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EveryParampara

Traditions of East Asia

Lunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors. 266 traditions on EveryParampara so far.

Countries

🇨🇳 China 156🇭🇰 Hong Kong 9🇯🇵 Japan 146🇲🇴 Macau 4🇲🇳 Mongolia 24🇰🇵 North Korea 22🇰🇷 South Korea 60🇹🇼 Taiwan 31

Cities and towns

Tokyo 38Kyoto 28Osaka 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
🇯🇵 JapanMiyamairi宮参り A first visit to a Shinto shrine, about a month after a baby is bornRite of passage 🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreBodhi Day成道会 A Buddhist observance marking the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha under the Bodhi TreeSpiritual 🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreLunar New Year New year festivals dated by the moon, kept from East Asia to the Middle EastFestival 🇯🇵 Hiroshima, JapanKagura神楽 A sacred Shinto dance tradition in Japan that invites deities to descend and perform through human dancers.Performance 🇨🇳 Ningbo, China and 2 moreMahjong麻將 A tile game from China, played by two to four people at a tableGame 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇯🇵 JapanJapanese funeral葬儀 (sōgi) A Buddhist farewell in Japan: a wake, cremation, bone-gathering and a family graveRite of passage 🇯🇵 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 🇰🇷 South KoreaJwibullori쥐불놀이 A Korean New Year game of whirling fire-cans to clear fields and wish good luckGame 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean traditional funeral A multi-day ritual blending Confucian rites and shamanic practices to guide the deceased to the afterlife.Rite of passage 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 morePyebaek폐백 A Korean wedding rite where newlyweds bow to elders and share dates, chestnuts and wineRite of passage 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 A hare seen in the Moon's dark patches, pounding rice cakes or the elixir of lifeFolklore 🇯🇵 JapanBowing in Japanお辞儀 The Japanese bow, used to greet, thank, apologise and show respectEtiquette 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanNoh能 (Nō) Japanese masked dance-drama, staged since the 14th century in family schoolsPerformance 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫 A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore 🇲🇳 MongoliaMorin khuurморин хуур (Mongolian Cyrillic); ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷ (traditional Mongol script) Mongolia's two-string horsehead fiddle, played with a horsehair bowPerformance 🇯🇵 Osaka, Japan and 1 moreBunraku文楽 Osaka's puppet theatre, with chanters, shamisen players and puppeteers in plain sightPerformance 🇲🇳 Ölgii, MongoliaGolden Eagle FestivalБүргэдийн баяр An annual gathering in western Mongolia celebrating Kazakh eagle hunting and horsemanshipFestival 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShinto wedding神前結婚 A short purification ceremony before the kami, sealed by three cups of sakeRite of passage 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBento弁当 A single-portion packed meal in a lidded box, carried to school, work or on a trainTable custom · Lunch 🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 3 moreDongzhi冬至 A midwinter festival celebrating the return of light with family feasts and dumplingsSeasonal · Dinner 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean tea ceremony다례 (茶禮) Tea served in Korea as a rite of courtesy, now mostly grain and herbal brewsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 morePeking opera京剧 / 京劇 (Jīngjù) China's main opera form: song, dance and acrobatics tell the story on a bare stagePerformance 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCantonese opera粵劇 One of the major forms of Chinese opera, sung in Cantonese in southern ChinaPerformance 🇨🇳 Meizhou Island, China and 5 moreMazu媽祖 A sea goddess of the Chinese coast, asked for calm water and a safe returnSpiritual 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 (Obon) A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance, light, and family reunion.Festival 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean New Year설날 A three-day Korean festival celebrating the lunisolar new year with family and feastsSeasonal 🇯🇵 Suwa, JapanOnbashira Festival式年造営御柱大祭 A rite in Nagano where massive fir logs are dragged down mountains and raised at shrinesSpiritual 🇯🇵 Tokushima, JapanAwa Dance Festival阿波踊り A summer street dance festival held in Tokushima during the Buddhist season of ObonFestival 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJoya no Kane除夜の鐘 A Japanese Buddhist New Year's Eve ritual where temple bells are struck to cleanse the year of worldly desires.Spiritual 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanGozan no Okuribi五山送り火 Five giant bonfires lit across Kyoto's hills to bid farewell to ancestor spirits.Spiritual 🇯🇵 Chichibu, JapanChichibu Night Festival秩父夜祭 A December shrine gathering in Chichibu featuring historic Japanese festival floats.Festival 🇯🇵 JapanYuzu bath柚子湯 A winter solstice soak in hot water with whole yuzu citrus, kept across JapanSeasonal 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanKoinobori鯉のぼり Carp-shaped windsocks flown across Japan for Children's Day in springFestival 🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese marriage婚姻 (hūnyīn) A wedding rite that joins two families, arranged by a go-between and sealed with giftsRite of passage 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreMarriage in Korea Weddings in Korea, from Goryeo matchmaking to Confucian rites and modern chapel vowsRite of passage 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 2 moreHangul Day한글날 South Korea's public day for Hangul, the Korean alphabet, kept on 9 OctoberFestival 🇨🇳 Nanjing, China and 4 moreSingles' Day光棍节 A day for people without a partner that grew into the world's biggest shopping eventFestival 🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaNational Day国庆节 (guóqìng jié) China's national day on 1 October, marking the republic's founding in 1949Ceremony 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreNational Liberation Day of Korea광복절 (Gwangbokjeol) A public holiday on 15 August marking Korea's liberation from Japanese rule in 1945Ceremony 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanCulture Day文化の日 (Bunka no Hi) Japan's 3 November holiday for the arts, learning and the Order of CultureFestival 🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭 A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette 🇰🇷 South Korea and 4 moreParents' Day어버이날 (Eobeoinal) Days set aside in several countries to thank mothers and fathersFestival 🇨🇳 Yulin, ChinaYulin Dog Meat Festival狗肉节 A ten-day June festival in Yulin, China, where dog meat is eaten with lycheesFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇯🇵 JapanMarine Day海の日 A Japanese summer holiday to thank the ocean and mark the country's ties to the seaCeremony 🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 4 moreDongzhi Festival冬至 A winter solstice festival of family reunions, ancestor rites and sweet rice ballsSeasonal · Dinner 🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North KoreaFatherland Liberation War Day조국해방전쟁 승리 기념일 North Korea's July 27 holiday marking the 1953 armistice that stopped the Korean WarCeremony 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋 Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal
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The weekly EveryParampara

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