Shangwei Festival: The oldest Valentine's Day
Shangwei Festival is the earliest Valentine's Day in China, dating back to the Xia Dynasty, thousands of years before the origin of foreign "Valentine's Day". The Book of Poetry, the Zhou Li, the Analects, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, and the Biography of Xia Zhong's Imperial Family are all recorded, and poets such as Du Mu, Bai Juyi, and Du Fu also have relevant descriptions in their works.
In fact, the earliest Shangwei Festival was the first day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which was later fixed as the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, and at first it was only a festival for people to worship their ancestors and clean their houses, but with the passage of time, the meaning of the festival continued to expand, especially in the Zhou Dynasty, and added all unmarried and unmarried men and women of the right age (over fourteen years old) to go out on outings. On this day, the river ice thaws, the flowers and plants revive, and the men and women put on newly sewn spring clothes and come out of the city, or go to the valley to pick orchids, or to the water's edge to play and bathe, or to the countryside to feast and drink. Moreover, some extreme actions on this day, such as "wild union" and "elopement", will not be punished.
In this way, what was originally just to get rid of the ominous holiday became the earliest Valentine's Day. After the Song Dynasty, Cheng Zhu Lixue rose, requiring women to pay attention to the three from the four virtues, "the door does not come out, the second door does not step", the status of women has dropped sharply, this festival that has been inherited for thousands of years has declined, and only a few areas still have afterglow to be found, of course, there have been many changes in the nature and content of the festival.
Shangyuan Festival: The most festive Valentine's Day
Shangyuan Festival is also our current fifteenth Lantern Festival of the first month, Shangyuan Festival was the earliest day of sacrifice, ancient human beings in the long-term struggle with nature at the same time, in order to meet the spiritual needs of human beings, there are many beliefs. The use of torches to "burn firewood to sacrifice the heavens" has become the main way of sacrifice for a long time. The Book of Rites and the Moon Decree records: "The moon of the spring is in the camp room, and its ancestors ... The Son of Heaven prays to God on the first day. It can be seen that the purpose of the sacrifice in the first month of the month is to expect a good harvest, and because the fifteenth day of the first month is the full moon day of the first month, sacrifice on this day gradually becomes the custom.
After the development of the Han Dynasty, the Shangyuan Festival flourished throughout the country. It is said that during the Han Dynasty, the people were encouraged to move in the streets on this evening, which facilitated the acquaintance and meeting of single young men and women. During the Tang Dynasty, in addition to continuing the customs of the past, a three-day national holiday was specially arranged. By the time of the Song Dynasty, the holiday was extended to seven days, allowing young men and women to go out on the streets to date their sweethearts in the name of watching lanterns. The evolution of the customs and habits of the Shangyuan Festival makes the festival more and more lively, and during the festival, the talented and beautiful people pour out of the nest to show their charm, so that the Shangyuan Festival has gradually become a "Valentine's Day", which has continued to become the "Lantern Festival" that we are familiar with to this day.
Tanabata Festival: The most romantic Valentine's Day
The origin of the Qixi Festival is no longer known, but it is recorded in the Spring and Autumn Fate Calendar, the Book of Han and the Yi Chuan, and there are countless poems and songs describing the Qixi Festival since ancient times. Now when it comes to Valentine's Day in China, many people will think of the Tanabata Festival.
But in fact, tanabata is regarded as Valentine's Day is a misunderstanding. The reason for the misunderstanding is that many people think that the cowherd weaver girl meets every year on this day, mistakenly believing that this day has the meaning of Valentine's Day. In fact, the Tanabata Festival originally had nothing to do with men, it was a women's festival, the earliest called "Beggar Festival" or "Daughter's Day", which was used by ancient women to pray for the vega stars in the sky to give them superb needlework.
However, the mention of needlework reminds people of the poignant love story of the cowherd weaver girl. Legend has it that every seventh day of the first month of July, the magpies in the world will fly to the Heavenly Palace and meet in the Milky Way to build a magpie bridge for the cowherd weaver girl. In the dead of the night of Tanabata, people can still hear the pulse of the cowherd weaver girl in the sky under the grape rack or other melon and fruit racks. The Northern Song Dynasty poet Qin Guan's "Queqiao Immortal" is based on this romantic love story, in which "if the two loves are long, are they in the twilight of the dynasty?" "It has become a unique song for eternity because of its popularity."
Valentine's Day in ancient China has never lacked romance, rich activities are fascinating, moving legends are intoxicating, and the heart-warming atmosphere is intriguing. I really hope that the current Valentine's Day can return to the original, more sincere, less material worship, so that people can find the real romance in that strong holiday atmosphere.
Finally, I wish new and old friends who see this article a happy Valentine's Day!
References: "Book of Poetry", "Zhou Li", "Analects", "Later Han Shu", "Xia Zhong's Imperial Biography", "Spring and Autumn Destiny Calendar", "Book of Han", "Yi Chuan", etc.
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