Tag: Chinese festival

What Is Mid-Autumn Festival?

Mid-Autumn Festival, as one of the traditional festivals of the Chinese nation, carries a profound cultural heritage and rich emotional connotations. It has a long history and a wide and far-reaching influence. To fully explain the Mid-Autumn Festival, we need to analyze it from multiple dimensions such as its origin, development, customs, cultural connotations, and its significance in modern society.

  1. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival
    There are many theories about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the most well-known of which is its connection with the ancient custom of worshiping the moon. In ancient China, moon worship was a common phenomenon. People believed that the moon was a mysterious and noble natural object that could affect the growth of crops, the changes in tides, and even the misfortunes and blessings of the world. Therefore, the ancients often held sacrificial activities on the night of the full moon to pray for a good harvest, peace, and reunion. This custom gradually combined with the specific date of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to form the prototype of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In addition, the formation of the Mid-Autumn Festival is also related to the ritual of the ancient emperors worshiping the moon. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, there were rituals of worshiping the sun on the spring equinox, worshiping the earth on the summer solstice, worshiping the moon on the autumn equinox, and worshiping the sky on the winter solstice. Although the original moon worship was not set on August 15, as time went by, this date was gradually fixed and became a festival celebrated by the whole nation.

  1. The development of the Mid-Autumn Festival
    The development of the Mid-Autumn Festival is a long and complex process, which integrates cultural elements and folk beliefs from multiple historical periods. In the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival began to become an officially recognized festival and was called the “Reunion Festival”, which was inseparable from the concept of family reunion in the society at that time. After the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival became more popular, and customs such as moon watching and moon cake eating gradually formed and spread to this day. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Mid-Autumn Festival had become an important national festival, and various celebrations were rich and colorful, such as moon watching, poetry reciting, sky lanterns, and fire dragon dancing, showing the diversity and inclusiveness of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
  2. Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival
  3. Moon watching
    Moon watching is one of the most core customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival. When night falls, a bright moon hangs high in the sky, and every household will go out, or climb a building to look into the distance, or live by the water, to enjoy this bright moon together. People use this to express their longing for their relatives far away, and also express their yearning and pursuit for a better life.
  4. Eating mooncakes
    Mooncakes are a traditional food of the Mid-Autumn Festival, symbolizing reunion and happiness. There are many kinds of mooncakes, including Cantonese, Suzhou, Beijing and other flavors, and the fillings are also rich and varied, including red bean paste, lotus paste, five kernels, egg yolks, etc. The custom of eating mooncakes originated from the ancient ritual of worshiping the moon, and later gradually evolved into a must-have festival food for every household during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
  5. Lighting lanterns
    On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, many places still have the custom of lighting lanterns. People will light lanterns or fly Kongming lanterns in the courtyard to express their thoughts for their relatives and good wishes for the future. This custom not only adds to the festive atmosphere of the festival, but also reflects people’s pursuit of light and hope.
  6. Appreciating osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine
    The Mid-Autumn Festival is when osmanthus is in full bloom, so appreciating osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine have also become a major custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The fragrance of osmanthus is refreshing and refreshing; osmanthus wine is brewed with osmanthus as raw material, with a unique taste and aroma, and is deeply loved by people.

IV. Cultural connotation of Mid-Autumn Festival

  1. Reunion culture
    The core cultural connotation of Mid-Autumn Festival is reunion. During this festival, no matter where people are, they will express their thoughts and concerns for their loved ones in various ways. This desire and pursuit for reunion reflects the profound family concept and family awareness of the Chinese nation. At the same time, the reunion culture of Mid-Autumn Festival also promotes social harmony and stability, and enhances national cohesion and centripetal force.
  2. Gratitude culture
    Mid-Autumn Festival is also a festival of gratitude. During this festival, people will thank nature for the gifts and the blessings of their ancestors, and will also be grateful for the care and support of their relatives and friends. This gratitude culture embodies the traditional virtues and humanistic feelings of the Chinese nation, and also promotes emotional exchanges and spiritual communication between people.
  3. Harmonious culture
    Mid-Autumn Festival also contains the connotation of harmonious culture. During this festival, people create a harmonious, warm and beautiful festival atmosphere through customs such as moon watching, eating moon cakes and lighting lanterns. This harmonious culture is not only reflected in the unity and harmony within the family, but also in the harmonious coexistence of all levels of society. It promotes social stability and prosperity, and also shows the traditional virtues and humanistic spirit of the Chinese nation.

V. The significance of Mid-Autumn Festival in modern society
With the changes of the times and the development of society, Mid-Autumn Festival still has important significance in modern society. First of all, as one of the traditional festivals of the Chinese nation, it carries rich historical and cultural connotations and national emotional memories, and is an important carrier for inheriting and promoting the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. Secondly, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a festival that promotes family reunion and social harmony. During this festival, people can put aside their busy work and study, spend a good time with their families, and enhance family affection and friendship; at the same time, they can also participate in various social welfare activities and cultural activities to contribute their own strength to building a harmonious society. Finally, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a festival that showcases the innovative spirit and contemporary style of the Chinese nation. On the basis of retaining traditional customs, people continue to innovate and develop, giving Mid-Autumn Festival new contemporary connotations and forms of expression.

In short, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival full of charm and emotion. It not only carries the long history and culture of the Chinese nation and the national emotional memory, but also shows the traditional virtues and humanistic spirit of the Chinese nation. In modern society, the Mid-Autumn Festival still has important significance and value, which is worth our continued inheritance and promotion.

Ghost Festival: Burning Paper To Remember The Dead

On the night of the 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year, you will see many people burning paper on the roadside or other places, which brings you a strange atmosphere. This is actually an act of remembering the dead.

  1. When is the Zhongyuan Festival?
    The Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival and the Half of July, is a traditional festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year (in some areas, especially in South China, there is also a custom of celebrating the festival on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month). This day is regarded as the intersection of the Yin and Yang worlds in traditional Chinese culture. It is an important day for worshiping ancestors and transcending the souls of the dead. The Zhongyuan Festival in 2024 falls on August 18, Sunday, which is not a statutory holiday, but its influence among the people is still far-reaching.
  2. What is the Zhongyuan Festival?
    The Zhongyuan Festival is one of the four traditional Chinese sacrificial festivals. Together with New Year’s Eve, Qingming Festival and Chongyang Festival, it constitutes an important node for the Chinese nation to worship their ancestors. It originated from the ancient worship of ancestors and belief in nature, and gradually integrated the religious elements of Taoism and Buddhism to form a unique cultural connotation. The Zhongyuan Festival is not only a day to worship ancestors and remember the dead, but also a time to pray for a good harvest, family peace, and social harmony.

III. Legends of Zhongyuan Festival

  1. Mulian Saves His Mother
    Mulian Saves His Mother is one of the most well-known legends of Zhongyuan Festival. Mulian, whose secular name is Luobu, was punished to suffer in the Avici Hell for her evil deeds in her lifetime. After Mulian acquired supernatural powers, he learned about his mother’s situation and resolutely went to hell to rescue her. He asked for help from Tathagata Buddha, and finally saved his mother from the sea of ​​suffering and reincarnated as a dog in the royal city. After Mulian laid a forty-nine-day Taoist temple, his mother was able to ascend to heaven. This legend embodies the spirit of filial piety and compassion, and is also an important cultural foundation for worshiping ancestors and transcending the souls of the dead during Zhongyuan Festival.
  2. Cai Mo Burns Paper
    Another legend related to Zhongyuan Festival is the story of Cai Mo burning paper. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, after Cai Lun invented papermaking, his brother Cai Mo’s business was bleak due to poor papermaking technology. Later, his wife Hui Niang came up with a clever plan. She pretended to be dead and resurrected, claiming that because Cai Mo burned paper for her, she was able to enjoy money in the underworld, thus saving her from the predicament. From then on, every July 15th, people would burn incense and paper for their ancestors to show their remembrance and filial piety.

IV. Customs of the Ghost Festival

  1. Ancestor worship
    The most important custom of the Ghost Festival is to worship the ancestors. People will place offerings at home or in front of the ancestral tomb, such as three kinds of meat, three kinds of tea and five kinds of wine, etc. The head of the family will preside over the ceremony, burn three sticks of incense, kowtow and pray to the ancestors to bless the family with peace and prosperity of descendants. In some areas, there is also a custom of taking the souls of ancestors home and offering food every day until the end of July.
  2. Release river lanterns
    Release river lanterns is also one of the important customs of the Ghost Festival. People make river lanterns such as lotus lanterns, light them and place them in rivers, lakes and seas, letting them float. Legend has it that this can help drowning ghosts and other lonely ghosts in the water to rest in peace. Putting lanterns on the river is not only a mourning for the deceased relatives, but also a blessing for the living people.
  3. Burning paper money
    Burning paper money is an indispensable activity of the Zhongyuan Festival. People believe that paper money can represent money to be used in the underworld, so they will burn a lot of paper money for their ancestors and lonely ghosts. This custom reflects people’s remembrance of their ancestors and their compassion for the dead souls.
  4. Grabbing the ghost
    Grabbing the ghost is a special temple fair activity, which is usually held after the Zhongyuan Festival. The host provides the offerings for the sacrifice to people to grab, which is called “grabbing the ghost”. This activity is said to scare away the ghosts who linger in the world and make them stop haunting.
  5. Taboos of the Zhongyuan Festival
  6. It is not suitable to get married
    The Zhongyuan Festival is considered to be a time when the yin energy is heavier, so it is not suitable to hold a wedding. People are worried that the newlyweds will be disturbed by the yin energy, affecting the happiness and auspiciousness of the marriage.
  7. It is not suitable to go out at night
    On the night of the Zhongyuan Festival, people believe that the ghosts in the underworld are active frequently, so they avoid going out at night. In order to avoid unexpected events or being disturbed by ghosts.
  8. Swimming is not suitable
    Water has the meaning of purification and represents Yin energy during the Ghost Festival, so swimming is not suitable. People are worried that ghosts from the underworld will take this opportunity to invade the human world and bring misfortune and disaster.
  9. It is not suitable to turn on lights at night
    It is not suitable to light too many lights at night to avoid attracting ghosts. People believe that too many lights will destroy the atmosphere of sacrifice and attract unclean souls.
  10. It is not suitable to cry alone at night
    Crying at night during the Ghost Festival is believed to attract ghosts and bring bad emotions to people. Therefore, people should maintain an optimistic attitude and avoid crying alone at night.
  11. It is not suitable to pick fruits
    The Ghost Festival is a time when ghosts are floating around, and picking fruits may attract unclean souls. People are worried that the picked fruits will be possessed by ghosts or carry bad air.
  12. It is not suitable to throw things around
    Throwing garbage or waste on the Ghost Festival is believed to attract evil spirits. Therefore, people should keep the environment clean and orderly and avoid throwing away garbage at will.
  13. Do not ridicule ghosts and gods: Respect ghosts and gods, do not ridicule or ridicule, so as not to bring bad luck.

Respect tradition and understand taboos: The taboos of the Ghost Festival are not nonsense, but reflect people’s respect and respect for the dead. These taboos protect people’s spirit and emotions to a certain extent, and also promote people’s social harmony. When celebrating the Ghost Festival, respecting traditions and following taboos will not only help maintain the continuation of traditional culture, but also reflect our deep affection for our loved ones.