|
Longtaitou Festival
The Longtaitou Festival (), conflated with the Zhonghe Festival beginning one day earlier (), is a traditional Chinese festival held on the second day of the second month of the Chinese calendar. Its name means "Dragon raising its head" because the dragon was regarded as the deity in charge of rain, an important factor in ancient agriculture. The festival is sometimes simply called "Second-month Second" (二月二) for short. The festival was established in the Yuan dynasty. It is celebrated around the time of Jingzhe, one of the 24 solar terms. The name ''jingzhe'' () has the meaning of awakening of the hibernated (implying insects). ''Jing'' () means "startling", and ''zhe'' () refers to the hibernated (insects). This is the time during which the hibernating insects begin to wake up at the beginning of early spring, which is often accompanied by the arrival of the first rains, meaning the weather is getting warm. Longtaitou Festival is an important worship ritual of wishing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon Beard Noodles
Dragon beard noodles () are a variety of noodle from Shandong province in China. They derive their name from their long, thin appearance, said to resemble the beard of a Chinese dragon. They are traditionally eaten during the Longtaitou Festival, which occurs on the second day of the second month of the Chinese calendar. There is a folk custom called "peeling the dragon skin" (pinyin: “''bolongpi''”). History The noodles are believed to have been invented by a chef working for the emperor during the Ming dynasty. During lichun, the chef made some unusually long and thin noodles which delighted the emperor, and later became popular among peasants as well. Because of their association with dragons, the noodles began to be eaten during the Longtaitou (lit. "dragon raising its head") festival, which celebrates dragons and the role they play in bringing the Spring rains. Manufacturing Steps #Dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Holidays In China
There are currently seven official public holidays in China. Each year's holidays are announced about one month before the start of the year by the General Office of the State Council. A notable feature of mainland Chinese holidays is that weekends are usually swapped with the weekdays next to the actual holiday to create a longer holiday period. History Festivals in China have been around since the Qin dynasty around 221–206 BC. During the more prosperous Tang dynasty from AD 618–907, festivals involved less sacrifice and mystery to more entertainment. Culminating to the modern era Between the 1920s until around the 1970s, the Chinese began observing two sets of holidays, which were the traditional and what became "official", celebrating the accomplishments of the communist regime. There was then a major reform in 2008, abolishing the Labour Day Golden Week and adding three traditional Chinese holidays (Qingming Festival, Duanwu Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival). From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chunshe (Spring Community Day)
Chunshe (春社), or Spring Community Day, is a traditional folk festival originating from China. During the Shang dynasty and the Western Zhou, it was a carnival where lovers could date. Gradually, it became a sacrifice ritual to appease/in honour of Tudishen (God of the Soil and the Ground). People usually celebrate this festival on the fifth Wu Day (according to the sexagenary cycle) after Lichun, which is near Chunfen. According to folklore, the date could be February 2, February 8, February 12 or February 15 based on the lunar calendar. The record of Chunshe can be traced as far back as on oracle bones. With a history of more than 2000 years, it is one of China's oldest festivals. Chunshe remained a significant traditional festival in China before the Yuan dynasty. Nowadays, though part of China (including mainland and Taiwan) still keeps the custom of worshiping Tudigong on February 2 (lunar calendar), the new celebration, now called Tudidan (the birthday of Tudigong), is not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tudi Gong
A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions. They are tutelary (i.e. guardian or patron) deities of locations and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. Religions & Beliefs, edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri. They are portrayed as old men with long beards. The definitive characteristic of Tudigongs is that they are limited to their specific geographical locations. The Tudigong of one location is not the Tudigong of another location. They are considered to be among the lowest ranked divinities, just below City Gods ("God of Local City"), and above landlord gods. Often, a specific person who did a great service to their local community will be s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is a mother goddess, culture hero, and/or member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese mythology. She is a goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In other stories where she fulfills this role, she only created nobles and/or the rich out of yellow soil. The stories vary on the other details about humanity's creation, but it was a tradition commonly believed in ancient China that she created commoners from brown mud. A story holds that she was tired when she created "the rich and the noble", so all others, or "cord-made people", were created from her "dragg nga string through mud". In the ''Huainanzi'', there is a description of a great battle between deities that broke the pillars supporting Heaven and caused great devastation. There was great flooding, and Heaven h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi ( zh, c=伏羲) is a culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking, as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters around 2900 BC or 2000BC. He is also said to be the originator of bagua (the eight trigrams) after observing that there were eight fundamental building blocks in nature: heaven, earth, water, fire, thunder, wind, mountain, and lake. These eight are all made of different combinations of yin and yang, which are what came to be called bagua. Fuxi was counted as the first mythical emperor of China, "a divine being with a serpent's body" who was miraculously born, a Taoist deity, and/or a member of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period. Some representations show him as a human with snake-like characteristics, "a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain", "or as a man clothed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process of intercalationsuch as by insertion of a leap month. The most widely observed lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar. The details of when months begin vary from calendar to calendar, with some using new, full, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations. Since each lunation is approximately days, (which gives a mean synodic month as 29.53059 days or 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 3 seconds) it is common for the months of a lunar calendar to alternate between 29 and 30 days. Since the period of 12 such lunations, a lunar year, is 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds (354.36707 days), lunar calendars are 11 to 12 day ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congee
Congee ( , derived from Tamil language, Tamil ), is a form of savoury rice porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until the rice softens. Depending on rice–water ratio, the thickness of congee varies from a Western oatmeal porridge to a gruel. Since the history of rice cultivation in Asia stretches back to the Baiyue-inhabited lower Yangtze circa 10,000 BC, congee is unlikely to have appeared before that date. Congee is typically served with side dishes, or it can be topped with meat, fish, and Chinese pickles, pickled vegetables. Vivid experiences of eating or delivering thin congee as wartime or famine food often feature in diaries and chronicles. In some cultures, congee is eaten primarily as a breakfast food or late supper; some may also eat it as a substitute for rice at other meals. It is often considered suitable for the sick as a mild, easily digestible food. Etymology The popular English name ''congee'' derives from the Tamil language, Tamil wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longan
''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambutan also belong. The fruit of the longan is similar to that of the lychee, but is less aromatic in taste. The longan (from Vietnamese language, Vietnamese ''long nhãn'' or Cantonese ''lùhng ngáahn'' , literally 'dragon eye'), is so named because the black seed within the shelled fruit creates the appearance of an eyeball. The plant is native to tropical Asia and China. Description Depending upon climate and soil type the tree may grow to over in height, but it typically stands in height and the Crown (botany), crown is round. The trunk is thick with corky bark (botany), bark. The branches are long and thick, typically drooping. The leaves are oblong and blunt-tipped, usually long and wide. The leaves are pinnately compounded a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiaozi
''Jiaozi'' or Gyoza (; ) are a type of Chinese dumpling. ''Jiaozi'' typically consist of a ground meat or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. ''Jiaozi'' can be boiled (), steamed (), pan-fried (), or deep-fried (), and are traditionally served with a black vinegar and sesame oil dip. They can also be served in a soup (). ''Jiaozi'' have great cultural significance within China. ''Jiaozi'' are one of the major dishes eaten during the Chinese New Year throughout northern China and eaten all year round in the northern provinces. Their resemblance to the gold and silver ingots ( sycee) used in Imperial China has meant that they symbolize wealth and good fortune. A Japanese variety of ''jiaozi'' is referred to as gyōza; the ''jiaozi'' was introduced to Japan by returning Japanese soldiers during the Japanese invasion and colonization of China. In the West, pan-fried jiaozi or ''jianjiao'' may be r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for official purposes, the traditional calendar remains culturally significant. It determines the timing of Chinese New Year with traditions like the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, Chinese Zodiac still widely observed. The traditional Chinese calendar uses the Sexagenary cycle, sexagenary cycle, a repeating system of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, to mark years, months, and days. This system, along with astronomical observations and mathematical calculations, was developed to align solar and lunar cycles, though some approximations are necessary due to the natural differences between these cycles. Over centuries, the calendar was refined through advancements in astronomy and horology, with dynasties introducing variations to improve accu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
