01 The twelve traditional festivals in China include the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Cold Food Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Zhongyuan Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Laba Festival, Xiaonian and New Year's Eve. Traditional Chinese festivals are an integral part of the long history and culture of the Chinese nation. They are diverse in form and rich in content, most of which are related to primitive beliefs, astronomical phenomena, calendars, mathematics and later solar terms. They record the rich and colorful social life and cultural content of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, and accumulate profound historical and cultural connotations.

The twelve traditional festivals in China are as follows:

1. Spring Festival

The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, which is the beginning of a new year. The most solemn traditional festival. The Spring Festival originated from the activities of worshiping gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the year during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. It is the grandest, liveliest and most important ancient traditional festival in China. The main festival activities include paying New Year greetings, posting Spring Festival couplets, setting off firecrackers, making dumplings, etc. Poems describing the Spring Festival include "Yuan Ri" by Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty: The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households are always replacing old talismans with new peaches.

2. Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan, Yuanxi and Yuanye. There is a custom of watching lanterns and eating Yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls). In the south, glutinous rice balls are made and in the north, they are rolled in the Lantern Festival. Poems describing the Lantern Festival include "Sheng Cha Zi ● Yuan Xi" written by Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu: On Lantern Night last year, the lights in the flower market were as bright as day. On the top of the willow tree in the moonlight, people meet at dusk. On Yuan Ye this year, the moon and lights are still the same. I don't see the person from last year, and my spring shirt sleeves are wet with tears. Since the Tang Dynasty, there has been a folk custom of watching lanterns and making noise at night. In the Northern Song Dynasty, from the 14th to the 16th day, there was a curfew, visits to the lantern streets and flower markets, and all-night singing and dancing. It was an unprecedented event. It was also a good opportunity for young people to have secret dates and fall in love.

3. Cold Food Festival

Cold food is not allowed to be eaten two days or one day before Qingming. Fire is not allowed and cold food is eaten for three days. Legend has it that when Duke Wen of Jin was in exile, Jie Zitui cut his stock to satisfy his hunger. However, after Duke Wen of Jin returned to his country and became king, he forgot about Jie Zitui. However, Jie Zitui did not want to boast about his achievements and win favor, so he lived in seclusion with his mother. Later, Gong Wen of Jin repeatedly invited Jie Zitui. Pushing the mountain, he did not want to be an official. Finally, Duke Wen of Jin set fire to the mountain, and Jie Zitui burned his mother to death under a tree. In order to commemorate the loyal ministers and martyrs, later generations did not light a fire and ate cold food on the day of Jie Zitui's death.

4. Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival falls on April 5th every year. The main activities are tomb sweeping and outing. Qingming is also one of the twenty-four solar terms. Poems describing the Qingming Festival include "Qingming" by Du Mu in the Tang Dynasty: Rains fall heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road feel like they are dying. May I ask where the restaurant is? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village.

5. Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Customs include dragon boat racing, eating rice dumplings, picking mugwort leaves, and tying red threads. It is said to commemorate Qu Yuan's death by throwing himself into the Miluo River on this day.

6. Chinese Valentine's Day

Chinese Valentine's Day is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, also known as the Qiqiao Festival. Legend has it that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet across the Tianhe River every year on this night, and the women place wine, preserved fruits, and fruits in front of the court. , use five colored threads to thread a seven-hole needle through the moon, and the one who passes it is a skill, which is called begging for skill. Qixi Festival can be said to be China’s Valentine’s Day. Poems describing the Chinese Valentine's Day include Qin Guan's "Magpie Bridge Immortal": The golden wind and jade dew meet and conquer countless people in the world. Tenderness is like water, good times are like dreams, and I can't help but look at the magpie bridge on the way home. If the love lasts for a long time, how can it last day and night?

7. Zhongyuan Festival

The Zhongyuan Festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. On this day, Taoist temples held fasting rituals to feed evil spirits, and monks and temples held Obon festivals to commemorate the evil spirits. Relatives escaped from the evil ghost world, and it gradually became a ghost festival. Folks held activities such as offering sacrifices to deceased relatives on this day.

8. Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on August 15th, in the middle of the three months of autumn. This time is around the autumnal equinox, the air is crisp and clear, and the moon is brighter and clearer when it is full. It is a time for family reunions. On this festival, families gather together to enjoy the moon, worship the moon, and eat moon cakes. The legend is to commemorate Chang'e.

Moon cakes are the most popular Mid-Autumn Festival delicacy, and there are many theories about its origin. - It is said that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Bowen, the counselor of Zhu Yuanzhang, the leader of the anti-Yuan uprising in Taizhou, Jiangsu, took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival when people gave each other round cakes and put a note in the cakes saying "Kill the Tatars on the night of August 15th". Everyone saw the note in the cakes and was shocked. According to the legend, the Tatars (Yuan soldiers), who committed all kinds of evil together on this night, celebrated the victory of the uprising by eating cakes every family, and officially called the Mid-Autumn Festival round cakes moon cakes.

9. Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month, and nine is the extreme number of Yang, hence the name. On this day, there are customs of climbing high, admiring chrysanthemums, drinking wine, and wearing dogwood. It is now designated as the Senior Citizen's Day. Poems describing the Double Ninth Festival include "Remembering Brothers from Shandong on September 9th" by Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty: Being alone in a foreign land, we are strangers, and we miss our relatives even more during the festive season. I know from afar that when my brothers climbed to a high place, there was only one less person planting dogwood trees.

10. Laba Festival

The winter solstice has the shortest day. The ancients regarded it as the starting point of solar terms and held celebration and sacrificial activities. In ancient times, the twelfth lunar month sacrifice was held at the end of the year. The day was called the twelfth lunar month (the date is uncertain), and the month was called the twelfth lunar month. According to Buddhist legend, Sakyamuni became enlightened on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so Buddhist temples cook porridge to worship the Buddha on this day. Influenced by this, the people set Laba Day on this day (i.e. Laba Festival) and cook Laba porridge.

11. Xiaonian

Xiaonian is December 23 or 24 (now the 23rd), also known as the Stove Sacrifice Day. It is said that the Stove Lord is The guardian god sent by God to the people reports to heaven every year on this day about the good and evil of the people, so he worships the stove on this day in the hope of saying good things about himself to God. This has led to the Chinese people eating stove candies during the New Year. This day is mainly about sweeping dust, offering sacrifices to stoves, etc.

12. New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is the last night of the year. The old year is eliminated on this night, and the new year is the next day, so it is called. Customs include avoiding evil spirits (burning firecrackers), staying up late on New Year's Eve, and having reunion dinners.