Zhongyuan Festival

This is not good. Although letting State of Mind of everything can counteract negative emotions, it also means that if Wan Ziling encounters Vengeful Transformation again, she will lose the will to resist.

Si Ming thought for a moment, then asked, "By the way, when is your birthday?"

July 15th.

"Isn't it tomorrow?" Si Ming asked in surprise. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? How about we come to celebrate your birthday?"

"Celebrating a birthday? You mean, wishing someone a long life?" Wan Ziling, her face full of confusion.

Si Ming suddenly remembered that the Huaxia did not actually have the custom of celebrating birthdays; this was a product of Fang Wen.

In ancient China, celebrating a birthday was commonly referred to as "doing longevity" or "doing birthday celebration," generally referring to a major birthday that occurs once every ten years.

A child's 10th birthday is called "growing a tail," and the maternal grandparents or uncles and aunts send rice, clothes, shoes, and hats as a celebration.

There is no tradition of hosting a banquet to celebrate the birthdays of young and middle-aged people. The proverb "neither three nor four" means that birthdays of 20, 30, and 40 are not celebrated. On such an age, only some meat dishes are added. 40 years old is not celebrated because "four" is a homonym for "death," which is considered unlucky.

Birthday celebrations usually begin at age 50, with 50 being called "major celebration" and 60 and above being called "advanced birthday celebration". There is a saying that "no one knows about 30 or 40, but they announce it with gongs and drums at 50 or 60", and there is also a saying that "celebrate on the 7th but not on the 8th".

For adult birthday celebrations, men celebrate the ninth birthday but not the tenth, regardless of their exact age; women celebrate the full birthday but not the tenth; in some places, both men and women celebrate the ninth birthday but not the tenth.

According to old customs, a hundred years old is considered too full, as fullness is believed to bring misfortune. Therefore, people do not celebrate a hundredth birthday. In addition, birthday celebrations are mostly held by wealthy families with social status, while poor families do not celebrate birthdays.

Turning to historical records, there are no records of birthday celebrations before the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. People did not have the concept of "birthday." The Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial, Book of Rites, and Book of Rites of Zhou, which are dedicated to etiquette, do not mention birthday celebrations. It can be seen that in the minds of China people before this time, a person's birth date was an unimportant concept, let alone something to commemorate.

The custom of consulting birth dates and times before marriage originated in the Tang Dynasty. Although the Tang Dynasty is considered part of ancient China, ancient China history is so long that compared to the Xia, Zhou, and Spring and Autumn periods, the Tang Dynasty can be considered modern history.

Another reason is that medical technology was underdeveloped in ancient times, and childbirth was a very dangerous thing. Confucian School emphasizes filial piety, and the day a child is born is the day the mother suffers. If you eat and drink and make merry on this day, it is not only out of place but also shows a lack of filial piety. Confucian School would not advocate this.

But Si Ming didn't care about any of that. He just wanted to find an opportunity to let Wan Ziling relax and stop her from always having such a serious expression. He used her birthday as an excuse.

"But what is the traditional way of celebrating a birthday in Huaxia?" Si Ming racked his brains. "It's definitely not making a cake, and even if we wanted to, we don't have the tools. Could it be... longevity noodles?"

At this moment, Wan Ziling coughed once, and then said to Si Ming in a solemn tone, "There is something I need to make clear. I was only thirty-two when I sacrificed myself. From the perspective of people in the martial arts world, that's only slightly older. Even if you include the days after my sacrifice, I'm not even forty yet, far from the age where I need to celebrate my birthday. Don't think I'm an old woman."

Thirty-two is already quite...

Just as Si Ming was inwardly complaining, Liu Qingqing suddenly said, "Isn't the fifteenth of July the Ghost Festival?"

Chapter 601 Zhongyuan Festival

The Ghost Festival originated from the Daoism "Zhongyuan Festival". Initially, it had nothing to do with ghosts and was mainly a festival to spread morality and ethics. It advocated that people pay attention to cultivating virtue on this day. On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, people would study Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" together, exchange ideas, and reflect on themselves.

However, such festivals were too out of touch with the common people, too highbrow and irrelevant to ordinary folks. Later, when Buddhism spread to the Central Plains, its unique "Ullambana Festival" merged with the Zhongyuan Festival and incorporated many Huaxia elements, such as combining with Confucian School filial piety, eventually evolving into the Ghost Festival we know today.

Legend has it that every year from the first day of the seventh lunar month, Yama, the King of Hell, orders the gates of hell to be opened, allowing the wronged souls and vengeful ghosts who have been imprisoned in hell all year round to leave and wander for a short time, enjoying food and drink in the human world. Therefore, people call the seventh lunar month the Ghost Month. This month is considered an unlucky month, and people do not get married or move house.

During this period, it is common practice to worship and summon the souls of deceased relatives, burn paper money, paper clothes and candles, release river lanterns, and perform rituals to pray for ancestral blessings, to ward off disasters and increase good fortune, or to help the souls of the deceased pass on and resolve their resentment.

Many people confuse the Zhongyuan Festival with the Qingming Festival, or even only know about the Qingming Festival and not the Zhongyuan Festival. This is quite normal, because the Qingming Festival is a festival for the living, with the core being that the living mourn the dead, while the Zhongyuan Festival is a festival for ghosts, with the core being that the living celebrate with the dead.

Although Wan Ziling was reluctant, thinking it was a waste of time, Si Ming still dragged her to the nearest Fangping City, Fangping, to participate in the Ghost Festival that day.

Fangping City has a population of 200,000, making it a medium-sized city. Its already bustling streets become even more lively at night, with thousands of lights shining brightly, turning the night into day. Colorful lanterns hang high, transforming the streets into a shimmering galaxy.

"... For more than ten miles, the sight of pearls, jade, silks, and brocades was dazzling; carriages and horses blocked the roads; food and all kinds of goods were twice as expensive as usual; and even renting a viewing table was so difficult that there was not enough room to sit on the ground."

Looking at the myriad lights before her, Wan Ziling recited the words from the book that described a similar scene. Although she tried to restrain herself, it wasn't her own body after all, and she couldn't grasp every detail. A hint of eager interest appeared on her lips.

Seeing this, Si Ming asked curiously, "You've never participated in any of these festivals before?"

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case. After all, I've lived for over thirty years. Barbarian Continent isn't the era of Confucianism that restricts women from showing their faces. Here, chivalrous people are the mainstream. Who cares about those old scholars' ramblings about preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires? If they get tired of hearing it, they'll just chop them down with a sword and wipe them all out.

"When I was very young, my father did take me to temple fairs, but he stopped after I turned eight."

"So what have you been doing all this time?"

"Practicing swordsmanship."

Si Ming opened his mouth, but could only offer the consolation, "Since you didn't have enough fun while you were alive, you can make up for it after you die."

But then he realized it was an unlucky thing to say, so he quickly led Wan Ziling toward the busiest street. On the way, he caught a glimpse of a forlorn expression on her face, and Si Ming wanted to slap himself. He thought he had to find something to distract himself as soon as possible. Just then, he saw an old man carrying a straw stalk on his shoulder, covered with bright red candied hawthorns, walking toward them.

"Sweet and sour candied hawthorn berries, sweet and sour candied hawthorn berries..."

"Grandpa, a skewer of candied hawthorns, please."

Si Ming immediately stepped forward, bought a skewer, turned around and handed it to Wan Ziling, saying, "It's customary to buy candied hawthorns during festivals."

Wan Ziling looked at the bright red candied hawthorn in her hand, hesitated slightly, and glanced around, seemingly feeling that eating on a busy street was not very elegant.

Seeing this, Si Ming said, "Miss Wan, I have to criticize you for this. We should all learn to be serious about what we do and how we conduct ourselves. When practicing martial arts, we should practice seriously, and when playing, we should play seriously. This is the correct way to conduct ourselves. On the contrary, whether you are thinking about playing while practicing martial arts or thinking about practicing martial arts while playing, it is a perfunctory attitude. Since you are here now, you should have fun instead of thinking about other things."

Wan Ziling paused for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully and said, "You're right." She immediately took a bite.

Si Ming asked, "Is it sweet?"

After swallowing, Wan Ziling narrowed her eyes slightly, raised the corners of her mouth, and said, "Sweet."

At this moment, Liu Qingqing, who had transformed into a necklace around her neck, took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and conjured up a mouth to bite off the bottom one.

I don't know if the Blood Spirit Body has a sense of taste or can digest food, but since the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood can transform into human flesh and blood, it shouldn't be a problem in that regard.

Si Ming's mouth watered, so he said, "Grandpa, give me another one."

"Okay."

Si Ming took the candied hawthorn skewer, took a bite, and found it crisp and not sticky at all, with a sweet and sour taste that lingered in his heart. It tasted much better than he remembered. Could it be that candied hawthorn skewers also emphasize being purely natural and pollution-free? Or is it simply that the processes differ between the two worlds?