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
On the calendar
🇨🇳 Shanghai, ChinaSeal carving篆刻
The Chinese craft of engraving characters and personal emblems into stone stamping sealsCraft
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
A traditional Chinese model of internal organs as paired networks of energy and functionFolklore
🇯🇵 Yūki, JapanYūki-tsumugi結城紬
A hand-spun silk cloth from Yūki, Japan, woven slowly on a low loomCraft
🇨🇳 Zhongshan, ChinaChinese clothing
Robes, gowns, and suits shaped across dynasties, ranks, and daily life in ChinaDress
🇨🇳 Nanjing, ChinaYunjin brocade雲錦
A traditional Chinese silk brocade woven with coloured silk, gold and silverCraft
🇯🇵 JapanRokudan no Shirabe六段の調
A six-part Japanese koto piece, one of the best known works of the sōkyoku repertoirePerformance
🇯🇵 JapanNōgaku能楽
A traditional Japanese theater form combining the lyric drama noh and the comic interludes kyōgen.Performance
🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese wedding dress
The ceremonial bridal garments worn in Han Chinese marriage ceremoniesDress
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
The traditional Chinese medical model of interconnected organ networks and vital energyFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaiyin Xingjun太陰星君
The Chinese moon goddess, honoured at Mid-Autumn with incense, mooncakes and prayersSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese herbology中藥學
The traditional Chinese system of preparing and prescribing herbal and natural remediesCraft
🇯🇵 JapanAuxiliary armour (Japan)
Extra guards that filled the gaps left by the six main pieces of a Japanese armour setDress
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanBoroぼろ
Japanese cloth kept going by mending: patched layers dyed with indigoCraft
🇨🇳 ChinaSankeng三坑
Chinese slang for three dress styles young fans wear, and the money they takeDress
🇨🇳 ChinaHuadian花鈿
A forehead ornament of Chinese women, painted or fixed on, still worn with hanfuDress
🇨🇳 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
🇯🇵 Kagoshima, JapanSatsuma kiriko薩摩切子
Cut glass from Kagoshima: coloured glass laid over clear, then cut deepCraft
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu臟腑 (simplified 脏腑; zàngfǔ)
A Chinese medicine view of organs as networks of qi, blood and five phasesFolklore
🇨🇳 Ziyang, China and 1 moreThree Corpses三尸
A Daoist belief in three inner parasites that cause illness and cut life shortFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreMianfu冕服
The most formal dress of China's emperors, worn at coronations and court ritesDress
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese patchwork
A needlework craft joining fabric scraps into protective clothing, quilts and folk artCraft
🇨🇳 ChinaXifu戏服
The stage dress of Chinese opera, its colour and pattern telling rank, sex and characterDress
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreBuddhist initiation受戒
A public ceremony where a lay follower takes refuge in the Triple Gem and accepts moral precepts.Spiritual
🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 5 moreNanguan南管
An introspective chamber music tradition from southern Fujian and Taiwan.Performance
🇲🇳 MongoliaBiyelgeeБиелгээ
A traditional Mongolian dance of upper body movements rooted in nomadic lifePerformance
🇨🇳 Xiamen, China and 2 moreBo Bing博餅 (Bóbǐng)
A dice game played at Mid-Autumn, where mooncakes of many sizes are the prizesGame
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Seal carving: Cyclohexane233, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zangfu: Foristslow, CC BY 4.0, source
- Yūki-tsumugi: タバコはマーダー, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese clothing: Yan Li-pen, Public domain, source
- Yunjin brocade: Dr. Meierhofer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nōgaku: Daderot, CC0, source
- Traditional Chinese wedding dress: Tunere, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Taiyin Xingjun: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Chinese herbology: Vberger, Public domain, source
- Auxiliary armour (Japan): Samuraiantiqueworld, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boro: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Sankeng: Yumeto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Huadian: Gu Kaizhi (c.345-c.406), Public domain, source
- Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute: Copy painting in Ming era, Public domain, source
- Satsuma kiriko: Dime Gontar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Three Corpses: Michał Boym, Public domain, source
- Mianfu: Unknown photographer, Public domain, source
- Chinese patchwork: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Xifu: Walter Lim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Buddhist initiation: ScooterSponson, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nanguan: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos, Public domain, source
- Biyelgee: J bayarmagnai, CC0, source
- Bo Bing: Xmhaoyu, CC BY 3.0, source