Traditional Chinese Festivals
Celebrating the New Year
In ancient China there was a strange beast called "nian" with a long head and sharp horn and it was extremely fierce. "Nian" dwelled deep in the sea the whole year, but on every New Year's Eve it would climb onto the shore to devour livestock and harm humans. Because of it, on every New Year's Eve, all the villagers would take their old and young deep into the mountains to hide from harm from "nian."
On New Year's eve one year, as the people were all busy collecting their possessions in preparation for their retreat to the mountains, a grey haired man appeared in the village. He asked an old woman to allow him to stay in her home for just one night and assured her that he would certainly chase away the beast. No one believed him. The old woman urged him to go to the mountains with the other people to hide. The old man steadfastly refused. Seeing that he could not be persuaded, the villagers departed without him.
When the beast arrived at the village to wreck havoc as usual, it was met with a sudden sound of exploding firecrackers. "Nian" was shivering all over and dared not proceed any further as it was most frightened by red color, flames, and explosive sounds. At that moment the large door opened wide and the old man, wearing red clothes, laughed heartily. "Nian" was startled. It turned pale, turned tail and fled!
On the next day, as the people returned from deep in the mountains, they found the village intact and safe. They suddenly realized what had happened. The old man was a deity who had come to help the people drive away the beast "nian". They also found the three precious items that the old man had brought to chase the beast away. From then on, on every New Year's eve, every family would hang up red banners, set off fire crackers, and light their lamps the whole night through, awaiting the New Year. The custom spread far and wide and became a grand traditional celebration of the "passing of nian" ("nian" in Chinese means "year") for the Chinese people.
Chinese people refer to the period of time from the twenty-third day to the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month right before the Chinese New Year as the "small nian". Every family is supposed to clean their surroundings in preparation to receive the New Year.
Besides cleaning the surroundings, each Chinese family is also supposed to make the New Year's purchases for the upcoming festival, including chickens, ducks, fish and meat, fruits, and sweets. Every family also prepares presents to bring along when they visit their friends and relatives. They also buy new clothes for the children.
In the evening of New Year's Eve, the whole family gathers together. In Northern China, dumplings are eaten. The Chinese word for dumpling, "jiao" and the Chinese word for "together" are homophonic (same sounding), so the dumplings symbolize the family being all together and happy. At the same time, "jiao" also means the coming of the New Year. In Southern China, people eat the sweet New Year cake (made from glutinous rice flour), which symbolizes sweet life and making advancement during the New Year (in Chinese, the Chinese word for "cake" and "making advancement" have the same "gao" sound). At the stroke of twelve at midnight, every family starts lighting firecrackers!
On the first day of the New Year, people wear their new clothes and wish their elders a happy New Year. When the children wish the elders a happy New Year, they receive some money for the New Year. On the second and third days, people visit their friends and relatives to wish them a happy New Year.
The streets during the New Year period in China are generally thronged with people. At some places there are special events such as lion dances, dragon dances, flower markets, and temple fairs.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which is the day of the Lantern Festival, the Chinese New Year celebrations are considered to be over.
The Lantern Festival
Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Chinese people celebrate the traditional Lantern Festival.
The first month of the lunar calendar is known as the "yuan" month, and the ancient Chinese people call nights "xiao," so the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is known as the "Yuan Xiao Festival" (also known as the Lantern Festival). That night is the first full moon of the year and that is also the first night when spring returns to the great earth. From historical recordings, it is known that people in the Western Han Dynasty (206 to 6 BC) were already celebrating the "Lantern Festival."
The "Lantern Festival" was celebrated for different numbers of days in different Chinese dynasties. In the Han Dynasty it was celebrated for one day, in the Tang Dynasty (618 – 905 AD) for three days, and in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1126AD) up to five days. In the Ming Dynasty (1368 -1628AD) lanterns were lit on the 8th day of the first lunar month and weren't put out until the evening of the 17th for a total of ten days. In the Qing Dynasty (1644 -1908AD), it was changed to four or five days, but there were more dragon dances, lion dances, walking on stilts, doing the "yangko" dance (left and right twisting dance) and so on. Today, the celebration is only for one day.
During the Lantern Festival, people light lanterns in different colors and designs and display their lanterns on the streets for others to admire. Some lanterns have riddles on them for people to solve. People also feast on "yuan xiao" that night. "Yuan xiao" is made from glutinous rice, and can be either solid or filled with stuffing. The various types of stuffing include sweetened bean paste, white sugar, hawthorn and other types of fruits. They can be served boiled, pan fried, steamed or deep fried. "Yuan xiao" is also called "tang yuan" which is close to "tuan yuan" (or "reunion"). It symbolizes that families are reunited during the festival and are enjoying all the harmony and happiness.
How did the Lantern Festival originate?
There are many different versions on the origin of the Lantern Festival. The most widely accepted traces its origin to the Han Dynasty.
Tradition has it that the Han Emperor Wen Di (179 - 156 BC) started the holiday to commemorate putting down the rebellion by Lu. After the death of the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang (206 - 194 BC), his son Liu Ying, ascended the throne as Hui Di (194 -187 BC). Liu Ying was weak by nature, irresolute and hesitant. His mother, Empress Dowager Lu, eventually took over the power. After the death of Emperor Hui Di from illness, the Empress Dowager single-handedly transferred the power of the government from the Liu clan to her own Lu clan. The royal officials and the Liu clan felt deeply indignant about the change. But they dared not comment as they feared the cruel and ferocious Empress Dowager.
After the death of Empress Dowager Lu, the Lu clan fell into a state of anxiety out of fear of harm and being pushed out of the imperial court. Thereupon, they held a secret meeting at the home of General Lu Lu and planned to stage a rebellion to completely take over the country and start a new Dynasty.
The meeting was made known to a duke in the Liu clan, Liu Nang. To protect the Han Dynasty, Liu Nang decided to suppress the rebellion with military action. Thereafter, he and two other elderly officials Zhou Bo and Chen Ping who were involved in the founding of the Han Dynasty led an army against General Lu Lu and eventually suppressed the "Rebellion of Lu."
After peace was restored, royal officials placed the second son of Liu Bang, Liu Heng, on the throne. Liu Heng was known as Emperor Wen Di (179 - 156 BC). The suppression of the rebellion occurred on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. As a result, on every fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, Emperor Wen Di would leave the palace to tour the country and celebrate the day with the common people. He named that day as the day of the "Lantern Festival." Thereafter, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month became a universal day of celebration for the people, the "noisy yuan xiao day."
According to historical records, during the reign of the Emperor Wu Di (140 – 86 BC) in the Han dynasty, the royal court offered sacrifices to a god called "Tai Yi" (who is the god that rules the entire universe) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month as well.
The Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional Chinese holiday known as the Dragon Boat Festival.
More than two thousand years ago, during the period of the Spring-Autumn Warring States, the Chinese people began to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. According to historians, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the totem festival in the state of Wuyue in southern China. But people generally attribute the holiday as a memorial to the Chinese poet Qu Yuan.
Qu Yuan was a Minister in the State of Chu during the Spring-Autumn period. He was also a well known poet. He was very patriotic. When his state was overrun by others, he committed suicide by jumping into the river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The people of the State of Chu were sad and went looking for his body along the river. Some fishermen threw balls made of rice, eggs and other foodstuff into the river so that the fishes and prawns would be well fed and would not devour the body of Qu Yuan. Later, fearing that the food would be eaten by the legendary flood dragon, they found a way of wrapping the rice in the chinaberry leaves and tied the bundle up with colored silk, and that was the earliest of the four-cornered cakes (pyramid shaped dumplings). Nowadays, there are many varieties of such cakes. Some have sweet fillings such as jujubes and sweetened bean paste, while others are filled with tasty meat, ham, and egg yoke.
On every fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Chinese people eat the four-corned cakes and race in their dragon boats to commemorate Qu Yuan. The custom of eating the cakes has been very popular for hundreds of years in China and it has even spread to Korea, Japan and many countries in southeastern Asia.
The Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the eighth lunar month)
The Mid-Autumn Festival day is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month annually. It takes place in the middle of autumn and is hence known as "the mid-autumn festival." It has a full moon that year. The moon on that night is said to be the roundest and brightest of the entire year. Hence it is also known as the "Eighth Month Festival." People traditionally gather that night to look at the brilliant moon and think of their relatives far away. Therefore the mid-autumn festival is also known as "the Reunion Festival."
In ancient times, Chinese people offered sacrifices to the god of the moon on the mid-autumn festival. The sacrifices would include moon cakes, water melons, grapes and so on. During the Tang Dynasty, the mid-autumn festival became very important to the Chinese people. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the mid-autumn festival became one of the most important of the Chinese festivals.
There is a beautiful legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival called "Chang E Hastening to the Moon." It is said that in ancient China there were ten suns in the sky. It became so hot that the crops and people died from the heat. A hero by the name of Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns and ordered the one remaining to rise and set daily at fixed times. His deeds brought blessings and happiness to the people. Hou Yi also taught people to use the bow and arrows to hunt. He had a pretty and compassionate wife by the name of Chang E. He had many students. One of them, by the name of Peng Meng, was of dubious character
One day, when Hou Yi went to the Kunlun Mountains, he met a deity who gave him a packet of immortality potion. It is said that anyone consuming that potion would immediately become a deity. Huo Yi gave to potion to Chang E for safe-keeping. When Peng Meng found out about the potion, he plotted to steal the potion and consume it to become a deity.
Three days later, when Hou Yi went hunting, Peng Meng pretended that he was ill and stayed behind. Not long after Hou Yi left, Peng Meng tried to force Chang E to give him the immorality potion. Chang E knew that she was no match for Peng Meng in a fight. So quickly took the potion and swallowed it. When she swallowed the potion, her body immediately floated up and left the ground. She flew into the sky and arrived at the nearest heavenly body to earth, the moon, and became a deity.
After Hou Yi arrived home, he was grief-stricken. He went to Chang E's favorite garden at the back of the house and placed an altar there. He put the favorite food of Chang E, sweet food and fresh fruits, on the altar to offer as sacrifices to his wife on the moon.
When the people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival today, the most important activity is to appreciate the moon and eat moon cake. The round moon cakes symbolize the fulfillment of their hope for the family reunion (in Chinese "circle" and "reunion" have the same "yuan" sound."
The Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice is a very important day, marking one of the 24 divisions in the Chinese calendar year. There are still many places in China that observe the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice is commonly known as the "Winter Festival." It has several other names such as "Chang Zhi festival" and "Second Age" and so on. About two thousand five hundred years ago, during the Spring Autumn period, Chinese people learned to use earthen sun-dials to determine the day for the Winter Solstice. Out of the twenty-four divisions in the Chinese lunar calendar, the Winter Solstice was set first. It occurred on the day of December 22 or 23 in the solar calendar.
The Winter Solstice is the day in the whole year where the day is shortest and the night is the longest in the northern hemisphere. After that date, the day gets longer each day. There is an ancient Chinese, "With the sun reaching the extreme of the pole, the warm climate begins; as the sun arrives in the south, the short days arrive; when the shadow begins to lengthen, it is the ‘Winter Solstice.'" After the Winter Solstice, all the places in China experience cold winter weather. That is why the Chinese people call it the "entering of the nines" (each of the nine day periods commencing after the Winter Solstice). In China, there is a popular saying, "the coldest days of the year are in the three nines and the hottest days of the year are in the three tens" ("tens" refers to a period of ten days during the summer).
The celebration of the Winter Solstice began in the Han Dynasty. It became very popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties and has been celebrated till today. In Qing Jia Lu (Records of the Qing Dynasty), it states, "the Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year." According to it, after the Winter Solstice, the days grow longer, and the yang energy gradually increases. It is the beginning of the rotation of the climate. Thus it is an auspicious day and must be celebrated. In the Han Dynasty, the Winter Solstice was known as the "Winter Festival." The government officials held a celebration rite of "huo dong" (greeting the winter) and declared it a public holiday." In Later Han Record, it read, "Before and after the Winter Solstice, the Emperor takes shelter and rests his body; all the officials stop working and do not hold court. That will avoid problems later on." Hence, on that day, the imperial court had a day off to rest. In Jin Records, it says, "During the Jin Dynasty, the royal court receives congratulations from all the neighboring states and officials....and its significance was only second to the New Year." This illustrates the importance of Winter Solstice in the ancient times.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Winter Solstice was the day to offer sacrifices to Heaven and the ancestors. On that day, the Emperor traveled to the countryside to hold a grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven. People conducted rites of respect towards their parents and elders on that day.
There are still locations that celebrate the Winter Solstice in such a way today. In some regions in northern China, people slaughter goats, eat dumplings, and eat wonton. In southern China, on Winter Solstice people eat rice balls, Winter Solstice long noodles and dog meat. The custom of offering sacrifices to Heaven and ancestors during the Winter Solstice persists in some regions.
In the past, the people of Beijing used to say: "Eat wonton on the Winter Solstice and noodles in summer." According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the fierce Huns used to harass the border frontiers and the people there had no peace. Amongst the Hun tribes were two leaders, Hun and Tun. They were extremely cruel and savage. The Chinese people hated him to the bone. They rolled meat into the shape of a horn and borrowed the names of "Hun" and "Tun" and called it "Hun Tun" (or "wonton"). They ate it to show their hatred toward Hun and Tun. Because the original "wonton" was invented on the day of the Winter Solstice, all the families ate "wonton" on that day thereafter.
In Henan Province, dumplings are known as "frozen ears." According to legend, Zhang Zhongying was a government official in Changsha and a saintly doctor in Nanyang. After he retired, he went back to his village. On the way there, it was snowing heavily with the chilling winds penetrating to the bone. He noticed that poor farmers on both the banks of the River Bai in Nanyang village wore shabby clothes that did not cover their entire bodies. Many of the people had frost bitten ears that were festering. He felt very grieved by that. He instructed his disciples to erect a shed at Guandong in Nanyang village to provide medical treatment. He used goat meat, hot pepper, and some anti-cold medication boiled in a cauldron. The ingredients were then scooped up and chopped up into fine pieces. He then told his students to wrap up the chopped ingredients in flour pastry, which had the shape of an ear. The "ears" were again boiled in the cauldron and the brew was known as "anti-cold ear rectification soup." He gave the soup to the people. After eating that, the ears of the people healed. Thereafter, the people imitated the making of the "ears" and the custom of eating "anti-cold ears" began. Later on, people called it dumplings and also "flat food" and "flour pastry soup." According to one legend, if people eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice, they won't fear the cold.
The custom of eating dog meat is said to have been started in the Han Dynasty. According to legends, Emperor Liu Bang ate some dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai and felt that the flavor was especially delicious and praised it profusely. From then on, the eating of dog meat became a popular custom amongst the people.
In the delta region around the Yangtze River in southern China, the people traditionally eat glutinous rice with red beans on the night of the Winter Solstice. According to legend, a man by the name of Gong Gong had a son who did a lot of evil deeds. He died on the day of the Winter Solstice and became an evil pestilence who continued to harm the people. But the pestilence was very frightened of red beans. Therefore, the people would cook and eat red bean rice on Winter Solstice day to chase the pestilence away and to protect themselves against calamities and ill health.
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