Chunshe
# Chunshe

Chunshe (Spring Community Day) is a traditional folk festival originating from China. In Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou，it was a carnival where lovers could date. Gradually, it became a sacrifice ritual to appease/in honour of Tudishen (God of the Soil and the Ground). People usually celebrate this festival on the fifth Wu Day (according to Sexagenary cycle) after Lichun, which is near Chunfen. According to folklore, the date could be February 2, February 8, February 12, February 15 based on the lunar calendar.

The record of Chunshe can be traced as far back as on oracle bones. With a history of more than 2000 years, it is one of China's oldest festivals. Chunshe remained a significant traditional festival in China before the Yuan Dynasty. Nowadays, though part of China (including mainland and Taiwan) still keeps the custom of worshiping Tudigong on February 2 (lunar calendar), the new celebration, now called Tudidan (the birthday of Tudigong), is not exactly the same as the traditional one. The Longtaitou Festival (meaning dragon raising its head), which is celebrated by the northern region of China, also retains some customs of Chunshe. A scholar once summarized the whole trajectory of Chunshe as "originating in the period of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, springing up in the Qin and Han dynasties, continuing in Wei, Jin, and the Northern and Southern dynasties, flourishing in Tang and Song dynasties and declining in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.". Like many other traditional festivals relevant to sacrifice, Chunshe can be divided into two types according to different hosts, namely the official Chunshe and the folk Chunshe. Official celebrations were grand and solemn with complex ceremonials, while the folk ones were full of life. People would hold parties in their communities and attend various leisure activities at that day. The customs included beating drums, feasting, drinking and watching drama in the community. Such merry occasions were rare. The Chinese word “Shehui" (society) actually has its root in community activities in Chunshe.

Every year, the festival of Sheri (Community Day) is held two times, one in spring and one in autumn. It was because ancient Chinese believed that "the prayer in spring can be rewarded in $autumn"^{:540}.$ Shang Binghe, a famous scholar of I Ching at the turn of the Republic of China, described Sheri as "the oldest and the most prevailing festival in Chinese history". One of its legacies is the temples housing the $Tudishen^{:422}$ which are still common across China.

## History

### Originates in the period of the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties

In ancient China, "She", according to Shuowen Jiezi, refers to the deity of the $land^{:540}.$ In ancient times, the main way of food acquisition in China changed from fishing, hunting and animal husbandry to agriculture. Therefore, people came to realize the importance of the land and began to worship it. The land was personalized and then the idea of "deity of the land" came into existence. The rulers, as well as the people at that period, began to offer sacrifices to the deity. The descriptions of the ceremony could be found in oracle bone scripts. Gradually, these customs of sacrifice developed into what people later called $Chunshe.^{:90}$ It is fair to say that Chunshe can be dated back to the time when the "deity of the land" was created, namely the late patriarchal clan $society。^{:540}.$

In general, the purposes of Chunshe include: $^{:544-551}：$

* pray for a good harvest
* pray for good weather
* pray for good luck
* entertain the deity and the people
* pray for a good marriage and for having children
* pray for victory

A considerable amount of scholars reckon that In addition to the deity of the land, people also offer sacrifice to the deity of five grains.

In the early Qin Dynasty, celebrations of Chunshe could last for a relatively long time as all sacrifices made to the land in spring can be called Chunshe. At that time, the celebrations included two major types. One type was the sacrifices to the land and $ancestors^{:89}^{:42}$ while the other one called Chunxi (spring carnival) was more entertaining in which people can have $orgies^{:63}.$

Before the Warring States period, "Shela" was the only $festival^{:414}.$ Once, after the recovery of a disease, King Zhaoxiang of Qin ordered to kill the cow and offer it as a sacrifice. However, he was dissuaded by Gongsun Yan as the time for Shela was yet to come.

**Types of Chunshe**

Chunshe can be divided into different types according to its hosts. There are Da’ she (the one hosted by the King for the nation), Guoshe ( hosted by feudatories for the people), Hou’ she (the feudatories’ own celebration) and Zhi'she (hosted by officials in groups). The sacrifices presided over by the rulers are often referred to as official Chunshe with all resources funded by the government. Since the early period of Qin, the official Chunshe did not see many changes in terms of ritual, process and function. However, in different dynasties where there are different political systems and various names for the administrative unit, the name of Chunshe also changed accordingly.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, great changes took place in the social and political structure. The types of Chunshe was no longer determined by the rank of the host but by regions. Zhi'she gradually evolved into “Li'she” (the folk Chunshe). Li'she was usually presided over by the local government official and the cost was shared by the people themselves. This form of activity greatly boosted public enthusiasm to participate in social affairs, strengthened the social function of the folk Chunshe, and finally settle it as a festival.

The official sacrifice has to follow a full set of etiquette including burying the sacrificial offering, dropping blood on the groundand using a human $sacrifice^{:91}。$

During the spring and autumn period, there were mainly two ways of offering sacrifices in Li'she. One was to offer to gods the quarry hunted together by 25 families. The second was to offer sacrifices together. After the sacrifice, all participants gathered together, eating and drinking to their heart’s $content^{:91}.$ This was a festival that the whole community would participate in. It was a time for party and $feast^{:546}，.$ There is a lively description of the scene of Chunshe in Lao Tzu “the street is dense with the merry crowd”. Shang Binghe called it “an orgy in the name of $sacrifice”^{:413}.$ The lively scene even attracted Duke Zhuang of Lu to the state of Qi to watch its sacrificial rites.

In the early Qin period, people attached great importance to social $sacrifice^{:206}.$ Zi Lu, a disciple of Confucius, was nearly sent to prison by the locals just because he tried to catch the bird in the tree for sacrifice. Luckily, the local people accepted their apology and forgave him.

