Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 29

CHINESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1926

1926 Yueh-chau

xix..

Slight Cold.

XII. Moon 8 Great Cold.

Jan.

XI. Moon

6

22

21

Feb. 4

22

5

23

6

24

Ping-jin

13

I. Moon 1

19

7

26

15

Mar, 6

22

15

16

3

21

8

26

13

Apr. 1

19

5

23

14

Beginning of Spring.

Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.

The god of the hearth reports to heaven.

Chinese New Year's Day.

Coming of Rain.

Feast of Lanterns, Fête of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven. Excited Insects.

II. Moon 2 Mencius born, B.C. 371. Fête of the gods of land.

Fête of the god of literature, worshipped by students. Vernal Equinox.

Fête day of Hung-shing, god of the Canton river, powerful to preserve

people from drowning, and for sending rain in times of drought. Fête of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.

Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival; on this day people worship at their

ancestors' graves.

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.

Corn Rain.

Fête of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors. Beginning of Summer.

IV. Moon 11 Small Fullness.

17 26

Fête of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition. Sprouting Seeds.

V. Moon 5 National fête day.

21

10

May 4

23

6

25

22

28

June 6

14

22

24

July 8

23 28

Aug. 2

8

13

15

29

Summer Solstice. Anniversary of the

Slight Heat.

VI Moon 14 Great Heat.

19 24

Dragon boat festival and boat races.

National fête of the son of Kwân Ti, god of war. Formation of Heaven and Earth.

Fête of the Goddess of Mercy.

Fete of Kwan Ti, god of war.

VII. Moon 1 Beginning of Autumn. 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 pur- gatory, 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.

VIII. Moon

Fête of the seven goddesses of the Pleiades, worshipped by women. Fête of Chung Yuen, god of the element earth.

Fête of Ti Ts'ang-wang, the patron of departed spirits.

White Dew.

National fête day. Worship of the moon, and Feast of Lanterns. Autumnal Equinox.

14

7

22

15

24

17

Heat Abating.

29

22

Fête of the god of wealth.

Sept. 6

30

8

2

21

15

24

18

Oct. 1

25

3

27

9

15

24

Nov, 3

8

19

23

Fête of the god of the Sun.

Fête of Confucius (born 552 B.C.), the founder of Chinese ethics and politics. IX. Moon 3 Cold Dew.

9

18

28

Chung Yang Festival, kite-flying day; people on this day worship at their

ancestors' graves and ascend mountains for pleasure.

Frost Descent.

Fête day of Hwa Kwang, the god of fire.

X. Moon 4 Beginning of Winter.

15 19

Fête day of Ha Yuen, the god of water. Slight Snow.

Dec. 8 XI. Moon 4 Heavy Snow.

22

18

Winter Solstice.