What is the Lower Yuan Festival? Are there any customs and habits during the Lower Yuan Festival?

What is the Lower Yuan Festival? Are there any customs and habits during the Lower Yuan Festival?
Introduction: There are many rich festivals in our country, and the Lower Yuan Festival is one of them. So what is the Lower Yuan Festival? Are there any customs and habits during the Lower Yuan Festival? A gust of cold wind blows by, and we enter the early winter season inadvertently. In winter, we should store our food and replenish our body. Let’s make plans for this winter together, understand the auspiciousness and inauspiciousness of the tenth month in the lunar calendar, and spend a healthy October.

What is the Lower Yuan Festival?

The Xiayuan Festival is a traditional Chinese folk festival that falls on the 15th day of the 10th month in the lunar calendar. It is also known as "Xiayuan Day" or "Xiayuan".
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is called the Shangyuan Festival in China, which is a celebration of the Lantern Festival that has existed since ancient times; the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is called the Zhongyuan Festival in China, which is a festival for ancestor worship; the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month is called the Xiayuan Festival in China, which is a festival for ancestor worship.
The origin of the Lower Yuan Festival is related to Taoism. Taoism has three officials: the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official. It is said that the Heavenly Official bestows blessings, the Earthly Official forgives sins, and the Water Official relieves disasters. The birthdays of the Three Officials are the 15th day of the first lunar month, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, and the 15th day of the tenth lunar month. These three days are called "Shangyuan Festival", "Zhongyuan Festival" and "Xiayuan Festival". The Lower Yuan Festival is the day when the Water God relieves disasters and the Yanggu Emperor relieves disasters, and it is commonly known as this day.

Are there any customs and habits during the Lower Yuan Festival?

1. Pray to the gods
On this day, people generally have two major activities: fasting and offering sacrifices to ancestors, both of which aim to pray to the gods. In Putian, Fujian Province, every household will offer sacrifices to the water god in the fields in the evening of the Lower Yuan Festival, praying for moisture for the crops in the dry winter and for their safety during the winter. During the sacrifice, vegetarian food is placed on the table and incense sticks are scattered on the ridges of the fields to show piety.
On the birthday of Yu, the God of Water, sacrificial activities are often held in Yu temples and other Yu memorial sites across the country. At the same time, outdoor activities such as "Water Color" will also be carried out. Water is related to the "Water Official", and color is rich in colors. Generally, they make colorful boats and parade them in the river. This is how the water got its name.
At nightfall on the Lower Yuan Festival, villagers offer fish, chicken, pork and other foods as sacrifices to the earth god. After the founding of New China, this activity has basically stopped.
2. Offering sacrifices to ancestors
The Lower Yuan Festival is also the last moon festival of the year. During this full moon, people hold the most important ancestor worship activities. The Qingming Festival is a day for the family to worship their ancestors, the Zhongyuan Festival is a day for the family to worship their ancestors, and the Xiayuan Festival is often a day for the nation to worship their ancestors. On this day, the Chinese nation will commemorate the most admirable ancestors in their hearts. The scenes of worship in many places are grand, solemn, and sacred. One look at them will leave you with unforgettable memories.
During the Lower Yuan Festival, there are activities such as burning "gold and silver packages" to worship the souls of ancestors. People fold red and green paper into fairy clothes, fold tin foil into silver ingots, and put them into a bag covered with white paper. On the front is written "I respectfully present a piece of treasure from the underworld and a piece of colorful clothes to so-and-so, who receives it", and below is written "So-and-so, the descendants, bow a hundred times". On the back is written "Sincerely sealed on such-and-such a year, month, and day". It is commonly known as a "gold and silver bag" and is burned after bowing and worshipping. In addition, there are other common activities of ancestor worship.
3. Eat seasonal foods
Such as eating dumplings during the Spring Festival, eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival, eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, etc., the Lower Yuan Festival also has its own food customs. The "Lower Yuan Festival" coincides with the harvest season in rural areas. Some families in Putian make tofu and then fry it. They also use glutinous rice flour ground from new grain to make pancakes, fill them with vegetarian fillings, and fry them into "shadow cakes", "scallion pancakes", or fragrant and delicious fried food dumplings, which are then used as offerings to "fast the sky" outside the gate.
Today I would like to recommend a seasonal food for the Lower Yuan Festival - Mafu Baozi. The hemp-fried buns symbolize the bundle of winter clothes to be sent. On the day of the Lower Yuan Festival, no matter how busy a family is, they will take time to eat Mafu. The method of making hemp tofu is to grind the hemp seeds into fine powder, stir them into a paste with water, filter them with a sieve to remove the skin, add yellow rice and simmer them into a thick paste to make hemp tofu. The filling is made of mafu mixed with radish, potato or gourd, and steamed into mafu buns or dumplings. This vegetarian bun has a natural taste of oily, fragrant and soft.
4. Fasting and offering sacrifices
The Lower Yuan Day is also one of the dates for fasting as stipulated in Taoist fasting rules. Taoism believes that all things that require the use of divine power, such as praying for blessings, warding off disasters, relieving suffering, apologizing, seeking immortality, prolonging life, and saving the dead, etc., all require fasting. On this day, Taoist temples hold ceremonies to help people get rid of their troubles and difficulties. People go to the temples to watch and worship the Lower Yuan Water Official and their ancestors.
Summary: Through the above article content, we know about [What is the Lower Yuan Festival? Are there any customs and habits during the Lower Yuan Festival? 】I hope this article analysis can help everyone!

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