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World > Asia >
China > China Festivals
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Festivals of
China |
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Spring Festival |
Spring Festival is the first traditional holiday of the year for Chinese people.
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. In order 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 days of January and
mid-February). The Eve of Spring Festival, or the lunar New Year's Eve), is an
important time for family reunions. The whole family gets together for a
sumptuous dinner.
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the night
of the first full moon following Spring Festival. Traditionally, people eat
sweet dumplings and admire lanterns during this festival. Sweet dumplings, round
balls of glutinous rice flour with a sweet filling, symbolize reunion. The
tradition of admiring the lanterns emerged in the 1st century and is still
popular across the country.
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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 revolutionary martyrs to pay
their respects. At this time of year the weather has begun to turn warm,
vegetation is bursting into new life and people love 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 |
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. It is
generally believed that this festival originated to honor the memory of the
patriotic poet Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BC), who lived in the State of Chu during the
Warring States Period. In despair at not being able to halt the decline of the
state and realize his political ideals, he drowned himself in the Miluo River in
modern Hunan Province on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month after the Chu
capital 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 local rivers, throwing sections of bamboo filled with rice into the water
as an offering to him.
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Mid-Autumn Festival |
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which
comes right in the middle of autumn. 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 known as
"moon cakes." The festival came to symbolize family reunion, as did the "moon
cakes," and the custom has been passed down to today.
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