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1、Spring Festival The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the peoples sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one. St
2、rictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven day
3、s off for the Chinese Lunar New Year. Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened. Spring Festival .Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all thei
4、r utensils. Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners wishes for a brig
5、ht future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance. The Chinese character fu (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upsi
6、de down, for in Chinese the reversed fu is homophonic with fu comes, both being pronounced as fudaole. Whats more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may b
7、e put on the wall. Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. This days important activity is watchin
8、g lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddhas body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns
9、in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China. Lantern Festival. Guessing lantern riddles is an essential part of the Fest
10、ival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during peoples enjoyme
11、nt of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata. People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the Yuanxiao Festival.Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is sma
12、ll dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. Whats more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with tuan
13、yuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family. Qingming Festival The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfal
14、l increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration. The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day bef
15、ore the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined. On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs hav
16、e been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet. Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years. It is usually in June in the Gregorian calendar.Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all over the country. As the gun
