中国文化通览14Word下载.docx

1、农历以正月、二月、三月为春季，四月、五月、六月为夏季，七月、八月、九月为秋季，十月、十一月、十二月为冬季。每季分别以孟、仲、季表示，比如孟春指农历正月，仲春指二月，季春指三月；孟夏指四月，仲夏指五月以此类推。八节是指二十四节气中8个最早、也是最重要的节气。大概与中国自古以农立国有关，我国历来就非常重视时令。早在周代的时候，人们就用土圭测日影，确定了夏至、冬至、春分、秋分，即“二至二分”，后来又在二至二分中间安排了“四立”立春、立夏、立秋、立冬，共谓之八节。秦以后，二十四节气已完全确定。具体说来：从小寒之日起，太阳黄经每增加30（约历时30天），即过渡到另一个节气，一年一共得十二节气（简称“节”

2、）。从冬至之日起，太阳黄经每增加30（历时也是30天），便开始过渡到另一个中气（简称“气”），一年也得十二中气。如下表：月份正月二月三月四月五月六月七月八月九月十月十一月十二月节立春惊蛰清明立夏芒种小暑立秋白露寒露立冬大雪小寒气雨水春分谷雨小满夏至大暑处暑秋分霜降小雪冬至大寒二十四节气表在这里，节（或气）正是对岁时的分“节”（“节”的本义是指竹节）。两节交接过渡的时间，谓之交节；交节之日，则为节日。伴随着二十四节气，出现了不少节日。流传到现在，有些节日仍与节气有关，比如立夏、夏至、立冬、冬至等。有些节日，则逐渐脱离了节气的本来意义，演变成了传统节日。还有些节日，则逐渐与传统节日合流，比如原属二

3、十四节气的清明节与传统纪念节日寒食节现在已合为一体。“年”是一个象形字，从禾从人，是一个谷子成熟、人在负禾的形象。后来便引申为春种秋熟、寒来暑往的周期，即地球环绕太阳公转一周的时间。一个太阳年的时间为365.24219日，即365天5小时48分46秒。“月”的本义是月亮，历法中是指月相变化的一个周期。一个朔望月的周期是29天12小时44分4秒。古代的农历将一年分为12个月，包括6个大月各30天，6个小月各29天，总共是354天，比实际太阳年的日子要少11.24219日。因此，古人采用了置闰设置闰月的方法，经过实践，最终得出了“十九年七闰”的置闰规律。其中，每月月亮的朔望晦，也是形成节日的主要标

4、准之一。朔为“上日”，是每月的初一，又称“元日”。正月朔日，谓之元旦，乃农历新年之始，是一年中最早的节日。初学记引玉烛宝典曰：“正月为端月，其一日为元日，亦云上日，亦云正朝，亦云三元，亦云三朔。”辛亥革命后，虽将农历正月初一改为春节，将公历一月一日定为元旦新年，可民间仍将农历正月初一视为“新年”，并且是“大年”，而公历一月一日则谓之“洋历年”。望日月圆，为每月之十五。古有“三元”之说，即正月十五“上元”，乃天官生日，主赐福；七月十五“中元”，乃地官生日，主赦罪；十月十五“下元”，乃水官生日，主解厄。后来都发展成为节日。八月望日，即八月十五中秋节，也是在发展中形成的。秦汉时期，中秋即“仲秋”，指

5、农历八月份，该月内主要以白露节为节日，一般节前筮卜，择节后吉日祀神。后来逐渐将日子确定到月圆之日，即十五日。唐宋时，中秋节已极为流行，现在则成为汉民族除春节之外的第二大传统节日。中国古代历法中最富民族特色的则是干支纪时。所谓干支纪时，是用十天干和十二地支来表示年、月、日、时的一种方法。“干支”是天干和地支的总称。甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚、辛、壬、癸叫天干；子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥叫地支。把十天干和十二地支互相配合，取其最小公倍数60作为一个循环周期，俗称“六十甲子”。干支纪时法也使得许多平日逐渐上升为节日。比如先秦时期的“上巳节”，原指农历三月上旬的巳日，以郑国之俗为代

6、表（可参见诗经郑风溱洧），是日“祓于水滨”，即在河边举行招魂续魄之礼，并举行盛大的露天舞会。魏代已将日期确定为三月初三，而不必巳日。以后便形成了三月三的各种节日习俗，比如踏青、放风筝等。与此相类的还有二月二、五月五、六月六、七月七、九月九等。干支纪时形成的节日，后来多附会一些传说，演变成为传统节日。比如五月五日端午节，后来便附会了屈原的传说，成为一个传统节日。值得注意的是：古代有些干支日不仅不能成为节日，反而规定为忌日。比如古代有“子卯不乐”之说，每月的子日和卯日为“恶日”，是日不能举行庆祝或祭祀活动，这就是左传昭公九年中所说的“辰在子卯，谓之疾（忌）日”。此俗流传数千年之久。但是，古代的一些

7、忌日，后来却演变成了传统节日。比如五月五日端午节，源于五月子日，即恶日。因时值初夏，病毒渐趋猖獗，于是日有驱五毒之俗。现在端午节仍有戴荷包、系五色线（指五色毒龙）等习俗，均起源于此。从时间、日期等表象上看，节日起源于古代的历法，与节气、月历、干支等有着密切的关系。然而，从精神、观念等深层次上看，节日的形成又与古人的信仰有关。在传统节日的形式背后，有着人们生活和心理的实用需要。节日的出现，大都与古人的祭祀，亦即信仰、崇拜有关。其目的不外乎两条：“求福”与“避祸”。因此又可以说：节日起源于古人对鬼神的恐惧心理，他们企图通过对鬼神的祭祀，达到“求福”、“避祸”的目的。而这种特殊的祭祀日，便逐渐发展成

8、为各种各样的节日。比如春节（即古代的立春节）、腊八、端午等。腊八，即十二月腊日，原为冬至后的第三个戍日，后固定为初八日，先秦时为重要的农事祭日，或谓“祭猎（腊）神”，或谓庆贺一年的丰收，其规模相当于现在的春节。后来，腊祭改为只供五祀，即门、户、宅、灶、井五神，同时祭祖。再后来，与佛教的“释迦牟尼得道日”相融合，便演变成为一个综合性的节日。Section 5 The Festival Culture The Origin of FestivalsChinese festivals originated from the ancient Chinese calendric system. To u

9、nderstand the origin of Chinese festivals, one must first know something about the ancient Chinese calendric system.The traditional Chinese calendric system is a combination of the solar system and the lunar system, which is known as nongli, the agricultural calendar. The basic principle of nongliis

10、, a month is a period as long as a complete moon change cycle, and a year is a period approximately as long as a solar year. Whenever necessary, a leap month is added. According to this system, 24 jieqi（24 seasonal periods indicating the obvious changes of weather when they come around） are designed

11、 to guide agricultural activities, so the system is commonly known as the agricultural calendar, and it is also known as zhongcalendar, summer calendar and lunar calendar.Generally speaking, the ancient Chinese calendar devides a year into four seasons, 24 jieqi, 72 hou, 360 days. To be more specifi

12、c, a day consists of 12 double hours （shichen）; five days make up a hou, so there are 72 houin a year; three houmake up a jieqi, so a year has 24 jieqi; two jieqimake up a month, so a year has 12 months; three months make up a season, and four seasons make up a year. The four seasons, the eight jieq

13、i, the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches are all important factors in the forming of Chinese festivals.The four seasons refer to spring, summer, autumn and winter. According to the lunar calendar, the first three months make up spring, the next three summer, the following three autumn, and the

14、 last three winter. Each season is subdivided into three equally long periods, namely early （meng）, middle （zhong） and late （ji）. For instance, early spring refers to the first month, middle spring the second month, and late spring the third month.The first eight jieqirefer to the earliest designate

15、d and the most important eight seasonal periods. Since ancient times, China has always attached great importance to seasonal timing, which is closefly related to agricultural activities. As early as in the Zhou Dynasty, the first eight jieqiwere defined, namely, the Beginning of Spring, the Spring E

16、quinox, the Beginning of Summer, the Summer Solstice, the Beginning of Autumn, the Autumn Equinox, the Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice. During the Qin Dynasty, all 24 jieqiwere defined.Whenever two jieqimeet, a festival comes. Along with the designation of 24 jieqi, many festivals came i

17、nto being. Up till now, there are still some festivals closely related to jieqi, for example, people now still celebrate the Beginning of Summer, the Summer Solstice, the Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice. Today some jieqi-related festivals have evolved into traditional festivals.The Chine

18、se ideograph nian（year） shows a person carrying ripe crop. The cycle of planting, growing and harvesting approximately equals the length of a year, i.e. the time during which the earth goes round the sun. The original meaning of the Chinese character yue（month） was “the moon”, in the Chinese calendr

19、ic system, it refers to the moon movement cycle. The traditional Chinese calendar divides the whole year into 12 months, among which 6 months consist of 30 days and another six consist of 29 days. Thus, a “Chinese year” is 364 days, which is 1.14219 days shorter than a solar year. To make up for the

20、 gap, ancient Chinese set up “the leap month”. In the end, they decided that in every 19 years, there should be 7 leap months. The first day and the fifteenth day of some months have become important festivals.After the 1911 Revolution, the first day of the lunar month was defined as the Spring Fest

21、ival, while the first day of the solar month was defined as the New Year. Today most Chinese people attach greater importance to the Spring Festival, they regard it as the “big new year”, and they call the first day of the solar month “the foreign calendar New Year”. The Mid-Autumn Festival, which f

22、alls on the 15th of the eighth lunar month, was very popular during the Tang and the Song dynasties. Today it has become the second largest traditional Chinese festival for people of the Han nationality.In the traditional Chinese calendric system, the designation of years by Heavenly Stems and Earth

23、ly Branches demonstrates the unique cultural characteristics. There are altogether ten Heavenly Stems, namely, jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, gui, and twelve Earthly Branches, namely, zi, chou, yin, mou, chen, si, wu, wei, shen, you, xu, hai. The ten Heavenly Stems and the twelve Earth

24、ly Branches are combined and their least common multiple, which is 60, is regarded as a cycle, commonly called “the sixty jiazi”. Some Chinese festivals have evolved from this designation, for instance, February 2nd, March 3rd, May 5th, June 6th, July 7th and September 9th, are all Chinese festivals

25、. Among them, some have become traditional festivals, e. g. , May 5th has become the Dragon Boat Festival, and there is a story concerning the great Chinese patriotic poet Qu Yuan attached to it.Another factor related to the forming of traditional Chinese festivals is peoples spiritual demand. Study

26、ing more carefully, we can find that the forming of festivals actually have something to do with ancient peoples beliefs. Behind the traditional Chinese festivals, we can see peoples psychological and practical demand. On most occassions, people held memorial ceremonies, offering sacrifices to heave

27、n and their ancestors. The purposes are none other than asking for bessings and praying for protection against disasters.春节中国人通常所说的过大年，实际上就是指春节，也就是每年农历的正月初一。春节是我国最盛大的一个传统节日，也是在漫长的历史过程当中逐渐融合、衍变而成的一个综合性节日。从节日的时间上来说，现在的春节实际上就是古代农历的元旦，是古代的新年。元旦一词起自三皇五帝之一的颛顼，当时规定以正月为元，初一为旦。“元”是一岁之始，“旦”则是早晨的意思。“元旦”亦即一年开始的

28、第一天。但古代过元旦的日期并不统一，夏代为正月初一，商代为十二月初一，周代为十一月初一，秦代为十月初一，汉武帝复为正月初一，此后延续2 000多年至今。南宋吴自牧在梦粱录中就说：“正月朔日谓之元旦，俗呼新年。”辛亥革命以后，中国采用世界通用的历法公元历，将元月1日定为元旦，而将农历正月初一定为春节。1949年9月27日，中国人民政治协商会议第一届全体会议通过使用公元纪年法，正式将公历元月1日定为元旦，将农历正月初一改为春节。但中国老百姓仍然重视农历的正月初一，也就是春节，将农历的正月初一称为“过大年”或径称为“过年”，而将公历的元月1日称为“阳历年”（或写作“洋历年”）。从节日的名称上来看，春

29、节来自于二十四节气当中的立春。古人所谓的春节实际上是指立春节，而过年则是指农历的元旦。立春节是一个典型的农事节日，它标志着冬季的结束和春季的来临，所以自古就是一个重要的节日。据礼记月令记载：周天子以立春之日亲率公卿诸侯大夫迎春于东郊，行布德施惠之令。后来在漫长的衍变过程中，人们用“春节”来指称农历的元旦，而“立春”则作为一个独立的农事节日一直流传到今天。从节日的性质上来看，现在的春节来自于古代的腊祭。腊祭，或称大蜡，是中国古代一年之中最隆重的祭祀活动。周朝时，腊祭与大蜡是两种不同性质的祭祀活动，腊祭祖先，蜡祭百神。礼记月令中记载：孟冬之月“腊先祖五祀”，即指腊祭。秦汉时期将两者合而为一，成为一

30、个年终祭祀众神的节日。腊祭的时间为腊日，腊日原为冬至以后的第三个戌日，后来定为腊月初八，古人于是日祭祀祖先、众神，同时兼有庆贺一年丰收的含义，其规模相当于现在的春节。后来，腊祭改为只供“五祀”，即门神、户神、宅神、灶神、井神；再后来，又与佛教中的释迦牟尼得道日融合，便成了一个综合性的节日。而原来腊祭当中的祭祖、祭众神等内容，则转移到了春节当中。（周代以十一月初一为元旦，因此，腊祭便在孟冬十月。）伴随着过年，还有一个古老的传说：年是一种非常可怕的怪物，它的大小和形状有点像一头牛。老百姓辛辛苦苦地忙过了麦、忙过了秋，到了正月初一元旦总想轻轻松松地玩乐一番，可每到腊月三十这一天晚上子时，年就要出来吃

31、人，老百姓深受其害，因此，老百姓就把农历的元旦叫做“过年关”。后来，老百姓知道了年的一个弱点，就是它最怕烧得噼啪作响、火苗乱窜的大火，所以，每到腊月三十的晚上，老百姓就围坐在一起，中间点起一堆篝火，再将竹子投到火中使其噼啪作响，以便把年吓跑，就这样一直等到过了子时。等躲过了年之后，早晨人们便互相道贺。一直到现在，人们在“过年”的时候，还是合家团坐在一起，到了半夜子时要燃放爆竹，子时过后则要拜年。实际上，老百姓所谓的过年，并不仅仅是指正月初一的春节，而是有一个更大的期限。除日，是一年的最后一天，即腊月二十九或三十，民间俗称“年除日”或“年三十”。除日的晚上则称“除夕”。除夕与春节前后相连，所谓的过年至少包括腊月三十和正月初一这两天。而民间过年的期限则更长，一般从腊月二十三祭灶开始，一直到正月十五闹过花灯才算过好年。过去北平有一首年谣叫腊月忙年：“二十三，糖瓜粘；