The
traditional Chinese holidays have been part of Chinese tradition
for thousands of years; they are an essential part of Chinese culture.
Many holidays are associated with myths and folklore tales, but
more realistically, they probably originated from ancient farmer
rituals for celebrating harvests or prayer offerings.
The
most important Chinese holiday is the Chinese New Year or the Spring
Festival. All traditional holidays are scheduled according the Chinese
Calendar.
In
Chinese
mythology, Nian (年獸) is a beast that comes
in spring. The Chinese word for year is based on the arrival of
this beast. A phrase for Chinese
New Year, guo nian (過年) means the passing of the beast. It is believed that it lives under the
sea. It came to attack people at the same time of the year. The
Chinese tradition of decorating in red, burning fire-crackers, and the lion dance
with loud drums and gongs was to scare the beast away.
During
Chinese New Year, there are two kinds of lion dances. The northern
lion Rui Shi (瑞獅)
has long hair and a round head without horn. Their name is translated
as lions, but they definitely are not the same as African lions.
The northern lions fit the description of a Fu
Dog. The southern lions, mainly Cantonese, have a single horn
at the top center of their heads. The Cantonese lions fit the description
of a Nian, but they are not the same as the northern lions. Some
legends said the Cantonese lion dance is a reenactment of how Hotei tamed the Nian.
|
Date
|
English
Name
|
Remarks
|
|
Last
day of 12th lunar month
|
Chinese
New Year Eve
|
Cleaning
the house, putting up new posters of "door gods"
on front doors, fireworks before the family union dinner,
which should be at least 10 course
meal
with a whole fish entree symbolizing the abundance of the
coming year
|
|
1st
day of 1st lunar month
|
Spring
Festival (Chinese New Year)
|
More
fireworks after midnight, visiting in-laws
|
|
15th
day of 1st lunar month
|
Lantern Festival
|
Lantern
parade and lion dance celebraing the first full moon
|
|
5th
day of the 4th lunar month
|
Qing Ming Jie (Tomb Sweeping Day)
|
Cleaning
and offering at family tombs, spring outing
|
|
5th
day of 5th lunar month
|
Dragon Boat Festival (Dragon Festival)
|
Dragon
boat racing, eat Zhong Zi,
commemorating the ancient poet Qu Yuan; drink yellow rice wine, related to the White Snake
Lady legend
|
|
7th
day of 7th lunar month
|
Double
Seven Festival
|
According
to legend, the goddess "Zi Niu"(a star)fell in
love with the farmer boy "Niu Lang" (a star),
but was disapproved by the her mother goddess. As punishment,
they were seperated by the Milky
Way and could only meet once a year on this night.
|
|
15th
day of 7th lunar month
|
Spirit
Festival (Ghost Festival)
|
Putting
up Ghost posters on front doors to scare the evil
|
|
15th
day of 8th lunar month
|
Mid-Autumn
Festival (Moon Festival)
|
Eat
mooncake, family union meal, related to the legend of Chang
Er
|
|
9th
day of 9th lunar month
|
Double
Ninth Festival
|
Autumn
outing and mountain climbing
|
