Beijing, February 15 (Reporter Shangguan Yun) "The east wind blooms flowers and thousands of trees at night. More blowing down, the stars like rain. "The Lantern Festival is an important traditional festival, people enjoy the lanterns, guess the riddles, very lively.
Infographic: The people celebrate the Lantern Festival by dancing dragons. Photo by Yang Huafeng
It is said that the Lantern Festival is also the ancient Chinese version of "Valentine's Day". The liveliness of the Lantern Festival gives the deep girl the opportunity to travel at night. They can go to the street market to watch the lanterns and have fun, and others will not be harsh.
An Deming, deputy director of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in ancient times, the Lantern Festival had a function similar to a "carnival", which may have provided opportunities for young men and women to meet, and some Fang Zhi also had records such as "benefactors can't help it". But in terms of main customs, it has little to do with Valentine's Day.
In fact, in addition to the Lantern Festival, there are also views that the Tanabata Festival or shangwei Festival is the ancient Valentine's Day.
Infographic: Tanabata Festival series of events. Photo by Wang Jian
An Deming analyzed that regarding the Tanabata Festival, as far as folk activities are concerned, in the past, there was basically no meaning of "Valentine's Day", let alone such a clear name, "It is also called beggars festival, daughter's day, etc., girls on this day to the weaver girl begging for spiritual skill." ”
However, in the legend of Tanabata, the story of the cowherd weaver girl is widely circulated. This moving love story provides an important basis for people today to say that Tanabata is an ancient Valentine's Day, and this statement also has some truth. He said.
In addition, some people mentioned that the Shangwei Festival can be regarded as the "Valentine's Day" in ancient China. Men and women can meet at this time to express their admiration.
In this regard, some scholars have pointed out that in general, the ancient Shangwei Festival should be a day for people to go to the water's edge to pray and ward off evil spirits, hoping to wash away the obscurity of the year and have a clean new year. From this point of view, it cannot be simply identified as the ancient "Valentine's Day".
"When spring comes, everyone goes to the water's edge to bathe, and there is a blessing. Since then, customs such as spring outings have been added, which may provide people with the opportunity to meet, but this is not the main function of the festival. It is a bit far-fetched to say that Shangwei Day is Valentine's Day. Andremin said.
Data chart: An event recreating the ancient Chinese Spring and Autumn Period Shangwei Festival "qushui flowing, water floating eggs, floating dates on the water" was staged. Photo by Tang Juan
In response to the discussion about which day is the ancient Chinese Valentine's Day, Andemin believes that from the perspective of folklore, the functions or connotations of many traditional festivals are constantly enriching and developing. With the change of the times, people find that some functions of a particular festival can be explored and expanded, or that some functions are recognized by the public at the moment, and it is better to give it some more tolerant space for this cultural creation phenomenon.
"There is an important set of concepts in folklore, namely 'inheritance' and 'variation'. For example, a festival, its cultural core is relatively stable after its formation, and it will be continuously passed on. However, in the form and function of specific customs, they may continue to evolve, adapt and be recreated as people's needs change. This is where the vitality of culture lies. Andremin said. (End)
Source: China News Network