Society
Celebrations in China
Legal
holidays in China are New Year (January 1st), a national one-day holiday; Spring
Festival (New Year by the lunar calendar), a national three-day holiday;
International Working Women's Day (March 8th); Tree Planting Day (March 12th);
International Labor Day (May 1st), a national one-day holiday; Chinese Youth
Festival (May 4th); International Children's Day (June 1st); Anniversary of
the
Founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) (August 1st); Teacher's
Day (September 10th); and National Day (October 1st), a national two-day
holiday.
China's
major traditional festivals include the Spring Day Festival, the Lantern
Festival, Pure Brightness Day, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival
and the Double Ninth Festival. Ethnic minorities have also retained their
own traditional festivals, including the Water Sprinkling Festival of the Dai
people, the Nadam Fair of the Mongolian people, the Torch Festival of the Yi
people, the Danu (Never Forget the Past) Festival of the Yao people, the Third
Month Fair of the Bai people, the Antiphonal Singing Day of the Zhuang people,
the Tibetan New Year and Onghor (Expecting a Good Harvest) Festival of the
Tibetan people, and the Jumping Flower Festival of
the Miao people.
SPRING FESTIVAL
Each year, when winter is at its end and spring around the corner, people
throughout China enthusiastically celebrate the first traditional holiday of the
year, the Spring Festival. In the past, when the Chinese people used the
lunar calendar, the Spring Festival was known as the "New Year."
It falls on the first day of the first lunar month, the beginning of a new
year. After the Revolution of 1911, China adopted the Gregorian
calendar.
To distinguish the lunar New Year from the New Year by the
Gregorian calendar, the lunar New Year was called the Spring Festival (which
generally falls between the last 10-day period of January and
mid-February). The evening before the Spring Festival, the lunar New
Year's Eve, is an important time for family reunions. The whole family
gets together for a sumptuous dinner, followed by an evening of pleasant talk or
games. Some families stay up all night, "seeing the year
out." The next morning, people pay New Year calls on relatives and
friends, wishing each other good luck. During the Spring Festival, various
traditional recreation activities are enjoyed in many parts of China, notably
lion dances, dragon lantern dances, land-boat rowing and stilt-walking.
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LANTERN FESTIVAL
The Lantern Festival falls on the15th day of the first lunar month, the night
of the first full moon after the Spring Festival. Traditionally, people
eat sweet dumplings during this festival. Sweet dumplings, round balls of
glutinous rice flour with sugar filling, symbolize reunion. During the
festival people display multicolored lanterns on the street and courtyards, and
stroll around admiring them at night, hence the name "Lantern
Festival." Some places also hold evening parties for people to guess
riddles written on lanterns.
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PURE BRIGHTNESS DAY
Pure Brightness Day falls around April 5th every year. Traditionally,
this is an occasion for people to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. In
recent years, many people have also been going to the tombs of the revolutionary
martyrs to pay their respects. At this time of year the weather has begun
to turn warm, and the earth is once again covered with green. People live
to go to the outskirts of cities to walk on the grass, fly kites and appreciate
the beauty of spring. That is why Pure Brightness Day is sometimes also
called "Walking amid Greenery Day."
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DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL
It is generally believed that this festival originated to honor the memory of
the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who lived in the State of Chu during the Warring
States Period. In despair at not being able to halt the decline of his
country, he drowned himself in the Miluo River in modern Hunan Province on the
fifth day of the fifth lunar month after the capital of Chu fell to the State of
Qin. Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death people living on the banks
of the river went out in their boats to try to find the corpse.
Every year
thereafter, on this day people would row their boats out onto their local river,
throwing sections of bamboo filled with rice into the water as an offering to
him. Today, the memory of Qu Yuan lives on, zongzi (pyramid-shaped
dumplings made by wrapping glutinous rice in bamboo leaves) remains the
traditional food and dragon-boat races are held.
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MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eight lunar month, which
comes right in the middle of autumn, hence its name. In ancient times,
people would offer elaborate cakes as sacrifices to the Moon Goddess on this
day. After the ceremony, the family would enjoy sitting together to eat
the pastries.
The festival came to symbolize family reunion, and the
custom has been passed down to today. On this mid-autumn night the full moon is
especially bright. The whole family sit together eating moon cakes while
admiring the moon in its perfect splendor.
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THE DOUBLE NINTH FESTIVAL
This festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
According to Chinese tradition, the ninth day is an auspicious day; and the
ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the most auspicious day. On this
day, the Chinese people customarily ascend a hill, eat cakes, drink wine and
admire chrysanthemums. Since the lake 1980s, the Double Ninth Festival has
become a festival for old people. Various kinds of activities to show
respect and concern for the elderly are held throughout the country; old people
are also invited to attend celebration meetings and watch theatrical
performances.
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