When is Shangsi Festival

Shangsi Festival is a traditional folk festival in China, which falls on the third day of March of the lunar calendar every year.

Shangsi refers to the first fourth day of March in the summer calendar, so it is also called Sanshi and Yuansi. In the pre-Qin period, this day has become a large-scale folk festival. The main activity is that people go to the water to bathe together, which is called "Zan Zan". Since then, sacrificial banquets and meandering water have been added. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, the festival was changed to the third day of March, so it was also called Chongsan or March 3.

Shangsi Festival originated in Luoyang, which is a thousand-year-old imperial city, with culture hidden in every corner. According to legend, the Duke of Zhou led a skillful craftsman and tried his best to move mountains to build Luoyi. After the completion of Luoyi, he climbed Mangshan Mountain, saw the streets and lanes in the city orderly, and saw Luoshui winding around the east of the city, which made him very happy. He ordered hundreds of officials to gather at the Luoshui River to hold a large-scale activity. This large-scale activity is based on the old habits of the Yin people. When the spring sun is on, the cold is not exhausted, it is warm and cold at first, and it is easy to get sick, so that everyone can hold a "shrivel" activity at the Luoshui River to prevent diseases and pray for health.

what traditional food to eat in the fourth festival

boiled eggs with shepherd's purse

There is a custom of boiled eggs with shepherd's purse on the third day of March in Hunan. Spring is the season to eat shepherd's purse, and the homonym of shepherd's purse is "gathering wealth" Shepherd's shepherd's purse, also known as ground vegetable and field vegetable, is a kind of wild vegetable growing in the corner of the field. Boiled eggs with shepherd's purse can not only dispel wind and damp, clear fire, make waist and legs painless, but also prevent spring plague. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "on March 3, shepherd's purse is a panacea." The folk proverb.

Five-color glutinous rice

Every year on the third day of the third lunar month or in Tomb-Sweeping Day, every family of Zhuang people steamed five-color glutinous rice for the holidays. Five-color glutinous rice is named after its five colors of black, red, yellow, purple and white. Zhuang people regard five-color glutinous rice as a symbol of "good luck" and "bumper harvest of five grains", an excellent food for entertaining guests and one of the offerings for sweeping ancestors.

Artemisia sphaba

Eating Artemisia sphaba on the third day of the third lunar month every year is a traditional folk custom of the Han people in the south of the Yangtze River. According to legend, "March 3rd" is a festival for all the dead. On this day, everyone eats wormwood, in order to commemorate the dead, and wish everyone a long and healthy life without being invaded by evil. It is said that after eating wormwood on March 3, you will not be bitten by a snake if you go into the mountains to work and go out to do business, and you will have a safe trip and be lucky in everything.

pancakes

Eating pancakes on the third day of the third lunar month is one of the traditional customs of Tongan people in Fujian. After Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan Province, his son Zheng Jing inherited his father's footsteps, continued to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and sent troops to attack southern Fujian many times, which caused heavy casualties among the people due to the stubborn resistance of the Qing army. Under Zheng Jun's counterattack, the Qing army surrendered, and Zheng Jun entered the city. While welcoming Zheng Jun, the people made pancakes to offer sacrifices to relatives and friends who died. Later, people used pancakes to worship their ancestors on the third day of the third lunar month.

Sweet wine makes cakes

Since ancient times, Zhuang people in Guangxi have had many unique customs, and some of them have remained unchanged. Some people in Guangxi celebrate Qingming Festival, while others celebrate March 3rd. The most representative sacrificial snack is sweet wine and cake. When the Zhuang people in Guangxi went up the mountain to sweep the grave on March 3, they not only sacrificed their ancestors with sweet wine and cakes, but also ate them themselves after the worship, which is said to be tainted with good fortune.

Small garlic cake

In Fanqu, Taihu County, Anhui Province, it is a custom to eat small garlic cake on the third day of the third lunar month and in Tomb-Sweeping Day every year. Small garlic cake is mainly made of small garlic, bacon and rice flour. It is said that a long time ago, the third day of the third lunar month was one of the ghost festivals in China. On this evening, wild ghosts came out to wander. Small garlic is pungent and warm. Eating small garlic can dispel cold, kill insects and drive away ghosts and demons.