History and Customs of March 3

Legend has it that this is the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West

Anciently, on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar every year, people also went to the river to have a picnic. Some of the wine glass into the slow water, so that the wine glass downstream, not far downstream waiting for the people will pick up the wine glass from the water, and then a drink, which is called "Qu Shui Liu Goblet"; some will be boiled eggs, put into the water, like a wine glass in the water downstream, waiting for the people downstream from the water out of the eggs, and then peeled and eaten, which is called "Qu Shui Fu Goblet"; some will be boiled eggs, put into the water, like wine cups in the water, and then peeled and eat, which is called "Qu Shui Fu Goblet". This is called "floating vegetarian eggs in curved water"; some put jujubes into the pool, and then pick up the jujubes in the same way as the eggs, which is called "floating Jiangzhao in curved water".

The third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, also known as the "March 3rd Song Festival" or "March Song Wei", is the traditional song festival of the Zhuang people. About the origin of the Song Wei Festival, the Zhuang folk have many beautiful and moving legends.

One says that in ancient times a pair of lovers, both famous singers, often sing songs to express their mutual affection. However, due to the constraints of feudal rites, they could not be married, so they both died of martyrdom in despair. In order to commemorate this couple, people sing songs on the third day of the third month to pay tribute to them.

Two said, in the Tang Dynasty, the Zhuang people out of a song fairy, named "Liu Sanjie". She is very clever, often using songs to praise labor and love, exposing the evils of the rich, the rich hate and afraid of her, so one year on the third day of March, by Liu Sanjie in the mountains cutting firewood, the rich sent people to cut off the mountain vines, so that she fell off a cliff to his death. The descendants in order to commemorate the song of the fairy, will be in Liu Sanjie killed this day party singing, a song is three days and three nights, song Wei this formation. These legends are now difficult to verify, but in the Song people wrote the "Taiping Huan Yu Ji" in the record: "Zhuang people in the ripening of grain, choose the day to sacrifice to the gods, men and women festivals for song." This shows that the song pueblo at that time was also very prosperous. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the development of Zhuang songs was especially prominent, and the Song Wei also became a place for cultural entertainment and men and women to talk about love, and the game of throwing embroidered balls appeared. Women will throw the embroidered ball to their beloved man, both out of the song field, the mutual gift of love tokens, to the Qing Dynasty, the formation of thousands of people to participate in large-scale activities.