Festivals
These are the holy days that Chinese Buddhists celebrate by visiting temples to make offerings of prayers, incense, fruits, flowers and donations. On such days they observe the moral precepts very strictly as well as a full day’s vegetarian diet, a practice originally from China. The dates given are based on the Chinese calendar system so that 8.4 means the Eighth day of the fourth lunar moon and so on.
- 8.12 — Enlightenment Day of Śākyamuni Buddha
- 1.1 — Birthday of Maitreya Buddha
- 9.1 — Birthday of Śakra, Lord of the Devas
- 8.2 — Renunciation Day of Śākyamuni Buddha
- 15.2 — Mahāparinirvāṇa Day of Śākyamuni Buddha
- 19.2 — Birthday of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guan Yin)
- 21.2 — Birthday of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
- 4.4 — Birthday of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī
- 8.4 — Birthday of Śākyamuni Buddha
- 15.4 — Vesak Day
- 3.6 — Birthday of Skanda (Wei Tuo)
- 10.6 — Birthday of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche)
- 19.6 — Enlightenment Day of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara
- 13.7 — Birthday of Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta
- 15.7 — Ghost Festival
- 30.7 — Birthday of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha
- 22.8 — Birthday of Dīpaṃkara Buddha (an ancient buddha)
- 19.9 — Renunciation Day of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara
- 30.9 — Birthday of Bhaiṣajyaguru Buddha (Medicine Buddha)
- 5.10 — Anniversary of the death of Bodhidharma
- 17.11 — Birthday of Amitābha Buddha
Read more about this topic: Buddhism In China
Famous quotes containing the word festivals:
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)