10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5450
Huazhao Festival is a traditional one that is celebrated in early spring and appeals to both highbrows and lowbrows. Once, it was as significant as Lantern Festival and Mid-autumn Festival. Ever since Tang Dynasty, it has undergone stages of emerging, thriving, declining and restoring. Originally, people only had a spring outing enjoying beautiful flowers at this festival; later, various other folk activities were also carried out on this day, including catching butterflies, picking wild vegetables, offering sacrifices to gods, predicting bumper and poor harvest, fastening strips of red cloth to stems of flowers and trees (shang hong), having competitions on grass, encouraging agriculture, holding and attending banquets, writing articles, paying court and so on. These activities demonstrated such characteristics of the national culture of China as elegance, harmony and life-friendliness. Obviously different from other traditional festivals like Spring Festival, Mid-autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, etc, Huazhao Festival has unique style and value. Despite its fading away from people’s life due to changes in modern society, its cultural glamour and comprehensive value still exist. Along with economic and social development and the increase of people’s spiritual and cultural demands, Huazhao Festival has regained people’s attention. It has been restored and hosted in some regions and identified as an intangible cultural heritage. By means of literature review, the folk customs of Huazhao Festival was re-presented to some extent in this paper. Its modern values in areas including health, culture, ecology and industry were analyzed. This paper is of certain significance, in respect of conserving and inheriting this national festival, promoting its restoration in more regions in a way more approximate to historical tradition and giving play to its unique role to benefit modern society.
application/pdf
1973-9494
5450
2
en
Zhihui Ma
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
modern value
On The Folk Customs of Huazhao Festival Which Is a Kind Of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Modern Value
Text.Serial.Journal
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/
14
Articles
2014-12-30
2015-09-24
2014-12-30
2016-06-14
155-174
CSCH
Zhihui Ma
2014/12/30
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5450
155
International Urbanology Research Center
Hangzhou, China
1973-9494
2
modern value
en
174
Fang Hui (in Yuan Dynasty): Tong Jiang Xu Ji, volune 6. Included in Si Ku Quan Shu that was compiled in Wen Yuan Ge (the imperial library of Qing Dynasty).
On The Folk Customs of Huazhao Festival Which Is a Kind Of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Modern Value
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/5450/5163
14
O     N THE FOLK CUSTOMS OF HUAZHAO FESTIVAL WHICH
      IS A KIND OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE AND
      ITS MODERN VALUE1

    Ma Zhihui
    International Urbanology Research Center
    Hangzhou, China

   Keywords: Huazhao Festival, folk customs, modern value

    Huazhao Festival is a traditional one that is celebrated in early spring and appeals
to both highbrows and lowbrows. Once, it was as significant as Lantern Festival and
Mid-autumn Festival. Huazhao Festival persists in certain places (for example, Xinzhou
District of Wuhan), but it is not celebrated like a traditional festival; instead, it has evolved
into a fair. Despite its fading away from people’s life due to changes in modern society,
its cultural glamour still exists as an important part of traditional national culture; activities
such as spring outing, enjoying and planting flowers and picking wild vegetables are still
performed nowadays, which are still the mental nourishment and tradition for those with
refined tastes and common people; this festival embody the features of traditional flower
and farming culture of Chinese nation. In recent years, along with the economic and social
development, the improvement of people’s living standards and the increase of people’s
spiritual and cultural demands, Huazhao Festival, as a traditional festival attaching great
importance to “elegance”, has regained people’s attention. Huazhao Festival celebrated
in Laojie Village, Xianguanzhuang Town, Yuanling County, Hunan Province has been
included in the “Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Huaihua City”. In 2008, Huangpu Dis-
trict of Guangzhou restored Huazhao Festival which had not been celebrated in the past




                                                                                                           CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
century. Sanshui District of Foshan re-established Huazhao Festival that disappeared
about one hundred years ago in 2010. On April 9th, 2011, Hangzhou resumed Huazhao
Festival and celebrated it in Xixi Wetland where the Festival was hosted grandly in Ming
and Qing Dynasty. On that day, a series of activities combining traditional customs and
modern ways of leisure were carried out including arranging float parades, enjoying flow-
ers in Xixi, putting on performance of action art concerning Huazhao, hosting Xixi flower
festival, enjoying plum blossom along a winding river, organizing Xixi temple fair, making
home beautification, holding flower banquets and Huazhao food festival, making matches
with the help of flowers, finding love in Xixi, etc. During this festival, Xixi National Wetland
Park received 1.046 million person-time tourists, an increase of 34.53% compared with
the number in the same period of the previous year. Thereinto, Green Bank as the main
site received 190,800 person-time, a rise of 20 times compared with that in the same pe-
riod of the previous year. The operating revenue of Xixi Wetland Park during this festival
amounted to 26.36 million yuan, an increase of 38.66% compared with the same period
of the previous year. These figures illustrated the charm and economic and cultural value
of Huazhao Festival. Owing to the efforts of relevant people including literature and his-


1        This paper is the result achieved in one stage of a subject in the domain of philosophy
and social sciences of Zhejiang Province, namely, Research on HUL Approach Applied in the
Conservation and Management of Historic Cities and Towns in the Process of New Urbanization
(14NDJC22YBM)

                                                                                                     155
                                                                                                                            tory experts, Huazhao Festival has been included the “Intangible Cultural Heritage List of
                                                                                                                            Zhejiang Province”. However, the value and significance of Huazhao Festival is not con-
                                                                                                                            fined to Hangzhou and other regions that have resumed this festival; it is universal across
                                                                                                                            the country. Thus, combing the traditional custom of Huazhao Festival and analyzing its
                                                                                                                            modern value are significant for conserving and inheriting this national festival, promoting
                                                                                                                            its restoration in more areas in ways more approximate to historical tradition and giving
                                                                                                                            play to its unique function to benefit modern society.
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                               1. The origin of Huazhao Festival

                                                                                                                                Because of the lack of historical data, the origin of Huazhao Festival has been con-
                                                                                                                            troversial. Basically, its origin is relevant to Chinese people’s traditional worship for na-
                                                                                                                            ture and love for flowers. China is the hometown of flowers which has special qualities
                                                                                                                            in traditional Chinese culture; the compliment and chanting of literati in past dynasties
                                                                                                                            endowed flowers with profound personality spirit. The worship for flower goddess rep-
                                                                                                                            resented the personification of plants and nature. Tang Dynasty was an essential period
                                                                                                                            in flower history of China, when refined scholars and literati’s fondness and apprecia-
                                                                                                                            tion of flowers was unprecedented. In late Tang Dynasty, Luo Qiu wrote a book entitled
                                                                                                                            Hua Jiu Ci. In this book, he expressed his view that flowers should be endowed with
                                                                                                                            “nine bestowments” and his worship for flowers, “the 1st bestowment was a curtain (to
                                                                                                                            prevent against wind). The 2nd was a pair of gold scissors (to cut the broken branches).
                                                                                                                            The 3rd was a spring (to wash flowers). The 4th was a jade jar (to store flowers). The
                                                                                                                            5th was a pedestal with glyphs (to put flowers on it). The 6th was drawing pictures for
                                                                                                                            flowers. The 7th was composing songs for flowers. The 8th was good wine (which could
                                                                                                                            be drunk while enjoying flowers). The 9th was writing poems for flowers.2 People’s af-
                                                                                                                            fection for flowers in that era can be seen from this. In late Tang Dynasty, Bo Yi Zhi, a
                                                                                                                            book about strange things recorded the story that Cui Xuanwei came across the flower
                                                                                                                            goddesses in the east part of Luoyuan and promised to protect them from the harm of
                                                                                                                            wind god by erecting flags, 3 which is the origin of people’s activity of protecting flowers

                                                                                                                            2            Luo Qiu (Tang Dynasty): Hua Jiu Ci, included in volume I set 4 of Xiang Yan Cong Shu,
                                                                                                                            a book compiled by Chong Tianzi. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 1992, P963.
                                                                                                                            3            Zheng Huangu (Tang Dynasty): Bo Yi Zhi· Cui Xuanwei, included in Cong Shu Ji Cheng
                                                                                                                            Chu Bian, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1985. Zeng Zaoji (Song Dynasty) also recorded this
                                                                                                                            story in volume 24 of Lei Shuo and the title he used was Bo Yi Zhi·Zhong Hua Zhi Jing, but his ver-
                                                                                                                            sion was a simplified one. The story was recorded in this way: “On a moonlit night, Cui Xuanwei met a
                                                                                                                            young woman dressed in light green clothes, who had several female companions, namely, Yang, Li,
                                                                                                                            Tao and a girl in red named Cucu. The message came that aunt Feng was coming. She spoke coldly
                                                                                                                            but behaved in a graceful and dignified way. All those women were extremely beautiful and giving out
                                                                                                                            pleasant fragrance. Cucu said, “we live in this courtyard. We need aunt Feng’s protection to avoid being
                                                                                                                            hurt by strong winds. You can help us by setting up in the yard a red streamer with the image of the sun,
                                                                                                                            the moon and five stars (Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn) on it in the morning of the first day
                                                                                                                            of every year. The first day of this year has passed and you can do this on the 21st day of this month.
                                                                                                                            Cui agreed. On that day he set up a streamer as he had promised. The east wind blew strongly. A lot
                                                                                                                            of trees were broken and sand was flying everywhere. However, the flowers within the yard remained
                                                                                                                            peaceful. Xuanwei realized that those young women he met were flower goddesses. Cucu was the
                                                                                                                            goddess of pomegranate and aunt Feng was the goddess of wind. Afterwards, Yang and her compan-
                                                                                                                            ions came again to express their gratitude, each carrying some baskets of peach and plum blossom.
                                                                                                                            They said, “you can become immortal if you eat this and we can also live forever. Xuanwei was still alive
                                                                                                                            till the beginning year of Yuanhe period. He looked as young as a man in his thirties.” Extracted from Zi

                                                                                                                      156
performed at Huazhao Festival in later ages. The story was recorded as follows:
    In the period of Tianbao, Chushi (a person who was talented but reclusive) Cui Xu-
anwei had a house to the east of Luoyuan (the imperial hunting ground in Luoyang).
He was obsessed to immortality preached by Taoism; therefore, he kept eating medi-
cine for thirty years. Because he was running out of his medicine, he led his servants
to Songshan Mountain to gather herbs. When he returned to his house, no one was
there and wild grass was growing everywhere in the courtyard. On one spring night,
the moon shone brightly and the wind was light. Cui was alone in the yard and didn’t
feel sleepy. His servants were not allowed to interrupt him without any excuse. After
eleven o’clock, a young woman dressed in light green suddenly appeared; she said,
“my home is at Wan; I want to go to Shangdong Gate with several female companions
and we hope to stay overnight at your place, would you allow us to do that?” Xuanwei
permitted. Soon, about a dozen young women followed her there. A woman dressed
in green introduced herself, “my family name is Yang.” Then she pointed at two other
women successively, introducing their family name, Li and Tao. Next, she pointed her
finger at a girl wearing red clothes, claiming “her family name is Shi, and her given
name is Cucu.” All these young women had their own maid. Cui Xuanwei greeted them
one by one and invited them to sit in the moonlight, asking why they were heading for
Shangdong Gate. They replied, “we are going to visit aunt Feng. She said she would
come to see but she has not come. As a result, we would like to visit her.” Before
they were seated, a maid reported outside that aunt Feng was coming; they were all
surprised and went out to welcome her. Yang said, “the owner of this house is very
virtuous; he behaves properly, so this place is better than others.” Xuanwei met Ms
Feng who spoke coldly but behaved in a graceful and dignified way. He bowed to them
and invited them to have a seat. He discovered all women there were of remarkable
beauty; besides, they were all sending out pleasant fragrance. Cui Xuanwei demanded
his servants to serve wine; these young women sang a song one after another before




                                                                                                          CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
drinking. Xuanwei remembered two of these songs. The woman in red drank a toast to
the one in white, “You are as white as snow; in the moonlight, your young face looks
more beautiful. You dare not complain the east wind; instead, you can only sigh for the
quick passage of time and fast fading of your beauty.” Then, the one in white also drank
a toast to the red in return, singing “dressed in red, you are smiling; the thin rouge on
your face makes your looks more charming. You resent that your youth passes quickly;
do not bear a grudge against the ruthless east wind that deprives you of your beauty.”
When it was the turn of aunt Feng to propose a toast, she behaved frivolously and
knocked over her wine cup; consequently, the wine spilled onto and stained Cucu’s
clothes. Angrily, Cucu said, “all the others are trying to please and flatter you, but I will
never do that.” Having said that, she stood up and left. Aunt Feng said, “this girl lost
her temper while drinking wine.” All people stood up and went outdoors with aunt Feng
who was going to the south. These young ladies said goodbye to her in the courtyard.
Having experienced the event, Xuanwei did not feel surprised at all. They came again
on the following night and said that they were going to visit aunt Feng. Cucu said with
anger, “it is not necessary for us to visit Feng! We can request Mr. Cui to protect us?
Do you think it feasible?” she said to Cui, “my companions and I are living inside the
courtyard; we get hurt every year by fierce winds and cannot live a happy and peace-


Bu·Zai Jia Lei which is Book 62 of Beijing Tu Shu Guan Gu Ji Zhen Ben Cong Kan. Beijing: Contents
and Literature Publishing House, 1988, P412.

                                                                                                    157
                                                                                                                            ful life. In consequence, we have to beg aunt Feng to defend us. I offended aunt Feng
                                                                                                                            yesterday and she may not protect us anymore. If you can do that for us, we will re-
                                                                                                                            ward you.” Xuanwei asked, “what can I do to safeguard you?” Cucu replied, “if you can
                                                                                                                            make a red flag with the drawing of the sun, the moon, and five stars (Mercury, Venus,
                                                                                                                            Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) on the first day of the lunar year and then set the flag in the
                                                                                                                            east part of the court, we can be kept away from injuries. The first day of this year had
                                                                                                                            already passed, so please set the flag on the morning of the 21th of this month, when
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            the wind blows gently; in this way, you can protect us.” Cui Xuanwei agreed. These lit-
                                                                                                                            tle women said to him together, “we will never forget your kindness.” After saying that,
                                                                                                                            they bowed to him and left. Cui Xuanwei saw then off. They crossed the wall of the
                                                                                                                            court and disappeared shortly after they entered the courtyard. Cui did what he was
                                                                                                                            told to: set a flag on that day. On that very day, the east wind blew strongly; many trees
                                                                                                                            were broken and sand was flying in the air; however, the flowers in the courtyard were
                                                                                                                            not harmed by the wind. Xuanwei realized that those young women got their family
                                                                                                                            name, Yang, Li and Tao in accordance with the color of their clothes; actually, they
                                                                                                                            were all flower goddesses. The girl in red with the name of Cucu was pomegranate
                                                                                                                            goddess and aunt Feng was the god of wind. Several days later, Yang and her female
                                                                                                                            companions came again at night to express their gratitude to Cui Xuanwei. Each of
                                                                                                                            them brought several baskets of peach and plum flowers with them and advised Cui to
                                                                                                                            eat the flowers, “Your life expectancy can be prolonged if you eat them. We hope you
                                                                                                                            can live here forever and protect us, so that we can also be immortal.” Cui Xuanwei
                                                                                                                            was still alive till the beginning of Yuanhe period. He looked as young as a man in his
                                                                                                                            thirties. He told the story to people living in that era, but they would not believe him.
                                                                                                                                The two historical materials mentioned previously demonstrate that in late Tang Dynasty,
                                                                                                                            people’s appreciation and protection of flowers, and worship for flower goddess increased.
                                                                                                                            In later generations, the view that Huazhao Festival originated from Tang Dynasty 4 should
                                                                                                                            be modified; specifically, it should be said to originate from late Tang Dynasty. Its earliest
                                                                                                                            celebration was carried out at some time after the 1st of the second lunar month was speci-
                                                                                                                            fied as Zhonghe Festival, during the fifth year (789 A.D.) of Zhenyuan period of Emperor
                                                                                                                            Dezong of Tang when the festival previously celebrated on the last day of the first month
                                                                                                                            was abolished. The reason for this is many customs of Huazhao Festival (see the following
                                                                                                                            for details) were activities absorbed from Zhonghe Festival, such as promoting agriculture,
                                                                                                                            offering sacrifices to god to pray for a good harvest, picking wild vegetables, etc. According
                                                                                                                            to Guang Shan Xian Zhi (the annuals of Guangshan County) which was written during the
                                                                                                                            reign of Emperor Guangxu, the 2nd of the second lunar month was commonly regarded as
                                                                                                                            “informal Huazhao Festival” and the 15th of the month as “formal Huazhao Festival”.


                                                                                                                               2. Folk customs of Huazhao Festival

                                                                                                                               Currently, places that have restored Huazhao Festival ought to lay emphasis on ex-
                                                                                                                            ploring relevant customs; in this way, they can truly inherit this festival, integrate mod-


                                                                                                                            4         Renhe Xian Zhi (the annuals of Renhe County)(compiled in the reign of Emperor Kangxi)
                                                                                                                            Volume 5 “customs”: “People in Tang Dynasty celebrated Huazhao Festival on the 15th day of the
                                                                                                                            second lunar month.” This book was the block-printed edition printed in the 26th year of Kangxi Pe-
                                                                                                                            riod (1687). A book that was the block-printed edition printed in the Hall of Wu Ying Dian in the 49th
                                                                                                                            year of Kangxi Period (1710), Yuan Jian Lei Han ·Sui Shi Bu Qi ·Huazhao quoted from Ti Yao Lu:
                                                                                                                            “Huazhao Festival was celebrated on the 15th day of the second lunar month in Tang Dynasty.”

                                                                                                                      158
ern elements into it and provide it with enough vigor to develop sustainably. Neverthe-
less, judging from the real celebration of this festival, it can be detected that the festival
is celebrated in intense commercial atmosphere, while traditional customs are absent.
For instance, Huazhao Festival celebrated at Old Street of Xinzhou District of Wuhan
has a history of more than 800 years; it has been included in the list of intangible cul-
tural heritage of Hubei Province. The activity of offering sacrifice to flower goddess has
gradually evolved into an agricultural trade fair; “programs of folk customs are absent”
and “few tourists come”. 5 In 2008, Huangpu District of Guangzhou restored Huazhao
Festival that had been suspended for a decade; the theme of the activities performed
on that day was “romantic relationship”. 6 The core characteristics of Huazhao Festival,
including elegance, relaxation, emphasis on agriculture, etc were not displayed. Thus,
it is necessary to review the customs of Huazhao Festival in history, in order to provide
reference for the restoration of this festival.


   3. Having spring outings and catching butterflies

    Entertainment was an essential function of Huazhao Festival; one of the special
activities was having spring outings to enjoy flowers. According to the record of “the
fifteenth day of the second lunar month in Volume 1 of Meng Liang Lu, at Huazhao
Festival, people in the capital all went to gardens to enjoy rare flowers and trees; those
popular gardens contained the ones outside Qiantang Gate, such as Yuhu, Guliulin,
Yangfu, Yundong, the ones outside Qianhu Gate, such as Qingle, Xiaohu and the
ones on Baojiashan Hill outside Jiahui Gate, such as Wang Baosheng’s and Zhang
Taiwei’s garden. The most fascinating scenery was the peach blossom on Baojiashan
Hill, which seemed like a barrier made of brocade and was extremely beautiful.” Xiao
Lizhi, a person living in Song Dynasty once wrote, “at Huazhao Festival, I climbed




                                                                                                               CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
Sushan Mountain with Mr. Liu who took part in the imperial examination in the same
year with me and who was appointed as a court clerk, we felt sleepy and had a sleep
in a Buddhist temple”.7 Lv Yanzhen who lived in Yuan Dynasty wrote such a poem,
“Not being afraid of cold spring breeze, alone I walked on the flat bank on Huazhao
Festival. Rosy clouds scattered on the sky; the water in the brook became very clear,
thanks to the drizzle. The trees surrounding steps were blossoming; birds were singing
happily in the wood.” 8 Chen Bangzhan, a person in Ming Dynasty, wrote in his poem,
“Luxuriant carts drawn by robust horses came in a stream. People inside these car-
riages intended to see flowers. I’m too old to do that, so on Huazhao Festival I chose
to stay at home.” 9 All these poems indicated that spring outings on Huazhao Festival


5          Huazhao Festival celebrated in the recent ten years was very popular but lacked folk
customs, an article on Chutian Metropolis Daily issued on March 8th, 2012.
6          People in Love worshiped for a happy marriage in rain on Huazhao Festival, an article
on Southern Metropolis Daily issued on March 19th 2011.
7          Xiao Lizhi (Song Dynasty), the first half of Xiao Bingya Shi Ji Shi Yi (a supplementation
of Xiao Bingya’s collection of poems) “old style poems with 7 Chinese characters in each line”.
The block-printed edition printed by Xiao Min during the period of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty.
8          Lv Yanzhen (Yuan Dynasty), Cang Lang Xuan Shi Ji (a collection of poems), volume 5
“events in the year of Bingchen and Dingsi”. Hand-copied book in Qing Dynasty.
9          Chen Bangzhan (Ming Dynasty), He Hua Shan Fang Shi Gao (a collection of poems) vol-
ume 22. The block-printed edition printed by Niu Weichi in the 46th year of Wanli era in Ming Dynasty.

                                                                                                         159
                                                                                                                            were quite popular in different times. On the 15th day of the second lunar month in Cixi
                                                                                                                            region, “people had spring outings and played music with a variety of musical instru-
                                                                                                                            ments”, “there were also other activities, including making flower baskets, dancing with
                                                                                                                            a bamboo pole in hand, swinging, playing Cuju, and so on.” 10 On Huazhao Festival in
                                                                                                                            Shaoxing region, “the west garden was open to public; all people in this prefecture vis-
                                                                                                                            ited this garden, which was called open the month of the dragon (here the dragon re-
                                                                                                                            ferred to Wolongshan Mountain)”; in addition, officials led guests to watch boat races;
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            children sang ballads about green plum and the tune sounded pretty mild and pleas-
                                                                                                                            ant. The ballads they sang were similar to the one named Baxia Zhu Zhi (the bamboo
                                                                                                                            poles in Baxia area)”.11 People were very boisterous on that day. Renhe Xian Zhi ( the
                                                                                                                            annuals of Renhe County) (compiled in Kangxi period) recorded in volume 5 the topic
                                                                                                                            of which was “customs”: “plum trees in Xixi Hangzhou blossomed in profusion and the
                                                                                                                            fragrance of these blooms could be smelt even in places 10 Li away from there.”, “tal-
                                                                                                                            ented people who had no desire for fame and wealth preferred to live a reclusive life in
                                                                                                                            that place; sometimes they travelled on a small boat, carrying food and wine and bed
                                                                                                                            clothes with them and would not return until ten days or so passed”. Kong Shangren
                                                                                                                            once wrote a poem entitled Zhu Zhi Ci to describe the spectacular occasion of peo-
                                                                                                                            ple’s coming back after having spring outings on Huazhao Festival, “the homeland of
                                                                                                                            hermits became that of drunk ones; the sun was about to set and its slanting light was
                                                                                                                            nearly blocked by the city’s gate. People riding on horses equipped with a saddle of
                                                                                                                            carved patterns and a bridle with embroidered designs vied with one another to enter
                                                                                                                            the gate earlier; even the dirt they raised smelt fragrant.”
                                                                                                                               In ancient times, females’ outdoor activities were strictly restricted, but Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival provided convenience for them to have outings. A line in Fang Hui’s poem Two
                                                                                                                            Relatives of Mine Living in Wujiang came, taking along wine on the night of the 25th
                                                                                                                            day, “many girls went to the suburb to enjoy themselves and the weather was good,
                                                                                                                            when they returned at dusk, some drunken ones were seen on the bank of the brook”.12
                                                                                                                            This revealed that quite a lot of women had an outing on Huazhao Festival. It was
                                                                                                                            the same case in Jiaxing region where “women went out to have spring an outing”.13
                                                                                                                            Hence, Huazhao Festival was popular with women and could be considered as a “fe-
                                                                                                                            males’ festival” in ancient China.14
                                                                                                                               The prevalent activity of catching butterflies at Huazhao Festival “was an interest-
                                                                                                                            ing folk amusement activity”.15 According to Cheng Zhai Shi Hua, “Huazhao Festival
                                                                                                                            was celebrated on the 12th day of the second lunar month in the capital of Song Dy-
                                                                                                                            nasty, Kaifeng; people caught butterflies on that day. 16 He Qiaoyuan who lived in Ming


                                                                                                                            10         Cixi Xian Zhi(the annuals of Cixi County) (written in Tianqi Period) volume 12 “ Cixi Xian
                                                                                                                            Jiu Jing” (old looks of Cixi County). A version published in the 4th year of Tianqi period.
                                                                                                                            11         Kuaiji Xian Zhi(the annuals of Kuaiji County) (written in Kangxi period) volune 7 “records
                                                                                                                            of customs”. The stereotype edition proofread by the History Recording committee of Shaoxing
                                                                                                                            County, which was printed in the 25th year of The Republic of China.
                                                                                                                            12         Fang Hui (in Yuan Dynasty): Tong Jiang Xu Ji, volune 6. Included in Si Ku Quan Shu
                                                                                                                            that was compiled in Wen Yuan Ge (the imperial library of Qing Dynasty).
                                                                                                                            13         Jiaxing Xian Zhi(the annuals of Jiaxing County) (written in Guangxu era) volume 16
                                                                                                                            “customs”. The block-printed edition printed in the 34th year of Guangxu Emperor’s reign.
                                                                                                                            14         Chang Jianhua: Married and Unmarried Women in Ancient China, Beijing: Zhonghua
                                                                                                                            Book Company, 2006, P162.
                                                                                                                            15         Gao Tianxing: The Festival and Custom Culture in China, Zhengzhou:Zhongyuan
                                                                                                                            Nongmin Press, 2008, P91.
                                                                                                                            16         Wang Hao (in Qing Dynasty): Guang Qun Fang Pu, section 2 of the part of Tianshi

                                                                                                                      160
Dynasty quoted from Zhangzhou Zhi (the annuals of Zhangzhou) (compiled in Wanli
period) in Min Shu, “the 15th day of the second lunar month was Huazhao Festival… in
Shaowu, girls whose age was above 15 caught butterflies on this day.” Gong Baiyao
wrote in his poem Missing Old Friends at Taoyuan ·Spring Melancholy, “On Huazhao
Festival in whose garden was the butterfly-catching game hosted? Petals of flowers
were falling quietly down to the ground.” In Suzhou area, at the birthday of flowers,
“girls played butterfly-catching games”.17


   4. Planting flowers and vegetables and picking wild vegetables

    At Huazhao Festival, various places had the custom of planting flowers and vegeta-
bles. It was believed that flowers and vegetables planted on that day could survive easily.
In Shaoxing, at this festival, “intellectuals all bought flowers and trees and growing them
in their garden.” 18 People in Wukang County “sowed the seeds of melons and eggplants”
on 12th day of the second lunar month which was Huazhao Festival.19 In Yuqian County,
Huazhao Festival was celebrated on the 15th day of the second lunar month and people
sowed the seeds of melons and eggplants and planted mulberries and calcutta hemps.”20
    Around Huazhao Festival, Artemisia stelleriana and shepherd’s purse are quite
fresh and nutritious; for common people in ancient times who suffered from insuf-
ficiency of food, wild vegetables were significant supplementation. Meanwhile, wild
vegetables in early spring also have the function of promoting health and warding
off illness; that was why they were popular with people. The custom of “picking wild
vegetables” originated from the tradition of “collecting vegetables at Qujiang” in Tang
Dynasty. 21 “Since Li Qin in Tang Dynasty proposed the abrogation of the celebration
of the 15th day of the first lunar month and suggested making the 1st day of the second
lunar month Zhonghe Festival, the custom of picking wild vegetables appeared”. 22 Han




                                                                                                                CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
Mo Ji recorded, “according to Luoyang’s custom, Huazhao Festival was celebrated on
the 2nd day of the second lunar month. Aristocrats and civilians had an outing on that
day which was also called wild vegetable picking day.” At Ming and Qing Dynasty, “the
folks only cut some crowndaisy and mixed it with rice flour to make fried pancakes or
fried some remaining rice cakes to eat on that day”.23




17         Yuan Xuelan (in Qing Dynasty): Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li, volume 2 “Bai Hua Sheng Ri”
(the birthday of flowers)
18         Kuaiji Xian Zhi (the annuals of Kuaiji County) (written in Kangxi era), volume 7 “the part
of customs”. The stereotype edition proofread by the History Recording committee of Shaoxing
County, which was printed in the 25th year of The Republic of China.
19         Wukang Xian Zhi (the annuals of Wukang County)(compiled in Daoguang period). The
edition printed in the 9th year of Daoguang period in Qing Dynasty.
20         Yuqian Xian Zhi (the annuals of Yuqian County) (compiled in Guangxu period), volume 9
“record of customs”. The lithographic-printed edition printed in the 2nd year of The Republic of China.
21         Li Nao (in Tang Dynasty) recorded in Qin Zhong Sui Shi Ji: “on the 2nd day of the second
month, people picked wild vegetables in Qujiang; going outings was popular among people.”
22         Renhe Xian Zhi (the annuals of Renhe County) (written in Kangxi period), volume 5 “cus-
toms”.
23         Renhe Xian Zhi (the annuals of Renhe County) (written in Kangxi period), volume 5
“customs”.

                                                                                                          161
                                                                                                                               5. Praying to god and holding rallies

                                                                                                                                In ancient China, Nvyi, Kasyapa, Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wei’s disciple Huagu were all
                                                                                                                            considered as flower goddess. Among them, Nvyi was the earliest one. In accordance
                                                                                                                            with Tian Wen Xun, an article in the book Huai Nan Zi, “Nvyi beat the drum and sang
                                                                                                                            songs to make the universe harmonious and to prompt the growth of grains, fowls and
                                                                                                                            birds and plants.” Later, people conceived a flower goddess for each month by choos-
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            ing the major flower of that month and matched the goddess with renowned historical
                                                                                                                            figures; in this way, 12 flower goddesses were confirmed, whose sculptures were put
                                                                                                                            on the two sides of the chief flower goddess. Huang Zhouxing, a person living at the
                                                                                                                            turn of Ming and Qing Dynasty, depicted a drawing of a shrine for flower goddesses in
                                                                                                                            Record of Jiangjiu Garden· Ten Wonderful Pieces of Scenery, “Inside the pavilion, there
                                                                                                                            were wood sculptures of flower goddesses which were enshrined; the sculptures of East
                                                                                                                            Emperor and aunt Feng were also there. Drawings of gifted scholars and beauties were
                                                                                                                            placed on two sides, for instance, Sima Changqing, Zhuo Wenjun, Qin Jia, Xu Shu, etc.
                                                                                                                            On the birthday of flowers, that is, on Huazhao Festival, some beautiful girls would be
                                                                                                                            required to put fruits and sweet wine in front of the sculptures as sacrifices; besides, they
                                                                                                                            may recite new poems to persuade the goddesses to take these sacrifices.” Offering
                                                                                                                            sacrifices to flower goddesses was a great event for people in many places, especially
                                                                                                                            for flower growers who “offered sacrifices to flower goddesses to beg for their protec-
                                                                                                                            tion”. 24 Volume 2 of Qing Jia Lu written by Gu Lu recorded, “the 12th day was the birthday
                                                                                                                            of flowers… people dedicated sacrifices and music to the shrine of flower goddesses
                                                                                                                            in Huqiu to celebrate their birthday and this day was called ‘Huazhao’.”25 In accord-
                                                                                                                            ance with Yaotai Pian Yu Jia Zhong Bu Lu, the 12th day of second month of spring was
                                                                                                                            customarily regarded as the ‘birthday of flowers’; by making investigation into historical
                                                                                                                            materials, the author found this day was also called ‘bai hua zhao’. In spring of the year
                                                                                                                            of Jia Yin, I read books on the bank of a lakelet. On that day, I called on teenagers of the
                                                                                                                            village to hold a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of flowers and also offered sacrifices
                                                                                                                            to the god of wind and the god of rain, wishing they would safeguard flowers.”
                                                                                                                                At Huazhao Festival, temples and Taoist abbeys in some places also hosted a grand
                                                                                                                            gathering; sacrifices were offered to the god of land by villagers. In accordance with
                                                                                                                            the record of the 15th day of the second lunar month in volume 1 of Meng Liang Lu, at
                                                                                                                            Huazhao Festival, Tian Qing Guan in Lin’an held a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of
                                                                                                                            Laozi every year. Taoist there priests would light numerous colorfully decorated lanterns
                                                                                                                            and ate vegetarian food, in order to pray for people.” Countless noble people and civilians
                                                                                                                            burnt incense in temples and Taoist abbeys to express their worship. In particular, “the
                                                                                                                            monks and nuns of Chang Ming Temple which was outside Chongxin Gate and other
                                                                                                                            temples hosted a rally to commemorate the Nirvana of Budda. Flags and streamers were
                                                                                                                            set up in a proper order; various rare flowers and fruits were offered to Budda. Calligraphy
                                                                                                                            and paintings of well-known talented people were hung up. Precious and scarce objects
                                                                                                                            were also presented there. The scene was very solemn and audience came incessantly
                                                                                                                            in the whole day”. 26 Li E who lived in Qing Dynasty commented, “this was a custom of



                                                                                                                            24        Gao Tianxing: The Festival and Custom Culture in China, Zhongyuan Nongmin Press,
                                                                                                                            2008, P. 88.
                                                                                                                            25        This can also be found in volume 2 of Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li written by Yuan Xuelan; this
                                                                                                                            volume was about “the birthday of flowers”.
                                                                                                                            26        Meng Liang Lu, volume 1, the record of the 15th day of the second month.

                                                                                                                      162
Song Dynasty that remained after the royal court migrated to the south.” 27 Tian Rucheng
wrote in Xi Chao Le Shi (happy events in the reign of Kangxi Emperor), “in Song Dynasty,
there was a custom of catching butterflies. Although it is not performed anymore, how-
ever, the commemoration of Nirvana of Budda, the discussion of the Maha-mayurividya-
rajni and the incense-burning made by Buddhist pilgrims are all remained customs of
Song Dynasty.” Certain places celebrated Huazhao Festival by integrating customs of
Zhonghe Festival and made offerings to God of Land on that day. Chun’an Xian Zhi (an-
nuals of Chun’an County) recorded, “Huazhao Festival was celebrated on the 2nd day of
the second lunar month… the folks offered sacrifice to the god of land on this day.


   6. Predicating the year’s harvest

    In ancient times, peasants generally believed that the weather condition on Huazhao
Festival was closely related to the year’s harvest; they predicted the year’s harvest in light
of the sunny or rainy condition of the day. “That day was in the spring equinox season when
buds of colorful and fragrant flowers would be seen. Plants would get more nourishment
from nature from that day onwards. Consequently, people forecasted the ripeness of fruits
according to the weather on that day.” 28“The harvest of the year depends on the weather
condition on the 12th day of the second lunar month” and “if lightening occurs on this day,
the harvest will be bad this year”. 29 These proverbs revealed the importance of the weather
condition on Huazhao Festival. The part of “the second lunar month divination in divina-
tion category” in Volume 8 of Bian Min Tu Zhuan recorded, “ the 12th day of this month is
Huazhao Festival; if it is sunny on this day, all kinds of plants will have good fruits; a clear
night is especially significant. If it rains on this day, it will be rainy for 40 continuous nights
and cloudiness will last a long time. As a proverb goes, “if the weather is fine throughout the
night of the 12th day, it will not be dreadful, even though it rains at night later.’” According to
Zhi Fu Qi Shu (a guiding book for acquiring wealth), the 12th day is Huazhao Festival and it is




                                                                                                            CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
vital to have a fine weather on the night of this day. That is probably because plants will suf-
fer if it rains at night during the second lunar month. If the weather is clear on that night, the
future rainfalls will do little harm… A poem reads: if it is sunny on the 2nd day, peasants will
start spring ploughing happily; the prospect of harvest can be judged in accordance with the
weather conditions of the 7th and 8th day. If the night of Huazhao Festival is clear, worrying
about the successive night rains is not necessary.” 30 As was said in Hua Jing, at Huazhao
Festival, “a fine weather indicates flowers will blossom normally; if it is rainy of windy on
this day, it can be predicted that this year’s harvest will be poor; if the moonlight was dim, it
implies disasters will happen”. 31 In Suzhou, “people forecast the harvest of grains and fruits
on the basis of the weather conditions of this day”. 32 In Jiaxing, folks also “divine the year’s


27         Li E: Dongcheng Za Ji (miscellany of Dongcheng), the first half.
28         Yuan Xuelan (in Qing Dynasty): Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li, volume 2 “Bai Hua Sheng Ri”
(the birthday of flowers).
29         Jiaxing Fu Zhi (the annuals of Jiaxing state) (written in Guangxu era), volume 34 “cus-
toms”. The edition printed in the 5th year of Guangxu period in Qing Dynasty.
30         Chen Jiru (in Ming Dynasty): Zhi Fu Qi Shu (a book informing people of ways of get-
ting wealth), volume 3 “the part of climate divination·divination of the second month”. The block-
printed edition printed in Qianlong period in Qing Dynasty.
31         Chen Haozi (in Qing Dynasty): Hua Jing, volume 1 “Hua·Xin Cai”.
32         Yuan Xuelan (in Qing Dynasty): Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li, volume 2 “Bai Hua Sheng Ri”
(the birthday of flowers).

                                                                                                      163
                                                                                                                            harvest by considering the weather of this day”. 33 “Rain was regarded to be ominous” on
                                                                                                                            that day. 34 A line in Hu Lu read, “the 12th day was Huazhao Festival; if it is sunny on this day,
                                                                                                                            the harvest of the year will be good. A saying was prevalent among peasants, “whether they
                                                                                                                            can gain benefit from their cultivation depends on the weather conditions of the 12th day of
                                                                                                                            three months.’ Here, the three months refers to the first three months of a year. 35 Ming Shi
                                                                                                                            Zong (a collection of poems written by people of Ming Dynasty) recorded, “if it is sunny at
                                                                                                                            Huazhao Festival, more grains and fruits can be expected.”36
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                               At Huazhao Festival, the custom of drying seeds in the sun and praying for a har-
                                                                                                                            vest was also conducted in a lot of places. If the weather was clear on that day, peas-
                                                                                                                            ants would collect and dry seeds of various plants to pray for a good harvest.


                                                                                                                               7. Inserting flowers in hair and fastening red cloth to stems of flowers and trees

                                                                                                                               Inserting flowers in hair was an approach adopted by women to add to their beauty;
                                                                                                                            this custom prevailed in the royal court of Tang Dynasty when peonies were employed
                                                                                                                            as the major material. Afterwards, the folks used common flowers or pieces of colorful
                                                                                                                            cloth to correspond with the atmosphere of Huazhao Festival. Ma Zhongxi who lived in
                                                                                                                            Ming Dynasty wrote in Xuan Fu Zhi, “at Huazhao Festival, women in cities cut colorful
                                                                                                                            cloth to make flowers and plugged such flowers in hair, in order to conform to the fes-
                                                                                                                            tival.” People in Fuyang County wore crowndaisy at Huazhao Festival, wishing for the
                                                                                                                            permanence of youth. Wucheng Xian Zhi (Annuals of Wucheng County) (written in the
                                                                                                                            reign of Emperor Chongzhen) recorded, “at Huazhao Festival which was celebrated
                                                                                                                            on the 2nd day of the second lunar month, young women picked and inserted leaves of
                                                                                                                            crowndaisy in hair. The saying goes, ‘wearing a leaf of crowndaisy on Huazhao Festi-
                                                                                                                            val will make a woman young forever.’”37
                                                                                                                               After the prevalence of the tale of Cui Xuanwei’s protection of flowers by fastening
                                                                                                                            pieces of colorful cloth to their stems, which was included in Bo Yi Zhi, the folks “imitat-
                                                                                                                            ed Cui Xuanwei’s defending flowers from the harm of aunt Feng, cut colorful cloth into
                                                                                                                            pieces and tied them to the stems of flowers as streamers; this activity is called ‘Shang
                                                                                                                            Hong’”. 38People would “fasten a piece of red cloth to the stems of flowers; if the stem
                                                                                                                            of certain flowers were too thin to stand a piece of red cloth, people would plug a thin



                                                                                                                            33         Jiaxing Xian Zhi (the annuals of Jiaxing County) (compiled in Chongzhen era), volume
                                                                                                                            15 “records of political events·folk customs”. The block-printed edition printed in the 10th year of
                                                                                                                            Chongzhen period in Ming Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            34         Tongxiang Xian Zhi(the annuals of Tongxiang County) (compiled in Guangxu period),
                                                                                                                            volume 2 “Yu Jiang Zhi Xia·Feng Su” (the second section of records about the territory·customs).
                                                                                                                            The edition printed in the 13th year of Guangxu era in Qing Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            35         Gui’an Xian Zhi(the annuals of Gui’an County) (compiled in Guangxu period), volume
                                                                                                                            12 “Yu Di Lue” (a brief record of geography). The edition printed in the 8th year of Guangxu period
                                                                                                                            in Qing Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            36         Ninghai Xian Zhi(the annuals of Ninghai County)(compiled in Guangxu period), volume
                                                                                                                            23 “Za Ji” (miscellany). The edition printed in the 28th year of Guangxu period in Qing Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            37         Wucheng Xian Zhi (the annuals of Wucheng County)(compiled in Chongzhen era), volume
                                                                                                                            4 “Shi Xu”(seasons). The block-printed edition printed in the 10th year of Chongzhen period in Ming
                                                                                                                            Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            38         Yuan Xuelan (in Qing Dynasty): Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li, volume 2 “Bai Hua Sheng Ri”
                                                                                                                            (the birthday of flowers).

                                                                                                                      164
bamboo stick in the flower pot and tie a piece of red cloth to the stick”. 39 Cai Yun wrote
a poem Wu Yu, “The birthday of flowers is good; the flowering stage has not come but
half of spring has passed. Colorful flowers seem like splendid brocade; to celebrate the
birthday of flower goddess, the flowers decorated the environment.” Zhang Chunhua
complimented the beautiful scene of Huazhao Festival in his poem Hu Cheng Sui Shi
Qu Ge, “Huazhao Festival comes and flowers blossom; pieces of red cloth attached
to stems of flowers and trees are swaying in gentle breeze. The weather is fine; above
the fortified building are flying the rosy clouds; the painted pavilion was open to provide
convenience for enjoying flowers.” The Second Lunar Month·The Birthday of Flowers
in volume 2 of Qing Jia Lu complied by Gu Lu quoted a sentence from Kun Xin He Zhi:
“the 12th day of the second lunar month was Huazhao Festival, that is, the birthday
of flowers. Strips of red cloth were tied to all kinds of flowers.” In that part, another
sentence from Zhen Yang Zhi was quoted, too: since the 12th day was the day when
Cui Xuanwei protected flowers against aunt Feng, folks cut red cloth into pieces and
fastened them to the stems of flowers and trees.” Taicang Zhou Zhi (the annuals of Tai-
cang state) (written during Jiajing period) recorded, “the 12th day of the second month
was Huazhao Festival; boys and girls split red chiffon into pieces and attached them
to the stems of flowers and trees; this day was considered as the birthday of flowers.”
Zhu Ding Yu Wen written by Yao Fujun contained such a line: “the12th day of the sec-
ond month was Huazhao Festival which is the birthday of flower goddess. Strips of red
cloth were tied to all kinds of flowers.” Civilians at Tongxiang “tied colorful silk fabrics
to trees” at Huazhao Festival.40 In the area of Huzhou, people “fastened red silk and
red paper to flowers and trees”.41 In volume 1 of Qing Bai Lei Chao the author of which
was Xu Ke, there was a part about seasons; this part recorded “Xiao Qin Empress
went to the Summer Palace to see servants cut red cloth” at Huazhao Festival which
was on the 12th day of the second month and watched the performance named “flower
goddesses’ celebrating birthday”. Wu Cunkai, a person living in modern times, wrote




                                                                                                            CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
a poem the title of which was Jiangxiang Jie Wu Shi· Gua Hong. The caption of this
poem explained that “at Huazhao Festival, people tied pieces of red cloth to flowers
and this was the legacy of the custom of protecting flowers by streamers.” In Suzhou,
“the 12th day of the second month was regarded as the birthday of flowers; on this day,
people fastened strips of red and green silk to the branches, as a way of celebrating
the birthday of flowers”. Civilians “cut red papers into pieces to wrap branches”.42


   8. Holding fairs at Huazhao Festival

   At Huazhao Festival, crowed fairs were often formed since people all went out on
that day. The flower fair was the most popular one. Apart from making deals of goods,


39         Gu Xijia: Customs in Westlake Area, Hangzhou: Hangzhou Press, 2004, P53.
40         Tongxiang Xian Zhi (the annuals of Tongxiang County) (compiled in Guangxu period),
volume 2 “ Yu Jiang Zhi Xia·Feng Su” (the second section of records about the territory·customs).
The edition printed in the 13th year of Guangxu era in Qing Dynasty.
41         Gui’an Xian Zhi (the annuals of Gui’an County) (compiled in Guangxu period), volume
12 “Yu Di Lue” (a brief record of geography). The edition printed in the 8th year of Guangxu period
in Qing Dynasty.
42         Qing Ning: The Birthday of Flowers and Huazhao included in a magazine called Za Zi,
the 6th issue in 1943.

                                                                                                      165
                                                                                                                            there were multiple entertainment activities. For instance, on Huazhao Festival in
                                                                                                                            Cixi, “countless activities were conducted, such as folk dancing performance the per-
                                                                                                                            formers of which wore large masks molded according to the faces of officials working
                                                                                                                            in temples, women with pockmarks, children, monks, etc. In addition, other activities
                                                                                                                            like playing on a swing, playing Cuju, attending competitions about grass and flow-
                                                                                                                            ers, selecting celestial beings who used to be officials”. 43 Chun’an Xian Zhi (the an-
                                                                                                                            nuals of Chun’an County) (compiled during Jiajing era) recorded, “Huazhao Festival
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            was celebrated on the 2nd day of the second lunar month. On that day ceremonies
                                                                                                                            were hosted in east and west commercial areas that competed with each other in
                                                                                                                            the degree of magnificence. Terraces were constructed there which were exquisite.
                                                                                                                            They were built owing to people’s love for them.” Tao An Meng Yi, a book written by
                                                                                                                            Zhang Dai made a record of Westlake incense market: this market commenced from
                                                                                                                            Huazhao Festival and ended at Dragon Boat Festival. Volume 4 of Yangzhou Hua
                                                                                                                            Fang Lu by Li Dou recorded, “Tian Fu Ju established a flower market at the entrance
                                                                                                                            of a memorial arch. The flower market originated from Chanzhi Temple.” In this book,
                                                                                                                            a part of Shao Yao Pu that was written by Wang Guan was extracted, “all people in
                                                                                                                            Yangzhou, whatever their social status was, wore flowers. On Kaiming Bridge, there
                                                                                                                            was a flower market every morning. That may be because Chan Zhi Temple outside
                                                                                                                            the city and Kaiming Bridge inside the city were both ancient flower markets. In
                                                                                                                            recent years, flower courtyards appeared in some places, including Meihualing hill,
                                                                                                                            Banhua village, Baocheng region, Little Maoshan hill, Leitang. The flowers grown in
                                                                                                                            these courtyards were carried to the market for sale every morning. At each Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival, an exhibition of flowers was hosted at Zhang Xiucai’s home where famous
                                                                                                                            flowers planted in neighboring areas gathered.” San Nong Ji by Zhang Zongfa who
                                                                                                                            lived in Qianlong period recorded, “on the 15th day, all sorts of flowers bloomed.
                                                                                                                            People of all ages went out to enjoy them. This day was Huazhao Festival. People in
                                                                                                                            Sichuan region sold instruments for raising silkworms in a market where music was
                                                                                                                            played and many people came. This market was called silkworm market. In Jiujie,
                                                                                                                            Xinzhou District in Wuhan, people in neighboring regions gathered on the river bank
                                                                                                                            on Huazhao Festival to buy farm implements and trade for daily necessities; things
                                                                                                                            like bamboo sculptures, paper-cuts and river lanterns were also sold there.


                                                                                                                               9. Hosting and attending banquets at Huazhao Festival

                                                                                                                                At Huazhao Festival, officials and civilians all hosting or attending banquets. The royal
                                                                                                                            court of Ming Dynasty “invited civil and military officials to banquets” on that day. 44 Ban-
                                                                                                                            quets were also prevailing among folks. Dai Fugu, a poet of Wenling in Southern Song
                                                                                                                            Dynasty wrote a poem Attending a Party Hosted by My Grandnephew at Huazhao Fes-
                                                                                                                            tival: today is the date for offering sacrifices to the god of land; tomorrow is Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival. Drinking wine on festivals is appropriate; I was invited to Donglake. Fang Hui in
                                                                                                                            Yuan Dynasty composed a poem Two Relatives of Mine Miving in Wujiang Came on the
                                                                                                                            evening of 25th Taking Wine with Them: Bamboo shoots that have emerged from earth are
                                                                                                                            quite fresh; they are just like plates of Jade; we use willow branches to penetrate pretty

                                                                                                                            43         Cixi Xian Zhi (the annuals of Cixi County) (written in Tianqi Period) volume 12 “Cixi Xian
                                                                                                                            Jiu Jing” (old looks of Cixi County). A version published in the 4th year of Tianqi period.
                                                                                                                            44         Tan Qian (in Qing Dynasty), Guo Que (a book about the history of Ming Dynasty), vol-
                                                                                                                            ume 25, “the fourth month in the year of Xin Chou, the 6th year of Zhengtong Period”.

                                                                                                                      166
fish. I’d like to ask you to drink this bottle of wine with me; I also want to propose a toast
to spring at Huazhao Festival.” 45 Chen Jiru said in Huazhao Qing: the wind is gentle;
the scenery is beautiful; flowers are blossoming. Half of spring has passed. I’ve sent my
servants to fetch fresh spring water to brew spring tea; I want to invite you to spend this
joyous day with me in enjoying flowers and grass.” 46 Xiao Lixian recorded in Li Xian, “we
discussed proposing a toast to the birthday of flowers and wrote something on red writing
paper under the swaying streamers with drawings.” He Qiaoyuan quoted in Min Shu a line
from Zhangzhou Zhi (compiled during Wangli period), “the 15th day of the second month
was Huazhao Festival. On that day, senior hermits drank wine and wrote poems.” At
Huazhao Festival, people also drank flower wine--- good wine made from various flower
petals. There was a song praising such wine, “the fragrance of flower wine is stronger
than that of flowers; all families raise up their wine glass to propose toasts. The aroma of
this wine is like that of the dew on flowers; its color resembles that of spring.”47


   10. Other customs

    In addition to the above mentioned activities, a number of other folk activities of
special significance were also conducted at Huazhao Festival.
    Encouraging agriculture. In accordance with the record of the 15th day of the
second lunar month in volume 1 of Meng Liang Lu, at Huazhao Festival, “the chief
officials and county magistrates led their subordinates to suburbs and gathered folks
to bestow wine and food to them, with the purpose of encouraging them to work dili-
gently in agriculture. These officials and magistrates all took this activity seriously”.
The section of “Seasons · Huazhao Festival” in volume 2 of Shi Lin Guang Ji written by
Chen Yuanliang made this record: “according to a provision of Song Dynasty, local of-
ficials should go to suburbs to encourage agriculture on Huazhao Festival.” 48 Dong’an




                                                                                                         CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
County’s official document for encouraging agriculture recorded, “on the 15th day of the
second month in the 12th year of Hongwu era, the local officials made encouragement
to peasants in east suburb, announcing to them: the climate has been good, which
promotes the growth of all living things. Auspicious breeze brings warmth at Huazhao
Festival. Timely snow is melting in the wheat field. I need to encourage you to stick to
agricultural work and you should endeavor to earn a living.” 49 Hua Jing also recorded;
Huazhao Festival was “the date for encouraging agriculture”. 50
    Playing games of grass. In Hangzhou, women loved to play games of grass in spring.
Huang Zichang wrote a poem with the title of Qi Luo Xiang, “With handkerchiefs that had
the drawings of the scene of spring and their skirts touching dew, women met each other
in bush where warblers were singing. The fragrance of flowers attached to their sleeves;


45          Fang Hui (in Yuan Dynasty): Tong Jiang Xu Ji, volume 6. Included in Si Ku Quan Shu
that was compiled in Wen Yuan Ge( the imperial library of Qing Dynasty).
46          Chen Jiru (in Ming Dynasty): Bian Yong Yun Jian, volume 4. The block-printed edition
printed at the end of Ming Dynasty.
47          Huazhao Festival, an article on Taizhou Evening Post, March 6th, 2009.
48          The photocopy made Zhonghua Book Company in 1963, according to the block-printed
edition printed by Chunzhuang Academy in Jian’an during Zhishun era in Yuan Dynasty (1330-1333).
49          Li Jiben (in Yuan Dynasty): Yi Shan Wen Ji, volume 7. A hand-copied edition made in
Kangxi period.
50          Chen Haozi (in Qing Dynasty): Hua Jing, volume 1 “Hua·Xin Cai”.

                                                                                                   167
                                                                                                                            their delicate fingers that resembled tender shoots also became fragrant. Secretly they
                                                                                                                            picked grass and flowers on a path in thin mist. They cleaned the steps and exhibited lotus
                                                                                                                            flowers; these girls seemed as if they were faeries from Yaotai. When daylight just came
                                                                                                                            to the garden, laughers were already heard in the pavilion, these beautiful girls competing
                                                                                                                            with each other the grass and flowers they picked. The winner got ear-rings made of jade
                                                                                                                            or pearl. Face powder added beauty to their cheeks; their happiness could be detected
                                                                                                                            from their black eyebrows. They fastened daylilies (a plant that was thought to be good for
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            males) to their bosom belt; it could not be told whether their sweetheart had returned. ”51
                                                                                                                            In Cixi area, there were also competitions about grass and flowers at Huazhao Festival. 52
                                                                                                                            Children in Jiaxing “played games of grass and flied kites” on this day.53
                                                                                                                                Holding lantern shows. Lantern shows were a wonderful activity held at Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival, “lanterns made of flowers looked grotesque and gorgeous”. 54 “‘Lanterns of
                                                                                                                            flower goddess’ were hung on the branches of trees with flowers at night; the light
                                                                                                                            of lanterns and red flowers and green leaves form a delightful contrast.” 55 “Setting
                                                                                                                            lanterns of flower goddess” was a traditional activity at Huazhao Festival in Jiangcun
                                                                                                                            Village, Xixi, Hangzhou.
                                                                                                                                Watching performances of opera. In Huzhou region, there was a custom of
                                                                                                                            watching performances of opera at Huazhao Festival and local government was re-
                                                                                                                            sponsible for holding the performances. In accordance with the record of Gui’an Xian
                                                                                                                            Zhi (Annuals of Gui’an County) (written in the reign of Emperor Guangxu), “at Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival, that is, the 12th day of the second lunar month… the local government office
                                                                                                                            held a performance of opera that lasted a whole day; this performance was called
                                                                                                                            Baihua opera.”56 Village opera and shadow play were important activities carried out at
                                                                                                                            Huazhao Festival in Jiujie, Xinzhou District, Wuhan.
                                                                                                                                Offering sacrifices to ancestors at Huazhao Festival. In Tonglu region, people
                                                                                                                            customarily performed “four rites” to show worship for ancestors at this festival. “Sac-
                                                                                                                            rifices were offered to relative ancestors in both spring and autumn; in spring, this was
                                                                                                                            done at Huazhao Festival; in autumn, it was done at Chongyang Festival; when grains
                                                                                                                            were newly harvested, people would inform their ancestors.” “It was generally consid-
                                                                                                                            ered the 15th day of the second lunar month as Huazhao Festival; the folks’ offering
                                                                                                                            sacrifices to ancestors on this day was known as the springtime ritual.”57
                                                                                                                                Presenting food to each other. On Huazhao Festival, that is, on the 15th day of the
                                                                                                                            second lunar month, civilians in Cixi region “made candies from apricots, syrup from
                                                                                                                            sugarcane, sweet pastes from rice powder to present to one another.”58


                                                                                                                            51         Jiang Yikui( in Ming Dynasty): Yao Shan Tang Wai Ji, volume 71 “Yuan·Qiaoji”.
                                                                                                                            52         Cixi Xian Zhi (the annuals of Cixi County) (written in Tianqi Period) volume 12 “ Cixi
                                                                                                                            Xian Jiu Jing” (old looks of Cixi County). A version published in the 4th year of Tianqi period.
                                                                                                                            53         Jiaxing Xian Zhi (the annuals of Jiaxing County)(in Guangxu period), volume 16 “
                                                                                                                            Fengsu”(customs).
                                                                                                                            54         Laoxi: The Lantern Show at Huazhao Festival, an article included in a magazine, Hong
                                                                                                                            Mei Gui, the 32 issue in 1925.
                                                                                                                            55         Gao Tianxing: The Festival and Custom Culture in China, Zhongyuan Nongmin Press,
                                                                                                                            2008, P88.
                                                                                                                            56         Gui’an Xian Zhi(the annuals of Gui’an County) (compiled in Guangxu period), volume
                                                                                                                            12 “Yu Di Lue” (a brief record of geography). The edition printed in the 8th year of Guangxu period
                                                                                                                            in Qing Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            57         Tonglu Xian Zhi (the annuals of Tonglu County) (compiled in Qianlong era), volume 2 “
                                                                                                                            Fang Yu·Feng Su” (local government affairs ·customs). A hand-copied edition made in Qing Dynasty.
                                                                                                                            58         Cixi Xian Zhi (the annuals of Cixi County) (written in Tianqi Period) volume 12 “ Cixi

                                                                                                                      168
    Praying for cleverness and skillfulness at Huazhao Festival. In Taizhou area,
there was a custom girls practiced at Huazhao Festival, so as to pray for cleverness
and skillfulness: they made silk dolls to represent flower goddess and prayed to the
dolls in the hope of becoming as intelligent and skillful as flower goddess who was
capable of embroidering shapes of all kinds of flowers.59 At Guanzhuang village, Yuan-
ling County, Hunan Province, girls conducted such customs as piercing the ear lobe,
threading a rope through the nostrils of a cow, making paper cutting, embroidering and
finding a coach to learn skills at Huazhao Festival.60
    Singing in antiphonal style in order to court. Huazhao Festival provided an
excuse for young women and men to make spring outing, which also created condi-
tions for courting. For some ethnic minorities who advocated free courting, Huazhao
Festival was also of significance for love. For example, the Zhuang people named
Huazhao Festival as “the festival of flower goddess”; on that day, young males and
females of this ethnic group sang songs in antiphonal style to pay court, cast balls
made of strips of silk and presented keepsakes to each other. They held the belief
that kapok trees were the favorite living place of flower goddess; as a result, when
they departed from their loved one, they tied the silk ball to a kapok tree, wishing
the flower goddess would bless their relationship. At Guanzhuang village, Yuanling
County, Hunan Province, it was prevailing to make a proposal at Huazhao Festival in
the hope of achieving a happy marriage.
    Getting smallpox vaccination. After the founding of the Republic of China, a pecu-
liar custom appeared in Shanghai: getting smallpox vaccination at the birthday of flow-
ers, that is, at the 12th day of the second lunar month. “Smallpox vaccination bureau
was located in Yu Garden in Nanshi District of Shanghai. Innumerable mothers brought
their children here on that day to get smallpox vaccination.”61 The reason for this may
be that local people were accustomed to calling smallpox vaccination “flower vaccina-
tion”; thus, in their view, if their children got the vaccination on the birthday of flowers,




                                                                                                         CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
it would be more effective. This custom was certainly quite special.


   11. Modern value of customs of Huazhao Festival

   In the preceding part, a variety of folk activities performed at Huazhao Festival in
history were reviewed; it can be noticed that these activities not only have recrea-
tional value, but also have unique charm and cultural value with “spring”, “flowers”
and “people’s funs” as its principal connotation. In spite of the change of people’s way
of life and production and the influence of modern civilization and cultural activities,
Huazhao Festival gradually faded away from people’s life and sight, its glamour and
value remain and it still has special significance in modern times. This is an essential
reason why some places have restored the celebration of this festival in recent years.
In consideration of traditional customs of Huazhao Festival, the needs of contempo-
rary people and the effects achieved by some areas that resumed the celebration


Xian Jiu Jing” (old looks of Cixi County). A version published in the 4th year of Tianqi period.
59          Huazhao Festival, an article on Taizhou Evening Post, March 6th, 2009.
60          The Joyous Huazhao Festival in a Mountain Village, an article on Hunan Daily, April
10th, 2012.
61          Qingning: The Birthday of Flowers and Huazhao, included in a Magazine named Za Zi,
the 6th issue in 1943.

                                                                                                   169
                                                                                                                            of Huazhao Festival, the author deemed that the modern value of folk customs of
                                                                                                                            Huazhao Festival mainly contains the following aspects.
                                                                                                                                1. Health value
                                                                                                                                Along with the rapid development of urbanization and modernization and the accel-
                                                                                                                            eration of the pace of work and life in cities, people become inactive in aspects including
                                                                                                                            recreation and body-building. Contemporarily, people are suffering from both physical
                                                                                                                            and mental diseases known as “modern diseases”. Huazhao Festival, with spring out-
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            ings and entertainment as its important activities, can tempt people to go outdoors and
                                                                                                                            have a spring outing; by doing this, people can enjoy beautiful things and alleviate men-
                                                                                                                            tal stress. In 2011, the number of visitors to Xixi on Huazhao Festival reached 1.046
                                                                                                                            million person-times, which was an increase of 34.53% compared to the same period
                                                                                                                            of 2010. The celebration of the festival motivated more citizens to have spring outings.
                                                                                                                                2. Cultural value
                                                                                                                                Huazhao Festival is one of the representatives of remarkable traditional culture of
                                                                                                                            Chinese nation; it appeals to all. By now, it has been regarded as a representative of
                                                                                                                            intangible cultural heritage in many places, with its significant value in maintaining the
                                                                                                                            diversity of regional culture. This festival not only embodied features of China’s flower
                                                                                                                            culture, but had multiple functions and served as a carrier for the indication of literati
                                                                                                                            and officialdom’s virtuousness, peasants’ worship for nature, common people’s de-
                                                                                                                            mand of relaxation and the official idea of emphasizing agriculture. In modern society
                                                                                                                            where faith are liable to be absent or weak and where vulgarization occasionally occurs
                                                                                                                            in entertainment, Huazhao Festival can play a significant role in ameliorating modern
                                                                                                                            cultural ecology by means of excellent traditional culture. In accordance with Hang-
                                                                                                                            zhou’s experience in the successful restoration of Huazhao Festival in Xixi, the main
                                                                                                                            content of the “Xixi Flower Exhibition” in the main exhibition area included enjoying,
                                                                                                                            comparing and discussing flowers; activities like a fair of boutique garden plants, folk
                                                                                                                            comparison of flowers, lectures on flower culture, match-making with the help of flow-
                                                                                                                            ers were conducted. At the fair of Xixi’s Jiangcun Village, various folk activities were
                                                                                                                            carried out on Huazhao Festival, such as “launching flower-goddess lanterns”, holding
                                                                                                                            an entertainment party inside a courtyard, performing classic Yueju Opera (Shaoxing
                                                                                                                            Opera) like “five daughters offering birthday felicitation to their mother” and putting
                                                                                                                            on performance of martial arts. All these activities demonstrated the unique value of
                                                                                                                            this traditional festival in inheriting context, cultivating people’s taste, continuing folk
                                                                                                                            customs of Huazhao, conveying affection and a number of other aspects. Moreover, in
                                                                                                                            respect of popularization of science, in 2011 when Hangzhou’s Xixi Huazhao Festival
                                                                                                                            was celebrated, more than 300 kinds of flowers which were classified into 12 topics
                                                                                                                            were planted on the 1.6-mile-long green bank of Xixi Wetland. An information tag was
                                                                                                                            attached to each kind of flower, introducing its scientific name, trivial name, variety,
                                                                                                                            family, place of origin, etc. Such tags formed a “flower museum” which enabled people
                                                                                                                            to get to know related information while enjoying flowers. In addition, Xixi Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival cooperated with primary and middle schools in Hangzhou to carry out second
                                                                                                                            classroom education; teaching was made through lively activities. 8000 plus students
                                                                                                                            visited this place for free and acquired abundant knowledge about flowers.
                                                                                                                                3. Ecological value
                                                                                                                                As a festival celebrated in early spring, Huazhao Festival reveals an atmosphere of
                                                                                                                            “flowers” and “spring”. It has outstanding value in the greenization and beatification of
                                                                                                                            environment and the improvement of regional ecology. Amidst the Hangzhou Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival, the main exhibition area displayed six categories of historically famous flowers, in-


                                                                                                                      170
cluding Chinese flowering crabapples, wild Chinese viburnums, azaleas, etc and six inter-
nationally well-known flowers, including hawthorn blossoms and roses.More than 300 va-
rieties of flowers and 50 plus woody plants were grown in the area, which greatly boosted
the ecological environment of the wetland and showed the wonderful scenery of Xixi where
flowers were seen everywhere. In the meantime, outside the exhibition area, communities,
roads and even houses were all decorated with flowers. With the purpose of creating the
festival atmosphere and “demonstrating flowers everywhere in Hangzhou”, Westlake Dis-
trict made roads around wetland colorful. Flowers were planted at an area of 4800 square
meters in the three greenbelts in the middle of Tianmushan Road (between Muoganshan
Road and Liuxia Street). “Spring Flowers in Full Blossom”, the Flower landscape on the
crossroad of Tianmushan Road and Moganshan Road, was arranged; in addition, several
opuscula about flowers with the topic of “information about flowers”, “the beautiful urban
area welcome you”, etc. were put performed. All arterial streets in Hangzhou city and all its
entrances and exits were decorated with opuscula concerning flowers; flowers appeared
everywhere in Hangzhou. Meanwhile, the entrances and exits of 10 communities within
the boundary of activity area of Huazhao Festival were selected as “beautification sites”,
according to the route of float parade. These communities which are the home of its resi-
dents were beautified. “Flower streets” and “flower communities” led to a pleasant change
of atmosphere, upgraded living environment, aroused citizens’ enthusiasm of greenizing
and beautifying their home and profoundly elevated the flower markets of the city.
    4. Industry value
    The 1st Xixi Huazhao Festival hosted by Hangzhou, China, which lasted 42 days
gained operating revenue of 26.36million yuan. The main exhibition area, “green bank
of Xixi”, alone received about 200,000 tourists; the number nearly rose 20 times com-
pared to the same period of the previous year. The benefits of tourism industry were
evident. Within the framework of modern industry system, apart from tourism industry,
Huazhao Festival is also helpful for building flower markets and flower industry, pro-




                                                                                                      CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
pelling the development of cultural industry, especially cultural creative industry, and
traditional handicraft industry and food industry characterized by Huazhao Festival.
    Expediting the birth of cultural creative industry of Huazhao Festival. Xixi,
Hangzhou, successfully constructed the “cultural creative line of green bank” by
means of Huazhao Festival. Green bank provided people with visual impact generated
by millions of fresh flowers falling into 300 varieties which were called the 11th piece of
scenery of Xixi; besides, visitors could experience exciting activities carried out on the
green bank; the emergence of action art, creative photography, wedding celebration
of Huazhao Festival, clothes for Huazhao Festival and so on were also promoted. Si-
multaneously, artistic creation concerning Huazhao Festival flourished. In the renewal
of Xicheng Square, Westlake District boldly incorporated the historical connotation of
Huazhao Festival celebrated in Song Dynasty and built in the center of the square a
sculpture of “flower goddess” which was about 10 meters high, re-presented the pros-
perous scene of Huazhao Festival in history. What’s more, Huazhao Festival boosted
the development of Xixi Creative Industry Park. At present, 70% of the films and TV
series made in Hangzhou and more than 50% of such things made in Zhejiang prov-
ince were produced in Xixi Creative Industry Park. The emergence of cultural creative
industry concerning Huazhao Festival injected vitality into Xixi Creative Industry Park,
strengthened brand effects and was conducive to attracting more cultural celebrities to
come and open their own studio.
    Boosting traditional handicraft industry. During Hangzhou’s Xixi Huazhao Fes-


                                                                                                171
                                                                                                                            tival, a batch of crafts and works of fine art with regional characteristics and exquisite
                                                                                                                            craftsmanship, were shown in front of people, together with a wide range of folk skills
                                                                                                                            and intangible cultural heritage such as dough figurines, blown sugar sculptures, facial
                                                                                                                            masks, crafts woven with palm fiber, painting on eggshell, so on and so forth. All these
                                                                                                                            things were very popular. Huazhao Festival can protect and promote effectively these
                                                                                                                            traditional skills that are on the verge of disappearing.
                                                                                                                                Facilitating the development of food and drinks. The “banquet of a variety of
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            flowers” hosted during the 1st Xixi Huazhao Festival supplied citizens and tourists with
                                                                                                                            delicious and rare food made from flowers, on the basis of modern concept of health.
                                                                                                                            In order to coordinate with the celebration of Huazhao Festival, Yanshui Yu Zhuang
                                                                                                                            (a restaurant characterized by dishes made of fish) at Xixi Wetland picked 40 plus
                                                                                                                            categories of edible fresh flowers and meticulously designed 8 cold dishes, 12 hot
                                                                                                                            dishes and 2 desserts, after making research for two months, by combining cooking
                                                                                                                            methods like boiling, frying, stewing, mixing and steaming and taking concept of health
                                                                                                                            into consideration. Thereinto, a dish named “blossom of spring and moon of autumn”
                                                                                                                            containing chrysanthemum morifolium, orange and tender crab meat had the func-
                                                                                                                            tion of alleviating fever, removing liver-fire and improving eyesight. Another dish with
                                                                                                                            the name of “lotus rising from under water” was made by stir-frying lily together with
                                                                                                                            slices of the meat of sea whelks, which had the functions of moistening lungs, clearing
                                                                                                                            heat and soothing the nerves. Furthermore, a dish called “crystal shrimps cooked with
                                                                                                                            roses” could clear heat and maintain beauty. “Peony and fish” was beneficial for sup-
                                                                                                                            plementing qi and blood and nourishing spleen and stomach. A dish made of “orchids,
                                                                                                                            plum blossoms, Chinese yams and osmanthus flowers” could help to reinforce kid-
                                                                                                                            neys, produce saliva and slake thirst. “Jelly made of cowheels and honeysuckles” had
                                                                                                                            the potency of preventing sunstroke, clearing heat and quenching thirst. Numerous
                                                                                                                            pleasant-looking and delicious dishes made of flowers enabled citizens and tourists to
                                                                                                                            learn about traditional food culture and health concepts concerning food. Currently, a
                                                                                                                            lot of catering enterprises in Hangzhou are making use of the brand effect of Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival and developing food products relevant to Huazhao Festival, which can be
                                                                                                                            stored and transported across long distances, for instance, Huazhao wine, so as to
                                                                                                                            attain long-term economic benefits. It can be anticipated that the food industry related
                                                                                                                            to Huazhao Festival has bright prospect.
                                                                                                                                Elevating the flower and seedling industry. Huazhao Festival provided an excel-
                                                                                                                            lent platform for the development of flowers and seedlings. Judging from the situation
                                                                                                                            in Hangzhou, Huazhao Festival stimulated citizens and tourists’ love for growing flow-
                                                                                                                            ers, the flower market on green bank displayed and sold more than 300 categories
                                                                                                                            of pot plants and flowers which attracted queues of buyers; the daily average sales
                                                                                                                            volume was more than 600 pots. Huazhao Festival also promoted the sales of flowers
                                                                                                                            in surrounding areas. Flowers and pot plants sold by the two major flower and bird
                                                                                                                            markets in the west part of Hangzhou during the festival in 2011 increased by 15% or
                                                                                                                            so, compared to that in the same period of the previous year.


                                                                                                                               12. Conclusion

                                                                                                                               Huazhao Festival embodies strong cultural atmosphere. Combining Chinese people’s
                                                                                                                            worship and sentiment for flowers, customs about flowers and recreational concepts, it is
                                                                                                                            a significant manifestation of the diversity of our nation’s culture. Through literature review,


                                                                                                                      172
it can be found out that originally the way of celebrating Huazhao Festival was to have
spring outings and enjoy flowers; later, varied folk activities were carried out, such as
catching butterflies, picking wild vegetables, offering sacrifices to god, forecasting harvest,
“shang hong” (fastening pieces of red cloth to flowers and trees), holding competitions
about grass, encouraging agriculture, hosting and attending banquets, courting, etc. This
festival manifested some features of our nation’s culture, containing elegance, harmoni-
ousness, life-friendliness. The characteristics and relevant activities of Huazhao Festival
comply with modern people’s aesthetic appreciation and pursuits and also meet the re-
quirements of environmental protection and industry improvement; besides, it has special
value in aspects like health, culture, ecology and industry. Huazhao Festival used to be an
importance festival in a number of places, which was identified widely; thus, its nation-wide
restoration and popularization was feasible and valuable. Its restoration in Hangzhou,
Guangzhou and some other places was powerful evidence. What is foreseeable is that the
restoration of this delicate, lovely, romantic, universal and traditional festival will certainly
demonstrate its unique glamour and value, acquire more widely identification and have
more development, in its integration with the cultural concepts and demands of modern
people. The society should create conditions to guide the healthy development and pros-
perity of Huazhao culture in a new era; moreover, it ought to give support and guidance to
the development of Huazhao industry, propel the development of multiple industries and
make this traditional festival better contribute to the economic and social development, by
taking measures including investment, tax adjustment, financing convenience and so on.


      References

[1]     Renhe Xian Zhi (the annuals of Renhe County)(compiled in the reign of Emperor
        Kangxi) Volume 5 “customs”: “People in Tang Dynasty celebrated Huazhao Festival




                                                                                                          CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
        on the 15th day of the second lunar month.” This book was the block-printed edition
        printed in the 26th year of Kangxi Pe-riod (1687). A book that was the block-printed
        edition printed in the Hall of Wu Ying Dian in the 49th year of Kangxi Period (1710),
        Yuan Jian Lei Han ·Sui Shi Bu Qi ·Huazhao quoted from Ti Yao Lu: “Huazhao Festival
        was celebrated on the 15th day of the second lunar month in Tang Dynasty.”
[2]     Luo Qiu (Tang Dynasty): Hua Jiu Ci, included in volume I set 4 of Xiang Yan Cong
        Shu,a book compiled by Chong Tianzi. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing
        House, 1992, p. 963.
[3]     Huazhao Festival celebrated in the recent ten years was very popular but lacked
        folkcustoms, an article on Chutian Metropolis Daily issued on March 8th, 2012.
[4]     People in Love worshiped for a happy marriage in rain on Huazhao Festival, an
        article on Southern Metropolis Daily issued on March 19th 2011.
[5]     Chen Bangzhan (Ming Dynasty), He Hua Shan Fang Shi Gao (a collection of
        poems) volume22. The block-printed edition printed by Niu Weichi in the 46th
        year of Wanli era in Ming Dynasty.
[6]     Kuaiji Xian Zhi(the annuals of Kuaiji County) (written in Kangxi period) volune 7
        “recordsof customs”. The stereotype edition proofread by the History Recording
        committee of ShaoxingCounty, which was printed in the 25th year of The Repub-
        lic of China.
[7]     Fang Hui (in Yuan Dynasty): Tong Jiang Xu Ji, volune 6. Included in Si Ku Quan
        Shu that was compiled in Wen Yuan Ge( the imperial library of Qing Dynasty).


                                                                                                    173
                                                                                                                               Summary

                                                                                                                                Huazhao Festival is a traditional one that is celebrated in early spring and appeals
                                                                                                                            to both highbrows and lowbrows. Once, it was as significant as Lantern Festival and
                                                                                                                            Mid-autumn Festival. Ever since Tang Dynasty, it has undergone stages of emerging,
                                                                                                                            thriving, declining and restoring. Originally, people only had a spring outing enjoying
                                                                                                                            beautiful flowers at this festival; later, various other folk activities were also carried
Ma Zhihui - On the folk customs of Huazhao Festival which is a kind of intangible cultural heritage and its modern value




                                                                                                                            out on this day, including catching butterflies, picking wild vegetables, offering sac-
                                                                                                                            rifices to gods, predicting bumper and poor harvest, fastening strips of red cloth to
                                                                                                                            stems of flowers and trees (shang hong), having competitions on grass, encouraging
                                                                                                                            agriculture, holding and attending banquets, writing articles, paying court and so on.
                                                                                                                            These activities demonstrated such characteristics of the national culture of China as
                                                                                                                            elegance, harmony and life-friendliness. Obviously different from other traditional fes-
                                                                                                                            tivals like Spring Festival, Mid-autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, etc, Huazhao
                                                                                                                            Festival has unique style and value. Despite its fading away from people’s life due to
                                                                                                                            changes in modern society, its cultural glamour and comprehensive value still exist.
                                                                                                                            Along with economic and social development and the increase of people’s spiritual
                                                                                                                            and cultural demands, Huazhao Festival has regained people’s attention. It has been
                                                                                                                            restored and hosted in some regions and identified as an intangible cultural heritage.
                                                                                                                            By means of literature review, the folk customs of Huazhao Festival was re-presented
                                                                                                                            to some extent in this paper. Its modern values in areas including health, culture,
                                                                                                                            ecology and industry were analyzed. This paper is of certain significance, in respect
                                                                                                                            of conserving and inheriting this national festival, promoting its restoration in more
                                                                                                                            regions in a way more approximate to historical tradition and giving play to its unique
                                                                                                                            role to benefit modern society.




                                                                                                                      174
