Please list the traditional festivals of a country and a minority in China and talk about their cultural connotations.

Every year, 65438+February 25th is the day when most Christians in the world commemorate the birth of Jesus.

There was no Christmas at the beginning of the church, and it didn't happen until about one hundred years after Jesus ascended to heaven. It is said that the first Christmas was held in A.D. 138 at the initiative of Bishop St Clemens of Rome. The first Christmas in the history of the church was in 336 AD. Because the Bible does not clearly remember the time when Jesus was born, the date of Christmas varies from place to place. It was not until 440 AD that the Holy See set 65438+ February.

The 25th is Christmas. In A.D. 1607, church leaders from all over the world gathered in Bethlehem, which further confirmed this point. Since then, most Christians in the world have regarded 65438+February 25th as Christmas. /kloc-In the 20th century, Christmas cards became popular, Santa Claus appeared, and Christmas became popular.

Because the Bible records that Jesus was born at night, the night of 65438+February 24th is traditionally called "Silent Night" or "Silent Night".

Open Christmas: A History of Christmas

65438+February 25th Christmas celebrates the birthday of the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, which is the largest and most popular festival in western countries.

According to the Bible, the holy book of Christians, God decided to let his only son Jesus Christ be born on the earth, find his mother, and then live on the earth, so that people can better understand God, learn to love God and love each other better. "Christmas" means "celebrating Christ", celebrating the moment when a young Jewish woman, Maria, gave birth to Jesus.

According to the Bible, Maria was engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. However, before they moved in together, Joseph found out that Maria was pregnant. Joseph wants to break up with her quietly, because he is a decent man and doesn't want to tell her about it and embarrass her. While he was thinking about it, the angel of God appeared in his dream and said to him, "Stop whispering and marry Maria home. The child she conceived came from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a boy, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save people from sin. "

Although the exact birthday of Jesus is not clear, about 2000 years ago, the calendar divides the time into BC (before the birth of Jesus Christ) and AD. In the first 300 years after AD, Jesus' birthday was celebrated on different days. Finally, in 354 AD, church leaders designated 65438+February 25th as the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Open Christmas: A History of Christmas

Christmas is the biggest festival in the Christian world. At the beginning of the 4th century AD, 65438+1October 6th was a double festival for churches in the Eastern Roman Empire to commemorate the birth and baptism of Jesus, which was called Epiphany (also known as Epiphany), that is, God revealed himself to the world through Jesus. The only exception at that time was the church in Jerusalem, which only commemorated the birth of Jesus, not the baptism of Jesus. Later, historians found in the calendar used by Roman Christians that the page of 65438+ February 25, 354 AD recorded: "Christ was born in Bethlehem, Judah."

After textual research, it is generally believed that 65438+February 25th is Christmas Day, which probably started in the Roman Church in 336 AD, spread to Antioch in Asia Minor in about 375 AD, and spread to Alexandria in Egypt in 430 AD. The church in Jerusalem accepted it at the latest, while the church in Armenia still insisted that Epiphany was the birthday of Jesus.

65438+February 25th was originally the birthday of Mitra, the Persian sun god (that is, god of light), and it was a pagan festival. At the same time, the sun god was also one of the gods of Roman Catholicism. This day is also the winter solstice festival of the Roman calendar, and pagans who worship the sun god regard this day as the hope of spring and the beginning of the revival of everything. Perhaps for this reason, the Roman church chose this day as Christmas. This is one of the measures that the early church tried to christianize pagan customs. Later, although most churches accepted 65438+February 25th as Christmas Day, the calendars used by local churches were different, and the specific dates could not be unified. Therefore, the period from 65438+February 24th to 65438+1October 6th of the following year was designated as Christmas Day, and local churches could celebrate Christmas during this period according to local conditions. Since February 25th, 65438+ was recognized as Christmas by most churches, the Epiphany of 654381October 6th only commemorates the baptism of Jesus. However, the Catholic Church designated June 6, 65438+ as the "Three Kings Day" to commemorate the story that three kings (that is, three doctors) came to worship when Jesus was born.

With the widespread spread of Christianity, Christmas has become an important festival for Christians and even non-Christians of all denominations. In many countries in Europe and America, people attach great importance to this festival and associate it with the New Year. The excitement and solemnity of the celebration greatly surpassed the New Year and became a national festival. The main commemorative activities of 65438+February 25th are all related to the legend of the birth of Jesus. From 65438+February 24th to the following year, 65438+1October 6th is Christmas. During the festival, Christians from all over the world will hold grand commemorative ceremonies. Christmas was originally a Christian festival. Because people pay special attention to it, it has become a national festival. The biggest festival in the western countries in a year can be compared with the New Year, similar to the Spring Festival in China. Westerners use red, green and white as Christmas colors. When Christmas comes, every family should decorate it with Christmas colors. The red ones have Christmas flowers and Christmas candles. The green one is the Christmas tree. It is the main ornament of Christmas. It is decorated with evergreen trees in the form of towers, such as Chinese fir and cypress. Colorful lanterns, gifts and paper flowers are hung on it, and Christmas candles are lit. The contrast between red and white is Santa Claus, who is the most popular figure in Christmas activities. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, western children should put a sock in front of the fireplace or beside the pillow. When they fall asleep, Santa Claus will put presents in the sock. Playing Santa Claus is also a custom in the west.

the Water Sprinkling Festival

Songkran Festival is the biggest festival of Dai people, and it is also the most influential festival with the largest number of participants in ethnic festivals. Songkran Festival is the Dai New Year, which is equivalent to the middle of April in Gregorian calendar. This festival usually lasts for 3 to 7 days. On the first day, the Dai language was called "Mairi", which was similar to the Chinese New Year's Eve. The next day, the Dai language is called "angry day" (empty day); The third day is the first day of the New Year, and it is called "Overlord Horse", which is actually the beginning of a year. People think this day is the most beautiful and auspicious day. In the early morning of the festival, Dai men, women and children put on festive costumes and carried clear water. They first went to the Buddhist temple to bathe the Buddha, and then began to splash water on each other to wish each other luck, happiness and health. People are dancing and shouting "water! Water! Water! " The sound of gongs and drums is soaring, and the water is splashed everywhere. The scene is spectacular.

During the Songkran Festival, Dai youth like to play the game of losing packets in the open space in the forest. The flower bag is made of beautiful flower cloth and contains cotton paper, cottonseed and so on. , and decorated with five spikes at four corners and center. It is the token of love, and young men and women get to know each other through losing and receiving packages. After the girl consciously let the young man lose, the young man gave the girl the prepared gift, and both of them left the crowd and went to a secluded place to fall in love.

The Songkran Festival was once a religious ceremony of Brahmanism in India, and was later absorbed by Buddhism. It was introduced to Dai areas in Yunnan through Myanmar, with a history of 700 years from the end of13rd century to the beginning of14th century. With the increasing influence of Buddhism spread to the south in Dai areas, the valley study of Water-splashing Festival has become more and more extensive.

Legend of the Water-splashing Festival

Songkran Festival is an annual traditional festival of the Dai people (April 13 to 15 in the solar calendar). The Dai language is called "cold combined with cold", which means "June New Year" or "Dai calendar New Year". In fact, the Songkran Festival is the New Year of the Dai calendar. Because of the Dai calendar, the New Year begins in June.

However, there are two legends about the origin of the Songkran Festival. A long time ago, an evil devil occupied the beautiful and rich Xishuangbanna and married seven beautiful girls. The girls are full of hatred and plot how to kill the devil. One night, the youngest girl drunk the devil with the best wine and meat, exposing his fatal weakness. It turns out that this demon king who is fearless can't even prick his neck with his own hair. The alert little girl carefully pulled out a red hair of the lich king and tied it around his neck. Sure enough, the devil's head fell off and turned into a ball of fire. Wherever it rolls, the fire of evil will spread. Bamboo houses were burned and crops were burned. In order to put out the evil fire, the little girl grabbed the devil's head, and the other six girls took turns splashing water on it, and finally put out the evil fire in June of the Dai calendar. The villagers began to live and work in peace and contentment. Since then, there has been the custom of splashing water every year. Now, the custom of splashing water has actually become a form of mutual blessing. In the eyes of Dai people, water is a symbol of holiness, beauty and light. With water in the world, everything can grow, and water is the god of life.

However, the story of Lijiang Huaping Dai Water-splashing Festival is unique. The Dai people here are the northernmost Dai tribe in China and even in Asia. Their story goes like this:

Legend has it that a long time ago, A Dai village near Jinsha River lived in the deep forest. Because the forest is on fire, the villagers are in danger of being swallowed up by the fire. In order to protect the village, a man named Li Liang from A Dai rushed out of the battlefield, carried several buckets of water from Jinsha River and doused the mountain fire. After a day and a night of hard work, the mountain fire was finally put out and the villagers were saved. Li Liang, sweating and thirsty, collapsed on the mountain. The villagers called Qingshui to quench Li Liang's thirst, but drinking 99 barrels of water could not quench his thirst. Later, Li Liang jumped into the river, became a dragon, and went along the river. Some people say that he has become a big tree. To commemorate Li Liang, every year on the third day of the third lunar month, Dai people clean every household, sprinkle pine leaves, and build a half-mile-long green shed along selected rivers or wells. The shed is covered with thick pine needles, and there are water tanks filled with water on both sides. At noon, when the sun is at the top, everyone goes under the shed and sprays pine branches on each other to express their memory of Li Liang and their wishes for the New Year. This activity has continued to this day and has become a festival for the Dai people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year-the Water-splashing Festival.

The water-splashing festival is coming, and the Dai people are busy killing pigs, chickens and making wine. They also have to make many "rice cakes" and Baba made of various glutinous rice to eat during festivals.

Songkran Festival activities

The Songkran Festival lasts for three days. On the first day, rowing dragon boats, flying high and performing arts; Splash water the next day; On the third day, young men and women lost their bags together and exchanged materials.

The Songkran Festival is usually held on the banks of the beautiful Lancang River. When the dawn reflected the "City of Dawn", people of all ethnic groups dressed in costumes gathered here from all directions. At the command, one by one rose into the air and went straight through the sky, like an arrow of a dragon boat, heading straight for the other side. At this time, thousands of golden bamboos played together, gongs and drums sounded like feet and drums, and the Lancang River suddenly became a sea of joy.

At the beginning of water splashing, the polite Dai girl said a blessing, while soaking bamboo leaves and branches in the water in the basin and splashing each other. At the climax, people use copper bowls, washbasins and even buckets to hold water and play and chase in the streets. They only feel that the water in front of them and the water behind them are soaked from head to toe, but people are in high spirits and full of laughter everywhere. After a period of water baptism, people form a circle and dance with the accompaniment of gongs, drums and elephant feet drums, regardless of nationality, age and occupation. Excited, people also burst into cheers of "water, water, water". Some men jump and drink, staying up all night.

"Packet loss" is the most romantic, and it is often a special game for unmarried Dai youth. Treasure is a symbol of love. Made by Dai girls with cotton seeds, the four corners of the bag are decorated with colorful flowers. When the bag was lost, men and women stood in a row on the grassy lawn. First, the Dai girl threw the bag to the boy, and then the boy threw it to the girl to convey their feelings. In this way, flowers fly around, and finally the feelings communicate to a certain extent. The two sides quietly withdrew from the packet loss field and found a quiet place to whisper to each other.