CHINESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1913
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1913.
Yam Taz Jan. XII. Moon.
I
20
14
|
Great Cold
26
20
28.
30 Feb. 4
24
29
Kwai Chow
I. Moon.
6
1
15
10
20
15
21
16
II. Moon.
Mar. 8
1
9
2
10
3
20
13
14
22
26
April 5
15
19
29
III. Moon.
3
21
15
24
18
29
28
May 2
26
28
IV. Moon.
1
1
9
4
13
፡
15
10
16
11
19
14
17
25
20
June 2
28
V. Moon.
TO CA
5
1
5
16
11
17
13
16
Festival of Lu Pàn, the patron saint of carpenters and masons. He is said to have been a contemporary of Confucius. Among the many stories related of his ingenuity, it is said that, on account of his father having been put to death by the men of Wu, he carved the effigy of one of the genii with one of its hands stretched towards Wu, when, in consequence, drought prevailed for three years. On being supplicated and presented with gifts from Wn, he cut off the hand, and raiù immediately fell. On this day carpenters refuse to work.
Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.
The god of the hearth reports to heaven.
Beginning of Spring.
Chinese New Year's Day,
Fête day of the Spirits of the Ground.
Feast of Lauterns, Fête of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven.
Fête of Shen and Ts'ai, the two guardians of the door. Auspicious day for
praying for wealth and offspring, as well as for rain.
Fête day of the Supreme Judge in the Courts of Hades.
Mencius born, B.C. 371. Spring worship of the gods of the land and grain. Fête of the god of literature, worshipped by students. Beginning of
Spring.
Fête day of Hung-shing, god of the Canton river, powerful to preserve people
from drowning, and for sending rain in times of drought.
Vernal Equinox
Birthday of Lao Tsze, founder of Tauism, B.C. 601.
Fête of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.
Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival
Fête of Hiuen Tien Shang-ti, the supreme ruler of the sombre heavens
and of Peh-te. Tauist god of the North Pole.
Fête of I-ling, a deified physician, and of the god of the Sombre Altar, wor-
shipped on behalf of sick children.
Fête of Heu Tu, the goddess worshipped behind graves; of the god of the
Central mountain, and of the three brothers.
Fête of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors. Fête of Tsz Sun, goddess of progeny.
National Festival of Ts'ang Kieli, inventor of writing.
Beginning of Summer
Fête of the Bodhisattva Mandjushri ; worshipped on behalf of the dead.
Fête of San Kai, ruler of heaven, of earth, and of hades; also a fête of Buddha. Fête of the dragon spirits of the ground.
Anniversary of the death of Confucius
Fête of Lü Sien, Tauist patriarch, worshipped by barbers, Fête of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition. Fête of the goddess of the blind.
Fête of Yoh Wong, the Tauist god of medicine.
Fête of the god of the South Pole.
On this day the
National fête day. Dragon boat festival and boat races.
Cantonese frantically paddle about in long narrow boats much ornamen- ted. The festival is called Pa Lung Shun er Tiu Wat Uen, and is held to commemorate the death of Wat Üen, who drowned himself about B.C. 500 for his master the prince of 'T'soo refused to accept his faithful advice. National fête of Sheng Wang, the tutelary god of walled towns. National fête of Kwan Ti, god of war, and of his son General Kwan. Anniversary of the Formation of Heaven and Earth. Fête of Chang Tao-ling (A.D. 34), ancient head of the Tauist sect. His descendants still continue to claim the headship. It is said "the succession is perpetuated by the transmig ation of the soul of each successor for Chan· Tae-ling, oà his. decease, to the body of some youthful member of the family, whose heirship is supernaturally revealed as soon as the miracle is effected." Fête of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
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18
Summer Solstice.
Digitized by
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