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Chinese Festivals of Chinese Calendar

Chinese Festivals

There are several festivals in Chinese Calendar include Chinese Lunar New Year Festival, Lantern Festival, Sweeping Tombs Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Lover Day Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, Moon Cake Festival, Double Ninth Festival and Winter Solstice Festival.

Chinese Calendar is a Luna-Solar Calendar which calculated by rotation of moon and sun in a year. The system was introduce in ancient days since sky observation by ancient astrologers of Shang Dynasty but improved since western method was introduced by Xu Guangqi, an astronomer and scientist in Ming Dynasty era, the calendar by Xu Guangqi was rebuilt and revised by Jesuit Missioner Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Jesuit Missioner Ferdinand Verbest in Qing Dynasty era and still remain in use until now.

Chinese Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year is celebrated in China and in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mauritius, Philippines, and also in China towns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity." 

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Mythology

According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian (Chinese: 年; pinyin: Nián). 

Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. 

Spring New Year Lantern Festival

(also known as the Yuanxiao Festival in Taiwan or Shangyuan Festival in China; Chap Goh Meh Festival in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; Yuen Siu Festival in Hong Kong, and "Tết Thượng Nguyên" or "Tết Nguyên Tiêu" in Vietnam; corresponding Japanese event Koshōgatsu)

The Lantern Festival is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar, the last day of the lunisolar lunar New Year celebration. 

During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns (simplified Chinese: 猜灯谜; traditional Chinese: 猜燈謎; pinyin: cāidēngmí). 

It officially ends the Chinese New Year celebrations.

In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been being embellished with many complex designs.

archieve:  wikipedia

Chinese Calendar History

Early history

The earliest evidence of the Chinese calendar is found on oracle bones of the Shang dynasty (late second millennium BC), which seem to describe a lunisolar year of twelve months, with a possible intercalary thirteenth, or even fourteenth, added empirically to prevent calendar drift. The Sexagenary cycle for recording days was already in use. Tradition holds that, in that era, the year began on the first new moon after the winter solstice.

Early Eastern Zhou texts, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals, provide better understanding of the calendars used in the Zhou dynasty. One year usually had 12 months, which were alternately 29 and 30 days long (with an additional day added from time to time, to catch up with “drifts” between the calendar and the actual moon cycle), and intercalary months were added in an arbitrary fashion at the end of the year.

These arbitrary rules on day and month intercalation caused the calendars of each state to be slightly different, at times. Thus, texts like the Annals will often state whether the calendar they use (the calendar of Lu) is in phase with the Royal calendar (used by the Zhou kings). Although tradition holds that in the Zhou, the year began on the new moon which preceded the winter solstice, the Spring and Autumn Annals seem to indicate that (in Lu at least) the Yin calendar (the calendar used in Shang dynasty, with years beginning on the first new moon after the winter solstice) was in use until the middle of the 7th century, and that the beginning of the year was shifted back one month around 650 BC.

By the beginning of the Warring States, progress in astronomy and mathematics allowed the creation of calculated calendars (where intercalary months and days are set by a rule, and not arbitrarily). The sìfēn 四分 (quarter remainder) calendar, which began about 484 BCE, was the first calculated Chinese calendar, so named because it used a solar year of 365¼ days (the same as the 1st century BCE Julian Calendar of Rome), along with a 19-year (235-month) Rule Cycle, known in the West as the Metonic cycle. The year began on the new moon preceding the winter solstice, and intercalary months were inserted at the end of the year. In 256 BC, as the last Zhou king ceded his territory to Qin, a new calendar (the Qin calendar) began to be used. It followed the same principles as the Sifen calendar, except the year began one month before (the second new moon before the winter solstice, which now fell in the second month of the year). The Qin calendar was used during the Qin dynasty, and in the beginning of the Western Han dynasty.

Taichu calendar

The Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty introduced reforms that have governed the Chinese calendar ever since. His Tàichū (太初, “Grand Inception”) calendar of 104 BCE had a year with the winter solstice in the eleventh month and designated as intercalary any calendar month (a month of 29 or 30 whole days) during which the sun does not pass a principal term (that is, remained within the same sign of the zodiac throughout). Because the sun’s mean motion was used to calculate the jiéqì (traditional Chinese: 節氣; simplified Chinese: 节气) (or seasonal markings) until 1645, this intercalary month was equally likely to occur after any month of the year. The conjunction of the sun and moon (the astronomical new moon) was calculated using the mean motions of both the sun and moon until 619, the second year of the Tang dynasty, when chronologists began to use true motions modeled using two offset opposing parabolas (with small linear and cubic components). Unfortunately, the parabolas did not meet smoothly at the mean motion, but met with a discontinuity or jump.

True sun and moon

With the introduction of European astronomy into China via the Jesuits, the motions of both the sun and moon began to be calculated with sinusoids in the 1645 Shíxiàn calendar (時憲書, Book of the Conformity of Time) of the Qing dynasty, made by the Jesuit Adam Schall. The true motion of the sun was now used to calculate the jiéqì, which caused the intercalary month to often occur after the second through the ninth months, but rarely after the tenth through first months. A few autumn-winter periods have one or two calendar months where the sun enters two signs of the zodiac, interspersed with two or three calendar months where the sun stays within one sign.

Gregorian Reform and the 1929 time change

The Gregorian calendar was adopted by the nascent Republic of China effective January 1, 1912 for official business, but the general populace continued to use the traditional calendar. The status of the Gregorian calendar was unclear between 1916 and 1921 while China was controlled by several competing warlords each supported by foreign colonial powers. From about 1921 until 1928 warlords continued to fight over northern China, but the Kuomintang or Nationalist government controlled southern China and used the Gregorian calendar. After the Kuomintang reconstituted the Republic of China October 10, 1928, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted, effective 1 January 1929. Along with this, the time zone for the whole country was adjusted to the coastal time zone that had been used in European treaty ports along the Chinese coast since 1904. This changed the beginning of each calendar day, for both the traditional and Gregorian calendars, by plus 14 minutes and 26 seconds from Beijing midnight to midnight at the longitude 120° east of Greenwich. This caused some discrepancies, such as with the 1978 Mid-Autumn Festival. There was a new moon on September 3, 1978, at 00:07, China standard time. Using the old Beijing timezone, the New Moon occurred at 23:53 on the 2nd, so the eighth month began on a different day in the calendars. Thus people in Hong Kong (using the traditional calendar) celebrated the Festival on 16 September, but those in the mainland celebrated on 17 September.

漢 - Han Dynasty, A Little Note

Han (漢) is a Chinese Dialect. It is used to describe a group of chinese people with same dialectical languages. The word Han (漢) has a meaning as Braveness Hero. It describe that the ethnic of Han people are the brave people. As the ethnicity claimed it, but the Han people are truly brave. The ethnic is grouped into several tribes, such as Min Nang, Khe Jia, Chao Jiu, etc. These people have different dialecs of languanges, but have the same meaning of languages. These people lived at the east and southeast China until the Middle of China. They also migrated to the west until the territory of Xin Jiang, when the Han (漢) Dynasty had expansions to the west. When Tang (唐) Dynasty, the Han also had emmigrated far of China. The Han migrations had recorded by the kingdoms where they were, such as in South East Asia and India, also Tibet.

Han (漢) people truly the brave ones. They were living as merchants, but also as the workers. When they arrived to the new territories, they taught the native in merchandising, agricultures, etc. The influences of Han (漢) or Chinese can be found until this age.

Bao Qing Tian (Judge Bao)

Bao Zheng (999–1062), was a much-praised official who served during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song China. Bao is culturally a well-respected figure in Chinese history, and is today invoked as the symbol of justice in China. After passing the imperial examination in 1027, Bao deferred embarking on his official career for a decade in order to care for his elderly parents and faithfully observe proper mourning rites after their deaths. From 1037 until his death in 1062, Bao successively held several offices at court and in provincial locations. In his lifetime, Bao was renowned for his filial piety, his stern demeanor, and his intolerance of injustice and corruption. Due to his fame and the strength of his reputation, Bao's name became synonymous with the idealized "pure official" and quickly became a popular subject of early vernacular drama and literature. Bao was also associated with the Buddhist god Yama and the "Infernal Bureaucracy" of the Eastern Marchmount, on account of his supposed ability to judge affairs in the afterlife as well as he judged them in the realm of the living. The fictionalized Bao Zheng was known variously as "Lord Bao" or "Judge Bao" (Chinese: Bao Gong), Rescriptor-in-waiting Bao (Chinese: Bao Daizhi), Bao of the Dragon Image (Chinese: Bao Longtu), and "Blue-Sky Bao"/"Unclouded-Sky Bao" (Chinese: Bao Qingtian). From the middle of the Song Dynasty to the present day, the character of Judge Bao has appeared in a variety of different literary and dramatic genres, and has enjoyed a sustained popularity by audiences of all ages.

Bao's Legendary Allies

• In most of the stories, Bao is always accompanied by his trusted bodyguard Zhan Zhao, a man with superhuman strength and unmatched skills in the martial arts. In some legends, he is seen as a companion and equal to Bao, as he represents the Wu (martial) aspect while Bao represents the Wen (civil) aspect, which is considered the two features of a perfect and complete person.
• Besides Zhan Zhao, Bao is often accompanied by his adviser or personal secretary, known in the stories as Gongsun Ce. Gongsun like Zhan Zhao is often portrayed as loyal and devoted to Bao's causes, in contrast to the advisers to the magistrate portrayed in most stories as usually conniving and unscrupulous characters who are masterminds of corrupt activities in the yamen. While Zhan Zhao serves as Bao's enforcer, Gongsun is often portrayed as the intelligent and merciful advisor who helps Bao by offering him advice. The relationship between Bao and the characters of Zhan Zhao and Gongsun is very similar to that between Liu Bei and Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, and Zhao Yun in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
• Other than Zhan Zhao and Gongsun, Bao is often seen with his four enforcers (includes Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, and Zhao Hu) who are usually under the orders of Zhan Zhao, and when a hearing is in session, two of them are always on Bao's right and two of them are always on his left. Like Zhan Zhao and Gongsun, the enforcers are presented as righteous and incorruptible. This type of portrayal is often done on purpose to show the contrast of Bao's court which is from top to bottom morally upright and impartial, while corrupt officials tend to employ and associate with morally flawed characters.

Bao Qingtian was born into a scholar family in Hefei, Anhui province, where the Memorial Temple of Lord Bao is still located near the city center. It was built in 1066 close to his tomb. At the age of 29, he passed the highest-level imperial exams and became qualified as a Jinshi. He was a magistrate in Bian (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty.

He is famous for his uncompromising stance against corruption among the government officials at the time. He upheld justice and refused to yield to higher powers including the "royal father-in-law", who was also appointed as the Grand Tutor and was known as Grand Tutor Pang (Chinese: Pang taishi). He treated Bao as an enemy. Although Grand Tutor Pang is often depicted in myth as an archetypical villain (arrogant, selfish, and cruel), the historical reasons for his bitter rivalry with Bao remains unclear.

Bao had conflicts with other powerful members of the imperial court as well, including the Prime Minister, Song Yang. He had 30 high officials demoted or dismissed for corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. He also had Zhang Yaozhuo, uncle of the high-ranked imperial concubine impeached 6 times. In addition, as the imperial censor, he avoided punishment despite having many other contemporary imperial censors punished for minor statements.

Tomb of Bao Zheng, entrance to burial chamber

 Bao Zheng also managed to remain in favor by cultivating a long standing friendship with one of Emperor Renzong's uncles, the Eighth Imperial Prince (Chinese: Ba Wang Ye). His burial site in Hefei contains his tomb along with the tombs of family members and a memorial temple.

In opera or drama, he is often portrayed with a black face and a white crescent shaped birthmark on his forehead. In most dramatization of his stories, he used a set of guillotines, given to him by the emperor, to execute criminals. The one decorated with a dog's head was used on commoners. The one decorated with a tiger's head was used on government officials. The one decorated with a dragon's head was used on royal personages. He was granted a golden rod by the previous emperor which he was authorized to chastise the current emperor with. He was also granted a precious sword from the previous emperor (Chinese: shang fang bao jian) as a license to execute any royals before reporting to the emperor to get approval first (from where arose the idiom "execute first, report later"). In these works he was often helped by 12 deputies and detectives, collectively known as  seven "knights"(Xia) and five "honorable men"(Yi). His name became synonymous with justice, with the clear blue sky (qing tian) became a popular metaphor to justice in the Chinese-speaking world. Due to his strong sense of justice, he is very popular in China, especially among the peasants and the poor. He became the subject of literature and modern Chinese TV series in which his adventures and cases are featured.

There are many legends and stories about Bao and his wit as both a detective and judge. Some famous examples include:

• The story about Bao executing Chen Shimei, who abandoned his previous wife (and later tried to have her killed) in order to marry royalty.

• The story of a plot to discredit a concubine by swapping her son (the new born crown prince) with a civet, in which Bao disguised as Yan Luo to try Guo Huai. Guo supported Bao in front of the Emperor early in his career, making the case personally difficult for the judge. The perpetrator confessed when he thought he was in hell.