The Double Third Festival () sometimes also called the Washing Festival is a traditional holiday originating from China, and is celebrated in multiple East Asian countries, including China and Korea.

China

The Double Third Festival () or Shangsi Festival (), sometimes translated as the Washing Festival, is a Chinese holiday celebrated on the third day of the third month of the

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 officia ...

. It is said that the origin of this festival comes from the Dinner Party at the Qushui River during the Zhou Dynasty (about 1100–221 BC). Others say its origins come from the ceremonial custom of getting rid of evils by bathing in the river. On this day, people would hold a sacrificing ceremony on a riverside to honor their ancestors, and then take a bath in the river with herbs to cleanse their bodies of filth. Following that, young men and women would then go for a spring outing in which many of these scenes were described in Shi Jing ( The Book of Songs). The Shangsi Festival activities have changed over the course of subsequent dynasties. The entertainment feast and praying for descendants along the riverside were added in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). It was after the Wei and Jin dynasties (220–420 AD) that the festival developed into the Double-Third (Shangsi) Festival that is fixed on the third day of the third lunar month. In modern times, to observe this festival, people would go for an outing by the water, have picnics, and pluck

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. It is also a day for invoking cleansing rituals to prevent disease and get rid of bad luck. The day is also traditionally considered to be a possible birthday of the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

. The ancient traditions of Shangsi are mostly celebrated by several communities spread out among the provinces today, such as the ancient village of Xinye which holds elaborate ancestor worship ceremonies on this day. The great calligrapher

Wang Xizhi Wang Xizhi ( zh, c=王羲之; courtesy name: Yishao ( zh, labels=no, c=逸少); ) was a Chinese politician, general and calligrapher from the Jin dynasty (266–420) known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. He is often regarded as the great ...

mentions this festival in his famous work '' Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems'', written in regard to the

Orchid Pavilion Gathering The Orchid Pavilion Gathering of 353 CE, also known as the Lanting Gathering, was a cultural and poetic event during the Jin dynasty (266–420) of the Six Dynasties era, in China. This event itself has a certain inherent and poetic interest in re ...

during the

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the beginning of the Sui ...

era. In Zhuang Culture, the festival has higher prominence and is celebrated with songs and dance performances as well as a variety of games and foods.

Japan

In Japan, the Double Third festival is celebrated as ''

Hinamatsuri , also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is an annual festival in Japan (but not a national holiday), celebrated on 3March of each year. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"Hina Matsuri"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 313. Platforms covered with ...

''.

Korea

''Samjinnal'' is one of ''sesi pungsok'' () or Korean traditional customs by season, which falls on the third day of the third month in the

. It was called ''samjil'' () in old

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

and referred to as ''sangsa'', ''wonsa'' (), ''sungsam'' (), ''sangje'' () or ''dapcheongjeol'' () in

hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

. Samjinnal implies the overlapping of Sam (three). According to Choi Namseon, samjil was derived from the consonants of Samil, and Sangsa is defined as the first snake day of the 3rd lunar month.

Customs

During Samjinnal, people pick out azalea flowers and knead it with glutinous rice dough to make

Hwajeon ''Hwajeon'', kkotbukkumi, kkotjijimi, () or flower cake is a small Korean pan-fried rice cake. It is made out of glutinous rice flour, honey and edible petals from seasonal flowers, such as rhododendron. It is eaten during the festivals of S ...

, a Korean traditional rice cake. Mung bean powder is used to make

mung bean The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

noodles, and is also occasionally used with the azalea flowers. By dyeing the mung bean powder with red water, a seasonal dish called ''Sumyeon'' can be prepared. Other than this, white bubble rice cakes made with red bean paste called ''Santteok'', ''Goritteok'' made from glutinous rice, pine endodermis and mugwort, and ''Ssuktteok'' made from glutinous rice and mugwort leaves are eaten this day.

Nori (Folk games)

*Pulssaum () *Pulgaksi noleum () *Fortunetelling * Hwajeon nori (--) – It literally means "flower pancake play".

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{ref end Festivals in China Festivals in Hong Kong Festivals in Japan Festivals in Korea Festivals in Taiwan March observances April observances Observances set by the Chinese calendar Observances set by the Korean calendar Public holidays in China Public holidays in Hong Kong Public holidays in Taiwan