When is the Xiayuan Festival? The 15th day of the 10th lunar month is the Xiayuan Festival.

When is the Lower Yuan Festival? The Lower Yuan Festival, a traditional Chinese folk festival, is collectively known as the “Three Yuans” together with the Upper Yuan Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival. Next, let’s take a look at the specific time of the Lower Yuan Festival.

When is the Xiayuan Festival?

Specific time

The Lower Yuan Festival is on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month every year. The date of the Lower Yuan Festival in 2017 is December 2, 2017, which is Saturday, the 15th day of the 10th lunar month. The Lower Yuan Festival is the last moon festival of the year. According to folk tradition, people hold major sacrificial activities.

Festival meaning

The Lower Yuan Festival is also known as the "Lower Yuan Day" or "Xia Yuan". According to Taoist records, there are three officials in Taoism: the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official. The Heavenly Official bestows blessings, the Earthly Official forgives sins, and the Water Official relieves disasters. Legend has it that the Lower Yuan Festival is the day when the Taoist "Water God relieves disasters."

Xiayuan Water Official

The full name of the Lower Yuan Water Official is "The Five Qi Three Ranks Water Official Who Relieves Disasters". He is in charge of the Nine Rivers, Four Rivers, Three Rivers, Five Seas, and Twelve Creeks. He is in charge of the register of dead souls and ghosts, and records the merits and demerits of all living beings. Every year on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month, the Water God examines the records of all living beings and determines their rewards according to their good and evil deeds, and reshapes them according to their sins.

Main customs

On the day of the Lower Yuan Festival, Taoist temples will hold rituals to ward off disasters and liberate the dead. People in the countryside offer sacrifices to the dead and pray to the Water God to solve their problems. In addition, in ancient times the imperial court had regulations prohibiting slaughter and postponing the execution of death penalty.

Activities related to Xiayuan Festival

Ancestor worship

On the day of the Lower Yuan Festival, people clean the house, take a bath, change into appropriate clothes, and finally set up several tables at home, put fish, meat, and fruits on them as offerings, and prepare some libation wine.

Worship the Water God

After commemorating our ancestors, we can burn incense and offer wine to the Water God again, tell the Lower Water God about the hardships and troubles in life, pray for the troubles to be resolved, and wish for a more comfortable and satisfying life.

Holiday Food

You can make some food related to the Lower Yuan Festival at home, such as steaming some taro buns and glutinous rice cakes for the whole family to enjoy together, and call relatives and friends to say some auspicious blessings.