33
could also be a day for worshipping at the graves—a spring practice spread over several possible days. There is likely to have been a link of association between the She and the dead—in a way similar to what can still be discerned in some southern parts of China today. The offerings on this day were sometimes made in a grand style with cavalcades and officiants engaging the spirits. It was an occasion for feasting, drinking and games.
31
There was another festivity in the second lunar month of the year which was called Hua Zhao or 'Flower Dawn,' which occurred on the full moon day, the fifteenth of the moon. The festival is mentioned in chronicles from Tongshan, Baling,32 Yingshan,33 Zhongxiang,34 and Gong'an.35 If the sky was clear on this day in Baling, then the cotton plants would have a good harvest.36 In Gong'an there were similarly good prospects for cotton if there was a clear full moon on this night.37
The Flower Dawn as a social event is not extensively described, but we learn that in Zhongxiang there were outdoor activities in the open country outside the town, and so there were presumably also picnics. It is said that gentry and commoners ta qing—‘trod on the greenness’—and they dou bai cao ‘gathered one hundred grasses.’
Ta qing is a name for a spring outing, and the designation for this festive picnic is in the wider Chinese world associated with various dates, like the eighth day of the first moon, the second day of the second moon and the third day of the third moon. It is also generally held to be among the customs of Qing Ming in early April, even signifying grave visits. In this present corpus of ethnography we find mention of ‘treading on the greenness’ at the Flower Dawn. Dou bai cao was a game in which people armed themselves with stalks of grass. From each of a pair of stalks was pressed a drop of liquid and the two drops were
31 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1223:風俗考2a.
32 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1166:風俗考4a.
33 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1142:風俗考2a.
34 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1193:風俗考3b.
35 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1223:風俗考2a.
36 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1193:風俗考3b.
37 古今圖書集成,1888.VI,1120:風俗考6ab.
33
could also be a day for worshipping at the graves-a spring practice spread over several possible days. There is likely to have been a link of association between the She and the dead-in a way similar to what can still be discerned in some southern parts of China today. The offerings on this day were sometimes made in a grand style with cavalcades and officiants engaging the spirits. It was an occasion for feasting, drinking and games.
31
There was another festivity in the second lunary of the year which was called Hua Zhao or 'Flower Dawn,' which occurred on the full moon day, the fifteenth of the moon. The festival is mentioned in chronicles from Tongshan, Baling,32 Yingshan,33 Zhongxiang,34 and Gong'an.35 If the sky was clear on this day in Baling, then the cotton plants would have a good harvest.36 In Gong'an there were similarly good prospects for cotton if there was a clear full moon on this night.37
The Flower Dawn as a social event is not extensively described, but we learn that in Zhongxiang there were outdoor activities in the open country outside the town, and so there were presumably also picnics. It is said that gentry and commoners ta qing—trod on the greenness' -and they dou bai cao gathered one hundred grasses.'
Ta qing is a name for a spring outing, and the designation for this festive picnic is in the wider Chinese world associated with various dates, like the eighth day of the first moon, the second day of the second moon and the third day of the third moon. It is also generally held to be among the customs of Qing Ming in early April, even signifying grave visits. In this present corpus of ethnography we find mention of 'treading on the greenness' at the Flower Dawn. Dou bai cao was a game in which people armed themselves with stalks of grass. From each of a pair of stalks was pressed a drop of liquid and the two drops were
31 古今國書集成,1888.VI,1223:風俗考2a. 32 古今國書集成,1888. VI,1166:風俗考4a. 33 古今國書集成.1888. VI, 1142:風俗考2a. 34 古今國書集成,1888.VI,1193:風俗考3b. 35 古今國書集成. 1888. VI, 1223:風俗考2a. 36 古今國書集成. 1888. VI, 1193: 風俗考3b. 37 古今國書集成.1888. VI, 1120: 風俗考6ab.
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