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All traditions

2,291 traditions so far, best known first. 12,311 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and meal.

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RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
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 3 moreButter lampདཀར་མེ (Tibetan) A lit candle made from clarified yak butter, kept in Tibetan Buddhist temples to aid meditation and symbolize enlightenmSpiritual 🇯🇵 JapanEma絵馬 Small wooden plaques left at Japanese shrines and temples for prayers and wishes.Spiritual 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreShadow play A storytelling art using flat puppets and light to cast moving silhouettes on a screen.Performance 🇯🇵 Fukuoka, JapanHakata Gion Yamakasa博多祇園山笠 A July festival in Fukuoka featuring heavy float races through the streets of Hakata.Festival 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKyōgen狂言 A traditional Japanese comic theatre of short farces, spoken dialogue and satirePerformance 🇯🇵 Aomori, JapanAomori Nebuta Matsuri青森ねぶた祭 A summer festival in Aomori featuring large warrior floats and dancing participants.Festival 🇯🇵 JapanPindapata𑀧𑀺𑀡𑁆𑀟𑀘𑀸𑀭 A Buddhist almsround where monks walk through towns to receive food and necessities from laypeople.Spiritual 🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 (Jesa) A Korean ancestral memorial ceremony held on death anniversaries and major holidays.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇨🇳 ChinaHong Kong tea culture Morning tea with dim sum and milk tea through the day, in Hong Kong's teahousesTable custom · Breakfast 🇯🇵 JapanJichinsai地鎮祭 A Shinto ritual to ask the land spirits for protection before building a new home or structure.Spiritual 🇨🇳 Tianjin, ChinaManchu-Han Imperial Feast滿漢全席 A grand multi-day banquet uniting Manchu and Han culinary traditions in ChinaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreFace The shared social etiquette of honour, dignity and mutual respect across culturesEtiquette 🇨🇳 Yixing, ChinaYixing clay teapot紫砂 Handcrafted Chinese purple clay teapots that season with every brewCraft · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCuju蹴鞠 An ancient Chinese kicking game played without hands using a stuffed or air-filled ballGame 🇨🇳 China and 1 morePrayer wheelའཁོར་ལོ། A cylindrical wheel spun in Tibetan Buddhist practice to accumulate merit and wisdomSpiritual 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreKyūdō弓道 The Japanese martial art of archery, practiced with an asymmetrical longbowGame 🇨🇳 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 🇨🇳 Chaozhou, China and 1 moreGongfu tea工夫茶 A skilled Chinese method of brewing tea in small teaware with precise heat and timingTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft 🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual 🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaTemplestay템플스테이 A program that invites visitors to live in South Korean Buddhist temples and join the daily routines of monastic life.Spiritual · Dinner 🇨🇳 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 🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿 Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreDragon dance舞龍 / 舞龙 A long dragon puppet on poles, danced by a team at Chinese New Year and other festivalsPerformance 🇨🇳 Longquan, China and 4 moreCeladon青瓷 (qīngcí) Green-glazed pottery first made in China, valued for colours that echo jadeCraft 🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女 A woman who serves at a Shinto shrine, dancing, cleansing and helping with ritesSpiritual 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanIkebana生け花 The Japanese art of arranging cut branches and flowers in a vesselPerformance 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKendo剣道 A Japanese martial art of swordsmanship using bamboo swords and protective armourGame 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanTorii鳥居 A traditional Japanese gate marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine and separating the sacred from the mundane.Spiritual 🇨🇳 ChinaGuanxi关系 A Chinese tradition of cultivating trusted networks and reciprocal obligationsEtiquette 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanYūzen友禅 A Japanese resist-dyeing craft that creates painterly patterns on fine kimonoCraft 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤 A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance 🇨🇳 China and 5 morePostpartum confinement A period of rest, nourishment, and seclusion for mothers after giving birth.Rite of passage 🇨🇳 Puyang, ChinaFeng shui風水 The Chinese spatial practice of aligning homes and graves with natural energyFolklore 🇹🇼 Taipei, TaiwanNight markets in Taiwan夜市 Street markets that open at sunset across Taiwan, selling snacks, drinks and goodsTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇹🇼 Yilan, Taiwan and 4 moreTaiwanese opera歌仔戲 A Taiwanese theatrical art of Hokkien balladry, stylized staging, and expressive song.Performance 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語 Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance 🇲🇳 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 🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game 🇰🇷 South KoreaHanji한지 The Korean craft of making durable paper from mulberry fiber and root mucilage.Craft 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽 A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft 🇯🇵 Ōmuta, JapanKarutaかるた Japanese playing cards from the 16th century, still raced over poems each New YearGame 🇯🇵 JapanToshikoshi soba年越し蕎麦 Buckwheat noodles eaten on New Year's Eve, cut easily to let the year goTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇯🇵 Kishiwada, JapanKishiwada Danjiri Matsuri岸和田だんじり祭 A high-speed festival of wooden shrine floats pulled through Kishiwada, JapanFestival 🇨🇳 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 🇯🇵 JapanKadomatsu門松 A Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can restSeasonal
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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.