1, Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the end of the cold winter. When the spring sun sprouted, its source can be traced back to ancient La Worship. It is said that it was originally a year-end ritual custom of "offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods" and "gathering all things for fun" in Shennong era. Thanks to the gods, I pray for a good weather and a good harvest in the coming year.
During the Spring Festival, the whole family get together and stay up all night on New Year's Eve. When the bell strikes zero, fireworks are set off to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. Old people give young people "lucky money"; Door stickers, couplets, New Year pictures and blessings inside and outside the house; Go out in the morning of the first day, worship each other and give gifts; Northerners like to eat jiaozi, while southerners eat Yuanxiao and rice cakes.
2. Lantern Festival
Yuanxiao means the first full moon night of the year, also known as "Shangyuan Festival". Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, which has a lot to do with religious culture. As time goes by, there are more and more activities for the Lantern Festival. In many places, activities such as playing with dragon lanterns, playing with lions, walking on stilts, boating, yangko dancing and playing Taiping drums were added during the festival. In addition, every household eats Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival.
3. Tomb-Sweeping Day
Tomb-Sweeping Day is the only folk festival with solar terms and festivals, mainly referring to natural solar terms, which later became an important festival for ancestor worship. It really became a folk festival after the Tang and Song Dynasties. Sacrificing ancestors and sweeping graves is the focus of Tomb-Sweeping Day. Later, it evolved from a simple ritual activity to a spring outing, and swinging and flying kites also became entertainment programs. The day before in Tomb-Sweeping Day is the Cold Food Festival, and it is the custom to eat cold food.
4. Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival began in Wei and Jin Dynasties. There are many opinions about its origin, and the most popular one is to commemorate Qu Yuan. Dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and hanging mugwort leaves are the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.
5. Chinese Valentine's Day
Tanabata Qiao Qi originated in the Han Dynasty. Valentine's Day in China is always associated with the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Needle piercing is one of the programs for primary and middle school girls on Qixi, which is said to have been popular in Han Dynasty. It is a folk custom to sit and watch cowherd and weaver girl on Tanabata.
According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, clever and clever fairy. On this night, ordinary women prayed to her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also prayed to her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called Begging Festival. Proper fruit is the most famous food in festivals.
6. Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest traditional festival after Spring Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China is based on the ancient autumnal equinox and the worship of the moon god, and finally fixed on August 15 every year. In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn twilight and moonlight". The evening moon, that is, the worship of the moon god, did not become a fixed festival until the early Tang Dynasty, which prevailed in the Song Dynasty and was as famous as New Year's Day in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
On the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival, people try their best to reunite with their families, so it is also called "Reunion Festival". The main activities are enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes. The most famous legend of Mid-Autumn Festival is the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon.
7. Double Ninth Festival
The wish of Chongyang lies in the Book of Changes. It is an ancient folk custom to climb again that day, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called "Climbing Festival", which was formally established in the Tang Dynasty. The custom of the Double Ninth Festival includes sightseeing, climbing and overlooking, viewing chrysanthemums, planting dogwood all over, eating double ninth cake and drinking chrysanthemum wine. Now China has designated the ninth day of September as the Day of Respect for the Elderly.