China's traditional festivals

1. Winter Solstice Festival, that is, the day of the winter solstice, we that (Shandong) are to eat eggs on that day, just has not been much attention;

2. Five Beans Festival, the fifth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. On that day,

3. April 8 is the birthday of the Buddha, like Christmas in the West, is the festival of the whole nation after the spread of Buddhism to the East

The festival was only introduced in the Tang Dynasty, when it was celebrated as a festival of the Buddha's birthday. This festival came into being around the time of the Tang. On this day, large and small Zen monasteries have bathing Buddha

Fasting, monks with incense and medicine sugar and water to gift incense, while the folk cook wine, eat spring fruits and melons to commemorate.

4. Dai Water Festival (Dai New Year) Water Festival. Origin is this:

Since a long, long time ago, there is a vicious king of the devil, his body has magic, fall in the water can not float away, fall in the fire can not be burned, the knife can not be broken, the gun can not be pierced, the bow and arrow can not be shot. He held himself to be a man of great power, and was so arrogant and haughty that he did wrong all the day long. At that time, there were sixteen layers in the sky, and he became the overlord of one of them. He did all kinds of evil to the people, oppressing and plundering them. He had six beautiful wives, but if any of them had beautiful daughters, he would take them as his wives. Once he saw that a princess on earth named Zong Zong Bu was prettier than all his six wives, so he snatched her up and made her his seventh wife. One year in June, the day of the New Year on earth, the devil king for 婻ZongZhongBu New Year's greetings, recruited the devil ministers devil generals, in the palace drinking wine and having fun. After three rounds of drinking, the guests and hosts were already drunk. The king of the three worlds should be the master of the three worlds." The Devil King listened smugly, pondered for a while, turned his face to his beloved wife and said, "I can indeed conquer the three realms, and my weakness is unknown to anyone." 婻 Dumpling Cloth then asked, "How can the Great King have a weakness when he has such magical power?" The king replied in a low voice: "I am afraid of people pulling out my hair and strangling my neck, which will make my body and head separated, so you have to keep a close eye on it." Dumpling Cloth pretended to be surprised and asked, "How can a king who can conquer the three worlds be afraid of hair?" The Devil King whispered again, "Though the hair strands are small, my hair strands will break my neck, and I won't be able to live." Hearing this, ?kānbū secretly made up her mind. So she continued to pour wine for the Devil King until the banquet was over, and she helped the Devil King to go to bed and fall asleep. At this time, she carefully plucked off one of the devil king's hairs and strangled it onto the devil king's neck before he woke up. Immediately the king's head fell to the ground, and the blood dripping from his head turned every drop into a ball of fire that burned brightly and spread rapidly to the earth. At that moment, the Dumpling Cloth rushed to pick up the Devil King's head, and the flames on the earth were extinguished, but as soon as the head was put down, the fire burned up again. So, the six wives of the king also came, they took turns to hold the head of the devil king, so that the fire no longer burned up. Later, the Dumpling Cloth answered the earth, but she was still covered with blood, and people poured water on her to wash off the blood. The bloodstains were finally washed away, and the Dumpling Cloth lived happily on earth. After her death, the people in her honor, in the New Year every year, they splash each other with clean water to wash away the dirt, ushering in an auspicious New Year.

5. The Yi Torch Festival (April 24 and June 24) and the Flower Arrangement Festival (February 8),

I. Legend of the Torch Festival:

In ancient times, the hard-working and brave people of the Yi ethnic group, ushered in a golden autumn. Looking at the harvest scene, men, women and children singing and dancing ...... But, the hateful heavenly king, do not let the Yi people live a good day, sent a big calendars called ten vigorously, destroying the crops of the Yi mountains.

Yi people look at their hard work of the fruit is trampled, each angry chest burning. A young man named Bao Cong wanted to stop the atrocities. He fought with them to the death. The wind came from all directions to watch, and the mountain gods stretched their necks to see. Bao Cong and Ten Great Strengths wrestled together like two giant dragons dancing, head to head like two great mountains. All the places where the four feet stepped on became deep wells of water, and the places where the knees knelt became pools of water. The sun rises and sets, the moon sets and rises, they wrestled for three days and three nights, ten vigorously finally exhausted, Pao Chung took the opportunity to swing up a kick to knock it to the ground. The mountain looked open mouth praise, the tree stretched out the thumb to applaud, turnip water singing praise, the wind spread the hero's deeds everywhere ...... Heavenly King heard the anger, scattered a handful of incense ash. In the blink of an eye, the incense ash turned into countless pests, falling all over the Yi Mountains. The Yi people saw the hard-won fruit of victory to be destroyed, everyone gathered, one person a torch, forming a fire dragon, all over the field, the pests all burned to death. Finally saved the fruits of their labor. Since then, the Torch Festival has become a festival for the Yi people to "get rid of pests and celebrate the harvest".

Second, the activities of the Torch Festival

The Torch Festival is the biggest festival of the Yi people in a year, and it is held on June 24th of the lunar calendar every year. The festivals of the Yi people in various regions are very rich in content. In the past, during the festival, every family of the Yi people would hold rituals and burn torches in the fields to drive away insects and disasters. Nowadays, the main content of the torch festival has been the market trade in the neighboring areas and the songs and dances of the Yi people.

On the second day of the Torch Festival, young men, women and children from all villages carry the best food, rice balls, buckwheat noodle products, lasagna, chicken breasts and drumsticks, meat and fruits and other dry food. People dressed in festive costumes, wearing jewelry, some riding horses, driving their respective horses, cows, sheep, etc., to participate in bullfighting, sheep fighting, cock fighting, horse racing, wrestling, potshuang dance, singing "Dugu'' tune and other activities, girls and boys with smiles on their faces surrounded by the village's wrestlers, rushing the horns on the Tied with various colors of silk ribbons fighting bulls, fighting sheep, riders pull with decent saddle and bridle steeds, girls with a colorful butter cloth umbrellas. In the torch festival, whether the sun is out or not, rain or not, women in the torch festival, everyone holds a yellow oil cloth umbrella. This umbrella has its own wonderful use: not only is the rain and sun, but also can be supported on the head, in the glare of the light, the face is reflected, was slightly yellow. Women's umbrellas, so that the entire hillside from a distance into a "yellow world", particularly spectacular.

Yi people to yellow for the beauty of the girl to yellow face for the beauty. Therefore, since ancient times to buckwheat flour paste to wipe the face, dress highlights the yellow hue. The color under the yellow glow is indeed extraordinarily beautiful, especially in the mountains are green summer, yellow dotted in the green world under the blue sky played a warm and cold color regulation, so that there is a kind of harmonious beauty. Lift the skirt feet, carefully stepping on the dew, wading through a stream, through a piece of woods, walking through a grassy slope, from all directions converge to the annual torch festival held in the mountains of the big grass dam - torch field.

People in this mountain on the big grass dam wrestling, horse racing, bullfighting, goat fighting, the force of the competition from time to time stirred up a burst of applause.

People talk and sing, play the flute and strings, play the moon zither, play the lock na, make the festival more colorful, colorful. When the sun sets, the crowd dispersed, the girls and boys, each with their own lover, covered with butter cloth umbrellas towards the mountains, through the sea of forests, flowing through the streams, to go to the world of two people.

The torch festival with its unique flavor of the festival activities and fascinating, intoxicated. In the festival, there are rough and tough men competing in wrestling, horse racing, bullfighting and other stimulating sports; there are also beautiful and sentimental Yi girls jumping Duo Luohuo dance and da body dance and other recreational activities; there are also interesting and beautiful Yi beauty pageant and so on, however, the festival is the most interesting, the most poetic or that "full of stars in the sky spread the Yi township". However, the most interesting and poetic part of the festival is the torchlight tour. The "Dugde'' (Torch Festival gathering place) is crowded with people, grand and lively.

6. Tibetan festivals

{Lantern Festival}

Tibetan language, "Geden A Qu", the Tibetan calendar October 25 is the Lantern Festival. Tibetan Buddhism Gelugpa master Tsongkhapa passed away on this day. This night, the monastery and the roof of the house are to light up countless lamps, turn the team ChuanJin endless, the believers have anti- hand-held mulberry sticks into the incense burner in front of the DaZhao temple, praying to God to bring good luck for their own, the next year of wind and rain.

{Exorcism Festival}

Tibetan language called "Gutu", the Tibetan calendar December 29, held on this day around the temple held a grand jumping activities, household cleaning, drive away the ghosts of the disaster, to meet the New Year.

{Spring Sowing Festival}

Also known as the Sowing Festival, Trial Sowing Festival, is the first time to learn to plow the calf set on the yoke, trial plowing land. It is held on an auspicious day in the first month of the year.

Sedon Festival}

The end of the sixth month and the beginning of the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar, is the annual Tibetan time-honored traditional festival of Sedon Festival. In the Tibetan language, "snow" is the meaning of yogurt, "ton" is the meaning of "feast" Snowdon Festival according to the Tibetan interpretation, is to eat yogurt festival. With the development of history, the activities of the Snow Festival gradually evolved into a Tibetan opera will be performed, so it is also known as the "Tibetan Opera Festival".

The Tibetan New Year}

The Tibetan New Year is a traditional festival of the Tibetan people. On the first day of the Tibetan New Year, men and women, young and old, meet each other to say "Zaxi Dele" (good luck), "Losar Sang" (good new year). In the New Year, the children set off firecrackers, we drink barley wine, ghee tea, toasting each other, have fun. Tibetan opera is sung in towns and villages, and potshoos and string dances are performed. In pastoral areas, herdsmen lit a bonfire, all night long to sing and dance. During the festival, there are also folk wrestling, throwing, tug-of-war, horse-racing and archery and a series of competitions.

Bathing Festival

Bathing Festival is a unique Tibetan traditional festival, held every year in early fall, the festival for 7 big. It is called "Gama Dupa" in Tibetan.

Every golden wind, autumn color pleasant season, Tibetan men, women and children, will be happy back off the tent, clothes, card pad, take barley wine, ghee tea, cakes and cookies, leave the town, came to the Lhasa River, pitching tents. Scramble into the water, excitedly swimming, playing, scrubbing.

7. Korean Elderly People's Day

The Elderly People's Day is a traditional festival of the Korean people. The festival is celebrated at different times in different regions, and is held on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month every year for the Koreans living in Heilongjiang Province; and on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month every year for the Koreans living in Yanbian. On the day of the festival, all old people over 60 years old are given big red flowers by their juniors to receive blessings from the whole village. Men and women dressed in festive national costumes snuggle up next to the old man and enjoy heavenly happiness with him***. On this day, but also held step on the springboard, swing swing dry, playing ball, wrestling and other activities, people sing and dance to their hearts' content, to bring all the joy to the elderly. During the festival, families with elderly people also prepare food such as "Magri" (a kind of rice wine), rice cakes, cold noodles, dog meat, and soy sauce soup to show respect and appreciation for the elderly people's hard work throughout their lives.

Attachment: List of Major Festivals of Minority Groups in South China

Festival Name Ethnicity Time (Lunar Calendar) Main Activities Location

Zalizuo Hani ethnic group, the first day of the first month of the lunar year, rituals, swinging,

Songs, banquets, and feasts in Mojiang

Expanding Scavenger Hunt, Lahu ethnic group, the third day of the first month of the lunar year, Songs, and the dance of the reed-sheng

Climbing Flower Pole, Pingbian, Yongshan

Song Race Lisu Lunar or Early January Song Race and Bathing Nujiang

Meiming Zong Song Jingpo New Year's Day 15 Wenbang Dance Luxi, Longchuan

Bangbanging Naxi New Year's Day 15 Horse Racing, Bamboo and Wooden

Agricultural Tools Trade Lijiang

Sanduo Festival Naxi Early February Horse Racing and A

Liliili Picnic Lijiang

Flower Arrangement Festival Yi Early February 8 Horse-cherry picking, flower arranging

and "left-foot dance" Daitao, Shuangjiang

Longduan Street, Zhuang March 15 Materiel exchanges, youth

Men and women sing songs and socialize in Furning

March Street, Bai March 15 Horse-racing, youth

Furning, Bai March 15 Horse racing, youth singing, and other activities. March Street Bai people March 15 Horse racing, dragon boat racing,

Songs and dances Dali

Sacrifice of the Great Geno people before the planting of seeds

(March) Drum dance, bamboo pole dance,

Playing the gyroscope Bannai

Niuwang Festival Buyei people on the eighth day of the month of April Eating the king of the bulls, give the cattle

Spreading of food, songs and dances Luo Gan, Fuyuan

Splashing Festival Dai people in mid April, splashing water, throwing buns. Mid-April Splashing water, throwing buns,

Gaol shooting, dragon boat races Banna, Dehong

Winding the Three Spirits The Bai people circle the mountains on April 23, offer sacrifices, dance the Ba Ba

King's whip, octagonal drum dance Dali

Transferring the Mountain The Pumi turn the mountain on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, singing and dancing, firing guns Ninglang

Duoyang Festival The Tibetans have a horse race on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a potshovel dance,

strings dance, picnic Diqing

Duoyang Festival Diqing

Panwang Festival Yao people May 29 Rituals, songs and dances Wenshan, Honghe

Bitter Zaza Hani people June Songs, dances,

sacrifices to the gods of heaven, polishing the autumn Honghe

Torch Festival Yi,

Bai, etc. June 24, 5 Lighting of torches, wrestling

Bullfighting, songs and dances Shilin, Chupa

Hsiung, Dali

Eid al-Fitr The Hui worship on October 1 of the lunar calendar and give "oil incense" in Kunming and other places

Gurbang The Hui worship in December of the lunar calendar, slaughtering cows and sheep in Kunming and other places

July Meeting The Naxi trade in livestock in mid-July, singing songs Lijiang

Hui Jie The Achang play the Green Dragon, White Elephant, White Elephant, White Elephant, White Elephant, White Elephant, White Elephant, and other places in Kunming and other places in Kunming. White elephants,

Elephant Foot Drum Dance Nujiang, Dehong

Kaqiaowo Dulong Lunar New Year plagiarizing oxen, offering sacrifices to the sky, jumping on pots and pans

Zhuangzhuang Dance, inviting each other to be their guests Gonshan

Duan Festival Shui, Late August

Early July Copper drum dance, singing songs, searching for spouses Fuyuan

Lamu Drum Dance Wa, Lunar New Year Lamu Drum Dance, oxen plagiarism,

Dancing Ximeng, Cangyuan, and other tribes. Canyuan

Blade Pole Festival Lisu, early February 8, seven blade poles, dancing Nujiang, Baoshan and other places

Hulu Festival Lahu, October 15, reed-sheng dance, exchange of materials Lancang

July Festival Hani, October, ancestor worship, Tongjie Banquet, Simao, Honghe

Bitterness Za, ours, June, playing the swings, dancing,

gathering Banna

Flower-picking Festival Dai, Bannan

The Dai, the first of the three ethnic groups in China, are the most important in the world.

Flower Picking Festival, Dai, mid-April, picking flowers and dedicating them to the Buddha, Jinggu

Mother Sacrifice Festival, Hani, March 1

The first day of the year for the cow, mother sacrifice, mother's grace song, Simao

Mizhi Festival, Yi, February 8, Dragon Tree Ceremony, Picnic, Shilin

Dragon Sacrifice Festival, Yi, February 8, Lusheng Dance, Jinggu

March Meeting, Yi, March 28, market, dancing, Muting

The Pilgrimage Festival, Mosuo, June, the first day of the month for the Dai to pick flowers and dedicate flowers to the Buddha, Banna

Chaoshan Festival Mosuo July 25 worship goddess,

befriending Asha Lugu Lake

Huashan Festival Miao early January 3 to 7 planting flower poles, dancing stomping feet,

Three-steps dance, tying Lusheng frame Pingbian, Wenshan,

Maguancun, Hekou,

Mengzi, etc.