China News Service, Shanghai, March 2 (Fan Yubin) "The meaning of awe and gratitude in traditional Chinese festivals deserves further exploration and deepening." The two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2024 are about to be held. Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice President of the China Taoist Association, Shanghai In an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service, Ji Hongzhong, the abbot of the Chenghuang Temple, said that inheriting and promoting traditional Chinese festivals must retain their "shape" and retain various festival cultural treasures.
More importantly, we must promote its "spirit", adapt to the spirit of the times and modern lifestyle, and inherit the essence of traditional festival culture.
Traditional festivals are an important carrier of Chinese culture. They are a multi-dimensional knowledge system that includes astronomy and geography, humanities and history, ethics and morals, political economy, literature and art, customs and fashions on the axis of time and space. They embody the richness and diversity of Chinese culture and are a historical The evolving human culture.
"Traditional festivals contain traditional Chinese virtues such as loving life, pursuing health, respecting ancestors and filial piety, respecting the elderly and caring for the young, promoting justice, unity and harmony, etc. They are a reflection of the Chinese national spirit and the condensation of national emotions." Ji Hongzhong said that through the unique With symbols, rituals and colorful expressions, traditional festivals transcend time and space to convey beautiful feelings, are full of humanistic care, and inherit awe and gratitude for people and nature.
"Inherited to this day, traditional festivals still play an important role in promoting social harmony, enhancing cultural identity, consolidating ethnic unity, and promoting multi-ethnic cultural exchanges and integration."
Taking the Spring Festival etiquette and customs as an example, Ji Hongzhong believes that they have profound connotations in three dimensions: First, it contains the gift of gratitude. People should not only repay their parents and ancestors for their nurturing grace, but also repay nature for its nurturing grace; second, it contains the gift of gratitude; To convey the feeling of praying for blessings, customs such as burning firecrackers, hanging peach charms, painting door gods, and pasting Spring Festival couplets are people's eager expectations for the peace and prosperity of the country and the people, good weather, safety and health, and a happy life; thirdly, to adhere to the heart of introspection, people hold various activities during the Spring Festival During sacrifices, prayers, and memorial activities, you should review your past behavior and correct any mistakes you have made.
During the Spring Festival in 2023, the Shanghai City God Temple Lantern Festival.
(Photo provided by interviewee)
Looking at the current situation, Ji Hongzhong found that "many young people do not understand the rich connotations of traditional festivals except for specific festival foods. Even if they are interested, they do not know how to celebrate traditional festivals well." He believes that this phenomenon is caused by The main reason is that the popularization and education of traditional festival culture are not enough.
"The inheritance of traditional culture is a process that is influenced by ears and eyes, and requires a relatively stable cultural atmosphere and conditions." Ji Hongzhong said that nowadays, the biggest "selling point" of traditional festivals is eating.
"In the past, people's living standards were not high, and everyone looked forward to saving energy, eating well, and wearing good clothes. Now, people's living standards have improved, and the pace of work has accelerated. They can eat dumplings, glutinous rice balls, and wear new clothes every day, but But the psychological demands still need to be satisfied by festivals.”
In this regard, he suggested that a variety of traditional festival education activities should be carried out to let more people understand the meaning and origin of traditional festivals. For example, the custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "Three Yuan Theory", thereby enhancing the understanding of Chinese traditions. cultural identity.
In addition, it is recommended to resume traditional festival worship, god entertainment, god wandering rituals and related folk activities in some areas to enhance the festival cultural experience.
Ji Hongzhong said that the sense of ritual is generated by respect. In traditional festivals, colorful activities such as city god parades and social plays can allow more people to participate. They can not only create an open ritual space for people, but also allow participants to gain spiritual energy from it. Comfort, entertainment and leisure, thereby stimulating and inheriting awe and gratitude for nature, respect and remembrance of ancestors, cherishing and respecting family and blood inheritance, yearning and pursuit of a better life, and helping to enhance people's appreciation of Chinese culture Agree.
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