CHINESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1931
XXXV
24 Sin-wi
Beginning of Spring.
Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.
The god of the hearth reports to heaven.
1931
Keng-wu
Jan.
XI. Moon
6
18
Slight Cold.
XII. Moon
21
3
Great Cold.
Feb. 5
18
10
23
11
17 19
I. Moon 1
Mar. 3
20
21
31
3 13
Apr. 6
19
20
3 15
Chinese New Year's Day.
Coming of Rain.
Feast of Lanterns, Fête of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven.
II. Moon 2 Mencius born, B.C. 371. Fête of the gods of land.
Vernal Equinox. 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. Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival; on this day people worship at their
ancestors' graves. Fête of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.
III. Moon 3 Fête of Hiuen T'ien Shang-ti, the supreme ruler of the sombre heavens
and of Peh-te, Tauist god of the North Pole.
May 6
19
10
23
22
June 2
7
20
22
28
30
July 8 24
Aug. 2
7
8
14
28
Beginning of Summer.
Fête of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors.
IV. Moon 6 Small Fullness.
17 22
Fête of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition. Sprouting Seeds.
V. Moon 5 National fête day. Dragon boat festival and boat races.
7
13
15
23
Summer Solstice.
National fête of the son of Kwân Ti, god of war. Anniversary of the Formation of Heaven and Earth, Slight Heat.
VI. Moon 10 Great Heat.
19
24 25
Fête of the Goddess of Mercy.
Fete of Kwan Ti, god of war.
Beginning of Autumn.
VII. Moon 1 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. Fête of Chung Yuen, god of the element earth.
Fête of the god of wealth.
White Dew.
Fête of Ti Ts'ang-wang, the patron of departed spirits.
National fête day. Worship of the moon, and Feast of Lanterns. Fête of the god of the Sun.
Fête of Confucius (born 552 B.C.), the founder of Chinese ethics and politics. Cold Dew,
20
7
28
15
Sept. 4
8
22
26
11
29
VIII. Moon
24
13
Autumnal Equinox.
26
15
Oct. 6
25
8
27
9
28
19
24
14
Nov. 7
28
Fête day of Hwa Kwang, the god of fire.
8
29
23
24
Dec. 8
15
29
23
Beginning of Winter.
X. Moon 14 Slight Snow.
Fête day of Ha Yuen, the god of water. Heavy Snow,
XI. Moon 15 Winter Solstice.
IX. Moon 9 Chung Yang Festival, kite-flying day; people on this day worship at their
ancestors' graves and ascend mountains for pleasure. Frost Descent.