Traditional Festivals
Lantern Festival (元宵节)
Falling on the 15th day of the first lunar month, Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao) gets its name from yuan, the first lunar month and xiao, night. A full moon occurs on the 15th so it is also called the Lantern Festival (Yuanxi or Shangyuan).
The customs of carrying lanterns comes from the Taoist Theory of Three Yuan – Shangyuan (15th of the first lunar month), Zhongyuan (15th of the seventh) and Xiayuan (15th of the tenth), responsible for heaven, earth and the human world. For heaven, lanterns are lit, as the official in charge likes bright and cheerful things, and this has been the custom since the Han dynasty. All sorts of lanterns are now being made, in all kinds of shapes, and people also set off fireworks, making the Lantern Festival an explosion of colour and light.
UIIam-bana Festival/Ghost Festival(鬼节)
Otherwise known as Zhongyuan Festival or Ghosts’ Festival, Ullam-bana Festival falls on the 15th of the seventh lunar month and is a Buddhist festival dedicated to offering sacrifices to the ancestors. On this day, Diguan Dadi, the governor of hell, opens the gates and lets the souls out; people offer them food and drink on earth.
The word comes from Sanskrit and comes from a Buddhist ritual which originated with the legend that one of Sakyamuni’s followers saw his mother hung upside down in hell. He asked the Buddha to release her soul. The Buddhist monks were offered a hundred sorts of food on the 15th day of the seventh month under instructions of Sakyamuni. This way, his mother’s soul could be freed.
Seven Sister Festival (七夕节)
As its name implies, this festival is held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and folklore says this is the day the Weaving Girl and the Herd Boy reunite.
The Herd Boy, Niu Lang, was orphaned and living with his brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law was cruel to him and one day he was out in the fields with his old cow who said the next day was the seventh day of the seventh month, the day when the seven daughters of Yuhuang Dadi come to earth to bathe. The youngest, Zhi Nü, was the cleverest of them and all Niu Lang had to do was to hide her clothes and she would be his wife. The Herd Boy did this; he hid in the reedbed as seven faeries floated from heaven to bathe, when Niu Lang sprang up and hid the youngest girl’s clothes. Startled, six of them flew back, leaving the youngest in the river. He promised she could have her clothes back on condition she marry him. She agreed, they were happy and had a son and a daughter. But the Weaving Girl was forced back by the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens. The Herd Boy and the children tried to get her back but, with a wave of her hairpin, the Queen Mother created a wide river, separating the two lovers, who could do nothing but weep.