Seasonal Customs and Festivals in China

Ma Dayong， Dodolog

Tsinghua University Press

July 2021

99.00 （CNY）

Brief introduction：

This is a popular book that introduces traditional Chinese festival culture. It aims to introduce the beauty of traditional Chinese festivals， including the origin and context of festivals throughout the four seasons， placing focus on agricultural civilization and traditional virtues contained in the festivals. Various fine arts and entertaining customs， such as New Year’s paintings， paper-cutting， shanghong （uncle giving a piece of red cloth to nephew）， dragon boat racing， qiqiao （The Begging Festival on July 7th on the lunar calendar）， and worshipping the moon are introduced in hopes of educating people with love， and edifying them with beauty. With excellent pictures and texts， citing the classics， it comprehensively reveals the profound connotation of the culture behind traditional Chinese festivals.

Ma Dayong

Ma Dayong is a member of the Nanning Writers Association. He graduated from the writers class at Beijing Lu Xun Literary Institute in 2000. He is mainly engaged in the writing of popular books on Chinese culture， and has published many works on Chinese festival folklore， flower arrangement， carving， dress etiquette， and so on.

Dodolog

Legally known as Liu Shuai， Dodolog graduated from the Art Department at Shanghai University， majoring in design. He is a freelance illustrator and online literature writer.

Origin of Lichun Festival

Lichun， also known as Dachun and Lunar January Festival， is one of the 24 solar terms. It begins around February 4th of every Gregorian year and is the first solar term in lunar year， most commonly occurring during the lunar January. Lichun Festival lasts a total of 15 days. The first day is the beginning of spring，" marking the return of spring. The weather starts to get warmer， and plants and trees sprout and blossom. People are about to start their busy farming work of the new year. Therefore， agriculture-oriented Chinese regard this day as an important festival. As early as the Zhou Dynasty， Lichun Festival had already been established. The major activities of the festival were grand ceremonies held by the government and civilians to welcome the spring. In later dynasties， various festival decorations， diets， and so on were added to the festival.

Lichun ceremony includes activities such as welcoming the spring， whipping the spring ox， and ploughing.

Welcoming the warm and genial spring that is suitable for cultivating crops and reporting its return is the central theme of Lichun Festival.

From the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty， all emperors personally went to the eastern suburbs of the capital to welcome the spring. According to “Proceedings of government in different months“ in the Book of Rites， on the day of Lichun， the emperor led the three masters， nine ministers， feudal princes， and senior officials to welcome the New Year in the eastern suburbs of the capital. According to the chapter of Sacrifice in the Book of Later Han， on the day of Lichun， the emperor welcomed the spring in the eastern suburbs of the capital， offering sacrifices to Qing Emperor Goumang. The cart flags and dressings were all in cyan. Singers sang Qingyang （Han Dynasty poetry） and 64 dancers performed Yunqiao （a dance accompanied by music）.

From those records， we know that ancient emperors would go to the eastern suburbs of the capital to welcome the spring on the day of Lichun （east is the direction toward the location of the god of spring， symbolizing warmth）. The carts， flags， and people’s clothes in the procession would all be cyan colored. The color of cyan would be used to symbolize the wood in its five phases and spring ， symbolizing the rejuvenation of vegetation and trees that were verdant and vibrant. Singers sang the Qingyang and brandished ceremonial weaponry. 64 dancers performed dances and sacrifices would be offered to the god of spring.

The Spring God Goumang was an official who assisted Fuxi （the god of sun in Chinese mythology）. After he died， he was regarded as the god of spring， i.e.， the god of vegetation and life. According to the latter chapter “Ming Ghost” in Mozi， he allowed the lifespan of Duke Mu of Zheng （a nation during the West Zhou Dynasty， the Spring and Autumn Period， and the Warring States Period） to increase by 19 years. Also， based on the chapter “astronomy” in Huainanzi， he held a compass and governed the spring. Although his image was strange， he was the god bringing blessing and warmth to people. Therefore， people in later generations still worshipped him.

In the past， when people in Zhejiang welcomed the spring， on the day before Lichun， they would welcome the god Goumang in Taisui Temple on Chenghuang Mountain. That was commonly known as Taisui on the mountain. When people welcomed the god， there were big bands， taige （an entertainment activity）， ground opera， yangge （a dancing activity in the north of China）， and so on. In Shandong， when people welcomed the spring and offered sacrifice to Goumang， they predicted the weather of that year based on the dressing of the god Goumang. Wearing a hat meant the spring would be warm. Being bareheaded meant a cold spring. Wearing shoes meant more spring rain. Being barefoot meant less spring rain. In addition， folk artists carved spring oxen and Goumang in block-printed Chinese New Year pictures. The public could buy and paste them in their houses.

In later dynasties， emperors let an official welcome the spring instead of performing it in person. The officials also needed to give gifts to the emperors to celebrate the spring. According to Meng Liang Lu， written in the Song Dynasty， on the day of Lichun， officials ranking below prime ministers entered the imperial palace to congratulate the emperor. In the Ming and Qing dynasties， officials from Shuntian Prefecture welcomed the spring on behalf of emperors.

According to Yan Jing Sui Shi Ji （a miscellany of customs in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty） ， Dachun meant Lichun that mostly occurred during the lunar January. On the day before Lichun， officials from Shuntian Prefecture went to the spring grounds one li （500 metres） outside Dongzhimen to welcome the spring. On the day of Lichun， the Ministry of Rites presented the throne of Spring Mountain to the emperor， and Shuntian Prefecture submitted the picture of the “Spring Ox”， returning to the prefecture after the ceremony was finished. Then they led along a spring ox and whipped it. That was called Dachun. On that day， most rich families ate spring pancakes. Most women bought more radishes to eat. That was called Yaochun. It was said that with this people could get rid of spring fatigue.

The activity of whipping a spring ox recorded in the Yan Jing Sui Shi Ji had an early origin. According to the chapter “Month Order” in Li Ji （The Classic of Rites）， in the third lunar month … ordered officials to perform Danuo （Expulse the Plague） and make clay oxen to dispel the cold. Using clay oxen （later made with reeds， bamboo， and paper） to symbolize welcoming the spring and cultivating crops became popular all over the country but was rarely seen after the Republic of China. When whipping spring oxen was popular， it was often held at and above the county level all over the country. The time had been changed from the third lunar month of the winter in the pre-Qin period to the day of Lichun， which was more in line with the meaning of welcoming spring and cultivating crops.

According to the chapter of Etiquette in Hou Han Shu （Book of Later Han）， on the day of Lichun， at about six o’clock in the morning， all the officials in the capital would wear cyan colored clothes. Officials at various local levels would all wear cyan colored hats. The government set up cyan colored flags and put clay oxen and farming idols outside the gate of the office， to show the public that they would not be removed until Lixia （Beginning of Summer）. At that time， the clay oxen and farming idols were put outside the gate to announce that spring ploughing was coming.

According to Meng Yuanlao’s Dong Jing Meng Hua Lu （a book retelling the folk customs between 1102-1125 in Kaifeng， Henan）， the day before Lichun， Kaifeng Prefecture presented a clay spring ox to the imperial palace for Bianchun （Whipping the Ox in Early Spring）. In Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties， clay spring oxen were put in front of the government office. Early on the morning of Lichun， government officials whipped the clay oxen as they followed the local customs. In front of government offices， people sold small clay spring oxen. They usually wore colorful clothes that revealed various opera characters and presented spring streamers hanging on the tip of a tree or worn on a hair clasp as well as headdress flowers made of silk or paper to each other. Emperors bestowed golden or silver streamers upon prime ministers， princes， and other officials who then wore the streamer and returned to their mansions after they congratulated the emperors. Later， it was local officials who generally whipped the clay spring oxen with colored whips. They smashed the clay oxen and let the people compete for them. At the Lichun festival， there were also folk customs such as picking tea leaves and bathing silkworm eggs.

From those customs， we can see that welcoming the spring clay oxen also meant praying for an abundant harvest （including animal husbandry and sericulture）. We can suppose that the ancient display of clay oxen might have developed from the ancient worship of the god of agriculture. In ancient times， Emperor Yan， the god of agriculture， was said to have an ox head and a human body. Making clay oxen and performing Danuo to dispel cold in the Zhou Dynasty may be the legacy of worshipping him， which later developed into the custom of whipping the clay spring oxen.

In the Zhou Dynasty， besides welcoming the spring， emperors also held grand sacrificial activities to worship the gods of the earth in hopes of an abundant harvest. The chapter" “Zhouyu” （Discourses of the Zhou Dynasty） in Guoyu （Discourses of the States） gives a detailed account of the Chunji （fete in spring） ceremony of emperors. Nine days before Lichun， the grand scribe sent word to the emperor through agricultural officials. Then the emperor ordered the officials and the common people to build altars in the Jitian （a piece of land in which the emperor or the feudal princes would perform ploughing and sowing， expropriating civilians to work on but still belonging to the privileged）， prepare sacrifices for the god of the earth， and prepare farm tools for spring ploughing; five days before Lichun， the emperor and all officials fasted for three days; the emperor would have a bath， Fuxie （Rituals are held at the edge of waters to wash away dirt and eliminate the ominous on March 3rd in the lunar calendar）， and drink to tonify yang.

On the day of Lichun， the emperor first mixed the sacrificial wine with turmeric （a kind of spice） and poured it into the land. Then his majesty ploughed a portion of land and all officials ploughed three times more the portion of land according to their official rankings. The rest was finished by the farmers. The emperor and officials then drank some sacrificial wine and ate meat. After they finished， the farmers ate as well. This is a symbolic spring ploughing ceremony for an abundant harvest. In later dynasties until the Ming and Qing， this kind of ceremony had always been held by the emperors. Tian Fu Guang Ji （a book retelling the city history of Beijing and its government agencies in the Ming Dynasty） recorded that the emperors" ploughed in person in spring， but all the emperors just did it for show.

The Weng Tonghe Diary at the end of the Qing Dynasty recorded that Emperor Guangxu held a ploughing ceremony in Fengze Garden， Zhongnanhai. As the emperor held the plough， four farmers led the oxen and the rest of the servants held the plough， presented the whip， and ploughed back and forth three times to complete the ceremony. This carries on the Jitian （offer sacrifices to Heaven） ceremony of the Zhou Dynasty.