Where do the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival come from?

Chinese New Year

Legend has it that in ancient China, there was a monster called "Nian", which had a long tentacled head and was very ferocious. "It lived at the bottom of the sea for many years and came ashore on New Year's Eve to eat livestock and hurt people.

Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and hamlets fled to the mountains to avoid the harm of the beast.

On New Year's Eve this year, the people of Peach Blossom Village are helping the old and the young to take refuge in the mountains, from outside the village came to a begging old man, see his hand on crutches, arm on the bag, silver beard flowing, eyes like a bright star.

Some of the villagers sealed the windows and locked the door, some packing, some cattle and sheep, everywhere people shouted and hissed, a rush panic scene.

This is the first time I've seen a new version of the book, and I've seen a new version of the book.

Only the east end of the village, an old woman gave the old man some food, and advised him to go to the mountains to avoid the "New Year" beasts, the old man stroked his beard and laughed and said: "Granny, if you let me stay at home for a night, I will definitely "New Year" beasts away.

The old woman looked at him with astonishment, and saw that he had hair, hale and hearty, extraordinary. But she still continued to persuade, begging the old man smiled but did not say. The old woman had no choice but to leave her home behind and go up the mountain to take refuge.

In the middle of the night, the "New Year" beast broke into the village. It realized that the atmosphere in the village was different from that of previous years: the old lady's house at the east end of the village had a big red paper on the door, and the house was ablaze with fire. "The beast shivered and gave a strange cry.

"Year" toward the mother-in-law's home for a moment, and then screamed furiously pounced on the past. Near the door, the yard suddenly came "bang bang pop" sound, "year" trembling, and do not dare to come forward.

It turns out that Nian is afraid of red, fire and explosions. At this time, the mother-in-law's door is wide open, only to see an old man wearing a red robe in the yard in the laugh. The "year" was shocked and fled in a mess.

The next day was the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, and the people who came back to the village were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this point, the old woman realized, rushed to the townspeople to tell the promise of the old man begging.

Folks flocked to the old lady's home, only to see the old lady's door with red paper, a pile of unburned bamboo in the yard is still in the "snap" explosion, a few red wax candles inside the house is still glowing with the remaining light ......

Ecstatic townsfolk to celebrate the arrival of the right good luck, have to change their clothes. The right auspicious arrival, have changed into new clothes and wear new hats, to friends and relatives to say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, people know the way to drive away the "New Year" beast.

From then on, every New Year's Eve, home red couplets, firecrackers; household candles brightly lit, to keep the night. Early in the morning on the first day, but also to visit friends and relatives to say hello.

This custom has become more and more widespread, and it has become the grandest traditional festival in Chinese folklore.

The Legend of Spring Festival II

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a young man named "Wannian" who earned his living by collecting firewood. He was very clever and saw that the seasons were very chaotic, so he was determined to set the seasons right, but he didn't know where to start.

One day, he went up the mountain to cut firewood, and when he was resting, he remembered the festival again, and he thought hard about it, looking at the shadow of the tree. Suddenly, he was inspired by the moving shadows of the trees. Back home, he designed a special measurement of the sun's shadow to count the length of the day, "sundial". However, when the weather appeared cloudy, misty and rainy, what to do? Later, when he was fetching firewood on the mountain, he went to the spring to drink water, and saw the spring on the cliff dripping down rhythmically, which aroused his interest. He was mesmerized by the dripping water. When he got home, he made a five-tiered leaky pot. He used the water leakage method to keep time. In this way, by measuring the sun and shadows and using the water leakage to keep time, he slowly realized that the length of the day and time would repeat itself every 360 days or so. The shortest day was at the winter solstice.

Due to the disorder of the festival, it affected the production of agriculture, and the common people were complaining about it. Zu Yi, the son of heaven, was also worried, and he summoned all the officials to find out the reason for the disorder of the festival. The official of the festival, Ah Heng, said that it was caused by the people's offense against the gods. To normalize the festival, they had to worship the gods and ask for forgiveness. Believing this, the Son of Heaven led the hundred officials to the Temple of Heaven to worship the God of Heaven and ordered the whole country to set up platforms to offer sacrifices to Heaven.

Wannian believed that the sacrifice was futile. He took his homemade sundial instrument and water leakage to see the son of heaven, and explained the reasoning that the festival was out of order due to the festival was not determined. And according to the results of his own determination for many years, he explained the winter solstice and clarified the cycle of the operation of the sun and the moon. The son of heaven heard, feel Wan Nian said reasonable, so the Wan Nian left, and in front of the altar of heaven built sundial platform, funnel pavilion, and sent twelve children to Wan Nian service to listen to.

After some time, the Son of Heaven sent Ah Heng to ask Wan Nian about the production of calendars. Wan Nian took out his own calendar and said: "Sunrise and sunset are three hundred and six, and the cycle starts from the beginning. Grasses and trees flourish and wither in four seasons, and there are twelve rounds in a year." Jealousy A Heng heard, feel apprehensive, thought: if let Wannian set the festival quasi heavy, will get the son of heaven's reuse, then what will happen to me ....... He crossed a heart, to take out Wannian.

So, he bought an assassin to assassinate Wannian with a lot of money. However, Wannian is working hard from morning to night, never leaving the Sun Moon Pavilion. The assassin couldn't find a chance to do it," he said. As time passed, the assassin was so anxious that he decided to shoot Wannian with an arrow.

One day at noon, when Wannian to the sundial platform to watch the sun and shadow, the assassin hid in a corner, pull the bow and arrow to Wannian shot. Only heard a "whoosh" sound, the arrow fell on the arm of Wannian. Wannian fell down, and the boy shouted to catch the assassin. The guards rushed to the scene, caught the assassin, and sent him to see the son of heaven.

The Son of Heaven learned from the assassin that the assassination of Wannian was originally planned by Ah Heng, so he put Ah Heng under criminal law and personally climbed up to the Sun and Moon Pavilion to see Wannian. Wannian pointed to the Shen star and said, "Now the Shen star catches up with the Silkworm Hundred Stars, the stars are restored, the Zi hour and the night are crossed, the old year is over, and the time has begun to spring, so I hope that the Son of Heaven will set a festival."

"Spring is the first of the year, let it be called the Spring Festival." The Son of Heaven said, "You have been here for more than three years, and you have worked hard to produce the solar calendar. Today, on the contrary, was assassinated, seriously injured, now follow me to the palace to convalesce well, with me **** the Spring Festival."

Wan Nian replied: "I am grateful for the love of the emperor, but the solar calendar is still a straw calendar, is not accurate, but also the end of the year to run into, otherwise, over time, will cause the festival is out of order. In order to live up to expectations, I must stay here and continue to set the solar calendar right."

Cold comes and goes, spring goes and winter comes. After long observation and careful projection, Wannian finally set the solar calendar right. When he presented the solar calendar to the son of heaven, the son of heaven saw him full of white hair, y touched, the solar calendar named "Wannian Calendar", sealed Wannian as the sun and moon life star. Today, people call the Chinese New Year "Nian" and hang up a picture of the star of longevity on New Year's Eve, according to legend, in order to honor Wannian, who was a man of great merit and virtue.

The origin of the Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Lantern Festival, a traditional Chinese festival. The first month is the first month, the ancients called the night "night", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon in a year, so the first month of the fifteenth for the Lantern Festival. It is also known as the "Festival of the New Year". According to Chinese folk tradition, in the beginning of the year, the earth back to spring festival night, the sky bright moon hanging high, on the ground colorful lamps and lanterns people watching, guessing lantern riddles, eat Lantern Festival family reunion, a happy and joyful. When Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, "Taiyi God" sacrifice activities on the 15th day of the first month. Sima Qian in the "Taichu calendar" in the Lantern Festival as a major festival.

The Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, and is said to have been set up in honor of "Ping Lu" by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ying, the son of Empress Lu, ascended the throne as Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Hui was weak and indecisive, and the power gradually fell into the hands of Empress Lu. After the death of Emperor Hui of Han, Empress Lu took control of the government and turned Liu's world into Lu's world. The court officials and Liu's clansmen were y indignant, but they were afraid of Empress Lu's brutality and dared not speak out in anger. After the death of Empress Lu, all of them were afraid of being harmed and ostracized. So, they secretly gathered at the home of General Lu Lu and ****planned for a rebellion, so as to completely seize Liu's kingdom.

The story reached the ears of Liu Sang, the king of Liu's clan, and Liu Sang, in order to protect Liu's kingdom, decided to start an army to crush Zhu Lu and then contacted the founding ministers, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, and designed to disarm Lu Lu, so that the "Zhu Lu's Rebellion" was finally completely pacified. After the rebellion, Liu Heng, the second son of Liu Bang, was crowned as Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. Deeply impressed by the hard-won peace and prosperity, Emperor Wen designated the 15th day of the first month after the "Rebellion of Zhu Lu" was quelled as a day of happiness with the people, and every house in the capital was decorated with lanterns and colors to celebrate. From then on, the 15th day of the first month has become a universal celebration of the folk festival - the "Lantern Festival".

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrifice of the "Taichi God" was held on the fifteenth day of the first month. Sima Qian listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival in the "Taichu Calendar".

The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and it is also the second most important traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. The 15th day of the 8th month falls in the middle of the fall season, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. China's ancient calendar in the middle of the fall in August, known as the "mid-autumn", so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the "Mid-Autumn Festival".

The Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient festival, the moon festival is an important custom. Ancient emperors had the social system of sacrificing the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and there was also the wind of moon sacrifice in the mid-autumn festival in the people's homes, and later on, the moon appreciation was more important than the moon sacrifice, and the serious sacrifice was turned into a relaxing recreation. Mid-Autumn Moon Festival custom in the Tang Dynasty flourished, many poets in the famous poems of the moon, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, the court and civil moon worship and moon worship activities on a larger scale. Many monuments of "moon worship altar", "moon worship pavilion" and "moon watch tower" remain in different parts of China. Beijing's "Altar of the Moon" is the Ming Jiajing years for the royal moon festival built. Whenever the moon rises in the Mid-Autumn Festival, set up a case in the open air, mooncakes, pomegranates, jujube and other fruits and vegetables for the table, after the moon worship, the whole family sat around the table, eating and talking, *** enjoy the moon.

According to historical records, the term "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in the book "Zhou Li". To the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there is "Oracle Shangshu town cattle confusion, Mid-Autumn Festival Eve and around the micro-suits pan river" record. It was not until the early Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a regular festival. The Book of Tang - Taizong records that "August 15 Mid-Autumn Festival". The popularity of the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty, and by the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the major festivals in China, on a par with New Year's Day. It is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival.

Another theory for the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is that the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar coincided with the time when rice was ripening and families worshipped the God of Land. The Mid-Autumn Festival may be a remnant of the Autumn Report.

Legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival are very rich, and myths such as Chang'e Runs to the Moon, Wu Gang's Felling of the Laurel, and the Jade Rabbit's pounding of pills have been widely spread.

Chang E Runs to the Moon

Legend has it that in ancient times, a hero named Hou Yi shot down nine suns and ordered the last sun to rise and set on time for the benefit of the people. Hou Yi was thus honored and loved by the people, and married a beautiful and kind wife named Chang'e. Hou Yi except for the art of hunting, all day with his wife, people are envious of this couple of love. A lot of people came to learn from Hou Yi, and Peng Meng, who had a bad heart, also came in.

One day, Houyi went to the Kunlun Mountains to visit his friends and seek Taoism, and coincidentally met the Queen Mother who passed by, so he asked the Queen Mother for a packet of immortality medicine. It is said that if you take this medicine, you can instantly ascend to heaven and become immortal. However, Hou Yi could not leave his wife behind, so he temporarily gave the immortality pill to Chang'e to treasure. Chang'e hid the medicine in the treasure box of the dresser, but was unexpectedly seen by the villain Peng Meng, who wanted to steal the medicine to become immortal himself.

Three days later, Houyi led a group of disciples to go out hunting, and Peng Meng pretended to be sick and stayed behind. Shortly after Hou Yi left, Peng Meng broke into the backyard of the house with a sword in his hand and forced Chang E to hand over the immortality pill. Chang'e knew that she was no match for Peng Meng, and in a moment of crisis, she made a snap decision, turned around, opened the treasure box, and took out the Pill of Immortality and swallowed it in one gulp. Chang'e swallowed the medicine and immediately flew to the sky. As Chang'e was attached to her husband, she flew down to the moon, the closest to the earth, and became immortal.

In the evening, Hou Yi returned home, and his maids cried out about what had happened during the day. Houyi both shocked and angry, drew the sword to kill the villains, Peng Meng early escape, Houyi angry chest thumping, grief, looking up at the night sky calling his wife's name, then he was surprised to find that today's moon is exceptionally bright and bright, and there is a swaying figure resembles Chang'e. He desperately chased towards the moon, and the moon is the closest to the earth. He desperately chased the moon, but he chased three steps, the moon back three steps, he retreated three steps, the moon into three steps, no matter how can not catch up with the front.

Hou Yi had no choice but to send someone to Chang'e's favorite garden, set up incense, put on her favorite fruit and honey, and sacrificed to Chang'e, who was fond of her in the Moon Palace. When the people heard the news that Chang'e had run to the moon and become immortal, they set up incense under the moon and prayed to the kind Chang'e for good luck and peace. From then on, the custom of worshipping the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.

Wu Gang folded the laurel

Legend has it that the laurel tree in front of the Guanghan Palace on the moon grew luxuriantly, more than 500 feet high, and there was a man who used to cut it down, but every time he cut it down, the place where he cut it down immediately closed up again. For thousands of years, it was cut down and closed up in this way, and the laurel tree could never be cut down. It is said that the man who cut down the tree was named Wu Gang, a native of Xihe in the Han Dynasty, who had followed the Immortals to the heavenly realm, but he made a mistake, and the Immortals relegated him to the Moon Palace, where he was punished by doing this kind of futile work day after day. Li Bai's poem, "I want to carve the laurel in the moon, and hold it as a salary for the cold".

The Jade Rabbit pounding medicine

Legend has it that there is a rabbit in the middle of the moon, white as jade, so it is called "Jade Rabbit". The white rabbit took a jade mortar and pestle, knelt down and pounded medicine into toadstool pills, which could be taken to live a long life and become immortal. Over time, the Jade Rabbit became synonymous with the moon.

Mid-Autumn Festival "moon watching" all kinds of

Moon chasing Hong Kong people after the 15th of August Mid-Autumn Festival, not yet finished, but also in the night of the 16th of August again, commonly known as "moon chasing". The night of sixteen, people take the old and young, with tents and lamps, wine and food, to the beach, listening to the waves and enjoying the moon, poetry and chess, wine and laughter. At this time, the blue sky and blue sea and the moonlight and candlelight reflect each other, fascinating.

Moonwalking When the moon rises, the masses of the Dong villages in Guangxi come to the open area of the mountain village in the moonlight, singing and dancing. From a distance, the sound and music vibrate to the heavens, and from close up, the dance is like a big stage floating in the watery moonlight.

Watching the Moon On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is about to rise, the Korean people compete to be the first to climb onto the "watching the moon" frame made of wooden poles and pine branches. It is said that those who see the moon first can get good luck. Afterwards, the people beat long drums and gongs, play the Dongxiao, and dance the Nongjiale Dance together.

Walking the Moon Popular in Suzhou. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, women go out to visit their relatives and friends, enjoy the moon and flowers, and come and go in an endless stream until late at night.

Full Moon The folk in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province, on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family makes buns with sesame seeds and sugar in the middle, and then puts them in a pot to be burned, and the whole family eats them together, which is called the "full moon".

Seeking the moon Tibetan compatriots to the Mid-Autumn Festival in the water "seeking the moon" custom. On the night of the day, young children along the river, looking for the moon reflected in the water, until the end of the night, before returning home to eat reunion moon cakes.

Sacrifice to the moon Xibo in the Mid-Autumn Festival night, set up a table in the courtyard, on top of the cut watermelon and other fruits, and then the whole family to the moon bowing to the moon, please the moon god down to the earth, taste the earth's fruits and melons. The Oroqen also have a similar custom to pray to the moon god for blessings and all the best.

Begging the Moon After midnight of the Mid-Autumn Festival, unmarried young men in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, burn joss sticks and candles in groups under the moonlight to pay homage to the moon god. Legend has it that this is the time when the moon goddess matches men and women in the mortal world, and that the moon goddess can find a beautiful and affectionate partner for a pious young man.

Shining the Moon There is a custom in eastern Zhejiang of "shining the moon" to get a child. Legend has it that women who have been married for a long time and are infertile can pray to the moon god for blessings and conceive a child by sitting alone under the bright moonlight when the moon is full during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Customs of Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, people's main activity is to enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes. However, as China has a vast landmass and a large population with different customs, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in a variety of ways and with strong local characteristics.

In Pucheng, Fujian, women spend the Mid-Autumn Festival walking across the Nanpu Bridge for longevity. When Longyan people eat mooncakes, parents will dig out round cakes two or three inches in diameter in the center for the elders to eat, meaning that secret things should not be known to the younger generation.

All over Chaoshan, Guangdong Province, there is a custom to worship the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children, and there is a proverb that says, "Men don't worship the moon, and women don't worship the stove". At night, when the moon rises, women will set up a case in the yard, on the balcony to pray in the air. Red candles, incense smoke, the table is also full of good fruit and cakes as a gift.

Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province, the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival to burn incense. The incense bucket is surrounded by gauze and silk, painted with the scenery of the Moon Palace. There are also incense buckets made of threaded incense, which are inserted with a paper star and colorful flags.

Jiangxi Province, Ji'an County, in the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, each village with straw burning tile cans. When the tiles burn red, vinegar is put in. At this time there will be a fragrance floating all over the village. In Xincheng County, when the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated, the straw lanterns are hung from the night of August 11th until August 17th.

Anhui province wuyuan mid-autumn festival, children to brick pile a hollow pagoda. Pagoda hanging to tent plaque and other decorations, and set a table in front of the tower, furnished a variety of honor "tower god" apparatus. At night, inside and outside are lit with lights and candles. Jixi Mid-Autumn Festival Children's Mid-Autumn Cannon. Mid-Autumn Cannon is tied into a hair braid with straw, soaked in wet and then picked up to the stone strikes, so that it makes a loud noise and the custom of swimming fire dragon. The fire dragon is a dragon made of straw with incense sticks inserted into its body. The dragon is accompanied by a team of gongs and drums, and is sent to the river after traveling through the villages.

People in Sichuan Province, in addition to eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, also have to beat poi, kill ducks, and eat hemp cakes and honey cakes.

In the north, farming families in Qingyun County, Shandong Province, offer sacrifices to the god of the earth on August 15, known as the "Qingmiao She".

Wanquan County, Hebei Province, said the Mid-Autumn Festival for the "small New Year's Day", moonlight paper painted with Taiyin Xingjun and Guandi night reading the Spring and Autumn statue. People in Hetao County believe that mid-autumn rain is bitter rain, and if it rains on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the locals believe that the green vegetables must not taste good.

More than 20 ethnic minorities in China also celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the festival customs are different.

The Zhuang are accustomed to worshipping the moon with rice crackers on a bamboo raft house in the river, and young girls put lanterns on the water to measure their lifetime happiness, and sing the beautiful "Please Moon Aunt" folk song. Gelao in the festival before the "Tiger Day", the whole village slaughtered a bull, the bull's heart to the Mid-Autumn Festival night to sacrifice ancestral spirits, welcome the new valley, they called "August Festival".

The Li people call the Mid-Autumn Festival the "August Festival" or the "Tuning Festival". At that time, songs and dances are held in each town, and each village is led by a "Tone Leader" (i.e., the leader), who is a young man and a woman, to participate. When all the participants arrive, they give each other mooncakes, sweet cakes, sweet pandas, flower scarves, colorful fans and undershirts, and they gather in groups and streams. At night, they gather around the fire, roast game, drink rice wine, and sing songs in tune, with unmarried young people taking advantage of the opportunity to find their future partners.

Eating taro on Mid-Autumn Festival

There is a peculiar tradition in the town of Wuhua County. Every year on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the townspeople in every household to steam a pot of taro with skin, in the moon, the whole family ate taro first after eating mooncakes, and peeling taro skin said "peeling the ghost skin". It is said that this one can "avoid evil spirits", the second is to commemorate the people's uprising.

Legend has it that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers of the Han people to carry out cruel rule and oppression, for fear of the majority of the working people rose up to revolt, in every ten households of the working people stationed in a court henchmen. These vicious guys specialize in monitoring the people's lives and livelihoods, wantonly raiding the people's wealth and cruelty to the people. They also stipulated that every ten households **** with a kitchen knife, who want to use the knife have to borrow from the minions.

In order to rebel against these bad deeds of the minions, the overthrow of the ruling class, there is a clever man thought of a way to contact the masses, he dressed up as a taro merchant, in the cooked taro skin hidden under the note sent to each household, asking the people to enjoy the moon on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the unity of action, to kill all these minions. In the end, people from all over the country revolted and overthrew the Yuan Dynasty.

Later, in order to commemorate this uprising, people set up cooked taro and fine tea, old wine and mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival night, and talked about family and national affairs while enjoying the moon, and told the long and legendary story.

Mid-Autumn Festival couplets

Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing, throughout the ages, the literati have left us a lot of scenarios to blend the best couplets.

Sichuan Wuxia Yaotai has a couplet:

Month moon, August moon Ming Ming Ming points out;

Shan Shan Shan Xiu, Wushan Shan Xiu Xiu very much.

This couplet is written in the form of superimposed words to show the characteristics of "the moon is bright in the Mid-Autumn Festival", which makes the Mid-Autumn Festival moon color and the Wushan Mountain color relative, neat and natural, and the pearl is a combination of the two.

Anciently, there was a talented man who looked up at the mid-autumn moon and chanted: "The moon is full in the sky, the moon is half full on earth, and the moon is full and the moon is half full". But he pondered hard, not comparable to the next couplet, until that New Year's Eve, only touched the inspiration, chanting the next couplet: tonight the end of the year, tomorrow the beginning of the year, the end of the year after the beginning of the year. This couplet is well-structured and shallow.

One year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Su Dongpo and his family enjoyed the moon until the middle of the night, and came up with a couplet that asked his three sons to say: "Midnight, two and a half hours. His third son responded: mid-autumn in August. The pair of neat and apt, surprisingly successful.

Hangzhou City, there is a Zhejiang Gongyuan, the courtyard entrance has a couplet depicting the relationship between the season and the tide: pen a thousand words, is the fragrance of cinnamon acacia yellow after the yellow; go out and look at the West Lake full moon East China Sea tide to come. Vivid and accurate, beautiful mood.

Zheng Banqiao in the Qing Dynasty in Yangzhou Slim West Lake, small Jinshan Island "moon view" on the book: the moon is full of water; clouds rise a day mountain. The image is apt and full of poetic flavor.

There is a split-word couplet: the sun and the moon are the same as tomorrow is not dark, the hills **** Yue land is not low.

There are also three couplets:

The moon is locked in the clouds and the clouds are locked in the moon; the people return halfway through the night and the night returns to the people.

The moon hangs on a string; the stars move north to the Big Dipper.

The moon is on the top of the building; the name is on the top of the list.

Duanwu Festival Origin and Legend

The Dragon Boat Festival is an ancient traditional festival, which began in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods in China, and has a history of more than 2,000 years. There are many origins and legends of the Dragon Boat Festival, only the following four are introduced here:

Originally commemorating Qu Yuan

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, "Qu Yuan Jia Sheng Lianzhuan", Qu Yuan was a minister of King Huai of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated for the promotion of the virtuous and the capable, the enrichment of the country and the strengthening of the army, and strongly advocated the alliance of Qi against Qin, which was strongly opposed by the aristocrat Zilan and others, Qu Yuan was gluttonously dismissed from his post, driven out of the capital city, and was exiled to the Yuan and Xiang basins. During his exile, he wrote such immortal poems as "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions" and "Nine Songs", which are unique and far-reaching (thus, the Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the Poets' Festival). In 278 B.C., the Qin army broke through the capital of Chu. Qu Yuan saw his motherland being invaded, and his heart was cut to pieces, but he could not bear to give up his motherland, and on the 5th of May, after writing his final work "Huai Sha", he threw himself into the Miluo River, and died, composing a magnificent piece of patriotism with his own life.

Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu grieved and flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to him. The fishermen rowed up their boats and salvaged his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out for Qu Yuan prepared rice balls, eggs and other food, "flop, flop" thrown into the river, said that the fish and lobsters and crabs eat enough, will not go to bite the body of Dr. Qu. People see have followed suit. An old physician to bring a altar of yellow wine poured into the river, said to be drug stunned dragon water beasts, so as not to harm Dr. Qu. Later, for fear that the rice ball for the dragon to eat, people came up with a neem leaf wrapped rice, wrapped in colorful silk, the development of brown.

Later, on the fifth day of the fifth month of every year, there is a dragon boat race, eat zongzi, drink xionghuang wine custom; in order to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

The second legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, which is widely circulated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, commemorates Wu Zixu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC). Wu Zixu, a native of Chu, had his father and brother killed by the king of Chu. Later, Wu Zixu gave up his darkness and ran to Wu to help Wu conquer Chu, and entered Ying City, the capital of Chu, in five battles. At that time, King Ping of Chu had already died, and Zixu dug up his grave and whipped his body 300 times to avenge the killing of his father and brother. After the death of King Helu of Wu, his son Fu Chai succeeded to the throne. The Wu army had high morale and won a hundred battles, and the Yue kingdom was greatly defeated, and King Goujian of Yue asked for peace, and Fu Chai agreed to it. Zixu suggested that the state of Yue should be completely destroyed, but Fu-chai refused to listen to him, and Wu's Dazai, who had been bribed by the state of Yue, framed Zixu with slanderous rumors, and Fu-chai believed him and gave Zixu a sword, which he used to kill himself. Zi Xu was loyal, like death, before his death, said to the neighboring people: "after my death, will be gouged out of my eyes hanging in the east gate of the capital of Wu, in order to see the Vietnamese army into the city to destroy Wu," and then cut his own throat, Fu Chai was furious at the words, ordered to take the Zi Xu's body in the leather on the fifth of May into the river, and so the Dragon Boat Festival is also said to be the day to commemorate the Wu Zi Xu.

The third legend of the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates Cao E, a filial daughter who saved her father's life and threw herself into the river in the Eastern Han Dynasty (23 - 220 AD). Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river, and the body was not seen for several days; at that time, Cao E was only fourteen years old, and she cried along the river day and night. After seventeen days, she threw herself into the river on May 5, and carried her father's body out five days later. This is a myth, and it was passed down to the governor of the county, who made Du Shang erect a monument for it, and let his disciple Handan Chun make a eulogy in praise of it.

The tomb of the filial daughter Cao E, in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, later rumored that Cao E monument was written by Jin Wang Yi. To commemorate the filial piety of Cao E, the descendants built the Cao E Temple in the place where Cao E threw herself into the river, renamed the village where she lived as Cao E Town, and named the place where Cao E died for her father as Cao E River.

Originating from the ancient Vietnamese national totem sacrifice

A large number of recent excavated artifacts and archaeological research confirms that: the vast area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, in the Neolithic era, there is a geometric printed ceramic as a characteristic of the cultural remains. The remains of the clan, according to experts inferred to be a worship of the dragon totem tribe ---- history called the Baiyue tribe. Unearthed pottery on the decoration and historical legends show that they have the custom of breaking hair tattoos, living in the water countryside, comparing themselves to the descendants of the dragon. Their production tools, a large number of stone tools, but also shovels, chisels and other small pieces of bronze. As a living thing in the pots and jars, cooking food printed pots are unique to them, is one of the symbols of their community. Until the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were still Baiyue people, and the Dragon Boat Festival was created by them for ancestor worship. Over thousands of years of history, most of the Baiyue people have been integrated into the Han Chinese, while the rest have evolved into many ethnic minorities in the south, so the Dragon Boat Festival has become a festival for the whole Chinese nation.