Chinese Popular Customs _ China Social Folk Custom _ Chinese Folk Customs

Chinese Lunar Calendar, Wisdom of Ancestors Before January 1, 1912, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted by the nascent Republic of China, Chinese has been using the traditional lunar calendar for more than 3000 years. The earliest evidence of the Chinese Lunar Calendar is found on the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty (late second mille... Read more>>
Dancing Under the Moon, a unique custom of Miao Ethnic Group The Miao minority in Guizhou, China has a unique custom of meeting the other half. One day before the Lantern Festival, young people from the group dance under the moon to seek their soulmate. Both young girls and boys are eager to put their best foot forward. "Dancing Under the Moon" started w... Read more>>
Bai Jia Xing: The Hundred Surnames "The Hundred Surnames", a book on Chinese surnames, is a document written in Chinese during in the tenth century, listing all of the known Chinese surnames in use at the time. 'Bai', The word 'hundred' in the title is used to mean 'many' or 'all'. Thus the term "hundred surnames" means ... Read more>>
Spring Couplets, a New Year's Pledge of Fortune Spring couplets, pasted on the Spring Festival on each side of the door and propitious words across the lintel at the top are used to express the feeling of life's renewal and the return of spring and to convey people's wishes for peace, fortune and good luck in the coming new year. Wri... Read more>>
Worshipping Door Gods, a Chinese Spring Festival Custom Worshipping Door Gods is an important custom among the Chinese during Spring Festival, the Lunar New Year. Door gods are pictures of deities posted on the door outside and inside the house. They are expected to keep ghosts away, to protect the family and to bring peace and good fortune. A typic... Read more>>
Lucky money, a Spring Festival Tradition Giving children the 'lucky money' in red envelopes, or mandarin 'Ya Sui Qian', is a long-prevailed tradition of the Chinese during the Spring festival. According to the folk legend, ancient Chinese believed children were likely to attract or get hurt by evil spirits. In mandarin 'Sui' means the... Read more>>
Folk Customs of Dai Ethnic Group The Dai ethnic group is distributed in Xishuangbanna in the southern part of China’s southwest Yunnan Province. Thanks to the area's favorable climate, agriculture and horticulture developed very early. An abundance of rice won for Xishuangbanna the title Barn of South Yunnan. In the past, t... Read more>>
The Tradition of Zhuazhou, First Birthday Celebration Zhuazhou is one of the most important traditional customs on a child's first birthday anniversary in China. It is a ceremony that parents place an assortment of articles in front of their child, and the child is to choose from the articles. What the child has chosen is said to determine his or her... Read more>>
Strange Wedding Customs of Minorities Marriage doesn’t always come easy. Marriage customs of different nationalities are diversified. The following wedding customs from five ethnic minorities demonstrate its difficulty and rich ethnic cultures. Buyi Nationality According to the traditional customs in some Guizhou cou... Read more>>
Walking Marriage of the Mosuo Ethnic Group The Mosuo is a small ethnic group belonging to the Naxi, inhabiting in Yunnan and Sichuan Province. One of the best known, and least understood, aspects of Mosuo culture is their practice of what has been termed “walking marriage”. Mosuo is the only matriarchal society in China t... Read more>>