Chinese New Year 春節

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī(除夕). It literally means "Year-pass Eve".Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will range from pigs, to ducks, to chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Tale According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or "Year" in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu(鴻鈞老祖), an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.

"Its body is bigger than elephant, its head is like lion, with strong power , its roar can shake the earth." by Shan Hai Jing(山海經)

(There are too many things about Chinese New Year, I will try to make it more clear with more details recently.)

Double Ninth Festival 重陽節

The Double Ninth Festival (Chinese: 重九; pinyin: Chóngjiǔ , also t-Chinese: 重陽節; pinyin: Chóngyángjié or Chung Yeung Festival in Hong Kong), observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the "East Han"(東漢) period (thus, before AD 25). According to the "I Ching"(易經), nine is the yang(阳;陽) number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (or double nine) has too much yang (a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival" (重陽節). To protect against the danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and wear the zhuyu (茱萸) plant, Cornus officinalis. (Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.) Also on this holiday, some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects.

The Ghost Festival 中元節

The Ghost Festival (s-Chinese: 中元节; t-Chinese: 中元節; pinyin: zhōngyuánjié, alternatively s-Chinese: 鬼节; t-Chinese: 鬼節; pinyin: guǐjié) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month.   In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living. On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

Water Lanterns

Qixi(七夕) Festival

Qixi Festival (Chinese: 七夕節; pinyin: qī xī jié; literally "The Night of Sevens"), also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day circa late 1990s to 2000s.It is also known by the following names:   The Festival to Plead for Skills (乞巧節; qǐ qiǎo jié) The Seventh Sister's Birthday (七姊誕; qī jiě dàn) The Night of Skills (巧夕; qiǎo xī)

The story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl In late summer, the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky, and the Chinese tell the following love story, of which there are many variations: A young cowherd named Niulang (Chinese: 牛郎; pinyin: niú láng; literally "[the] cowherd"), came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinü (simplified Chinese: 织女; traditional Chinese: 織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ; literally "[the] weaver girl", the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.) On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega. Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3). But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon. It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, it is the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying for a lost year apart because the magpies will not come on a night that rains.

Teachers' day 教師節

In China (on septemper 10th)Teachers' day in China was Canceled in 1951 and recovered on Septemper 10 since 1985. There are some people proposal the birthday of Confucius as Teachers' day.Usually there are some activities for the students to show their appreciation to the teachers, such as presenting gifts including cards and flowers. In Taiwan (on septemper 28th) The day honors teachers' virtues, pains, and also their contribution not only to their own students but also to the whole society. People often make use of the day to express their gratitude to their teachers, such as paying them a visit or sending them a card. This date was chosen to commemorate the birth of Confucius, believed to be the model master educator in ancient China. In 1939, the Ministry of Education established the national holiday to be August 27, the attributed birthday of Confucius. In 1952, the Executive Yuan changed it to September, stating that it was calculated to be the precise date in the Gregorian calendar. The festival celebration occurs in the temples of Confucius around the Taiwan island, known as the "Grand Ceremony Dedicated to Confucius" (祭孔大典). The ceremony begins at 6 AM with drum beats. 54 musicians dress in robes with blue belts, 36 (or 64) dancers dress in yellow with green belts. They are led by Confucius's chief descendant (currently Kung Te-cheng) and followed by ceremonial officers. Three animals—the cow, the goat, and the pig—are sacrificed. The hairs plucked from these sacrificed animals are called the Hairs of Wisdom. In addition, local education institutes and civil offices award certain teachers for their excellence and positive influence.

more information about "Grand Ceremony Dedicated to Confucius" (祭孔大典)

A short film of "Grand Ceremony Dedicated to Confucius"

Qingming Festival 清明節

The Qingming Festival (s-Chinese: 清明节; t-Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: Qīngmíngjié), Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival, usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar . Astronomically it is also a solar term .Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan and in the Chinese jurisdictions of Hong Kong . Its observance was reinstated as a public holiday in mainland China in 2008, after having been previously suppressed by the ruling Communist Party in 1949. The transcription of the term Qingming may appear in a number of different forms, some of which are: * Qingming * Qing Ming * Qing Ming Jie * Ching Ming (official in Hong Kong) * Ching Ming Chieh The holiday is known by a number names in the English language: * All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name) * Clear Bright Festival * Ancestors Day * Festival for Tending Graves * Grave Sweeping Day * Chinese Memorial Day * Tomb Sweeping Day * Spring Remembrance

Qingming was frequently mentioned in Chinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probably Du Mu's poem (simply titled "Qingming"):

Traditional Chinese	Simplified Chinese	pinyin	English translation
清明時節雨紛紛	清明时节雨纷纷	qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn	A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
路上行人欲斷魂	路上行人欲断魂	lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún	The mourner's heart is breaking on his way.
借問酒家何處有	借问酒家何处有	jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu	Where can a winehouse be found to drown his sadness?
牧童遙指杏花村	牧童遥指杏花村	mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūn	A cowherd points to Almond Flower (Xing Hua) Village in the distance.

The Lantern Festival 元宵節

The Lantern Festival (s-Chinese: 元宵节; t-Chinese: 元宵節; pinyin: Yuánxiāojié) is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese calendar.It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also sometimes known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore, Malaysia. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns (s-Chinese: 猜灯谜; t-Chinese: 猜燈謎; pinyin: cāidēngmí). It officially ends the Chinese New Year.In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in shapes of animals.The Lantern Festival is also known as the Little New Year since it marks the end of the series of celebrations starting from the Chinese New Year.

2008 Tainan city Lantern Festival

Prelude of Chinese culture

Chinese culture is widespread in east Asia and in most cases there are several versions of one individual tradition between different areas.
Because of the long lasting time of it, there are enormous story behide a little thing such as chopsticks.
[Here is a chinese website about chopsticks.]
Look like A long-winded article? Yeah,but it still missed something(taboo,proper manner....)
Every Taiwanese students hate their culture when they are asked to study the chinese history and philology in the mandotory education.

Hence It is a heavy load for me to elaborate whole of it entirely, I just present the part which I'm familiar with briefly.
You can find more information by internet and reference books about it.

Whatever, I will try my best to help you enjoy the interesting part of it.

Dragon Boat Festival 端午節

Dragon Boat Festival 端午節

The Duanwu Festival (also known as Dragon Boat Festival or 端午节 in Simplified Chinese) is a traditional and statutory holiday associated with Chinese cultures, though it is celebrated in other East Asian and Southeast Asian societies as well.It is a public holiday in Taiwann.In 2008, the festival was restored in China as an official national holiday. The festival is also celebrated in countries with significant Chinese populations, such as in Singapore and Malaysia.The festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese calendar. This is the source of the alternative name of Double Fifth .The focus of the celebrations includes eating zongzi, which are large rice wraps, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.Dragon boat races are traditionally held as part of the annual Duanwu Festival observance in China. 19th century European observers of the racing ritual, not understanding the significance of Duan Wu, referred to the spectacle as a "dragon boat festival". This is the term that has become known in the West.

Origins The Duanwu Festival is believed to have originated in ancient China. A number of theories exist about its origins as a number of folk traditions and explanatory myths are connected to its observance. Today the best known of these relates to the suicide in 278 BC of Qu Yuan, poet and statesman of the Chu kingdom during the Warring States period. Qu Yuan(屈原) The best-known traditional story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty. A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month. It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing.

Film: The Master of Making Dragon Boat
Film:2006 Girls Group Race

Dongzhi(冬至) Festival

Dongzhi(冬至) Festival

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至) is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the winter solstice solar term on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest.

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in.

Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓) , which symbolize reunion.

Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. There is always a grand reunion dinner following the sacrificial ceremony.

The festive food is also a reminder that we are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dong Zhi celebration instead of waiting for the Chinese New Year.

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Zhongqiu Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie (traditional Chinese: 中秋節), is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people and Vietnamese people (even though they celebrate it differently), dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty.It was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty.In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice, and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos together. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:

* Eating mooncakes outside under the moon
* Putting pomelo rinds on one's head
* Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns
* Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e ( 嫦娥; pinyin: Cháng'é)
* Planting Mid-Autumn trees
* Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members
* Fire Dragon Dances
* In Taiwan, since the 1980s, barbecuing meat outdoors has become a widespread way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Shops selling mooncakes before the festival often display pictures of Chang'e floating to the moon.

Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar.

In most of East Asia today, the Gregorian calendar is used for day to day activities, but the Chinese calendar is still used for marking traditional East Asian holidays , and in astrology, such as choosing the most auspicious date for a wedding or the opening of a building.

Solar term 節氣( jiéqì)

Chinese months follow the phases of the moon. As a result, they do not accurately follow the seasons of the solar year. To assist farmers to decide when to plant or harvest crops, the drafters of the calendar put in 24 seasonal markers, which follow the solar year, and are called jiéqì ( 節氣 ).

Chinese name	Gregoriandate (approx.)	Usualtranslation	Remarks
立春 lìchūn	February 4	start of spring	spring starts here according to the Chinese definition of a season
雨水 yǔshuǐ	February 19	rain water	starting at this point, the temperature makes rain more likely than snow
啓蟄 qǐzhé(驚蟄 jīngzhé)	March 5	awakening of insects	when hibernating insects awaken
春分 chūnfēn	March 21	vernal equinox	lit. the central divide of spring (referring to the Chinese seasonal definition)
清明 qīngmíng (Holiday)	April 5	clear and bright	a Chinese festival where, traditionally, ancestral graves are tended
穀雨 gǔyǔ or gǔyù	April 20	grain rains	rain helps grain grow
立夏 lìxià	May 6	start of summer	refers to the Chinese seasonal definition
小滿 xiǎomǎn	May 21	grain full	grains are plump
芒種 mángzhòng or mángzhǒng	June 6	grain in ear	lit. awns (beard of grain) grow
夏至 xiàzhì	June 21	summer solstice	lit. summer extreme (of sun's height)
小暑 xiǎoshǔ	July 7	minor heat	when heat starts to get unbearable
大暑 dàshǔ	July 23	major heat	the hottest time of the year
立秋 lìqiū	August 7	start of autumn	uses the Chinese seasonal definition
處暑 chùshǔ	August 23	limit of heat	lit. dwell in heat
白露 báilù	September 8	white dew	condensed moisture makes dew white; a sign of autumn
秋分 qiūfēn	September 23	autumnal equinox	lit. central divide of autumn (refers to the Chinese seasonal definition)
寒露 hánlù	October 8	cold dew	dew starts turning into frost
霜降 shuāngjiàng	October 23	descent of frost	appearance of frost and descent of temperature
立冬 lìdōng	November 7	start of winter	refers to the Chinese seasonal definition
小雪 xiǎoxuě	November 22	minor snow	snow starts falling
大雪 dàxuě	December 7	major snow	season of snowstorms in full swing
冬至 dōngzhì (holiday)	December 22	winter solstice	lit. winter extreme (of sun's height)
小寒 xiǎohán	January 6	minor cold	cold starts to become unbearable
大寒 dàhán	January 20	major cold	coldest time of year

*extract from wiki

(I will keep filling up this list occasionally)

Holidays In Taiwan

Most of Chinese traditional holidays are holded according to Chinese  calendar,so they are not on specific date in common(Gregorian) calendar.

Name	Chi Name	Date (Chinese  Calendar)
Chinese  New Year	農曆春節	Last about one week Since Jan.1
Lantern Festival	元宵節	Jan. 15
Tomb Sweeping Day	清明節	Apr. 4 or 5 (in common calendar)
Dragon Boat Festival	端午節	May 5
Qixi Festival	農曆七夕	Jul. 7
Ghosts' Festival	中元節	Jul. 15
Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival	中秋節	Aug. 15
Double Ninth Festival	重陽節	Sep. 9
Teacher's Day, Confucius' Birthday	教師節	Sep. 28(in common calendar)
the winter solstice, midwinter	冬至	Dec. 22 or 23(in common calendar)