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Getting the hang of things for Clothes Drying Festival
By Zhang Qian |
July 13, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
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.
Clothes, books, sheets and crops, anything that needs to be dried should be exposed to the sun today for the Drying Clothes Festival, or Shai Yi Jie.
It refers to the day when residents wash their clothes and dry them by hanging them outside in the sun. It is a nationwide tradition on the sixth day of the sixth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls today this year.
For those interested in taking part, today's forecast calls for a mixture of sun and clouds in Shanghai.
Exposing clothes, books, leathers, paintings, herbs or even sedan chairs to the sunshine are all part of the tradition that has been followed by royals and commoners for centuries.
An old Shanghai saying exaggeratedly states that an egg can be cooked out in the sun on Sha Yi Jie. Drying anything under the sun is always the name of the game.
The tradition involves the Dragon King, who governs water in legends. He insists on drying his scale clothing on the sixth day of the six month and quarrels with the god who governs the sun. The quarrel results in the agreement that the sun will shine for the Drying Clothes Festival and it will rain for the Rain Festival, which is the 13th day of the fifth month on lunar calendar.
Temples refer to the festival as Shai Jing Jie, or Drying Classics Festival. Buddhist and Taoist temples traditionally take classic books outside to be exposed to the sunshine. Chanting and incense burning are also necessary on the day to make the "drying" official. These ceremonies are usually open to everyone.
Some sayings suggest monks chose to dry books on this day because a monk in "Journey to the West" dropped some Buddhist scriptures in water and then dried them under the sun on his way back to China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
Some TCM pharmacies and temples also offer free herbal soups to help dispel pathogenic heat and prevent sun stroke. Green bean soup or soup with ageratum are the most popular.
Parents invite their married daughters back home on this day in Jinnan region, the southwest of Shanxi Province.
Clothes, books, sheets and crops, anything that needs to be dried should be exposed to the sun today for the Drying Clothes Festival, or Shai Yi Jie.
It refers to the day when residents wash their clothes and dry them by hanging them outside in the sun. It is a nationwide tradition on the sixth day of the sixth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls today this year.
For those interested in taking part, today's forecast calls for a mixture of sun and clouds in Shanghai.
Exposing clothes, books, leathers, paintings, herbs or even sedan chairs to the sunshine are all part of the tradition that has been followed by royals and commoners for centuries.
An old Shanghai saying exaggeratedly states that an egg can be cooked out in the sun on Sha Yi Jie. Drying anything under the sun is always the name of the game.
The tradition involves the Dragon King, who governs water in legends. He insists on drying his scale clothing on the sixth day of the six month and quarrels with the god who governs the sun. The quarrel results in the agreement that the sun will shine for the Drying Clothes Festival and it will rain for the Rain Festival, which is the 13th day of the fifth month on lunar calendar.
Temples refer to the festival as Shai Jing Jie, or Drying Classics Festival. Buddhist and Taoist temples traditionally take classic books outside to be exposed to the sunshine. Chanting and incense burning are also necessary on the day to make the "drying" official. These ceremonies are usually open to everyone.
Some sayings suggest monks chose to dry books on this day because a monk in "Journey to the West" dropped some Buddhist scriptures in water and then dried them under the sun on his way back to China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
Some TCM pharmacies and temples also offer free herbal soups to help dispel pathogenic heat and prevent sun stroke. Green bean soup or soup with ageratum are the most popular.
Parents invite their married daughters back home on this day in Jinnan region, the southwest of Shanxi Province.
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