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When the moon shines brightly The Mid Autumn Day festival
 Five years ago, I started my college life in a city that was thousands
of miles away from home, alone. And the National Day in that year came
along with another big Chinese traditional holiday-the Middle Autumn
Day, which is happening again this year on October, 6th 2006.
There is a sea of literatures expressing the happiness and the sorrow as
well about this special day. Families get together to appreciate the
beauty of the biggest moon in a year and to cherish the bond of love
among a family. And the moon arouses in those people who can't make it
on this occasion a subtle and blue feeling which they might have
neglected for a long time, that yes, no matter how strong and cool we
thought we were, we do miss a place that is called home.
The Middle-Autumn Day, as the second of the largest festivals in China,
is celebrated on August, 15th by Chinese lunar calendar. It is said that
the moon on that day comes in the shortest distance with the earth,
providing the best time for people to enjoy its beauty. Chinese people
prepare different food for different festivals, and moon cakes are
especially made for Middle-Autumn Day. In light of the moon's round
shape, which indicates the perfection as well as the family reunion,
moon cakes are usually made in round shape. Nowadays, the differences
among moon cakes mainly lie in their fillings. Besides using mashed
Chinese date, saltish yolk and almond etc., people now even have started
the practice of adding coffee or wine in the fillings, which results in
the increasingly popular flavored-moon-cakes with added aroma and taste.
 Besides enjoying the mouthwatering and delicious moon cakes, beautiful
old stories or legends are passed on from generation to generation. And
one of them goes like this that there's a beautiful lady named Chang Er
living alone with her pet rabbit on the moon. Lone long time ago, Chang
Er's husband, due to his great achievement, was given by a goddess a
special pill which could make people immortal. He didn't want to live
alone all by himself, so he didn't take it and asked his wife to keep
it. One ill-minded friend of her heard about that and tried to steal it
from her. One day, when Chang Er's husband Hou Yi was out, his
ill-minded friend went to his home and threatened Chang Er to get that
pill from her. In an emergency, Chang Er swallowed that pill down, and
then her body became lighter and lighter and she started flying up and
 finally she ended up on the moon, living all alone in the prison of
eternality. Hou Yi was so shocked but everything was too late. So in
memory of his fairy wife, he made an incense burner table, putting lots
of her favorite cakes on, as if she could still enjoy them up there.
Later on, people followed him and it gradually became a custom.
Therefore, on the night of August 15th by Chinese lunar calendar, if you
stare at the moon carefully, you might be able to see that beautiful
lady. Of course, there are a lot of variations about this story, but all
the people share one good wish that those who have been parted for a
long time should get reunited. This is the background of the Chinese
Mid-Autumn Day Festival.
The Spring Festival ( Chinese New Year)
The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year is the biggest
event of the year for the Chinese nation. The Spring Festival is in fact
the beginning of the Chinese lunar year and falls on the first day of
the year in the lunar calendar. This is usually in late January or early
February. This year it fell on the 29th of January on the
 beginning of
Dog's year. Fireworks display, visiting and greeting family and friends, Yangge dancing, lion and dragon dancing, temple fairs, and many other
celebrations of Chinese folklore are the main activities of the Spring
Festival. It is also a big occasion for Chinese people to have family
reunions and long ques can be seen at the Bus terminals, Railway
stations and Airports as every Chinese make sure to be with family back
at hometown during the Spring Festival holidays. People keep making
savings throughout the year to go shopping for celebrating the Spring
Festival. Dumplings are the most popular among the special dishes,
prepared by the families during the Spring festival to welcomes friends
and relatives. Yangge dancing originated 2,000 years ago as a religious
activity to greet the Gods and dispel evil, but is now a recreational
activity during the sowing season and on holidays. It is especially
popular among the northern Han. There are weeklong officials holiday
during the spring festivals but students and private employees keep
saving their holidays throughout the year to utilize them during the
spring festival and thus they normally go on vacations during the
festivals from two weeks to one month even.
Before the event, houses are thoroughly cleaned. Everyone gets a
haircut and purchases new dresses. People burn incense at |
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home and in the
temples to pay respects to ancestors and to ask the Gods for good
health, peace, and luck in the coming year. Red lanterns are hung
everywhere. Red scrolls with complementary poetic couplets are pasted at
every gate, one line on each side of the gate. On New Year's Eve,
families have a reunion feast of jiaozi (dumplings) and niangao (a kind
of sticky rice cake), and then stay up and talk through the night,
talking about the past and the future.
When the clock rings to announce the arrival of the New Year, many
households set off fireworks at almost the same time, creating a
thunderous roar and clouds of smoke. This ceremonial use of fireworks is
meant to send off the old and usher in the new. Early the next morning
and on the following days, everyone wears new clothes. People pay New
Year visits to relatives and friends to extend the New Year's greetings.
Cities, rural towns, and villages present waist drum displays, Yangge
dancing, lion and dragon dancing, and other folk dances. There are other
grand celebrations, such as the Temple Fairs in Beijing. Chinese govt
had imposed a ban of fire works during the spring festival in Beijing
some 12 years back. However, this year it was lifted and the way the
Beijingers celeberated, one can easily say that the fireworks on the eve
of Spring festival would become yet another event of international
interest and soon a lot of tourists would be pouring in to China just to
witness this mega firework.
Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese throughout the world. Wherever
one finds large Chinese communities, one finds large celebrations.
The Lantern Festival
 Just when the Spring Festival is over, ie on the 15th of the first month
of the new lunar year, another popular festival, the Lantern Festivals
arrives Lantern expositions; garden parties, fireworks displays, and
folk dances are the main features of this Chinese festival. During this
festival, red lanterns can be seen everywhere. Many types of delicate
and splendidly ornamented lanterns are exhibited. Every family eats
yuanxiao (a kind of rice ball stuffed with beans, sugar, and other
sweets), which is a symbol of family reunion, unity, affection, and
happiness.
The Qingming Festival
 The Qingming Festivals is also known as the Festival of Pure Brightness
and falls on 12th of the 3rd lunar month, usually around April 4th or
5th. Cleaning ancestors' graves, holding memorial ceremonies, the making
of offerings to pay respects to the dead, a spring family outing, and
flying kites are the main activities during this festival Offerings to
the dead, which include the burning of ceremonial paper money, are both
to honor ancestors and to pray for a year of good luck are also among
the salient features of Qingming festival It is said that this festival
was set up to memorialize Jie Zitui, a man of noted loyalty during the
Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 B.C.). He helped his lord when his
lord's crown and power were in jeopardy. When his lord's power was
restored, Mr. Jie refused to accept a position his lord offered to him.
He escaped with his mother to a mountain. His lord set a fire to try to
force him out, and then force him accept the position. Mr. Jie died in
the fire. To commemorate Mr. Jie, his lord set aside the day he died as
the original Qingming Festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival
 The Dragon Boat Festival, yetanother popular festival in China falls on
the 5th day of the 5th lunar month Dragon Boat races and eating of
tzungtzu (pyramid-shaped rice wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves) are the
main attractions of this festival The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival has
the longest history of any of the festivals celebrated in China. Dragon
boat races are held to the sounds of thunderous drumbeats. Racing teams
row vigorously, sprinting forward to reach the finish line.
In Chinese tradition, the dragon boats attempt to rescue the patriotic
poet, Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned himself because his king would not take
his advice. As a result, his kingdom was conquered. Chu Yuan drowned
himself on the fifth day of the fifth month in 277 B.C. To save his
body, people fed the fish cooked rice. They rowed boats and threw bamboo
leaved filled with cooked rice into the water. Later, the custom of
eating tzungtzu and rice dumplings became part of the festival.
There are other traditional festivals that have waned in recent years.
The Double Seventh Day is China's traditional Valentine's Day. It is the
day when a cowherd and his wife, a weaving maid and daughter of the Jade
Emperor, met in the heaven on the Magpie Bridge. The Double Ninth Day
used to be the day when people climbed into the high mountains, and
there missed their families. |
