The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-02-27
CHINESE FESTIVALS.
Tho Ceiestinls Have n Weakness for Cele-
brating Numerous Holidays

CFINESE FES lNRLo'
Tho CeIestinIs Have a Weakness for Ccle-
brating Numerous Holidays.
The Chinese seem to go at things in
wrong spirit and as our knowledge OF
them widens we are much amused.
The festivals of the Acknowledged folks
are varied and extensive. numbering in
all thirty-Ave. XII. Moon, 18th Day, is
the festival of Hsiao-han, which means
Slight Cold; and it strikes us as particu
larly funny, for we are more apt to go
into mourning over slight cold than to
rejoice in it. The next holiday is Tieu-
lung-tan, which is celebrated in man.
ner becoming the Birthday of the Celes-
tial Dragon.
Tu-han means Great Cold, and this Is
celebrated Nil Moon, 3Oth day, and
fortnight after, on the 18th Day of the
/. Moon the Lich'un and the Shang-
yuen-chich are both recognized, the
first being the beginning of spring, and
the second the well-known Feast of
Lanterns, when they try to outdo our
Fourth of July in noise and general
noisy amusements. Following imme-
diately upon this is the feast of Rain
Water and from our acquaintance with
Chinese umbrellas, it seems likely that
the festival is observed indoors. After
this is the Ching. che, and the very
sound of it is suggestive of the entomo-
logical songsters that frequent the wood
land at this season, for this is the day
of Excited Insects. Does it not seem that
the Celestial is really reversed in all his
ideas? But perhaps this festival is one
of Precipitation, and we would most GER
tainly have holiday could we limit the
cele ebrations of the excited insects them
selves to one brief day. The Vernal
Equinox is perfectly natural festival,
although we of the west are not partial
to celebrating the changes of nature.
Perhaps their weather is more certain
and reliable, for little later is the
Ch'ing-ming, or Pure Brightness, and if
we had any such holiday, we could
count upon a rain storm covering the
entire country, such is the perversity of
our weather, and if we had the Ko-yu,
or Corn Rain, which is the next in or
der, drought would precede and fol-
low the celebration for q fortnight
The Beginning of Summer is the fol-
lowing holiday, which is alike our So
cial hegira; but the Hsiao-man has no
parallel in our lives The latter is the
Small Fullness, and may be likened to
the combination of the small boy and
the green apple, but that period is
generally one of waiting and sorrow.
| The Anniversary of the Death of Con-
fucius is followed by Mang-chung, or
| Sprouting Deeds, from which we may
| judge that the Corn Rain duly obeyed
the summons. After the Dragon Boat
! Festival and the Summer Soltice, which
have no counterparts with us, the
| Hsiao o-shu, which is interpreted as as I
! Slight Heat may be found with us to
be the beginning of vacation. The
Formation of Heaven and Earth and
Feast of Heavenly Gifts follow closely;
and the day after the latter is the Ia
shu. This is Great Heat; analogous to
stagnation OF trade and general lazi-
ness which is duly observed throughout
our entire country. The Li-ch'-iu is the
beginning of autumn, and marks the
exile of the summer girl; and Chu-shu,
or Stopping of Heat, sugg ests by its ac-
cent the railroad train which bears the
homeward-boundt tourist.
The Po-lu is the White Dew that fol-
| lows, WHICH w lIll US uSutIly lHdrhS uIe
exit of the straw hat. But White Dew,
or our Jack Frost seems to have given
place this year to repetition of Great
Heat. The Autumnal Equinox and
Midauturan Festival are the succeeding
delights of the Celestial and then comes
tho Cold Dew. 1t is hard to catalogue
this day, but the coal barons must de-
light in it, although they have NO
special public celebration Then the
Birthday of Confucius and Chung Yung
Festival are followed by Frost's De-
scent, which only serves to render our
ideas of the colors and egrees of dews
previously celebrated more perpleXing
than ever. The Li-tung marks the be-
| ginning of winter, and may be noted by
us as the appearance of the ulster, and
Slight Snow, musically known in the
original as Hsia-hsueh, is just the same
as our Li-tung. The Ta-hsueh is Great
Snow which is not celebrated with any
great delight by any one except thA
small boy; and after this distinctively
Chinese festival, the conclusion first
formed regarding the very eccentric
ideas of the Celestials is found to be
quite correct -Harper's Weekly.