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Name: Preliminary Year(Xiao Nian)

Date: 23-day of the last lunar month

The "monarch of kitchen" or 'kitchen god," who is worshiped among the Chinese people, is a god who takes charge of the fortune of families. It is said that on the 23th day of the twelfth lunar

"Kitchen God," New Year poster.

On the New Year's Eve, the kitchen god will come to earth with other gods to

"Door Gods," New Year poster of Yangliuqing, Tianjin, Qing Dynasty.

Twenty-fourth day of the last lunar month is decided as the "house cleaning day" in

Name: Laba Festival
Date: the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month

In China, the twelfth month of lunar year is called " la month, " and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is thus called " Laba Festival" (eight reads ba in Chinese)or "la day" Laba Festival is a traditional festival of Han nationality. It is also regarded as the prelude to the Spring Festival.

It is recorded that Laba Festival originated from the

After the spread of Buddhism into China, people made up another story based on the traditional custom of honoring the ancestors and eating porridge, saying that the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was the day when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became a Buddha. The story goes that Sakyamuni had practiced Buddhism for many years and the hunger turned him into just a bag of bones and he intended to give up. Right at that time a shepherd girl helped him with rice and porridge, which restored energy into him and brought him into the right track of thought. Contemplating under the bodhi tree, he finally became a Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. To commemorate this event, the Buddhists began to make porridge with rice and dried fruits to make offerings to the Buddha on that day every year ,and the porridge was called "laba porridge."

Two "Old Beijingers" enjoying laba porridge.

There are all kinds of laba porridge. The traditional laba porridge should include eight main materials and eight supplementary materials, which accord with the "ba" in 'laba porridge" and suggests good luck£®(¡° Ba,¡± in Chinese£¬is usually related to show their good wishes. which means prosperity.)The main materials usually consist of beans like red beans, mung beans, cowpeas, haricots, peas and broad beans and grain like rice, millet, polished round-grained rice,sticky rice, wheat, oats corn and broomcorn. People can choose what he prefers from these materials. The supplementary materials can usually be chosen from preserved peach, preserved apricot, walnuts, jujube paste, chestnuts, persimmons, melon seeds, lotus seeds, peanuts, hazels, pine nuts, preserved pear and raisins.

After choosing the main materials, it is time to put them into a pot full of water and cook them on a slow fire. When all these have been done, some sweet seasonings like sugar, rose and sweet osmanthus will be added into it. The laba porridge varies in different areas in China, and the most delicate one is in Beijing. There are more types of fruits in the rice,such as jujube, lotus seeds, nuts, chestnuts, almonds l pine nut kernels, longans, hazels, raisins, water chestnuts roses, red beans and peanuts, summing up to more than twenty types.

Steeping laba garlic.

If the family is very particular about the festival, they will pay special attention to the color of the porridge. All the deep-colored beans will not be taken into consideration. Only polished glutinous rice, seeds of Job's tears l water; nuts and lotus seeds are chosen as the materials and made into porridge. The white porridge placed in exquisite dishware is not only delicious but also good; looking. Moreover, it is also an indication of good luck and bumper harvest.The Chinese think that it is a very agreeable scene to have the whole family gathering at the table and eating the delicious laba porridge. Families which are even more particular about the festival will carve the fruits into shapes of people or animals and knead the food with colors such as jujube paste,bean paste,tomatoes and haw jelly cakes into the figures in the legends. This kind of laba porridge, however, can only be seen on the altar tables of some big monasteries.

When the laba porridge is done,it should first be offered to gods and ancestors as the sacrifice. Next will be the relatives and friends, and the porridge must be sent out by noon. Finally the whole family will enjoy it together. The leftover laba porridge, even if it is left after several days, is considered as a good omen since it suggests that there will be leftovers every year. What's more, if you share the porridge with the needed people,it will be seen as an accumulation of virtue.

Besides cooking laba porridge, people in northern China also have the habit of making "laba garlic "on Laba Festival. The housewives peel the garlic, put it in jars and fill the jars with vinegar. Then these jars are sealed on the Laba Festival and placed in some warm room. When it comes to the New Year' s Eve and the family is ready to eat jiaozi, the garlic will be brought to the table. The vinegar-soaked garlic cloves take on a jade-like green color, which is rather beautiful in contrast with the red vinegar and can greatly improve the atmosphere of the festival.

Name: Dragon Boat Festival

Date: the fifth day of the fifth lunar month

    About the origin of Dragon Boat Festival there are a lot of versions, the most influential one of which is that it is a festival that commemorates Qu Yuan. This version has almost been taken as a common sense among the Chinese people.

    Qu Yuan(e.340-278 BC) was a Chu(senior state official in feudal China)in the state of Chu in the Warring States Period. Among the seven states then(Qi, Chu,Yan,Han, Zhao,Wei and Qin),Qin was the most powerful one and it intended to conquer the other six and dominate the world. Qu's capability Won the recognition of Chu Huaiwang(Huai King of Chu).However, Qu's opinion that Chu should carry Out a political reform and cooperate with the other states to fight against Qin met opposition from his fellow officials. They spoke ill of Qu before Huaiwang and as a result, Huaiwang gradually became estranged from Qu, and finally he drove Qu out of

the capital of am. Finally, Chu was defeated by Qin. Grieved and indignant, Qu Yuan pumped into Miluo River and ended his life.

    When people got the news that Qu Yuan had drowned himself, they all got very sad and rowed to get his dead body but failed. To save the body from the fish, people threw food to the river to distract their attention. From then on, people always row dragon boats on rivers to mourn over Qu Yuan all the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. Moreover, they fill the bamboo cans with rice and throw them into rivers as a memorial ceremony. It was said that once Someone met Qu Yuan by the river and Qu said, "The food you gave me has been robbed by the dragon. You'd better wrap the rice with bamboo or reed leaves and fasten it with colored threads,for these things are what dragons are most afraid off Since then, people began to commemorate Qu Yuan with zongzi which are made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, and thus zongzi become the traditional food of Drayon Boat Festival. In this way, the tradition of eating zongzi and rowing dragon boats was handed down to the later generations.

    The second legend of Dragon Boat Festival is related to a historical figure: Wu Zixu (?-484 BC)was from the state of Chu in the Warring States Period. With his father and brothers having been killed by the king of Chu, he sought refuge with the state of Wu and helped it fight all the way to the city of Ying, the capital of Chu. He dug out the dead body of the king of Chu from the tomb and whipped it three hundred times as a kind of revenge. Later the state of Wu got involved in a war with Yue. Wu Zixu advised the king of not to compromise with Yue, but the king believed false accusations about Wu Zixu and granted him a sword to Commit suicide. Wu said: "After my death, please dig out my eyes and hang them on the eastern door of the capital of Wu mat I can see how Yue's army march into Wu's land and conquer it. "Then he killed himself. The King of was  irritated by these words. He issued an order to put Wu Zixu's body in a leather bag and threw it into the river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Therefore Dragon Boat Festival is also considered as a commemoration of Wu Zixu.

    A third version of the origin of Dragon Boat Festival is said to honor Cao E, a filial daughter in Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220). Cao's father got drowned in the river and the body could not be found for days. The only l4-year-old Cao E cried day and night by the river and finally jumped into it on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Five days later, she returned with her father's body. To commemorate Cao E's filial behavior, people built a "Cao E

Various sachets.

Temple" at me place where she jumped into the river. Apart from at the village she was rechristened as the Cao E Village," and the river she jumped in was named "Cao E River".

    Dragon Boat Festival has lasted more than two thousand ears in China. Generally speaking, the custom of celebrating is more or less the same over different areas, such as Dragon-Boat faces eating zongzt, wearing perfume and putting mugwort or calamus at home.

    Dragon-Boat race is an aquatic athletic sport which has had a long history in China.In some areas it is called "rowing Dragon Boats" or "Dragon-Boat competition." The custom of Dragon-Boats competition on Dragon Boat Festival prevails in the southern part of the drainage of Yangtze River. In the 29 years Qianlong's rule in the Qing Dynasty(1736),Taiwan started hold Dragon-Boat competition,and Jiang Yuanjun, the magistrate of the Taiwan prefecture, then had once presided over friendly contest. Nowadays there are Dragon-Boat races in Taiwan and Hong Kong On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. Besides in Dragon Boats have also found their ways to foreign lands like Japan and Korea.

    In the year of l980,Dragon-Boat was taken into the list of the Chinese national sports events;The "Qu Yuan Cup"  Dragon-Boat race is being held every year, On June l6th in l991(the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the first international Dragon-Boat race Festival was hold in the second hometown of QU Yuan: the city of Yueyang, Hunan Province. Before the competition there was "Dragon-Head ceremony" which have both kept the essence of traditional ceremony and also added some elements of the modern time. The dragonhead was carried into the ancestral temple of Qu Yuan and was "shanghong" (was draped a length of red cloth by the sports man;Then the host delivered a funeral oration and

Dragon-Boat racing.

"kmguang" (drew the eyes)on the dragonhead. After that all of the attendants bowed three times to the dragonhead, and then it was finally carried to Miluo River-the competition site. Over 600,000 people attended the competition, trade fair and party, which makes it an unprecedented grand occasion.

    Eating zongzi On Dragon Boat Festival is another important tradition among Chinese people. Zongzi has had a long history and it has developed a lot of types. It is recorded that early in the Spring-Autumn Period zongzi had appeared in an embryonic form as horn millet,in which was the millet wrapped by the leaves of wild rice, and  "bamboo-canned zong," which was the rice cooked in a sealed bamboo can.

    In the Jin Dynasty(265-420), zongzi was officially accepted as the food eaten on Dragon Boat Festival. Then in the North and South dynasties there appeared mixed zongzi in which the rice was stuffed with meat, chestnuts,jujube,red beans and so on. Moreover could also be given to relatives and friends as presents. In the Tang Dynasty the rice used to make zongzi had been "as white the tide, " and conic-shaped and diamond- shaped zongzi began to show up.The word of "Datang zottgzi" (zongzi in the Tang imperial)even appeared in some Japanese literature. In the Song Dynasty "Mijian zong"(zongzi with glazed fruit in)appeared. The poet Su Dongpo(1037-1101)also wrote about zongzi in his poems that "In zongzi can always see waxberries" ). The period of Yuan(1206-1368)and Ming dynasties, the leaves with which zongzi are wrapped changed from wild rice to bamboo leaves, and later me reed leaves were also put into use. The varieties of supplementary materials also increased, for example bean paste,pork, pine nuts, jujubes and walnuts had already appeared.

    Even by now, the Chinese families are still soaking glutinous rice, washing the bamboo or reed leaves and making zongzi, whenever the fifth lunar month approaches. Moreover, more varieties zhongzi are developed judging from the stuffing, the Jujube-stuffed zong is in Beijing plays a main role in the North, while stuffing like bean past rice,ham, and yolk are common in the South, in which zhongzi in Zhejiang Province is the most typical One. The Custom of eating zhongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years. It even crossed the border and spread to Korea,Japan and the counties in Southeast Asia.

The saying goes that "wearing willows on Pure Bright Festival while keeping aicao (mugwort) oh Dragon Boat Festival. "People believe that me firth lunar month is deleterious. so putting Some mugwort and calamus at home is regarded as an important activity on Dragon Boat Festival. Every family will clean their doors and put the mugwort and calamus on the lintel or hang them in the ceilings to expel the evil spirit and prevent diseases. Aicao is also called jia'ai,aihao. Its stalk and leaves contain a kind of volatilizable aromadendrin, the special aroma of which can drive off insocks and keep the air crisp. The calamus is a kind of perennial Water herbage. Its long and narrow leaves also contain a kind of voiatilizabie aromadendrin which can make people refreshed, can do good of their bones and kill insects. Seen in this way, there as actually some elements of truth for the ancient people to keep mugwort and calamus at home, and thus Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the "Health Festival."

    Hanging Zhong Kui's picture to scare off ghost is also a special custom of Dragon Boat Festival. In the drainage of Yangtze River and Huai Rivet people all hang the picture of Zhong Kui to guard their family from ghosts. The story of Zhong Kui goes like this: Tang Xuanzong(an emperor of the Tang Dynasty 685-762)was suffering from a plague. One day he dreamed of two ghosts chasing each other in the imperial court. The younger ghost that was in red stole Concubine Yang's sachet and the emperor's flute and ran around the imperial court. The elder One that wore a gown and a cap, however, caught the younger one,dug out his eyes and swallow them down.Xuanzong cried out and the elder ghost said: "My name is Zhong Kui. I failed in the imperial examination, but l'd like to help your majesty get rid of ghosts. "When the king woke up, he recovered instantly. Afterwards he asked Wu Daozi, the painter to draw a picture of Zhong Kui based on his dream.Then he issued an order that the picture should be hung oil the Dragon Boat Festival to guard against ghosts.

The custom of drinking realgar liquor is very popular among people in the drainage of Yangtze River. Realgar liquor is a liquor with realgar in it, and realgar is a kind of mineral containing sulfide which can keep the vipers and insects off. "The Story of a White Snake" which is still well-known today has a scene that the human-shaped White Snake return to her original form after drinking the realgar liquor. Thus people believed that the poisonous insects such as snakes, Scorpions and centipedes Can be scared off by the realgar liquor, and drinking realgar liquor can prevent them from the deleterious stuff and keep them healthy.

There is also a custom of wearing sachets on Dragon Boat Festival. The sachets are said to indicate preventing evils but are actually a kind of decoration on the clothes. In the sachets there are usually vermillion,realgar,and some aromatic substances.Wrapped in the Silk, these fragrant stuffs give out spells of faint scent. You can tie all shapes of sachets to a string with colorful threads it will be very pretty.

Up to now, Dragon Boat Festival has developed into a very popular and grand festival in China,and the ancient stories and legends has given it remarkable vitality that cad last for ages.

Double Seventh Festival

Name: Double Seventh Festival(the P m' ageing-for-Cleverness Ceremony)

Date: the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the Double Seventh Festival in China. The folklore goes that it is the day when Herd-boy and Weaving-girl reunite with each other. The beautiful love story about the origin of this festival is still popular today.

    It is said that a long time ago, a clever and honest man named Niu Lang(Herd-boy)was living in the Niu village at the west of Nanyang city. Niu Lang's parents died when he was very young and he had to live with his brother and sister-in-law, The latter was very cruel and mean to Niu and always forced him to do some hard work. Finally she even drove Niu out of her family, Poor Niu only had ah old cow with him. One day the old cow suddenly told Niu: "Tomorrow is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month; the seven daughters of Yuhuang Dadi will Come to earth and have a bathe.The youngest one that named Zhi Nv (Weaving-girl)is the cleverest. Hide her clothes and she will be your wife."Niu Lang was aroused by what the cow had said and decided to have a try.

    When it came to that day, Niu Lang hided himself in the reed by the river beforehand.Soon seven fairies descended from the heaven. They took off their clothes and pumped into the river. Right then Niu Lang bounced up from the reed, grabbed Zhi Nv's clothes and dashed backwards immediately. This had terrified the Seven fairies and the six of them flew to the heaven with their clothes on, leaving only the youngest Zhi Nv startled in the river. Niu Lang stumbled that he would return the clothes as long as she promised to marry him. Zhi Nn found that Niu Lang was the kind of man that she loved,so she nodded bashfully. After the marriage Herd-boy and Weaving-girl lead a happy life and they loved each other very much. Later they gave birth to a son and a daughter. How perfect the life was! However, the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens was irritated by their behavior and forced Zhi Nv to return to the heaven.

    Niu Lang put on his cowhide shoes and brought his kids with him to chase Zhi Nv back. When it Came to the edge of success, the Queen Mother of the Western heavens pulled out a hairpin from her hair. With just one wave of the hairpin, she brought about a billowing river, which separated the two lovers at each bank. They could do nothing but weep with each other.

"Herd-boy and Weaving-girl" by Wu Youru, late-Qing Dynasty.

    Fortunately, the magpies were moved by me sincere love. That's said to be the origin of the Milky Way, Altair and Vega Hundreds of thousands of them flew there and they formed a magpie bridge so that Herd-boy and Weaving-girl can get together again all the bridge. Not being able to make any change to this, the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens had to permit them to reunite with each other every seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

    From then on, it comes to that day young girls will dress themselves in new clothes and tried to find the Herd-boy and the Weaving-girl stars in the sky at night,expecting to see their yearly reunion and praying to gods that they can be as intelligent and talented as Zhi Nv and can have a happy marriage. That's how the Praying-for-Cleverness Ceremony originated.

    The Praying for Cleverness Ceremony is a very exciting day in the Chinese countryside. Young girls wear new clothes, worship the two Stars and "pray to Zhi Nil for cleverness".  There are many kinds of prays, the most common one of which is the pray for the talent of threading needles. Young women bring out colorful threads and seven needles. The girl who carry pull a thread through these needles will be regarded as "talented lady."

    The Double Seventh Festival is considered as the Chinese Valentine's Day. The Story that Herd-boy and Weaving-girl reunited on the Magpie Bridge casts a romantic light on this festival. It is said that you can even hear the sweet whispers between these two lovers if you sit under the grape vine on that day.

Double Seventh Festival

Ullam-bana Festival

Name: Ullam-bana Festival (Ghosts' Festival or Zhongyuan Festival)

Date: the l 5^th day of the seventh lunar month

    The l5th day of the seventh lunar month every year is "Ullam- bana Festival" or "Zhongyuan Festival," and in some places at is also called "Ghosts' Festival" or Shigu."It is a festival from Buddhism and also a day to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. People believe that the hell is

governed by Diguan Dadi. Every year on his birthday, which is the l5th day of the seventh lunar month, he will open the door of hell and all the ghosts will come to earth. Then people will be able to provide food and drink for them as a kind of comfort. Ulliam-bana comes from Sanskrit, it originated from a Buddhist ritual and means to rescue the inversely hung." It is said that a disciple of Sakyamuni saw his mother being hung inversely in the hell and he thus asked the Buddha to release her soul from purgatory.

    Sakyamunt told him to prepare a hundred kinds of food for all the Buddhist monks in that area on the l5th day of the seventh lunar month so that his mother will get released. This is the beginning of "Ullam-bana Festival".

    People began to follow this custom from the Liang Dynasty in the South and North Period and it gradually became the "Zhongyuan Festival. "Later apart from providing food for the monks, activities like "baichan" and "zhongyankou" are added into the customs. When it comes to the day, the seat of lash (the person who carry out the ritual, usually a Buddhist)and the platform will be prepared beforehand at the door of the village. Before the seat of the Kitigarbha Bodhlsattva whose job is to release the souls of the ghosts in hell from purgatory, and dishes of flour peach and rice are laid below. Three memorial tablets and an evocating flag are standing on the shigu platform.

    When it comes to the afternoon, every family will put the cooked pig,sheep,chicken and duck

are firing paper money on a memorial ceremony for the ancestors in the Ghost Festival.

and all kinds of cakes and fruits onto the shigu platform.The leader will stick a triangle paper flag of different colors in each offering, and the paper may read "grand ritual of Ullam-bana" Or the door of hell is open and so on.The ceremony starts in a piece of grand and solemn religious music. Then the if takes the lead to strike the muyu (a wooden stuff stroke by monks when chanting sutras) and chant incantation. After that flour peaches and rice are scattered in ail directions for three times.

    When the night descends,every family will burn incense to the Buddha on the floor in front of the door. The more, the better. It is called "butian, " which indicates that crops will grow well.

"Drifting river lanterns is also necessary on Zhongyuan Festival. A " river lantern" (water lantern)is a lantern fixed oil a small board. They are often made of colorful papers and ate usually shaped as lotuses. These lanterns will be lit up and placed onto the river. ¡°Drifting river lanterns" first started from monasteries and then got popular among common people. According to the traditional point of view, river lanterns a drifted to guide the spirit of those who died unjustly. When the lantern goes out, the mission of guiding the spirit across Bridge(the bridge which the dead people should cross in the Buddhist legend)is done. People believe that Zhongyuan Festival is a festival of ghosts, so it is also necessary to put on lanterns and celebrate for them. But since ghosts are different from people, the lanterns in Zhongyuan Festival should also be different from those in Shangyuan Festival(Lantern Festival).

    As a result, lanterns in Shangyuan are lit on the land, while 1anterns in Zhongyuan are lit on the river. All the shops will also be closed to give way to the ghosts. In the middle of every street there will be a table to place fresh fruits and "ghosts" bread every hundred paces with Taoists singing some "Songs for ghosts" which people can barely understand. This ceremony is called "Shiger."

    Nowadays this festival isn't very popular among people and just appears in some grand ceremonies in monasteries. Instead, it developed a lot after spreading to Japan and has become a great activity which is only second to the New Year Festival in Japan.
Ullam-bana Festival