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    Traditional Folk Customs at the Spring Festival of China


    Posted on: February 01, 2017 | | 中文

    Decorations for the Chinese Spring Festival 2017

     The Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people. It is associated with praying for good harvest, celebrations and entertainment. Till this day, besides the worshipping ceremonies to the gods, the heavens and the ancestors, which are held not as commonly as in the past, the other traditional folk customs have been well-inherited and developed.

    The festival lasts for 15 days from the 1st to the 15th day of the first lunar month, and in terms of folklore customs, it starts even earlier, from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. People have different festival activities, such as having Laba congee, offering sacrifices to the kitchen god and the god of wealth, staying up late on New Year’s Eve, visiting family members and friends and going to the temple fairs. People who have worked for a year like to take those days off, rush home for a family reunion, and pray for good luck for the New Year.

    Paper-cutting for window decoration, hanging of lanterns, having steamed bread buns, guessing riddles, enjoying performances of Chinese operas and dragon dance, and playing firecrackers are all traditional folk customs. Many of them are among the list of intangible cultural heritage of the country or regions.

    Traditional Folk Customs at the Spring Festival of China
     

    Preparations and Purchases for the Spring Festival

    The special purchases for the festival can be divided into six categories: food and drinks, clothes, articles of daily use, sacrifices, entertainment, and home decorations. There are different kinds of food, such as deer meat, chicken, fish, rice cakes, and dried slices of tender bamboo shoots. New clothes are also a must for the festival. It is a custom for people, so that they may have a new image for the coming New Year. Articles of daily use are always on the shopping list. Items for sacrifices are an essential part of the purchases, for example the incense stick, tinfoil, New Year pictures of door-god, kitchen god, flower-shape offerings, and traditional fried snacks. For entertainment, firecrackers of different sizes, forms and functions are always on the list for families.

    Couplets and Paper-Cut for Window Decoration

    It is a custom for families to stick couplets on both sides of their doors. Couplets and paper-cuts on the windows add festival atmosphere as wishes for good luck in the New Year.

    Spring couplets are written on the red papers in symmetrical form. Nowadays, not so many people write spring couplets by themselves but most of them buy them from shops. However, before the festival, some calligraphers still write spring couplets for people.

    Paper-cuts have a long history and strong regional features. They have a wide range of themes and express good wishes.

    Traditional Folk Customs at the Spring Festival of China
     

    Temple Fairs

    Going to temple fairs is also an important activity for the people of Beijing during the festival. At present, the temple fairs are held with sightseeing, entertainment, shopping and catering. The dough sculptures at fairs attract not only adults, but children in particular.

    The toy markets at fairs are also attractive. There are masks, wooden drama characters, miniature cars, knives, bamboo dragons, etc.

    Steamed Buns

    In the northern part of China, people are used to having steamed buns during the Spring Festival. Not only do they offer steamed buns to their ancestors as a sacrifice to gods and their ancestors, but they also give buns as gifts when visiting relatives and friends. Women take this opportunity to show their smart crafts in making steamed buns.

    Dragon Dancing

    Dragon dancing is practiced both in urban and rural areas from the 1st to the 15th day of the first lunar month. People take this as a ritual for good weather for their crops and a peaceful life. In 2016, the Spring Festival Gala at Quan Zhou, Yingshan Dragon Dance Team from Sunei District gave a wonderful performance for the audience.

    Accompanied by drum beats, a lion dance team from Jinjiang started their show. They wore yellow costumes, and carried knives, swords, guns, shields, shoulder poles and hoes for the performance. The team members with green costumes came and started their dragon dance to compete the yellow team.

    The Green Lion Dance Team is a kind of “Zhong Lion Dance”. It originated 100 years ago. Up until now, the skill has been passed to the fifth generation of the locals. There are more than 80 members in the team now.

    With more overseas Chinese migrating to other parts of the world, the dragon dance culture has spread to Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and wherever overseas Chinese live in compact communities. The dragon dance has become a symbol of Chinese culture.

    Traditional Folk Customs at the Spring Festival of China
     

    Beautiful Lanterns and Lantern Riddles

    Lanterns at the Lantern Festival have a history of more than two thousand years. Different places have different kinds of lanterns. People combined riddles with beautiful lanterns after the Song Dynasty, and thus greatly enriched activities during the Lantern Festival. Riddles are popular among people from all walks of life as they also help boost intellectual development.

    Iron Flower Flames

    During the Spring Festival, many tourists are attracted to Dafuguan Village in Zibo City of Shandong Province by their folk arts: Iron Flower Flames Performance and Meteor of Iron Flames. With the spinning of the wheels, the whole night sky was full of brilliant iron flower flames, which are like meteors rushing through the night sky, looking like a fast-moving Galaxy. The skill behind the performance of Iron Flower Flames has a history of over one hundred years in Shandong. It is famous for its simple materials and magnificent spectacle.

    Over thousands of years, folk customs to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival have changed a lot, but what remain unchanged are the feelings that are deeply blended in the Chinese living style and communication. Folk customs have evolved with the passage of time, but people’s nostalgia, hopes and affection for each other will never change.


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021