1917

13
20
23
24
27
ng Ti
loon.
10
13
15
16
Moon
2
3
13
15
19
28
14
Moo
15
16
18
23
26
28
Moor
8
10
11
14
17
20
28
Moo
1
4
5
11
13
16
20
INESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1917
Slight Cold.
Festival of Lu Pan, the patron saint of carpenters and masons. He is said
to have been a contemporary of Confucius. Among the many stories
related of his ingenuity it is said that, on account of his father having
been put to death by the men of Wu, he carved the effigy of one of the
genii with one of its hands stretched towards Wu, when, in consequence,
drought prevailed for three years. On being supplicated and presented
with gifts from Wu, he cut off the hand, and rain immediately fell. On
this day carpenters refuse to work.
Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.
The god of the hearth reports to heaven.
Great Cold
Chinese New Year’s Day.
Fete day of the Spirits of the Ground.
Beginning of Spring.
Feast of Lanterns, FSte of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven.
Fete of Shen and Ts’ai, the two guardians of the door. Auspicious day for
praying for wealth and offspring, as well as for rain.
Fete day of the Supreme Judge in the Courts of Hades.
Mencius born, B.C. 371. Spring worship of the gods of the land and grain.
Fete of the god of literature, worshipped by students.
FSte day of Hung-shing, god of the Canton river, powerful to preserve people
from drowning, and for sending rain in times of drought.
Birthday of Lao Tsze, founder of Tauism, B.C. 604.
Fete of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.
Vernal Equinox.
Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival. Fete of Hiuen T’ien Shang-ti, the supreme
ruler of the sombre heavens and of Peh-te, Tauist god of the North Pole.
Fete of I-ling, a deified physician, and of the god of the Sombre Altar, wor¬
shipped on behalf of sick children.
Beginning of Summer.
Fete of Heu Tu, the goddess worshipped behind graves, of the god of the
Central mountain, and of the three brothers.
FSte of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors.
FSte of Tsz Sun, goddess of progeny.
National Festival of Ts’ang Kieh, inventor of writing.
FSte of the Bodhisattva Mandjushri ; worshipped on behalf of the dead.
FSte of San Kai, ruler of heaven, of earth, and of Hades; also a f Ste of Buddha.
Fete of the dragon spirits of the ground.
Anniversary of the death of Confucius.
FSte of Lii Sien, Tauist patriarch, worshipped by barbers.
FSte of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition.
FSte of the goddess of the blind.
FSte of Yoh Wang, the Tauist god of medicine.
FSte of the god of the South Pole.
Summer Solstices.
National fSte day. Dragon boat festival and boat races. On this day the
Cantonese frantically paddle about in long narrow boats much ornamen¬
ted. The festival is called Pa Lung Shun or Tiu Wat Uen, and is held
to commemorate the death of Wat Tien, who drowned himself about B.C.
500, for his master the prince of Tso refused to accept his faithful advice.
National fete of Sheng Wang, the tutelary god of walled towns.
National fSte of Kwan Ti, god of war, and of his son General Kwan.
Anniversary of the Formation of Heaven and Earth. FSte of Chang Tao-ling
(A.D. 34), ancient head of the Tauist sect. His descendants still continue
to claim the headship. It is said “ the succession is perpetuated by the
transmigration of the soul of each successor of Chang Tao-ling, on his
decease,tothebody of some youthful member of the family, whose heirship
is supernaturally revealed as soon as the miracle is effected.” Feta
Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
Slight Heat.