The Spring Festival comes first in a year ,
The citizens began to prepare for it half a month
in advance .The first thing to do for each and
every family is to make general cleaning, and
then do special shopping constantly, .meanwhile
, farmers slaughtered pigs and sheep ,toasted
buns and fried dough cakes in deep oil . All families
are very busy making things ready for celebration.
On the Eve couplets are pasted on gate posts and
door panels .When evening comes , people burn
joss sticks , light candles ,welcome back kitchen-God
, and hold a memorial ceremony for their ancestors
.
It is an important link of customs to stick couplets
in the Spring Festival . No matter rich or poor,
most of families stuck couplets, pictures of door-god
as well as paper cut for door or window decorations,
after general cleaning on the Eve. Brilliant red
and glittering , is an audio-visual sign of the
festival and brings with it jubilant atmosphere
.All couplets have substantial content of good
intentions .
In old days people here had custom of staying
up or all night on the lunar New Year’s Eve, which
,they said ,could help to prolong life . When
ladies of a family cooked the Eve dinner, men
taught their children family regulations and historical
stories .
15th of the 1st lunar month is the Lantern Festival
. Townspeople eat sweet dumplings made of glutinous
rice flour , meanwhile, farmer families steam
sacrificial buns shaped as ox to pray for protection
of live stocks and development of production and
also sacrificial buns shaped as mouse without
eyes meaning they won’t be able to waste grain
.
30 days after spring begins it is the Waking of
Insects . By then weather has turned warm, snow
and ice melted , life returned to the earth and
hibernated insects awoke . On that day most of
families eat fried eggs . It is said the fragrance
can help to open human’s apertures , moisten lung
and treat indigestion .In the country ,farmers
let cattle and horses to drink vegetable oil or
radish soup with lard to stimulate their appetite
.
The 3rd day of 3rd lunar month was made the Festival
of Cold Dish in memory of Jiezituei who offered
a piece of flesh of his leg to allay the Jin prince
when they were forced to leave their native land
.Afterwards , the prince became the king and asked
Jiezituei to be in power , he refused and lived
a secluded life together with his mother on a
mountain . In order to drive him out, the king
ordered to set the whole mountain on fire . But
things went contrary to his will, Jie killed himself
by bumping against a tree . The king was badly
sad and regreted deeply .He buried him and his
mother on the mountain and named the mountain
Jie Mountain , built temple and gave order that
fire was forbidden and people could only eat cold
dishes on that day, expressing his grief .
Pure Brightness Festival comes on 5th of 4th lunar
month when grasses sprout and fields become green
, people visit graves to honor the memory of the
dead , especially of their ancestors . Kids fly
kites and youths have spring outing on the day
.
The 8th of 4th lunar month is birth day of Sakyamuni
,the founder of Buddhism . People go to temple
fair , donate and bathe Buddha.
The Dragon Boat Festival is on the 5th day of
the 5th lunar month , a day in memory of Quyuan
. Families eat pyramid-shaped dumplings made of
glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves
and cakes made of glutinous rice flour . Besides
outing in gardens , people pick and hang on doors
mugwort plants , branches of willow as well as
flowers of narrow-leaved oleaster for sake of
epidemic prevention and avoidance of misfortune
. Young ladies made fragrant bags of various shapes
decorated with colorful silk yarn , in which are
sweet grass , borneol and musk . They hang them
on chest to avoid epidemic disease , present to
each other to promote friendship or as tokens
to express loving affection .
