What are the connections between the four legends and holiday customs?

Because the four legends have a long history and have a great influence on the people, they have led to the emergence of specific festivals or the integration of holiday customs and legends.

1. The Legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and the "Begging for Cleverness Festival"

Qiaoqi Festival is also called Chinese Valentine's Day, Chinese Valentine's Day, Women's Day and Xiangqiao Festival. The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional festival of Han nationality, which is popular all over the country, and is also celebrated by Korean and Bai people. Legend has it that the seventh day of July is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge. Generally, women worship and watch the Weaver Maid, become the Weaver Maid under the moon and beg for the Weaver Maid's wisdom. There is also the custom of boys offering sacrifices to Altair and praying for wisdom. According to records, in the Han Dynasty, it was a custom for women to see the weaver girl, wear needles and expose their clothes on July 7th.

2. The Legend of Miss Jiang and Cold Clothes Festival

October 1st of the lunar calendar is a custom in northern China. Women sew cotton-padded clothes for their relatives who are away from home, burn paper clothes in cemeteries and offer food to their dead relatives. This custom combines the legend of Meng Jiangnu, so there is the plot of Meng Jiangnu working hard to make clothes and send cold clothes to the foot of the Great Wall.

3. Legend of Butterfly Lovers and Double Butterfly Festival

Double Butterfly Festival is a popular custom in Yixing, Jiangsu and Yinxian, Zhejiang. It is the first day of March in the lunar calendar (it is said that this day is Zhu Yingtai's birthday), so it is named to commemorate the love story of Liang Zhu and the legend of becoming a butterfly. There are indeed many butterflies in March in Yangchun, near the Reading Room in Zhu Yingtai, Yixing and Liangzhu Tomb in Yinxian. This fact and legend combined to form a festival. On this day, people pay homage to Yingtai reading room in Shanjuandong, Zhu Ling and Yixing, and watch peach blossoms and butterflies. In Ningbo, Zhejiang, there are customs of visiting Liangshanbo Temple and drinking vegetable soup in Zhu Yingtai Temple. Local rumors say: "When Liangshan Temple arrives, the husband and wife will grow old together."

4. Legend of the White Snake and Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Zongbao Festival, is a traditional festival of the Han nationality and also a festival of many ethnic minorities such as Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan and Miao. The time is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Festive activities include dragon boat racing, making zongzi, hanging sachets, shooting herbs, drinking realgar wine and eating toads. In the past, watching the drama of the Legend of the White Snake and visiting the Leifeng Pagoda during the Dragon Boat Festival were also popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Many people have to dig a tower brick and take it home when they worship the tower in order to get the blessing of the white snake, which should be one of the reasons why the Leifeng Tower collapsed in 1924. Some customs of the festival are combined with the legends of Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu, while drinking realgar wine and eating toads are related to some plots of the legend of White Snake.