The third day of March is Shangsi Festival. Shangsi Festival is a traditional festival of the Han nationality. It was designated as the fourth day of March before the Han Dynasty, and later as the third day of March in the summer calendar. The traditional Shangsi Festival is on the fourth day of the third lunar month, which is also a day of infancy, that is, spring bath day. Shangsi Festival is also called Daughter's Day.
Historically, this ancient custom used this day to clean the dirt at the water's edge and offer sacrifices to ancestors. Lu Ji of the Jin Dynasty wrote in the poem "March 3": "At the end of spring, the weather is soft. Yuanji Longchu, swim the Yellow River. " This is the scene where people traditionally go for an outing on Shangsi Festival, bathe and pray by the river.
In the past, on this day, all officials of the Manchu Dynasty took a collective vacation. The emperor often used this day to entertain new scholars. People are going for an outing. Young men and women have been completely liberated on this day, and they can go their own way, love what I love, communicate freely and not be bound by ethics. Swing, fly kites and watch the scenery in the waterfront suburbs, and young men and women express their feelings about songs, which is enjoyable.
Customs of Shangsi Festival:
1, baby The so-called "smell", that is, "clean" and "smell", is a ceremony to eliminate evil spirits through self-purification. March is coming, and the weather is getting warmer. People go to the river to take a bath, wash their bodies with bluegrass and nod with willow branches dipped in petal water. The ancients thought that this way can get rid of the diseases accumulated all winter, clean and immune in the new year, and be auspicious.
2. pray for fertility. On Shangsi Festival, the most important activity is to offer sacrifices to Gao Yun, the god who manages marriage and childbirth. In ancient times, people thought that female infertility was caused by ghosts and gods, so they used this witchcraft activity to avoid disasters and pray for fertility.
3. Qushui flows. There are three kinds of activities in Shangsi Festival: laying eggs near Shui Piao, floating dates on water and winding water. Floating eggs near the water surface are the oldest. It puts boiled eggs in the river and leaves them to Eve. Whoever finds them will eat them. It's more civilized witchcraft. Jujube floating on water and winding water evolved from floating eggs near water. Qushui later became an entertainment activity for literati, the most famous of which was Wang Xizhi's Lanting Club.
4. Spring outing in the suburbs. Thinking above is not only a festival to exorcise evil spirits and seek happiness, but also a free and happy spring outing. Young men and women go out for an outing, splash water on each other and choose their spouses freely. It is the real Valentine's Day in China, with peony as the theme.
5, Pei Dai shepherd's purse flower. On this day, the ancients had the custom of eating shepherd's purse and boiling eggs. In addition, people also scatter shepherd's purse flowers on stoves and places where they sit and lie, thinking that they can eliminate pests such as ants; Hide cauliflower and tung flower in sweaters and down jackets, thinking that clothes can be eaten; Women wear cauliflower on their heads, thinking that they can avoid headaches and sleep soundly at night.