The earliest Valentine's Day in ancient China

The third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the "Shangwei Festival", is a traditional festival of Chinese folk. It originated from the witchcraft activities of Lantang to ward off evil spirits in ancient times, people wore orchids with fragrant herbs, and went to the water's edge to bathe together, called "Qi Yu", and later added content such as sacrificial feasts, meandering water flowing, and spring excursions in the suburbs. Wu Zimu of the Song Dynasty wrote in the "Record of Dreams": "The Tang Dynasty gave a feast on the Qujiang River, pouring all the capital to drink and walk on the green", which refers to the scene of the Shangwei Festival, men, women and children in Chang'an City dressed up in full costume, feasting and drinking on the banks of the Qujiang River, and outinging. Du Fu has "Li Ren Xing": "On the third day of March, the weather is new, and there are many beautiful people on the water's edge of Chang'an. "On the third of March, the peach blossoms bloomed, also known as the "Peach Blossom Festival", and the ancient Han maidens reached the age of 15 and held an adult ceremony on this day, that is, the "Zhen Ceremony", so it was also called "Daughter's Day". According to the oldest legend, the day of shangwei festival is the day when Fuxi and Nuwa meet, so Shangwei Festival is also a valentine's day for young men and women to talk about love.

Peony Lang Shining/Painting

The Book of Poetry, more than 2,500 years ago, is described in the Zheng Feng Qin Huan: "Qin and Huan, Fang Zhuo Xi. Soldier and woman, Fang Bingrui. Female Guan Hu? The priest knows both. And looking? Beyond the water, it is fun. Vista and the female, Yiqi, sneered at each other and gave them peony medicine. "This folk song shows us a custom painting of the ancient March Three in a cheerful and fresh language, we seem to see the Yangchun March, the QinHe And Liuhe River are clear to the bottom, the blue water is trickling, and from time to time there are white waves churning. On the riverside, a group of young men and women dressed in beautiful spring clothes, holding fragrant orchids, happily dancing, singing, chasing and playing with each other, a handsome man gave a bright peony to his favorite beauty, and affectionately confessed: "Marry me, I am willing to grow old with you!" This is the cheerful scene of the earliest Valentine's Day in ancient mainland China described in the Book of Poetry.

The Zhou Li records, "In the middle of the spring month, the men and women of the Order." Yu Si Shi also, the runner can't help it. "In ancient times, when men and women were not intimate, on the Shangwei Festival in March, young boys and girls met in secret, and even if they eloped and had a relationship, it was not necessary to prohibit it. In the history of the mainland, especially during the Han and Tang dynasties, the stories of young men and women seeking love have been circulated a lot. On the first day of March in the spring of 139 BC, Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, who was in full swing, was on his way back to the palace to worship his ancestors on the way back to the palace, and he stopped by to visit the Princess of Pingyang, and happened to meet the dignified and beautiful singer Wei Zifu. Wei Zifu Qiu Bo was full of love, with a love pulse, Emperor Wu of Han fell in love at first sight, so he took him into the palace, and the two fell in love with each other for 50 years.

The Tang Dynasty poet Cui Hujinshi and the first queen, around the third day of March, traveled alone in the south of the capital in the spring around the third day of March, and met Lady Dai because of thirst to find water to drink. Cui Hu saw that she had a gorgeous posture and a feminine look, so he teased her with words, and Lady Yan smiled and bowed her head. Cui Hu saw that it was late in the day and had to return in fear. After returning, Cui Hu was tormented by longing day and night, and the next year, on the Festival of The First Lady, he went straight to the south of the city to find her. Unexpectedly, the door was locked, and Cui Hu was very disappointed, and with chagrin, he inscribed a poem on the left door: "Last year, in this door today, people's faces were peach blossoms. People don't know where to go, and peach blossoms are still smiling in the spring breeze. After a few days, Cui Hu went to the south of the city to search, met Dai Niang's father, Fang knew that Dai Niang had been in a trance since she met herself last year, if there was a loss, a few days ago when she read this poem on the door, she was even more ill, and the tea and rice did not enter for several days and lost her breath. Cui Huowen heard that she rushed to the bed of Lady Dainiang to cry, and the sentences came from the heart, touching to the depths, and Lady Dai was resurrected on the spot. Eventually, lovers eventually become dependents.

In the Song Dynasty, due to the reverence for science, the subsequent literature did not see the record of the love of men and women on the Shangwei Festival. However, in the southwest of the Yi, Zhuang and other ethnic minority areas, there are still customs of men and women meeting, such as catching up with songs, setting up song sheds, holding song parties, men and women singing, throwing hydrangea balls, talking about love and other activities.

China Reading News (2020-03-18 15th edition) Author / Zheng Xuefu

Source / Reading Commune

Guangming Daily, Xintiandi Magazine

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