to the third day, people visit their closest relatives and friends, sending their New Year greetings. The Spring Festival Carnival is held at the same time, which features dragon dances, lion dances, recreational parade sand temple fairs. On the evening of the fifteenth day, a lantern show is regularly performed. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the first month is also called the Lantern Festival.
The Qingming Festival
According to Chinese calendar, a year is also divided into 24 solar terms. The Qingming Festival is one of the points that follows the spring equinox. In other words, it is the fifth marker on the solar calendar that falls on April 5 or April 4. The Qingming is also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. On the day, people usually go paying their respect to and bring offerings to their ancestors and deceased family members at cemeteries. It is also a good time for outings. The festival can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period(770B.C.-476B.C.). King Wen(697B.C.-628B.C.) of the Jin State which was a vassal of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was forced to live in exile for 19 years. In the year of 636 B.C., the exile succeed to the throne with the help of King Mu of the Qin State. He rewarded his follower who swore their loyalty to him during his exile. One of the followers was Jie Zitui who declined to accept any rewards from the king. Jie Zitui preferred to live in seclusion with his mother in Mianshan Mountain. King Wen went to the mountain, but he did not find the recluse. The king burnt the mountain, because he knew that Jie Zitui loved his mother and would come out from the mountain. Unfortunately, both the recluse and his mother were killed by fire. The king felt sad about it. He buried the mother and the son in the mountain and gave an order that it was illegal cooking with fire on the anniversary that Jie Zitui passed away. Therefore, on the day before the Qingming Festival, Chinese people often eat cold food cooked beforehand, and go sweeping and cleaning tombs on the festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival
Known as Duanwu-Jie, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month(usually in June). It originated form the primitive practice to worship dragons or river gods. The festival is also dedicated to Qu Yuan(340B.C.-278B.C.), a patriotic poet of the Chu State. During the Warring States Period(475B.C.-221B.C), the Qin was the strongest one of the vassal states. The kings of the Qin were attempting to annex the other weaker states and unify the whole China. They waged a series of wars against its neighbouring states. One of the states under attack was the Chu. Qu Yuan served as a senior official of the Chu State. He urged his king to make an alliance with other states which were attacked by the Qin. However, he failed and was forced to live in exile. When the great patriot heard that his motherland was conquered by the Qin’s army, he felt extremely upset and drowned himself in the Miluo River. In order to avoid his body being eaten by hungry fish, people rowed boats to scare the fish away and threw glutinous rice puddings into the river. The custom of eating the glutinous rice puddings and the dragon boat race has its roots in the legend of Qu Yuan.
The Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon-Cake Festival. It is the second grandest traditional Chinese festival and is an occasion for a family reunion too. The Mid-Autumn festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month(usually in the late September or the early October). On the evening of the day, the moon is relatively bright and round. The festival originated from the legend of Houyi and Chang’e. It goes that there used to be ten suns in the sky a long time ago, the world became unbearable hot, and crops withered in the scorching sun. Houyi was a talented archer who was sent to shoot down nine of the suns by King Yao(a king who lived before the 21st century B.C.). He succeeded and was given the elixir of life by a goddess as a reward. Houyi did not want to leave his wife, Chang’e, and asked her to keep the elixir. A thief tried to stole the elixir when the archer went out. At the critical moment, Chang’e had to ingest the elixir. Suddenly, she ascended to the moon and could not go home. Since then, the wife has lived in solitude with her white rabbit. The husband missed his wife much, and put the favorite food of his wife on a table on the fifteenth day of each lunar month, as if she could eat the food. Her favourite food included moon-cakes, fruits and peanuts.
Author: Tina Luo
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