Stock the cupboards for Tian Cang Festival
Print Edition
Stocking the kitchen cupboards today is considered a good sign for a year of sufficiency as the Tian Cang Festival (天仓节) takes place.
Tian cang, or heaven granary, is pronounced similarly to the Chinese words for “filling the granary.” On this particular day, many Chinese people will “stock up on food” as a wish for a bountiful harvest.
It is usually celebrated on the 25th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls today this year.
The festival commemorates an official who sacrificed himself to save starving people. The legend goes that an emperor kept imposing grain levies during a three-year drought, leaving many of his people starving to death.
The official was in charge of one of the imperial granaries and could not bear watching people die. He opened the granary and allowed the common people to take everything. Knowing the emperor would never forgive him, the official set the granary on fire with himself inside once all the food was gone.
It happened on the 25th day of the first month of the year. To show their gratitude, the people who survived drew a granary with plant ashes on the ground.
They spread grain on it annually on the 25th day of the first month to symbolize “refilling the granary.” They also lighted lanterns and burned incense to worship the officer’s spirit that night.
As time went by, the festival gained more meaning than simply the commemoration of the selfless official. It became a day for people to wish for a year of plenty in everything.
The ways in which the festival is marked vary.
Some people simply eat good food on the day as a way to “fill the granary.” Others buy and store necessities like rice and firewood to prepare in case of emergency. People living in the countryside still often practice the tradition of spreading plant ashes and grain on the ground.
“Collecting and storing rather than giving out” is a major theme for the day. Fill the granary with grains, fill the water tank with water, and buying various necessities are all good symbols for the day. Lending or selling things to others are considered bad omens.
Granary-shaped steamed breads are popular festival foods. The bread usually has a hollow space at the bottom. Fillings, usually also grain products, will be put into the hollow space before eating to symbolize “filling the granary.”
Other lucky foods include fish and cakes. Fish symbolizes sufficiency while cake relates to improvement.
Mark The Day
China’s major festivals are generally well known, but there are thousands of interesting “days” and calendar customs that originated in ancient times. Some are still practiced, and in this occasional column, we look at some of the more colorful and their legends.
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