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EveryParampara

Traditions of East Asia

Lunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors. 257 traditions on EveryParampara so far.

Countries

🇨🇳 China 148🇭🇰 Hong Kong 9🇯🇵 Japan 141🇲🇴 Macau 4🇲🇳 Mongolia 22🇰🇵 North Korea 22🇰🇷 South Korea 57🇹🇼 Taiwan 29

Cities and towns

Tokyo 38Kyoto 27Osaka 18Beijing 15Seoul 14Shanghai 14

On the calendar

VesakLosarHungry Ghost FestivalLunar New YearLantern FestivalQingming FestivalDragon Boat FestivalQixi FestivalMid-Autumn FestivalDouble Ninth FestivalDongzhi FestivalLaba Festival
KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié) A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft 🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game 🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (Traditional Mongol) A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 2 moreChinese opera戲曲 / 戏曲 (xìqǔ) A sung, danced and acrobatic theatre from China, in over a hundred regional stylesPerformance 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤 A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語 Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance 🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft 🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿 Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual 🇹🇼 Yilan, Taiwan and 4 moreTaiwanese opera歌仔戲 A Taiwanese theatrical art of Hokkien balladry, stylized staging, and expressive song.Performance 🇨🇳 Puyang, ChinaFeng shui風水 The Chinese spatial practice of aligning homes and graves with natural energyFolklore 🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLion dance舞獅 A dynamic ritual dance featuring costumed lions, drums and martial acrobaticsPerformance 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 2 moreMongolian wrestlingBökh A traditional folk wrestling style of the Mongols, kept as a central part of Naadam festivals across Mongolia and neighbGame 🇯🇵 Aomori, JapanAomori Nebuta Matsuri青森ねぶた祭 A summer festival in Aomori featuring large warrior floats and dancing participants.Festival 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreShadow play A storytelling art using flat puppets and light to cast moving silhouettes on a screen.Performance 🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 3 moreGlove puppetry布袋戲 A traditional theatre of cloth-bodied puppets with carved wooden heads and live musicPerformance 🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見 A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた A Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.Festival 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreQixi Festival七夕 A Chinese night of romance, needlecraft wishes and stargazing for two mythic loversFestival 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節 An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름 A Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫 A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore 🇨🇳 Meizhou Island, China and 5 moreMazu媽祖 A sea goddess of the Chinese coast, asked for calm water and a safe returnSpiritual 🇰🇷 South KoreaJwibullori쥐불놀이 A Korean New Year game of whirling fire-cans to clear fields and wish good luckGame 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ) Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual 🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaYunnori윷놀이 A Korean board and stick-tossing game played with tokens during the Lunar New YearGame 🇨🇳 ChinaTorch Festival火把节 A summer fire holiday celebrated by Yi and neighbouring communities in southwest ChinaFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean traditional funeral A multi-day ritual blending Confucian rites and shamanic practices to guide the deceased to the afterlife.Rite of passage 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor veneration Honouring dead relatives with offerings, meals and prayers, kept in cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇯🇵 Takasaki, JapanDaruma doll達磨 (daruma) A round Japanese wishing doll: fill one eye to set a goal, the other to mark it done.Folklore 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreIomanteイオマンテ An Ainu rite that sends a hand-raised bear cub's spirit home to the god-worldSpiritual 🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance 🇯🇵 JapanKintsugi金継ぎ Mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold, so the repair stays visibleCraft 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 A hare seen in the Moon's dark patches, pounding rice cakes or the elixir of lifeFolklore 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋 Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal 🇨🇳 ChinaQizhuang旗裝 (qízhuāng) The traditional attire of the Manchu people, characterized by riding coats, trousers, and horse-hoof cuffs.Dress 🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu臟腑 (simplified 脏腑; zàngfǔ) A Chinese medicine view of organs as networks of qi, blood and five phasesFolklore 🇨🇳 ChinaSymbolic stars神煞 Helpful and harmful influences read from the Chinese calendar's stems and branchesFolklore 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese patchwork A needlework craft joining fabric scraps into protective clothing, quilts and folk artCraft 🇨🇳 ChinaSanfutie三伏贴 A seasonal Chinese medicine practice applying herbal patches during peak summer heatSeasonal 🇨🇳 ChinaEighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute胡笳十八拍 A Chinese song and poetry cycle telling the story and sorrow of Cai WenjiPerformance 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreRed Thread of Fate姻緣紅線 An East Asian belief in an invisible cord binding two people destined for marriageFolklore 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese herbology中藥學 The traditional Chinese system of preparing and prescribing herbal and natural remediesCraft 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲 A classical Chinese divination system that maps time, space, and strategySpiritual 🇲🇳 MongoliaBiyelgeeБиелгээ A traditional Mongolian dance of upper body movements rooted in nomadic lifePerformance
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.