Chinese and foreign national festivals, time and origin

The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, also known as the lunar year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". This is the biggest and most lively ancient traditional festival among the people of China. The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han nationality. However, China is a multi-ethnic country. Besides the Han nationality, there are more than a dozen ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li who also celebrate the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the beginning and end of the Shang Dynasty. There are also many legends about this year. The ancient Spring Festival was called "January Festival", "New Year's Day" and "New Year's Day". After the Revolution of 1911, the first day of the first lunar month was officially named Spring Festival. The long historical years have made the content of the annual custom activities extremely colorful. Among them, the superstitious content of offering sacrifices to heaven and gods has been gradually eliminated, while those interesting contents, such as posting Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures, pasting the word "Fu", cutting window grilles, steaming rice cakes, wrapping jiaozi, setting off firecrackers, vigil on New Year's Eve and paying New Year's greetings, are still very popular today. The earliest Spring Festival couplets in China were written on a mahogany board by Meng Chang in the Five Dynasties: "Qing Yu in the New Year, Changchun in the First Festival". Writing Spring Festival couplets on red paper began in the Ming Dynasty. New Year pictures originated from the door gods in the Tang Dynasty. Like burning firecrackers, they were used to ward off evil spirits in ancient times, but now they have become a custom aimed at increasing the festive atmosphere. The word "Fu" was pasted before the Song Dynasty. People deliberately put the word "Fu" written on red paper upside down on doors, windows and furniture, meaning "Fu Dao (Fu)". Keeping old age on New Year's Eve is the most important custom, which was recorded in Wei and Jin Dynasties. On New Year's Eve, the descendants of China people still attach great importance to staying up late with their families, getting together for drinking and enjoying family happiness, which is a custom. After the first cock crow, the new year began. Men, women and children wear holiday clothes. First, they celebrate the New Year's birthday for their elders. Then they visit their relatives and friends and congratulate each other. At this time, the land of China is shining everywhere. From the first day to the fifteenth day, people are immersed in a festive atmosphere of joy, peace and civilization.

◆ The origin of New Year's Eve

Commonly known as "Nianguan", the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month (some years are 29th) is the last day of the lunar year. In the afternoon, every household cleaned the courtyard, tidied up the indoor and outdoor environment, and then posted Spring Festival couplets, door gods, half curtains, hung yellow money, burned incense to worship their ancestors and set off firecrackers to show farewell to the old and welcome the new. In the evening, every household eats green powder stew, which is called "loading warehouse", which means family reunion and longevity. After the whole family has had a full meal, they have to leave some factories, which means "to live a rich life for more than a year." That night, the whole family was completely sleepless, which was called "enduring the year" or "observing the year". Young students kowtow to their elders to bid farewell to the old year, and elders should give them "lucky money", also called "lucky money"

2. The origin of Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first month is the Lantern Festival. According to Zhang Shaomei's "Fourteen Cattle in Qianlong", "Five Pure Hearts Try to Treat Liu Deji Quan Zhi? "Wuwei County Records" contains: "Lantern Festival, four cities stand vertically, hang lanterns, dress up as flower drums, walk on stilts and perform hundreds of plays." In the old days, there was a Yellow River Lantern Festival in Jinta Temple and other places, and the scene was spectacular. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Lantern Festival passed better than before. Before the festival, employees of enterprises and institutions tied colored doors and hung lanterns. There are lanterns, animal lanterns, eight immortals crossing the sea lanterns, and journey to the west story lanterns, which are colorful. Some fans install a micro-motor in the lamp, which is better than a lantern. The most striking thing is the 10 meter long golden dragon lantern. At night, residents of the city and suburbs flock to the city, and the crowd is crowded. Wuwei custom, when watching lanterns, you must get under the dragon lantern and pray for family peace and happiness. He also said that the dragon is a mascot, and when the dragon lantern is drilled, the population is prosperous. The Lantern Festival in rural areas has a unique flavor. Lanterns are simple and elegant, with a strong local flavor. There are torches made of corncob, lanterns made of yam eggs and radish heads. On the wall, under the stable, there are lights everywhere, brightly lit. According to historical records, the grand occasion of Wuwei Lantern Festival has existed since the Tang Dynasty and is very famous in Chang 'an. Therefore, it is said that Ye Fashan, a Taoist priest and Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty, lingered at the Liangzhou Lantern Festival at night. Wuwei Lantern Festival, whether new or old, lasts for 3 days, that is, the 14th, 15th and 16th of the first month.

3. The origin of February 2nd.

In ancient times, there was a saying that the dragon looked up on February 2. According to old books, it was Japanese urban and rural residents who prayed for a good harvest by offering sacrifices to the soil, and every household fried beans and hemp seeds to eat, which meant killing fleas and insects. Nowadays, the activity of worshipping the earth and praying for blessings no longer exists, and there is still the custom of frying wheat beans in rural areas.

4. The origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Qingming is one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar calendar. This is a day to sweep graves and worship ancestors, which is called "Spring Festival". Wuwei urban and rural customs, whoever has a grave, must go to the grave one or two days before Qingming Festival to pay homage, burn paper money and add soil; Those who have no graves burned paper money in the suburbs or in front of their homes or in the streets and lanes the night before in Tomb-Sweeping Day. It is forbidden to go to the grave and burn paper in Tomb-Sweeping Day that day. Legend has it that the paper money burned that day became iron money, and the deceased could not use it.

5. The origin of Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanyang Festival. It was early in the morning, and willow branches were planted at the door of every household to summon Qu Yuan's soul and avoid the plague. Children tie colored cotton or silk ropes on their wrists, sachets and wallets, and coat their mouths, noses and ears with realgar wine. It is said that this can avoid the five poisons (snake, scorpion, gecko, toad and centipede). There is a saying in Wuwei that the Dragon Boat Festival will be held in May. Young men and women wear fashionable summer clothes and enjoy themselves. Young women pay attention to embroidered vanilla wallets, decorate them with tassels and give them to relatives and friends. In the past, unmarried girls put their wallets in skirts or braids to lure them away. If they don't take it off, they will feel ashamed and ugly. On that day, every household ate zongzi or oil cakes and burritos, and relatives and friends fed each other. In the afternoon, urban and rural residents went to visit old temples and Haizi in droves. Now that the seas are dry and the rocks are rotten, and the temples have been destroyed by the earthquake, I will visit the Confucius Temple, the ancient bell tower, Leitai, the sea burial park and Xijiao Park. Children climb trees and break branches in the wild and weave wicker hats to prevent heatstroke.

6. The origin of June 6th

On the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, it is also called "Sun Insect Festival", and there is a folk proverb of "Sun Silk on June 6th". Dry the silk, silk, leather, wool and other clothes that you often don't wear at noon this day to prevent insects from eating. There are also "Jing Zhuan Party" and "Hanging robe Party". In Shaanxi, there are activities such as fishing river lanterns and pumping wine. In some areas, there is also a "June Fair" where young men and women seek love by singing, grabbing watches, throwing flowers and bags. June 6th is also an important festival for Buyi and Yao people.

July 7? The origin of begging festival

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the "Begging for Cleverness Festival". Legend has it that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge. In the old days, on this night, girls and young daughters-in-law sat under the moon and put on needles to see who was wearing fast, much and skillfully. It is said that this can make people with clumsy hands practice dexterity. This custom no longer exists. Only the troupe in the city performs the drama "Tianhe Match" as usual every year. Residents from four townships flocked to the venue and the performance stopped in late July.

8. The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival

August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival. On this day, every household in urban and rural areas steamed moon cakes to show family reunion. Wuwei people's moon cakes are steamed with steamed noodles. For example, there are many kinds of inverted washbasins, such as layered moon cakes, twisted moon cakes, divided moon cakes and Gui Xiang, all of which are delicious. There is a saying that "the table is served on August 15th", which means that the autumn harvest has come to August, and the food is abundant. Relatives and friends give mooncakes to each other, which means keeping up with the joneses. On the evening of August 15, the bright moon Ran Ran rises, and every family is in the yard, setting up incense tables, offering sacrifices such as moon cakes, melons and fruits, lighting candles and incense, and the whole family is sitting around to enjoy the moon. A little, housewives cut moon cakes and watermelons; The family is eating melon and moon cakes, talking and laughing, which is quite interesting. According to legend, the watermelon dedicated to the goddess of the moon must be cut into two serrated petals. If there are pregnant women at home, you can predict men and women by counting the number of melon teeth.

9. The origin of the winter solstice festival

One of the 24 solar terms. The solstice in winter is the beginning of the ninth anniversary. From this day on, the days are getting longer and longer, the nights are getting shorter and shorter, and every household has to eat winter solstice meals. Some people eat noodle soup; Some people use diced meat, diced noodles, tofu and vermicelli: rice "; Some people also eat "apricot skin altar Tatar", also known as "ear blowing"; There is also the custom that people who eat mutton, fragrant rice or minced meat have a fire and set fire to wheat straw.

10. The origin of off-year

On the 23 rd of the twelfth lunar month (called "off-year"), send it to the kitchen god. There is a folk song "On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the chef goes to heaven". At about eight o'clock in the evening, every household prepared recipes in advance (write the family name and date of birth on yellow paper), cookies (maltose and bean candy), dry cookies (pancakes) and cookies (horses with saddles printed on yellow paper), and prepared a dish of broken wheat straw, mixed with a few beans, all of which were burned in front of the kitchen god tablet to show that the kitchen god was sent to heaven. According to folklore, jujube is the head of the family. Report to the sky on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and return to the house on the 30th of the twelfth lunar month. Sacrificing the stove is to pray for jujube to "speak well from heaven and return to the palace for good luck." After the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it is close to the Spring Festival. Every household buys new year's goods, cooks, undresses, cleans up the house and prepares for the New Year.

1 1. The origin of New Year's Day

Historically, people used to call the 1 period of the earth around the sun 1 year. However, because the earth's orbit around the sun has no fixed starting point and ending point, the starting point and ending point of a year are artificially stipulated, which leads to the inconsistency of various calendars. According to legend, the word "New Year's Day" comes from Zhuan Xu, one of the earliest emperors in China. He defined the first month of the lunar calendar as "Yuan" and the first day as "Dan". Later, some dynasties changed the date of New Year's Day, but in principle, the first day of each year is still regarded as New Year's Day. For example, the Xia Dynasty regarded the first day of the first month as New Year's Day, but the Shang Dynasty regarded it as New Year's Day. The Zhou Dynasty was 1 1, and the Qin Dynasty was 1. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty that the great historian Sima Qian and others reformulated the calendar, stipulating that the first day of the first month of the first month of each year was New Year's Day, and it has not changed since then.

12. The origin of the May 4th Youth Day

May 4th is China Youth Day. 19 19 On May 4th, more than 3,000 students, mainly Peking University, held a protest rally in front of Tiananmen Square, demanding "fighting for state power abroad and punishing the national thief at home", "canceling Article 2 1" and "refusing to sign the peace treaty" broke out, which shocked China and foreign countries. In order to commemorate this historic day, 1939 Youth organizations in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region designated May 4th as China Youth Day. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the State Council, the Central People's Government, officially declared May 4th as China Youth Day in February. 1950 In April, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League decided to take May 4th as the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League.

13. The origin of Children's Day on June 1st

Children's Day, also known as "June 1 International Children's Day", is a festival for children all over the world every June 1 day. 1949165438+1October, the board meeting of the international democratic women's Federation was held in Moscow. China and representatives of other countries angrily exposed the crimes of killing and poisoning children by imperialists and reactionaries of other countries. In order to protect children's rights to life, medical care and education all over the world and improve their lives, the meeting decided to designate June 1 day as International Children's Day every year. Before that, many countries in the world had Children's Day. 1925, the International Association for the Happiness of Children initiated the establishment of Children's Day. Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries responded positively and set up their own Children's Day. Britain stipulates that July of 14 is Children's Day, and the United States stipulates that May of 1 year is Children's Day. Japan's Children's Day is very special, divided into boys' Children's Day and girls' Children's Day, boys' Children's Day on May 5th and girls' Children's Day on March 3rd. China also stipulated in 193 1 that April 4th is China Children's Day. Since 1 June 19491was established as the International Children's Day, countries all over the world have abolished the original Children's Day and unified it into "June 1 International Children's Day". On February 1949, the central government of China announced that "Children's Day on June 1st" replaced the original "Children's Day on April 4th" and stipulated that children should have a day off.

The origin of international labor day

/kloc-In the middle of the 0/9th century, American capitalist economic crisis continued, tens of thousands of factories closed down and millions of workers lost their jobs. The wages of working workers have been declining, but the working hours have been extended again and again, reaching 18 hours. Therefore, on May 1886 and 1 day, more than 400,000 workers in American1kloc-0/500 enterprises went on strike in an unprecedented scale, demanding the implementation of the eight-hour working system. The strike aroused strong repercussions in the American and international workers' movements and finally won. 1889 14 In July, the Second International held its inaugural meeting in Paris and adopted a historic resolution: May Day was designated as International Labor Day. As a result, the workers' struggle in May of 1 2000 went from the United States to the world, and more and more countries joined the ranks of commemorating May Day. May of 1 2000 became a day of international significance.

15. The origin of March 8th Festival

On March 8th, 1908, 1500 women marched in new york, demanding shorter working hours, higher labor remuneration, the right to vote and the prohibition of child labor. Their slogan is "bread and roses". Bread symbolizes economic security and roses symbolize a better quality of life. In May, the American Socialist Party decided to take the last Sunday in February as the National Women's Day.

16. The origin of Father's Day

Father's Day is organized by American John? Bruce? Mrs. Dodd initiated the establishment. Mrs. Dodd lost her mother in her early years, and she had five younger brothers. The burden of life for six brothers and sisters falls on her father. Father gets up early every day and cares about the growth of his children in every way. He is both a father and a mother, living a frugal life. Dodd personally felt his father's love, kindness and greatness. When she grows up, she deeply feels that her father's spirit of self-sacrifice should be commended, and her father should have a festival for the whole society to pay tribute to them like her mother. So she wrote a sincere letter to the Washington state government, suggesting that her father's birthday, June 5 every year, be regarded as Father's Day. Moved by her true feelings, the state government adopted this suggestion, but changed the date to the third Sunday of June every year. 1972, under the strong appeal of all parties, US President Nixon signed a parliamentary resolution to establish Father's Day, making it a national program. At present, this festival is recognized by people in many countries in the East and West. On this day, children always pay tribute to their hardworking father. Today, Father's Day and Mother's Day are celebrated in the same way, except that fathers' favorite gift may not be candy but cigars.

17. The origin of Mother's Day

Setting up a special day to show people's respect for their mothers is not a modern invention, but a very old custom. Ancient Greece once held ceremonies in forests or caves to worship the mother goddess of God. When they arrived in ancient Rome, these activities became even larger, and the celebrations often lasted for three days. Of course, the worship of the goddess in ancient times was just a superstition, which is very different from the respect for motherhood today. Mother's Day in America begins in May 1907. It was Anna of Philadelphia who advocated calling for Mother's Day. Jarvis suggested it. Mother's Day was founded by Anna? Jarvis. It is said that after the American Civil War, Anna? Jarvis's mother was then the director of the grafton City Mission School, and she was a part-time teacher of the Memorial Day course in the church. When telling the story of the hero who died in the battle, she couldn't help feeling deeply, and thought that mothers who lost their sons should be given a kind of comfort and an anniversary. At the same time, I sincerely hope that someone will create a mother's day to praise mothers all over the world. Her idea has been recognized by more and more people. Anna? After Jarvis's mother died, she inherited a large inheritance from her mother, but she was particularly sad about the loss of her mother, and was determined to realize her mother's wish and establish Mother's Day to commemorate all mothers in the world and advocate filial piety. To this end, she appealed to the society, and as a result, she received enthusiastic support and good response from all sides, and invited her to give speeches in succession. 19 12, the international mother's day association was established in the United States. 19 13 in may, the us house of representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling on the president and cabinet, the Senate and the house of representatives, and all officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on mother's day. 19 14, the us congress officially named the second Sunday in may as mother's day, and asked the president to issue a declaration calling on government officials to fly the national flag on all public buildings. Wearing carnations on the chest, the color is exquisite. People whose mothers died still wear white carnations, while those whose mothers are alive wear red carnations. On this day, people always try their best to make their mothers spend the festival happily, and thank and compensate them for their hard work over the past year. The most common way is to send mother's day cards and gifts to mother. During the festival, every mother will be filled with joy and accept roses or other bouquets, sweets, books and souvenirs presented by her children and husbands, especially when they receive cards made by their children, which say "Mom, I love you" childishly with crayons. But the most precious and generous gift is to free them from daily housework and relax for a whole day. On this day, husbands and children in many families do all the housework. Mom doesn't have to cook, wash dishes or wash clothes. Many families also have the custom of waiting on their mothers to have breakfast in bed.

The origin of Arbor Day

"Arbor Day" is a festival determined by some countries through legislation to stimulate people's feelings of loving forests and afforestation, promote land greening and protect the ecological environment on which human beings depend. Arbor Day was first established in modern times in Nebraska, USA. In April 1872, 10, Morton put forward the proposal of establishing strong regulation at a meeting held by the Nebraska Landscape Architecture Association. The state adopted Morton's suggestion, designated April 10 as the state's Arbor Day, and issued the world's first Arbor Day stamp in 1932, showing two children planting trees. 1979 in February, the 6th meeting of the 5th the NPC Standing Committee in China decided to designate March 12 as China Arbor Day. On March 12 of the following year, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of four stamps entitled "Planting Trees and Greening the Motherland". At the initiative of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, the Fourth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress adopted a resolution on launching a nationwide voluntary tree planting campaign. 1990 March 12, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of four stamps for "greening the motherland" again. The first stamp is "voluntary tree planting by the whole people".

19. Origin of International Nurses' Day

May 12 is the International Nurses' Day every year. It was established in memory of Florence Nightingale (1820 ~ 19 10), the founder of modern nursing. From 1852 to 1856, the war between tsarist Russia and Turkey in Crimea was very cruel, with heavy casualties on both sides and a large number of patients left unattended. At that time. In Britain, a woman with medical expertise named Nightingale volunteered to organize a battlefield ambulance team to lead 38 female ambulance crews to take care of the wounded and sick. Under her leadership, the hospital management system was established, which improved the quality of nursing and reduced the mortality rate of the wounded and sick rapidly. 1860, she founded the first nursing school in the world in St. Thomas Hospital, England, and made great contributions to promoting nursing work and developing nurse education in all countries of the world. In order to commemorate the founder of modern nursing education and carry forward Nightingale's dedication to patients, her birthday-May 12 was designated as the International Nurses' Day internationally.

20. The origin of Valentine's Day

Version 1: Valentine's Day is the English name of Valentine's Day. Literally, it is difficult to see the connection between Chinese and western appellations. There is a touching story hidden in it. Around the 3rd century AD in Rome, Caesar had been dead for almost 300 years, and the tyrant Claudius was still in power. At that time, there were frequent wars inside and outside Rome, and the people were in dire straits. In order to replenish men and carry the war to the end, Claudius ordered all men who reached a certain age to join the Roman army and serve the country with their lives. From then on, the husband left his wife and the teenager left his lover. So the whole of Rome was shrouded in a long acacia. The tyrant was very angry at this. In order to achieve his own goal, he even ordered that China people be forbidden to hold wedding ceremonies, and even asked married people to break their contracts. However, tyranny cannot forbid love. In the tyrant's country, there lived a respected monk, and he was our hero Valentine. He couldn't bear to see such a couple in Where Are You Going, so he secretly presided over God's wedding for the couple who came to ask for help. For a time, this exciting news spread all over the country, and more couples secretly came to the monks for help. However, it was soon known by the tyrant, so he once again showed his cruel face-put the monk in prison and eventually tortured to death. The date of the monk's death was February 14, and February 14, 270. In order to commemorate this man who dared to fight the tyrant, people gradually took February 14 as a festival. Many centuries have passed, and people can no longer remember Claudius' name, his scepter and sword, but they will still remember the Valentine brothers, because that day is Valentine's Day as well. Version 2: In ancient Rome, 14 February was a festival to show respect for Jonah. Jonah was the queen of the Roman gods, and the Romans regarded her as the goddess of women and marriage. The following February 15 was called "Lupsala Festival" to show respect for other gods under Jonah. In ancient Rome, the lives of boys and girls were strictly separated. However, on Lupsala Festival, boys can choose the name of a girl they love and carve it on a vase. In this way, during the festival, young people can dance with the girl of their choice to celebrate the festival. If the selected girls are interested in boys, they can always pair up and eventually they will fall in love and get married in church. For this reason, future generations designated February 14 every year as Valentine's Day. Third Edition: An English dictionary indicates that Valentine's Day falls on February 14, which originated from the faun festival in ancient Rome. It is said that birds begin to mate on this day. It was the custom at that time: during the Animal Husbandry Festival, every young man drew lots from a box with a note with a young woman's name written on it. The person drawn will become the sweetheart of young people. Later, the festival was changed to commemorate a Christian saint named Valentine. St. Valentine, a young Christian missionary in ancient Rome, ventured to spread Christianity and was arrested and imprisoned, which touched the old jailer and his blind daughter and took good care of him. Before he was executed, Saint Valentine wrote a letter to the girl, expressing his deep affection for her. On the day when he was executed, the blind girl planted an apricot tree with red flowers in front of his grave to express her feelings. This day is 14 February. Now, on Valentine's Day, many young men also make postcards of courting St. Valentine into exquisite handicrafts and cut them into butterflies and flowers to show their sincerity and determination. Girls put laurel leaves on pillows at night, hoping to dream about their lovers. Usually on Valentine's Day, a red rose is given to express the feelings between lovers. A half-opened red rose is the best gift for a girl on Valentine's Day, and the girl takes a box of heart-shaped chocolates as a gift. It is said that phenylethylamine, one of the ingredients of chocolate, can cause hormonal changes in the human body, similar to the feeling in love.

2 1. The origin of April Fool's Day

Every April 1, someone may play a kind joke on you and send you a fake message to make you fall for the last time. That's because today is April Fool's Day, a traditional western folk festival. April Fool's Day originated in France and was related to the calendar reform. 1564, France adopted the newly reformed calendar-Gregorian calendar (the current universal solar calendar) for the first time, with 65438+ 10/as the beginning of the year. However, some conformists opposed this reform and still stubbornly celebrated the New Year by giving gifts on April 1 day according to the old calendar. Advocates of reform laugh at these old-fashioned practices. Smart and interesting people give them fake gifts, invite them to fake receptions, and call the deceived conservatives "April Fools" and "Fish on the Hook". From then on, people fooled each other on April 1 day, which became a popular custom in France. On April Fool's Day, people often organize family gatherings and decorate rooms with daffodils and daisies. The typical way is to decorate a fake environment. You can decorate the room like Christmas or New Year. When the guests arrive, congratulations on "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" make people feel unique and interesting. The fish feast in April 1 day is also a must. Invitations to parties are usually colored fish made of cardboard. The dining table is decorated in green and white, with a fish tank and a small fishing rod in the middle. Each fishing rod is tied with a green ribbon and hung with a gift for the guests-a delicate celluloid fish or a fish-shaped box full of candy. It goes without saying that all the dishes at the fish feast are made of fish. However, the most typical activity of April Fool's Day is that everyone plays jokes on each other and plays tricks on each other with lies.