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Culture Insider: Shangsi Festival
Updated: Apr 15, 2021
chinadaily.com.cn
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The calligrapher Wang Xizhi from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420) wrote in his Lanting Xu (Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion) about how literary men took a bath and composed poetry while drinking from cups left adrift and bobbing along the winding river.
In the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), it is said the emperor would treat his followers beside the river, along with ordinary people enjoying drinks and sightseeing. People in the Chang'an area would also watch cricket-fighting.
After the Ming and Qing dynasties (AD 1368-1911), the ritual activities were gradually omitted, and the festival developed into a spring outing featuring lively activities like drifting cups, drifting eggs, drifting dates, stone throwing, wearing willow-wreaths, hiking and eating glutinous rice and listening to choir music.
As Shangsi Festival happens so close to Qingming Festival, many young people today only know about the latter.
