Xia Yuan Festival

Xia Yuan Festival

Xiayuan Festival, a traditional Chinese festival, is also called "Xiayuan day" and "Xiayuan day" on October 15 of the lunar calendar. It is one of the traditional Chinese folk festivals.

The 15th day of the first month is called Shangyuan festival in China, which is to celebrate the Lantern Festival. It has existed since ancient times. The 15th day of July is called Zhongyuan festival in China, which is to sacrifice ancestors. The 15th day of October is called Xiayuan festival in China, which is to sacrifice ancestors.

The origin of Xiayuan Festival is related to Taoism. There are three Taoist officials: Tianguan, diguan and Shuiguan. They are called Shangyuan Jiuqi blessing Tianguan, Zhongyuan Qiqi forgiving diguan and Xiayuan Wuqi relieving yushuiguan. The birth days of the three officials are respectively the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the official blessing, the 15th day of July, the official forgiveness of sins, and the 15th day of October, the official relief of misfortune. These three days are called "Shangyuan Festival", "Zhongyuan Festival" and "Xiayuan Festival". Xiayuan Festival is the time when the water officer and the emperor of mingu solved the problem. It is commonly known as Xiayuan day.

The origin of festivals

October 15 of the lunar calendar is the ancient "Xiayuan Festival" in China. At this time, it was the harvest season in rural areas, and almost every household in Wujin area made small dumplings with milled glutinous rice flour of new Valley, wrapped vegetable stuffing, steamed and "zhaitian" outside the gate. In addition, the old saying goes: "October half, Qianlong Tuanzi Zhai three officials.". It turned out that Taoism called it the day, the birthday of the "three officials" (Tianguan, diguan and Shuiguan). Outside the door of the Taoist disciples' houses, there were poles with yellow flags on them. In the evening, three sky lanterns were hung on the top of the pole to be the three officials of Tuanzi Zhai. After the Republic of China, this custom was gradually abolished, but the folk ceremonies such as sacrificing the dead and burning the storehouse were held in advance on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month.

October 15 of the lunar calendar is a traditional Chinese Folk Festival, Xiayuan Festival, also known as "Xiayuan day" and "Xiayuan day". The origin of Xiayuan Festival is related to Taoism. There are three Taoist officials: Tianguan, diguan and Shuiguan. They are Tianguan's blessing, diguan's forgiveness of sins and Shuiguan's relief of misfortune. The festival of the lower Yuan Dynasty is the time when the Shuiguan solved the problem of the hermit, the emperor of mingu. It is commonly known as the day. According to the investigation, the Shuiguan recorded the Tianting to solve the problem of the hermit. " On this day, the Taoist temple was a Taoist temple, while the people offered sacrifices to the dead and prayed to the water officials of the lower Yuan Dynasty for relief. In ancient times, the Imperial Court banned slaughtering and delayed the execution of death penalty.

In addition, on the day of Xiayuan Festival, there is also the custom of folk craftsmen offering sacrifices to the God of furnace. The God of furnace is the Supreme Lord, probably originated from the alchemy of Taoism.

Festival nickname

According to the Chinese calendar, the lunar calendar is on October 15, which is also the last lunar festival of the year. When the moon is full, people have to carry out the most important ancestor worship activities.

The ancient "Xiayuan Festival" is also known as "Xiayuan day", "Xiayuan", "Xiayuan birthday" and "Xiayuan water official festival".

The records of Xiayuan Festival are as follows
There is also a record in the annals of Chinese Customs: "October is the festival of the lower Yuan Dynasty, and there are people who hold fast and chant sutras at the time when the water palace is used to relieve adversity."
According to menglianglu written by song and Wu Zi mu, "on the 15th of October, the day when the water officials solved their misfortune, the Palace officials and the common people set up a Zhai and built a Jiao, either to solve their misfortune or to recommend their death."
According to the new records of Xuanhua County in Hebei Province, "it is said that when the water officials solve their misfortunes, there are also people who keep fast."
Literature narration
Yang Wanli, the Daochang of xiayuanri Huiqing Festival
Lin palace court Ye early chase trend, missed the copper pot to kill the beginning.
Half a wisp of blue cloud across the boundary of the moon, a silver mirror into comb.
I pray for heaven's longevity by picking up the sunken water, and I pray for the king's emptiness by scattering.
It has been attacked by the new cold, and the willow Yin is separated from the sunlight.
Lu You's the fifth night of the first day
In the Imperial Palace, he paid homage to Baofang and helped the sick to wear a hairpin.
Hold Qiu sleep basket and stable, the corridor blowing smoke birch torch incense.
Outside the building, the stars are still bright, and the first day on the mountain is desolate.
Mingyu should have a smile from an expert, and Wudou should drive you to be busy in the morning and night.
Qin yuan Chun (Song Dynasty)
In his life, binghe is as crazy as Bolun and as hilarious as hillehao. Like the book does not need, chrysanthemum tea bright eye, mountaineering not Qian, chenopodiac support waist.
People in the lake and the sea often make simple moves when they eat bean curd and preserved soup. Who cloud old, full of wind and moon, hidden in the poem ladle.
Rush to the sky in the early morning. The Tao Pleiades is now at its end. It is a good scene in the Yuan Dynasty.
Cold courage is like the sky, hard intestines are like swords. That can be more, is the plum blossom when the moon, lanyingxi bridge.
The beginning of the May 8th Festival
Virtual age is called Jiazi, and its initial value is frost day.
The sea is full, the moon is full.
He knows the nature of the crane when he is carefree, but he is indifferent to the pine year.
It is expected that the wine will be drunk and the banquet will be held.
Folk activities
Practice fast and set up Jiao
Xiayuan day is also one of the fasting dates stipulated in the Taoist fasting law. Taoism believes that everything that depends on the divine power, such as praying for blessings, relieving calamities, extricating suffering, thanking sins, seeking immortals, prolonging life, surrendering the dead, etc., should be fasted. There are two kinds of fasting methods: one is to set up fasting. That is to say, an altar is set up to serve the God, so as to avoid disasters.
In ancient times, there were nine ways to build altars: the upper three altars were set up by the state, the middle three altars by the officials, and the lower three altars by the scholars. Later, the establishment of altar gradually relaxed. The second is diet. Before sacrifice, the ancients should bathe and change clothes, do not drink, do not eat meat, in order to keep the outside clean, and the inside clean, so as to show sincerity and respect, which is called fasting. Fasting can "live with God"; sanxinzhai. Xinzhai can be "yixinjingran".
The other is roughly nine types: one coarse food, two vegetable food, three dieting, four taking essence, five taking teeth, six taking light, seven taking Qi, eight taking Yuanqi and nine taking foetus.
In addition, all Dharma activities, such as recitation, confession and sacrifice, are also included in the scope of fasting.
Sacrifice to ancestors
With the passage of the sun and the moon, Xiayuan Festival has gradually evolved into a traditional festival of offering sacrifices to the dead and praying for good fortune. Sacrificing ancestors is a reflection of the belief of ancestors. The belief of human beings in ancestors is the worship of human beings. One of the purposes of believing in ancestors, offering sacrifices to ancestors, and showing piety to the souls of ancestors is to pray for the protection of ancestors for future generations. The origin of ancestor worship is related to the ancient concept of soul belief. Primitive people believe that all things have souls, and human soul is independent of the body. In the primitive belief, human beings regarded themselves as dual structures, namely, the body structure and the soul structure. Therefore, they believed that the body could die and the soul could live forever. This is the concept of "the soul does not die".
It is this view of human soul that leads to the prevalence of the custom of sacrificing ancestors. In order to pray for the souls of the ancestors to protect their descendants from disaster and misfortune, people hold sacrificial activities for the dead ancestors. Generally speaking, the ancestral temple is the way to offer sacrifices to ancestors. There are ancestral temples in the country and ancestral halls and family temples in the folk. Through sacrifice, we pray for good fortune and prosperity. In Zou County, Shandong Province, on the day of the Xia Yuan Festival, a special banquet should be set up to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. In Ningyuan County of Hunan Province, the people will generally hold a god greeting competition before and after the Xia Yuan Festival.
Pray for the gods
From the evolution of the sacrificial content and object, Xiayuan Festival has also incorporated many sacrificial customs in agricultural production, making it a sacrificial festival for gods, disaster and evil, and harvest. In Putian, Fujian Province, on the evening of Xiayuan day, every family would worship the God of water in Tiantou, praying that the dry winter crops would be moist and the crops would be safe for the winter. At the time of sacrifice, the food was put on the table and the incense was put on the ridge to show piety.
Puxian folk culture
Every October 15 of the lunar calendar, many people in Puxian will arrange food in the open space in front of their houses, burn incense and tribute silver, and let children evenly insert the incense sticks into a small square called "Butian". This custom is said to be a sacrifice to the "dead", commonly known as "pugu", that is, Pudu lonely soul.
The 15th of October in the lunar calendar is a traditional Chinese Folk Festival, the Xiayuan Festival, also known as "Xiayuan day". The origin of Xiayuan Festival is related to Taoism. There are three Taoist officials: Tian Guan, di Guan and Shui Guan. They say that Tian Guan blesses, di Guan forgives sins and Shui Guan relieves misfortune. The birth dates of the three officials are the 15th day of the first month, the 15th day of July and the 15th day of October in the lunar calendar, which are called "Shangyuan Festival", "Zhongyuan Festival" and "Xiayuan Festival". The festival of the lower Yuan Dynasty is the time when the water officer and the emperor of mingu solved the problem. Every time the coming of the next Yuan Festival, water officials descend to the earth to inspect the good and evil in the world and relieve the disaster for people. It is said that on this day, according to the investigation, the water officer recorded the music of Tianting to relieve people's misfortune.
"Xiayuan Festival" is the harvest season in rural areas. Some people in Puxian make tofu and then fry it. They also make pancakes with glutinous rice flour milled in Xingu. The pancakes are filled with vegetables and fried into "shadow cake", "onion cake" or delicious fried food balls. Then they serve as offerings outside the gate to "zhaitian". At the same time, they also burned "gold and silver bags" and other activities to worship the dead ancestors, that is, folding red and green paper into immortal clothes, folding tin foil into silver ingots, putting them into white paper paste bags, worshiping and incinerating them.
As the old saying goes: "October half, Qianlong Tuanzi Zhai three officials.". In the past, Taoists set up a heavenly pole outside their home on this day, on which a yellow flag was hung, with the words "heaven, earth and water", "good weather", "peace of the country and the people", "disaster relief and good fortune" on it. On the day of Xiayuan Festival, there is also the custom of craftsmen offering sacrifices to the God of the furnace. The God of the furnace is the Supreme Lord, which probably originated from the alchemy of Taoism. On the day of Xiayuan, villagers made Ciba at home and presented it to relatives and friends, steamed stuffed buns and so on. It was also the happiest day for rural children in the past. They could eat a lot of fruit food called "Fuyu" after sacrifice.
Seasonal food
Diet custom is an important part of festival custom. In the long-term practice of many festivals, human beings have formed independent and special festival food, such as eating dumplings in the Spring Festival, eating Yuanxiao on the 15th of the first month, eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival and so on. Like other customs and habits, it is a common emotion and mentality of the nation, unifying people's festival behavior, and plays an important role in the survival and development of festivals We need to make a difference.
Xiayuan festival also has its unique seasonal food. Take Beijing as an example, every household has to make "bean paste and bone flower" during Xiayuan Festival. "Bean paste" is the "bean paste stuffing" made of red beans. It's a Beijing snack "bean paste bun". This kind of steamed buns with bean paste, which can be eaten all the year round, was already the festival food of October in Mengdong in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years ago.

Festival revival
Related instructions
It should be noted that the revival of the next Yuan Festival does not mean that all the people must come to the festival with great publicity. In fact, it is good to let the reasonable cultural content of Xiayuan Festival continue in the era, to selectively inherit the relevant festival folk customs, and to let the people who want to celebrate this festival have a choice.
There is a very valuable thing in Xiayuan Festival, based on such a good wish: that is to eliminate and resolve the long-lasting difficulties and hardships in the course of life. This kind of life experience can not be summarized or even suppressed only by "ignorance" and "religious blind obedience". We consider that if Xiayuan Festival can be portrayed as the "day of relieving adversity" and "day of praying for blessings" of Chinese people in today's era, it is expected to be revived.
Basic ideas
Those activities such as burning "gold and silver bags" to worship ancestors should be abandoned. We should adopt other more appropriate ways to commemorate our ancestors. Xiayuan Festival comes from Taoism. In fact, for today's Chinese people, this day is an opportunity to feel Taoist culture closely. Therefore, the Xiayuan Festival can also be a day to experience Taoist culture.
In addition, because the water official is Dayu, this kind of commemorative activity for Dayu obviously has a more positive significance, and can continue to become a useful activity for people to feel the traditional culture. For the sake of convenience and reality, we might as well combine the commemoration of ancestors with the worship of Xiayuan Shuiguan, and add two kinds of humanistic consciousness of commemorating ancestors and praying for misfortune. And through frugal, convenient customs, to achieve this goal.
Here we need to clarify a problem. The worship of Xiayuan Shuiguan does not mean that we have to believe in Taoist idols. In fact, we can regard Xiayuan Shuiguan as a Religious God in the sense of cultural symbols, so as to express people's good wishes to get rid of difficulties and difficulties. Just as people don't set off firecrackers to drive away the monster Nian. The theme of Xiayuan Festival is especially suitable for activities full of human care, such as visiting patients and comforting the needy. The food custom of Xiayuan Festival can be inherited faithfully, and people's good wishes of blessing each other can be integrated into it.
National Costume
Xiayuan Festival is a serious national festival, solemn and introverted is the keynote of the festival. At this time, the festival Hanfu should adapt to this festival atmosphere. Red and green, too festive, too lively Hanfu are not appropriate. On the whole, we suggest that during the next Yuan Festival, men can wear deep clothes with solemn and deep colors, and they can wear more solemn and serious clothes such as xuanduan. Women can wear deep color clothes, Ru skirts, etc.
Practice plan
1. In memory of ancestors and deceased relatives at home: after bathing, wear appropriate clothes, set up several cases in the clean home, put fish and fruit as sacrifices, and prepare a little wine. On the night of the next Yuan Dynasty, we burn incense and offer sacrifices to commemorate our ancestors and deceased relatives. If there is a courtyard at home, it's better to be in the courtyard after the moon rises. When worshiping, appropriate etiquette can be adopted according to the identity of the person to be commemorated.
2. At home, he offered sacrifices to Yuanshui officials, prayed for relief of difficulties, and made life more comfortable: it was OK to carry out several cases in the same pair. After commemorating the ancestors, he burned incense and offered wine again, and told Yuanshui officials the hardships and troubles of life, praying for a more peaceful life. In this process, you can just sit on the cushion, and you don't have to pay homage. In order to create a festive atmosphere, lanterns can be hung under the main hall, next to several cases, etc. (general lanterns are OK, and the color of lanterns should be solemn and peaceful).
3. Visit Taoist cultural sites and participate in relevant festival activities: according to local conditions, if there are Taoist cultural sites such as Taoist temples, you can wear the above-mentioned costumes. Watch and participate in Festival cultural activities in Taoist temple to understand Taoist cultural knowledge. You can go with your family.
4. Participate in the sacrificial activities of Yu memorial places: Yu memorial places are widely distributed in China, including mausoleums, temples, steles, etc. according to the actual situation of various places, you can participate in various cultural activities of sacrificing Yu held in these places.
5. Make the festival food for the next Yuan Festival at home or present it to relatives and friends: steam some rotten steamed buns for the family to eat together, make some Ciba, wear Hanfu to present it to relatives and friends, and say some words of blessing to ease the difficulties and make the family happy.
6. Visit the patients and other people in distress, and bless them: they can carry Xiayuan festival food at the same time.
7. Outdoor activities such as "water color": multiple people can participate. They all wear Hanfu and cruise on the rivers and lakes in colorful boats when the moon rises. In addition, they can place sacrifices, prepare musical instruments, hang lanterns, and carry out the above activities, such as commemorating ancestors, offering sacrifices to water officials of the Yuan Dynasty, praying and blessing, and share the food of the festival of the Yuan Dynasty. It is especially suitable for inviting relatives and friends such as the sick (who can travel) and those who are in trouble to pray for them, relieve their distress, relieve their pain, relax their body and mind, and pray for their happiness.