Ancestor worship culture is a very important part of human culture, and many ethnic groups have an ancestor worship culture.
Today is the Double Ninth Festival in my country, and it is one of the four traditional festivals in China that commemorate ancestors. The date is the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar every year. The festival itself evolved from the ancient harvest and sacrifice to heaven. Today, Double Ninth Festival has become an important festival for our country to respect the elderly and pay homage to our ancestors. On this day, Chinese people often choose to climb high and look far, drink and appreciate chrysanthemums, and eat flower cakes to miss their ancestors.
, and Mexico , which is far away in North America , also has a festival to commemorate ancestors - Day of the Dead. Compared with the dull atmosphere of Double Ninth Festival, Mexico's Day of the Dead seems enthusiastic and unrestrained.
Compared with Double Ninth Festival, Mexico's Day of the Dead has a different meaning from Double Ninth Festival. In the culture of the indigenous people of Central America 3,000 years ago, life does not end with death, but continues in the form of reincarnation, and death is the beginning of a new life. The souls of the dead will coexist with the living, and paying homage to ancestors can reunite the dead with the living. The animated film " Dream Journey to Hit " launched in 2017 has a more direct description of the cultural connotation of this festival: in the film, every year on the Day of the Dead, the deceased will reunite with their relatives on earth.
According to records, in addition to the inheritance of Mexican Indian culture, the Day of the Dead was also influenced by Western Catholicism. Around the 16th to the 18th century, with the arrival of the Spanish on the American continent, the undead culture of Mexican residents also changed. Influenced by the Catholic Halloween, the dates for Mexicans to commemorate the dead are changed to November 1 and 2 of each year. The 1st is the "Young Spirit Day" and the 2nd is the "Growing Spirit Day". On the 1st, Mexicans will commemorate the dead children and on the 2nd, they will commemorate the dead adults.
In addition to the different cultural connotations, the celebration of Mexico's Day of the Dead and China's Double Ninth Festival is also different. On Double Ninth Festival, Chinese people often miss their ancestors by climbing high and looking far away, drinking and enjoying chrysanthemums, and eating flower cakes.
Compared with Double Ninth Festival, the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico seems joyful and diverse. Today, celebration of the Day of the Dead is an event of the nation. On the day before the Day of the Dead, on the evening of October 31, Mexicans will go to the cemetery, cover the quilts on the cemetery of the deceased, and place skeleton-shaped bread, candies, and dolls to commemorate the deceased. When celebrating the Day of the Dead, people will pave orange-yellow marigolds on the roadside and set up altars in cemeteries and other public places. At that time, unique Mexican paper-cuts will also be hung in streets and alleys. These paper cuts usually have patterns related to the Day of the Dead. During the festival, citizens will wear colorful clothes and paint their faces into skeletons with black and white paint, and walk towards the cemetery in a carnival on the street. Some small vendors selling skeleton sculptures and decorations will also take to the streets at this time. At this time, people will also provide "skeleton makeup" services on the streets of Mexico.
Mexico Day of the Dead reveals the living's longing for the deceased and the charm of the culture of worshiping ancestors. As a national traditional cultural festival, Double Ninth Festival and Day of the Dead can allow us to feel the diversity of world culture. Understanding traditional cultural festivals in different countries will not only give us a little more understanding of the world, but also improve our understanding of traditional festivals in our country.
——————————————————————
Author丨Proofreading丨Wu Yao
American editor丨Danyue
Review丨Harukozi
Copyright Statement: Except for the original work of , the articles, pictures, videos and music used on this platform belong to the original owner. Due to objective reasons, there may be improper use. For example, some articles or some cited contents of the article fail to contact the original author in time, or the author's name and original source are marked incorrectly, etc., which are not maliciously infringed on the relevant rights and interests of the original owner. Please understand and contact us (email: xiaokangsheji@sina.cn) We will deal with it in a timely manner and jointly maintain a good online creation environment
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-