The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in Zhou Li. According to the ancient calendar of China, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is in the middle of August in autumn, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are four seasons in a year, and each season is divided into three parts: Bangladesh, China and Kyrgyzstan. In Sanqiu, the second month is called Mid-Autumn Festival, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Mid-Autumn Festival". In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a record of "telling Shangshu Town about the cow's confusion, crossing the river in mid-autumn, and traveling incognito around". It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. The Book of Emperor Taizong recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15. The prevalence of Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty, and it became one of the major festivals in China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival.

According to the China calendar, the eighth month of the lunar calendar is in the middle of autumn, and the second month of autumn is called "Mid-Autumn Festival", and August 15th is in the middle of it, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". Mid-Autumn Festival has many nicknames: it is called "August Festival" and "August and a half" because it falls on August 15th; Because the main activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are all around the moon, it is also commonly known as the "Moon Festival" and "Moon Festival". The full moon in Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion, so it is also called "Reunion Festival". In the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was also called "correcting the moon". The record of "Reunion Festival" was first seen in the Ming Dynasty. "Journey to the West Lake" says: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to show their reunion". "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" also said: "On August 15th, the moon was sacrificed, the cakes were round, the melons were wrongly divided, and the petals were carved with lotus flowers. ..... Those who get married and stay at home will return to their in-laws in the future. This is the so-called reunion festival.

With the continuous development of society, the ancients endowed the moon with many legends, from the toad on the moon to the jade rabbit, from WU GANG to the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, and the rich imagination painted a colorful and beautiful scene for the moon palace world. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Mohist poets chanted about the moon and its events, and the full moon on August 15 became an excellent moment for them to express their feelings. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15 was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which was originally intended to be in the middle of Sanqiu, and the whole people would celebrate it then. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon is in the sky, and the light is scattered all over the earth. People regard the full moon as a symbol of reunion, and August 15 is the day for family reunion. Therefore, Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Reunion Festival".

Mid-Autumn Festival has become an important festival in a year, which has a very subtle relationship with the imperial examination. In China's feudal society, it has always been a major event that rulers attach great importance to. The triennial autumn competition has just been scheduled for August. When scenery and passion are combined, people will regard those who enter high school as those who win the laurels in the middle of the month. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, we should celebrate it ceremoniously, which has become an important custom of the whole society. From generation to generation, Mid-Autumn Festival has gradually become one of the three major festivals of the Han nationality in China (Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival).

The spelling of "Nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is "He" at the top and "Ren" at the bottom. The word "year" in the bronze inscription is the same as the word "year" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and it is also related to food and people. Xiao Zhuan's "Year" is written as "Up to five grains, down to a thousand years", and "Explaining He Zi's Supplement": "The year is ripe. From the grain, from the thousand sounds. " Xiao Zhuan changed the word "person" to "thousand", so Xu Shen used this expression. The word "thousand" is originally decorative, and this solution is not contradictory. "Grain" is a general term for grain and cannot be misinterpreted as "wheat". The quality of a year is mainly determined by the growth and harvest of "Wo", but now the word "Wo" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions has been excavated, almost all of which are heavy and curved, which shows that it symbolizes the bumper harvest of grain production. What about the word "people" under the word "year"? From the perspective of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Nian" seems to be a heavy millet on the head.

The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the imperial system, and the day before Sun Yat-sen took office in Nanjing from Shanghai, the Nanjing Senate decided to use the solar calendar to mark the year with the Republic of China. But the lunar calendar has existed for a long time, which is conducive to arranging farming. Therefore, people still pay attention to the lunar calendar.

Yuanxiao originally meant "the night of the Lantern Festival", because the main activity of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month was to watch the lights and enjoy the moon at night, and later the name of the festival evolved into "Lantern Festival". The Lantern Festival will be held on the fifteenth day of the first month, which will push the celebration on New Year's Eve to another climax. On the night of Lantern Festival, the streets are decorated with lanterns and people appreciate them. Solve riddles on the lanterns and eating Yuanxiao have become the customs of several generations.

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, which began in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Lantern Festival viewing began in the period of Emperor Han Ming in the East. Ming Di advocates Buddhism. He heard that on the fifteenth day of the first month, monks watched the Buddhist relics and lit lanterns to worship the Buddha, so that all the gentry and ordinary people hung lanterns. Later, this Buddhist ceremonial festival gradually formed a grand folk festival. This festival has experienced the development process from the court to the people, and from the Central Plains to the whole country.

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ordered the 15th day of the first month to be designated as the Lantern Festival. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrificial activities of "Taiyi God" were scheduled for the 15th day of the first month. Taiyi: the God who rules the universe. When Sima Qian created the taichu calendar Law, he had already identified the Lantern Festival as a major festival.

Another way of saying it is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the "ternary theory" of Taoism; The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit.

The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, lights were lit from the eighth day of August until the seventeenth night of the first month, a total of ten days. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.

The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", so they called the fifteenth day of the first month the Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. On the night of Spring Festival, people celebrate this festival and the continuation of the Spring Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival".

According to the folk tradition in China, on this bright night, people light thousands of lanterns to celebrate. Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting and setting fires, enjoying lantern riddles, eating Yuanxiao, family reunion and celebrating festivals are all enjoyment.

Lantern Festival is also called Lantern Festival. The custom of burning lanterns in the Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the lantern viewing activities became more prosperous. Lights are hung everywhere in palaces and streets, and tall light wheels, light buildings and light trees have been built. Lu Zeng, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, described the grand occasion of the Lantern Festival in "Watching Lights at Fifteen Nights", saying that "the stars in the Han Dynasty fell, and the balcony was like a hanging moon."

"Lantern riddle", also known as "playing riddles", is an activity added after the Lantern Festival, which appeared in the Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin 'an, the capital, made riddles every Lantern Festival, and there were many people in solve riddles on the lanterns. At the beginning, it was a busybody who wrote riddles on paper and posted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles are enlightening and interesting, they are welcomed by all walks of life in the process of communication.

Folk custom of eating Yuanxiao on Lantern Festival. Yuanxiao is made of glutinous rice, which can be solid or stuffed. Filled with bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, various fruit materials and so on. You can cook, fry, steam and fry when you eat. At first, people called this kind of food "Floating Zi Yuan", and later they called it "Tangtuan" or "Tangyuan". These names are similar in pronunciation, meaning reunion, symbolizing family reunion, harmony and happiness. People also miss their departed relatives and place their best wishes on their future lives.

In some places, the Lantern Festival also has the custom of "walking away from all diseases", which is also called "roasting all diseases" and "dispersing all diseases". Most of the participants are women. They walk together or against the wall, or across the bridge in the suburbs, in order to drive away diseases and eliminate disasters.

With the passage of time, there are more and more activities in the Lantern Festival, and many local festivals have added traditional folk performances such as playing dragon lanterns, playing lions, walking on stilts, rowing dry boats, dancing yangko and playing Taiping drums. This traditional festival, which has been passed down for more than two thousand years, is not only popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also celebrated every year in areas where overseas Chinese live in concentrated communities.

There are several interesting legends about the origin of the Lantern Festival: There is a custom of eating Yuanxiao in the Lantern Festival in China, which began in the Song Dynasty. According to folklore, Yuanxiao originated from King Zhao of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. On the fifteenth day of the first month, King Chu Zhao crossed the Yangtze River and saw floating objects on the river, which were sweets with white outside and red inside. King Zhao of Chu asked Confucius, and Confucius said, "This duckweed fruit is also a sign of the resurrection of the Lord." Yuanxiao is a kind of holiday food, just like rice cakes in the Spring Festival and zongzi in the Dragon Boat Festival. Eating Yuanxiao, like a full moon, symbolizes family reunion and entrusts people with good wishes for their future life. Yuanxiao is called "Tangyuan", "Zi Yuan", "Floating Zi Yuan" and "Shui Yuan" in the south. It is made of glutinous rice, solid or stuffed. Filled with bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, etc., boiled, fried, steamed and fried.

In memory of Qu Yuan, this theory originated from the records of Wu Jun's "The Peace of Continuation of Qi" in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and "The Chronicle of Jingchu" in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Qu Yuan threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. Trapped by dragons after death, the world mourned. He throws colorful silk zongzi into the water every day to drive away the dragon. It is also said that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River, the local people immediately rowed for rescue, and all the way to Dongting Lake, but Qu Yuan's body was not found. It was raining at that time, and the boats on the lake gathered at the pavilion on the shore. When people learned that it was to salvage the sage Dr. Qu, they went out in the rain and rushed into the vast Dongting Lake. In order to mourn, people rowed on rivers, and later it gradually developed into a dragon boat race. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival seems to be related to commemorating Qu Yuan, as evidenced by Wen Xiu's poem "Dragon Boat Festival" in the Tang Dynasty: "The festival is divided into Dragon Boat Festival, and it is rumored that it is Qu Yuan. It is ridiculous that the Chu River is empty and cannot be washed directly. "

Welcome to Tao Shen, this is the tablet of Cao E from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao E was a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her father drowned in the river and didn't see her body for several days. At that time, Cao E, the filial daughter, was only fourteen years old, crying day and night by the river. 17 days later, he also threw himself into the river on May 5, and fished out his father's body five days later. During the Spring and Autumn Period, after the death of Wu Zixu, a loyal minister of the State of Wu, he became Shen Tao, and the world mourned and sacrificed, so there was the Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon Boat Festival, this statement comes from Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education. He believed that the fifth day of May was the day when the "Dragon" tribe in ancient wuyue held totem sacrifices. The main reason is: (1) Eating zongzi and dragon boat racing are the two most important activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, both of which are related to dragons. Zongzi thrown into the water is often stolen by dragons, and dragon boat races. (2) The relationship between race crossing and ancient wuyue is particularly deep. Besides, Wuyue people have the custom of tattooing constantly to look like a dragon. (3) The ancient folk custom of "tying the arm with colored silk" on the fifth day of May should be a relic of the tattoo custom of "Like a dragon".

Bad day, in the pre-Qin era, it was generally believed that May was a poisonous month and the fifth was a bad day. According to the Book of Rites, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the orchid bath in the Zhou Dynasty. Midsummer in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals stipulates that people should abstain from sex and fast in May. "Xia Zheng Xiao" records: "Store medicine this day to get rid of poisonous gas." It is recorded in "Da Dai Li" that "the livestock orchid takes a bath on May 5", and there are many legends that the fifth day is the taboo day for bathing to exorcise evil spirits. The famous Meng Changjun in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun was born on May 5th. His father asked his mother not to have him, thinking that "a child born in May is longer than a family, which is not good for parents." "Custom Pass" was lost. "It is said that on May 5th, a child was born, and the male harmed his father and the female harmed his mother". Wang Chong, the author of Lun Heng, also described: "The first month and May are taboos; Kill your father and your mother in May of the first month. " Wang Zhene, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born on the fifth day of May. His grandfather named him "Zhen Xie". Evonne and Song Huizong were born on the fifth day of May, and were fostered outside the palace since childhood. It can be seen that it is a common phenomenon to regard the fifth day of May as an evil day in ancient times. It can be seen that this day has been an unlucky day since the pre-Qin period. In this way, it is logical to insert calamus and mugwort leaves to exorcise ghosts, smoke atractylodes rhizome and angelica dahurica and drink realgar wine to avoid the epidemic on this day.

With regard to the summer solstice, Liu Deqian, who holds this view, put forward three main reasons and an interesting talk about the traditional festivals in China in Dragon Boat Festival: (1) The authoritative book "Sui Ji of Jingchu" did not mention the festival custom of eating zongzi on the fifth day of May, but wrote it in "Summer solstice". As for Du Jing, Du Taiqing's Jade Candle Collection in the Sui Dynasty listed it as an entertainment activity from summer to the sun, which shows that it was not necessarily to salvage Qu Yuan, a great poet who threw himself into the river. (2) Some contents in the custom of Dragon Boat Festival, such as "stepping on a hundred herbs", "fighting a hundred herbs" and "picking herbs", have nothing to do with Qu Yuan. (3) The first explanation of the Dragon Boat Festival in Ji Huali is: "The sun shines, and the Dragon Boat Festival is in midsummer, so it can also be called midsummer festival. Therefore, the earliest origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is the summer solstice. There are many controversies, and the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the most extensive influence. Because of Qu Yuan's outstanding personality and art, people are willing to attribute this anniversary to him.

Commemorative poetess Qiu Jin: Qiu Ruixiong, No.1 Jianhuxia, Xiao Gu, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was good at writing poems, lyrics, songs and poems since childhood, and was fond of riding and fencing. She is called Mulan and Qin Liangyu. Joining the revolution at the age of 28 had a great influence. He was arrested by Qing soldiers when planning an uprising, and died heroically in Xuanhengkou, Shaoxing on June 5, Guangxu thirty-three years ago. In order to praise her poems and mourn her heroic deeds, later generations merged with the Poets' Day to commemorate her, and designated the Poets' Day as the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. The Double Ninth Festival is also called the Double Ninth Festival and the Festival for the Elderly, because in the Book of Changes in ancient times, six was defined as the number of yin and nine as the number of yang. On September 9, the sun and the moon meet, and the two are in the same phase, so it is called the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival. The ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate and started this festival from a very young age. The activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival are colorful and romantic, which generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high into the distance, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating the Double Ninth Festival cake, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "long", and nine is the largest number in the number, which means long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest in a year, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching influence. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums.

The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional festival that combines various folk customs. At the same time, unlike the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, it is a unique festival of the Han nationality.

Double Ninth Festival is an annual festival. In the Lunar New Year season in China, there are seven repeated figures, such as the first month (Spring Festival), February 2nd, March 3rd, May 5th (Dragon Boat Festival), June 6th, July 7th (Chinese Valentine's Day) and September 9th, which have become customary festivals. On September 9, the sun and the moon merged into one, so it occupies an important position among the 20-year-olds and is the most admired mysterious number in faith.

First of all, there is a custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Autumn in September, the sky is crisp. In this season, climbing the mountain and overlooking it can achieve the purpose of relaxing body and mind, keeping fit and getting rid of diseases. The custom of eating Chongyang cake is related to mountain climbing. Gaohe cake is homophonic. As a holiday food, it was originally to celebrate the harvest of autumn grain and taste new grain. Later, people had the auspicious meaning of climbing high and eating cakes step by step.

The Double Ninth Festival has always had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums, so it has been called Chrysanthemum Festival since ancient times. September of the lunar calendar, commonly known as Chrysanthemum Month, holds a chrysanthemum party on holidays, and people from all over the city go to the meeting to enjoy chrysanthemums. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, it has become fashionable for Chongyang parties to drink and enjoy chrysanthemums and recite poems. In the ancient customs of Han nationality, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity. The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa was popular in ancient times, so it is also called Cornus Festival. As a medicine, Cornus officinalis can make wine, strengthen the body and get rid of diseases.

The Double Ninth Festival was formed as early as the Warring States Period. In the Tang Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was officially designated as a folk festival, which has been inherited ever since.

In the folk concept, the Double Ninth Festival is homophonic with "Nine Nine", which means longevity, health and longevity. From 65438 to 0989, China designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the festival for the elderly, and advocated the whole society to establish the atmosphere of respecting, loving and helping the elderly. The Double Ninth Festival has added new meaning.

When it comes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, people with a little knowledge of history will associate it with the historical figure meson tui. According to historical records, in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,000 years ago, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, fled and lived a hard life. Follow his meson and cut a piece of meat from his leg to satisfy his hunger. Later, Zhong Er returned to the State of Jin and became a monarch (that is, Jin Wengong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period). He rewarded all his followers who followed him into exile, but meson refused to accept the reward. He took his mother to Mianshan and refused to come out.

Jin Wengong was at his wit's end, so he had to let Yamakaji go. He thought that meson tui would be filial to his mother and would definitely come out with her. Who knows this torch meson mother and son burned to death. In order to commemorate Jie Zitui, Jin Wengong ordered that no fire should be lit on this day every year, and every household can only eat cold food, which is the origin of the Cold Food Festival.

Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients often extended the activities of the Cold Food Festival to Qingming. Over time, people combine cold food with Qingming. Now Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping Jietui has become the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

There is another saying:

The ancients had the custom of welcoming the spring, and the weather in early March of the lunar calendar happened to be spring, which was suitable for people to carry out various activities, including outings and even "wild intercourse", so the most important festival in spring was also at this time. Zhu believes that early Tomb-Sweeping Day did not have the function of offering sacrifices to sweep, and Tomb-Sweeping Day's activities were the same as other festivals in early March.

As we know, Qingming is one of the 24 solar terms, which is based on the solar calendar and is not a festival in itself. Qingming coincides with Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival in ancient spring at the beginning of March of the lunar calendar. As time goes by, Qingming has become a part of the Spring Festival.

Today, Shangsi Festival has disappeared from the festival spectrum of China, but it was once one of the most important festivals in a year. Before the Han dynasty, it was designated as the fourth day of March, and later it was designated as the third day of the third lunar month. According to records, Shangsi Festival was popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Analects of Confucius said that "those who had taken spring clothes in late spring, with five or six champions and six or seven boys, bathed in seven explanations, danced in the wind and went home with songs" was the situation at that time.

At the earliest time, people would go for an outing on Shangsi Festival and take a bath by the river. In addition, this day also has the function of "exorcism", which was called "bath removal" by the ancients. In ancient times, the function of festivals was to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, such as "climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival". The actual reason is to avoid the plague at the foot of the mountain, and so is the "bath withdrawal". Zhu explained that the actual reason is that the river is too cold in winter and the water temperature is just right in early March, so people are eager to take their first bath after winter.

As mentioned earlier, Shangsi Festival also has the function of courtship and mating. It was also during this period that the Book of Songs said that "the Wei family and their daughters played tricks on each other and gave peony". This tradition has always influenced the Tang and Song Dynasties. In Du Fu's two "For Tao", there is a sentence that "the wind is clear and the air is positive on March 3, and many beautiful people enjoy the cool by Chang 'an Waterfront". However, as the society became more and more civilized, the theme of sexual intercourse was replaced by begging for children, and Shangsi Festival formed the custom of worshipping and lying in the temple and women begging for children by the river.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the literati also had the custom of "March 3rd", and "meandering water and flowing" was a popular leisure way at that time, which we all read in Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion.

As for the custom of ancestor worship in Tomb-Sweeping Day, there is a saying that it is related to the Cold Food Festival in March of the lunar calendar. The legend of the Cold Food Festival was founded by Jin Wengong to commemorate the minister of the Spring and Autumn Period. Zhu believes that this is actually a saying that future generations will attach themselves to it, just like the Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan. The origin of the Cold Food Festival is related to the difficulty in getting fire in ancient times. Once the fire is obtained, it will be preserved for a long time. Today, some ethnic minority areas still keep the custom of setting fire pits in their houses. The Cold Food Festival is an annual "fire change" day. At that time, people had to change new kindling, so they had to eat cold food. Therefore, the Cold Food Festival itself has nothing to do with offering sacrifices to sweep graves.