中国文化 6.Traditional Chinese Festivals

Customs
• On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with local specialties such as beans, dates, peanuts, walnuts, gingko, lotus seeds in addition to rice, cooked with sugar to make the porridge wonderfully sweet.
Spring Festival
• It originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC1046 BC) from the people’s sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one. • Nowadays, this superstitious meaning has faded away and is replaced with a symbol of unification, happiness and hope. • The Spring Festival is the most important and ceremonious traditional festival in China, just as Christmas Day to the westerners.
Customs
• On the New Year’s Eve, people working far away from home will manage to come back, regardless of long-distance travel, so the “Grand Dinner on New Year’s Eve” is also called “Family Reunion Dinner”. • At twelve o’clock, when a new year drives off the old, every family will shoot off firecrackers to greet new days and send off old ones. • On the New Year’s Eve, almost every family stays up late or all night.
Lantern Festival
• Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first Lunar Calendar month. It is the first full moon night in the Chinese lunar year, symbolizing the coming back of the spring. • It is a “festival within a festival”, considered as the end of Spring Festival.
Lantern Festival
• In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was a Buddhist convention that the monks would visit sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha’s body, and lighten up lanterns to show respect to Buddha on Jan. 15th. • In the Song Dynasty, the custom of guessing riddles written on lanterns on Lantern Festival came into being. • In the Qing Dynasty, fireworks were set off to add fun and people began to eat “yuanxiao” on that day.
Traditional Chinese Festivals
Spring Festival
• The first day of the first lunar month is regarded as the New Year of the Chinese – the Spring Festival. • It starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year.
Customs
• The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon dancing, and temple fairs will be held for days.
Auspicious words of the Spring Festival
• 金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home • 生意兴隆 Business flourishes • 岁岁平安 Peace all year round • 恭喜发财 Wishing you prosperity • 一帆风顺 Wishing you every success • 心想事成 May all your wishes come true • 吉祥如意 Everything goes well • 国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace
Customs
• From the first day of New Year, people extend greetings to their parents, and relatives, friends, classmates as well as colleagues exchange greetings and gifts. • Giving Hongbao (red packets or red envelopes) during the Chinese New Year is another tradition. Each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. The custom, at least 1,800 years old, conveys new year greetings and aims to protect youngsters from ill luck.
Customs
• The CCTV New Year’s Gala is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Central Television. Boasting a yearly viewership of over 700 million viewers, the show features various acts, such as drama, dance, music, and comedy. It has become essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad.
Customs
• The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god to encourage him to say good things about the family when he goes to heaven to make his report, thus securing the family good luck throughout the new year. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.
Customs
• According to the folk custom of China, people on that night will lighten up fancy lanterns and go out to appreciate the moon, set off fireworks, guess riddles written on lanterns, and eat rice glue balls to celebrate the festival. • As time goes by, the Lantern Festival has enjoyed more and more celebrating activities. Some places even add traditional folk-custom performances such as playing dragon lantern, lion dancing, stilting, striking land boat, yange dancing, and striking peace drum.
Traditional food prepared for the Spring Festival