A Chinese festival that is dying.
Have you ever heard of the Flower Dynasty Festival?
Many young people even wonder if there has ever been such a festival,
Myself included.
Every year on the twelfth day of the lunar month,
It is the birthday of the god of flowers, and it is the moment when a hundred flowers bloom
On this day, spring returns to the earth, and flowers bloom all over the field,
It is called the "Flower Dynasty (zhāo) festival".
Because the blossoming time varies from place to place, there are early and late blooming times.
Therefore, the time of spending the festival is also inconsistent,
From the beginning of February to the fifteenth of February.
Yunnan people who love to eat flowers,
Every year, the Golden Temple Flower Festival is held to worship the flower god.
But those who wear traditional Han costumes to participate,
You can enjoy free tickets.
Figure 1 | Originated from Xinhua Net, Kunming Golden Temple Flower Festival
Small bridges flowing water people's Gangnam area,
It will also present an oriental romance that belongs only to Chinese on this day
——Jiangnan Flower Dynasty:
The human world went to the spring breeze to see all the 100,000 flowers in Jiangnan.
Picture | Jiangnan Flower Dynasty Festival
According to legend, it is the flower god who is in charge of the growth of plants.
So before the beginning of spring every year, before the agricultural work,
People worship the god of flowers and pray that the New Year will be a good time.
Whether it is worship or blessing,
All of them are pinned on the beautiful yearning of the ancients for life.
The flower festival on the occasion of the return of spring to the earth,
It once echoed the Mid-Autumn Festival and was an important festival celebrated by the whole country.
It's just that such a flower festival is now being forgotten and slowly dying.
Figure | Dissolve gold
The Flower Dynasty Festival has a long history.
As early as the Tang Dynasty, it was an important festival in the country.
From January to February 25, a hundred flowers bloom,
Relatives of the emperor and relatives of the state, officials and eunuchs, and dignitaries are celebrating this festival.
The national strength of the Song Dynasty, although not as good as the style of the Tang Dynasty,
But in the humanities and arts, this piece has reached another peak.
The culture of the Flower Dynasty Festival is even more colorful.
At this time, the center of the imperial court was from Chang'an (present-day Xi'an),
Moved south to Hangzhou, Tokyo (present-day Kaifeng).
The blossoming time varies depending on the region.
The blossom time of the Song Dynasty was more than ten days earlier than that of the Tang Dynasty.
In the Southern Song Dynasty Yang Wanli's "Poetry of Chengzhai", it is recorded:
"Tokyo February 12 is called the Flower Dynasty, for the Butterfly Festival."
The Flower Dynasty Festival before the Tang Dynasty,
Most of them are garden gatherings of dignitaries and literati inkers.
Figure | "Flower God Diagram" Pan Zhenyong
Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the Flower Dynasty Festival has been integrated into the lives of the people,
The atmosphere is more atmospheric -
Pray for blessings and sacrifices to the gods, pick vegetables and flutter butterflies, so that it is not lively.
The Flower Dynasty Festival is a very seasonal festival,
Different environments and climates,
Coupled with the phenomenon of climate differences in the process of chronology,
All will lead to different flowering periods, and the natural festival period will be less uniform.
By the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a clear geographical gap.
The north is dominated by February 15, while the south is dominated by February 12.
Some even begin to celebrate the Flower Dynasty Festival as early as the second day of the first month of February.
The Flower Dynasty Festival and the Flower God Culture have entered a mature period,
The image of the flower god is deeply rooted in the folk.
The legends and stories that gave birth to many popular people,
It is widely spread among the people.
The incense in the flower temples around the place is exuberant,
People who came to worship came in droves.
At this time, it is the peak of the Flower Dynasty Festival,
Together with the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is called "Moon Sunset Flower Dynasty".
Until the Republic of China period,
National weakness, social turmoil.
The influx of new ideas has washed away the traditional festival of the Flower Dynasty Festival.
Now there are only some areas in the southwest and Jiangsu and Zhejiang,
Keep the habit of celebrating the Flower Dynasty Festival.
It's just that the content of the festival is very different from that of ancient times.
In the long river of history of thousands of years,
There have been many festivals in the birth.
But it can be preserved after the big waves and sand,
But very few.
Flower Dynasty Festival, a Chinese festival that is dying.
It's like a lot of traditional festivals.
Engraved with the life feelings and beautiful wishes of the ancestors,
Should not be forgotten.
Figure | "Flower Girl"
The ancients believed that every flower was a festival.
The blossoming of flowers is the most beautiful day of the year,
Only with careful preparation can we live up to this great time.
In some places,
Young women make a hundred flowers out of cotton wool or satin,
Pray that you are as beautiful as the Lady of a Hundred Flowers.
The elderly woman burns incense to worship the embroidered bandages on the table,
Please do a good job of female red.
Figure | Ancient embroidered bandages
- Flower cake
Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty loved flowers very much,
Every year the Flower Dynasty Festival will order the palace women to collect a hundred flowers,
The petals are then mashed together with the rice to make a flower cake.
It is recorded in the "Mountain Hall Examination",
On the day of the Hundred Flowers, she rewarded the courtiers with flower cakes.
------------------
Before and after the Flower Dynasty Festival,
It is when wild vegetables such as artemisia alba and cabbage are tender in spring.
The people of the Song Dynasty would meet on this day and go to the suburbs to dig up wild vegetables,
At the same time, the weather is warmer, and the flowers and trees are easier to grow,
"Picking vegetables and planting flowers" became the poetry of the Song Dynasty.
------------------
Women and children cut flower flags from colored silk and five-colored paper,
And then tie them to all kinds of flowers and trees,
Used to celebrate Kao's birthday,
In order to achieve a hundred flowers and fruitful fruits.
In the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes and the Flower Dynasty in the Harem of Xiaoqin", it is stated:
"The twelfth day of February is the flower dynasty,
Empress Xiaoqin (Empress Dowager Cixi) went to the Summer Palace to cut the ribbon. ”
The colorful flags tied to the branches of the flowers flutter with the wind,
Become a beautiful scenery of the Flower Dynasty Festival.
------------------------
Wudi maidens often play "fluttering butterflies" during the Flower Dynasty Festival.
Tang Xianzu once vividly portrayed "fluttering butterflies":
"Jealous flowers are afraid of wind and rain, and even the sun is shining."
Half of the spring is drunk with the night, but it is said that tomorrow is the flower dynasty. ”
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, flower temples were everywhere.
The people are on the birthday of the god of flowers
Incense burning prayers, singing the name of the church, welcoming flowers,
Sacrifice animals to celebrate the birthday of the immortals.
The Flower Dynasty Festival is a date that Chinese rushes to spring.
Weathering the cold of winter,
Escaping the last loneliness,
In the end, spring is still coming.
Once famous in the world, "Moon Sunset Flower Dynasty",
Only the fame of the Mid-Autumn Festival remains, and the flower dynasty is long gone.
But people will still take advantage of the spring light,
Take advantage of the hundred flowers blooming, go out to explore the spring.
Figure | Empty Valley
The Book of Poetry and Zheng Feng says:
"There are wild vines, and there is zero dew.
There is a beautiful person, clean and graceful.
Encounters and encounters are suitable for me. ”
Therefore, the lunar month of February is also known as the "matchmaking month" and the "wedding month".
A long-standing sentence:
Flowers move the spring heart towards the night of the moon, who can't bear to miss each other and don't see each other.
The flower festival is not a spring heart, but a deep affection.
During the Five Dynasties period, Qian Wei was half a lifelong warrior and had a great reputation
He ruled over two Zhejiang and thirteen prefectures and was given the title of King of Wuyue.
Once Princess Dai returned to her mother's home,
Just a few days after leaving, on the shore of the lake embankment,
It is already a blossoming flower, thousands of purples and thousands of reds.
Qian Wei felt it and wrote:
"Strange flowers bloom, but slowly return."
Just 9 words, gentle affection, really envious of others.
Figure | Money hammer
The flower festival cherishes spring, and it is even more regrettable.
In this forgotten festival,
Do an unforgettable romantic thing.
Don't miss a ray of spring light,
Don't miss the person who has your heart in mind.
The Flower Dynasty Festival is the beginning of romantic love written by many writers.
Lin Daiyu was born on the day of the Flower Dynasty Festival.
Dai Yu cherishes flowers and uses flowers as a metaphor for herself.
Obsessed with love, there is only Baoyu in his eyes and heart,
Joy and sorrow also arise because of him.
Such an affectionate Lin Daiyu, who in the world does not like it?
Figure | Portrait of Lin Daiyu
Maybe now many people think that the flower festival is a little strange,
But in the eyes of the ancients, it is a very romantic festival.
When spring blossoms little by little from the cold wind,
There is a hint of romance.
When this spring intention completely occupied the land of Shenzhou,
It's the most romantic time of the year.
Greet the romance in the spring,
Ever since I started to look forward to the ordinary life of pots and pans.
This is the ancient people's heartfelt respect and worship of nature,
It is this expectation and respect that makes this early spring encounter,
Become romantic to the extreme.
The Flower Festival, although it comes from the season.
But it already has a cultural connotation engraved in the bones.
Celebrate the flower gods, enjoy the flowers and butterflies, and unique seasonal foods.
Now in some places, the annual flower festival,
Every local household must make flower cakes.
Maybe now the Flower Dynasty Festival, few people know.
But just look up and see the tree blossoming,
Even if life is hard and difficult, it will be warm.
Encourage people to appreciate, to love,
Live up to every blossom.
The Flower Festival has a life.
Knowing the demise of the Flower Dynasty Festival, it is irreversible.
But Kunikan Jun still hopes for such a festival full of tenderness
Be able to be seen by more people.
The Flower Dynasty Festival is a kind of enjoyment,
Xi Chun also has nothing to do with rich or poor.
In the second month of the lunar calendar, spring is just right, and the flowers are blooming,
May all goodness come as promised.
The Flower Festival should not be forgotten.
Figure | Qingke QINCO