Traditional Chinese Festivals

The main holidays in Chinese Society may divided into two major categories: Holidays associated with the traditional lunar calendar and official holidays which are celebrated according to the western calendar. The lunar holidays developed amidst the times and customs of China's past, and to the celebrants, these occasions are a time for recalling one's cultural origins and remembering the wisdom of early ages. Throughout the ages and clearly into modern times, festivals have continued to enjoy immense popularity. Festivals, after all, are living, dynamic celebrations and there have been significant changes in them over time in all culture, especially in the past hundred years. The reciprocity between spiritual beings and living people is reflected in the popular terminology used to describe the major Chinese festivals : "Festivals for living" : such holidays include New Year's Eve, the Chinese New Year, and Lantern Festival, all symbolic of discarding the old and ushering in the new; the Dragon Boat Festival, a time for warding off evil and strengthening the body; the celebration of the full moon and unity of mankind on Mid-Autumn Festival; "Festivals for the Dead" : Pure Brightness Festival, and the Ghost Festival, when the outcasts from the underworld are given salvation.

Date Dec 15 1998