CHINESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1927
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1927
Ping-jin
Jan.XII, Moon
6
3
Slight Cold,
21
18
Great Cold.
26
23
Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.
27
24
Feb.
Ting-mao
2
I. Moon 1
5
16
19
4 15 18
The god of the hearth reports to heaven.
Chinese New Year's Day.
Beginning of Spring.
Feast of Lanterns, Fête of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven. Coming of Rain.
Mar. 5 II. Moon 2 Mencius born, B.C. 371.
6
16
3 13
21
18
22
19
Fête of the gods of land.
Excited Insects. Fête of the god of literature, worshipped by students. 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.
Fête of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.
Apr. 4III. Moon 3 Fête of Hiuen Tien Shang-ti, the supreme ruler of the sombre heavens
6
21
24
LO
5
20 23
and of Peh-te, Tauist god of the North Pole.
Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival; on this day people worship at their
ancestors' graves.
Corn Rain.
Fête of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors.
May 6 IV. Moon 6 Beginning of Summer.
17
22
17 22
Fête of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition. Small Fullness.
June 4 V. Moon 5 National fête day. Dragon boat festival and boat races.
7
8
12
13
14
15
22
23
Sprouting Seeds.
National fête of the son of Kwân Ti, god of war.
Anniversary of the Formation of Heaven and Earth. Summer Solstice.
July 8 VI Moon 10 Slight Heat.
17
22
24
29
19
24
26
Fête of the Goddess of Mercy.
Fete of Kwan Ti, god of war. Great Heat.
|VII. Moon1] First day of the seventh moon. During this moon is held the festival of all
souls, when Buddhist and Tauist priests read masses to release souls: from purgatory, scatter rice to feed starving ghosts, recite magic incantations accompanied by finger play imitating mystic Sanskrit characters which are supposed to comfort souls in purgatory, burn paper clothes for the benefit of the souls of the drowned, and visit family shrines to pray on behalf of the deceased members of the family. Exhibitions of groups of statuettes, dwarf plants, silk festoons, and ancestral tablets are combined with these ceremonies- which are enlivened by music and fireworks.
Fête of the seven goddesses of the Pleiades, worshipped by women. Beginning of Autumn.
Fête of Chung Yuen, god of the element earth.
Fête of the god of wealth.
Fête of Ti Ts'ang-wang, the patron of departed spirits.
Aug. 4
8
7
11
12
15
19
22
24
27
Heat Abating.
26
29
VIII. Moon
Sept. 9
14
White Dew.
10
15
20
25
Fête of the god of the Sun.
22
27
24
29
National fête day. Worship of the moon, and Feast of Lanterns.
Fête of Confucius (born 552 B.C.), the founder of Chinese ethics and politics... Autumnal Equinox.
Oct. 4 IX. Moon 9 Chung Yang Festival, kite-flying day; people on this day worship at their
9
23
14 28
24
29
30
Nov. 8 X. Moon 15
23 Dec. 8 XI. Moon 15
23
30
ancestors' graves and ascend mountains for pleasure.
Cold Dew.
Fête day of Hwa Kwang, the god of fire.
Beginning of Winter.
Frost Descent.
Slight Snow.
Heavy Snow. Winter Solstice.
Fête day of Ha Yuen, the god of water.