Mysterious Festival Customs (Traditional Festival Etiquette, Taboo Studies)

Author: Zhang Jun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Chinese culture is renowned not only for its longevity and richness but also for its profound mystique, attracting global attention. The term "mystique" encompasses wonder and secrecy. Any culture with mystical elements can be termed "mystical culture." It includes emperors and empresses, concubines and maids, eunuchs and relatives, sorcerers and shamans, recluses and immortals, devout men and women, secret societies, all walks of life, ancient texts, secret manuals, heretical doctrines, the Yin-Yang Five Elements, divine-human interaction, mystical arts, divination and geomancy, alchemy and health preservation, astrology and feng shui, martial arts and qigong. All these can be encompassed within it. Like other branches of the mystical culture system, Chinese festivals possess a mystical nature and quality for two reasons: first, their original interpretive systems stem from ancient Eastern mystical culture; second, over time, these original interpretive systems have gradually faded, leaving behind hollow rituals, practices, and taboos that we find difficult to explain, thus perceiving them as mystical. These two aspects can be summarized as: mystical culture phenomena are inherently related to mysticism, and parts that were originally unrelated to mysticism are also considered mystical due to interpretive confusion.