(East-East Question) The seventh series of drafts of "New Year's China": What are the differences and differences between " Temple Fair " in China and the West?
China News Service Beijing, February 3Title: What are the similarities and differences between "tea fairs" in China and the West?
Author Wang Suning
According to the explanation of " Cihai ", the temple fair is also called " Temple City ", and is one of the Chinese market forms. has existed in the Tang Dynasty. It is called a "tea fair" because it is held on temple festivals or prescribed dates. The temple fairs that have evolved from the serious ancestral temple sacrifices, social sacrifices and and folk beliefs have been integrated with functions such as commerce and pleasure, and have shown a colorful picture of life, becoming a place for people to entertain, purchase and play. Visiting temple fairs for the Chinese New Year has become an indispensable custom for Chinese people.
In January 2020, the Gubei Water Town Scenic Area at the foot of the Great Wall of Simatai, Beijing held the "Great Wall Temple Fair for the New Year" event. Visitors can experience temple fair markets, folk flower parties, temple fair snacks , street folk art, ice sports , open air hot springs, night viewing of lanterns and other activities. The picture shows tourists experiencing the suppressed puff surface. Photo by Sudan, China News Service reporter
Although the traditions of Chinese and Western festivals are different, the path to finding joy and happiness through festivals is consistent. The Western Carnival , Halloween, etc., which also originate from folk culture, are similar to the Chinese Spring Festival temple fair. They have a long history and rich cultural connotations. They are all festivals for workers themselves. These commonalities provide a platform for cultural exchanges.
In October 2019, the Halloween costume parade was held in San Francisco, USA. People wore costumes of different styles to welcome the arrival of Halloween. Photo by Liu Guanguan, China News Service
According to expert research, temple fairs in the modern sense originated from religious activities in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and were perfected and developed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temple fair disappeared in the 1950s, and the Ditan Spring Festival Temple Fair held in 1985 set a precedent for the large-scale holding of the Spring Festival Temple Fair in New China due to its rich and colorful cultural activities.
is the same as the Spring Festival temple fair. Western "tea fairs" such as Western Carnival and Halloween originate from religion and have expanded their original connotation in historical development, added local cultural characteristics, and have rich and diverse content. Whether it is a masquerade, an float parade, a mask and a "ghost knock" are all extended from its traditional culture and are a microcosm and extension of its folk culture.
Chinese temple fairs have been constantly integrating new content and new forms with the changing times, but displaying folk customs has always been the most basic background color of temple fair activities. Whether it is lion dance, Yangge , martial arts and acrobatics, local dramas, handicraft displays, etc., they are filled with a sense of freedom and catharsis of life experience and sensory enjoyment, and they are all gained happiness in "imagination and intellectual free activities", that is, aesthetic pleasure. Therefore, although the expression of "tea fairs" in China and the West is very different, their form and individual hope are the same.
Each ethnic group has a natural environment, economic and political background, historical and cultural traditions, folk customs, behavioral methods, aesthetic tastes, etc. that belong to their own ethnic group only. The national characteristics formed by all these factors are reflected in the temple fair activities, which have an irresistible penetration of the temple fair form, making it have the beauty of a colorful national style.
In recent years, many local Chinese Spring Festival temple fairs have introduced Chinese culture and its customs overseas, and are very popular. Many Chinese communities and Chinatowns around the world have large-scale activities during the Spring Festival, mainly performing performances such as dragon and lion dance , costume parades, and markets are supplemented. As an important folk cultural phenomenon of the Chinese nation, temple fairs have gradually been incorporated into a stronger and more rational cultural system in the process of globalization, and have huge potential in cultural influence.
In February 2019, the 20th New York New Year Love Floating Parade was held in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York to celebrate the Chinese New Year, attracting people of all ethnic groups to watch. Photo by Liao Pan, China News Service
Chinese and Western "tea fairs" are all absorbing nutrients from folk history and culture, and of course they all have historical implications and national characteristics. Temple fairs reflect the nationalization of folk customs and universal human nature, and are the crystallization of creative talents and spiritual life.
The inheritance, stability and permeability of folk culture determine the stability, programming and convergence of temple fair culture. This also makes the two have their own emphasis on richness and diversity, knowledge and fun, nationality and globality, advancedness and novelty, tradition and modernity, and reflect the people's hopes, yearning and pursuit of a better life. (End)
Source: China News Network
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