Ancient Rituals In Ancient China

Ancient Ritual Research Paper Ancient rituals have been around since prehistoric time. They have been a very important part of human life and were performed with the intention of improving the universe itself. Rituals are also a form of social bonding that contains spiritual meanings. Cultures have different rituals to celebrate important events. These rituals may be different in the sense that the rituals are performed differently but they both share the same idea which is to celebrate and become united. The first day of the calendar year is known as the beginning of the New Year. The celebration of the New Year is a very important ritual in China. Some of the important details about the ritual are the Chinese calendar, the preparations,
According to the website nationsonline.org the Chinese civilization begins with Pangu who is the creator of the universe. The 21st to 16th centuries BCE is known as the Xia dynasty. This is when the lunar calendar was created. This calendar was created to benefit agriculture. This helped them determine the proper times for watering crops, seeding, and gathering harvest. During the Qin dynasty from 221 to 206 BCE the calendar was modified to 24 periods of 15 days each. This helped determine the seasonal changes during the year. The position of the sun is represented by 12 animals. In 104 BCE Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220CE) approved of a calendar change that marked the beginning of the year by the appearance of the first new moon after the sun enters the 11th sign of zodiac. The first day is also called the “beginning of spring”. Since then the Chinese New Year’s Day is also known as a “spring festival”. When the republic of China was founded in 1912 the government decided to adopt the Gregorian calendar to be the public calendar. The lunar calendar is still used as part of the tradition to determine special dates that were created like the festival of spring which is dependent from this
This monster appeared in villages to scare people. The people later learned that the monster was afraid of the color red and loud noises. This is why the houses are decorated with red banners. The color red symbolizes joy and luck. Today Nian is the Chinese word for year. On New Year’s Day families like to exchange visits but many years ago it was believed that women should not leave the house on the first day because the household luck would leave with her. During visits only food that is considered to be lucky can be served. This is includes peanuts which is thought to be good for fertility and longevity. Historically, this day allowed peasants to rest by not having to work on this day. Since this was the day off from work for everyone, all the shopping had to be done on New Year’s