Chapter One Chinese Folk Customs and the Four SeasonsSpring Festival—The Commencement of a Lunar New Year 1
Red Spring Couplets Pasted on Every Door—From Peachwoed Charms against Evil to Spring Festival Couplets 6
The Character"Happiness"Pasted Upside-down 9
Why is the Lunar New Year Celebrated with Firecrackers? 11
Merry Celebration of the Lantern Festival the 15th Day of the 1st Lunar Month 14
Sacrifice to the Ancestors,Spring Outings and the Qingming Festival(The Tomb-sweeping Festival) 20
Zongzi,Dragon-boat and the Dragon-boat Festival 24
What is the Double-Seventh Festival? 31
The Mid-Autumn Festival,Moon-Watching and Moon Cakes 34
The Double-Ninth Festival—The Festival for the Aged 38
Winter Solstice—The Winter Festival 42
Laba Porridge and the Laba Festival 46
Interesting Stories about"Sending off the Kitchen God" 50
About"Shousui"(Staying up Late or All Night on New Year's Eve) 54
Chapter Two Folk Customs and the Life of the Chinese PeopleYear of Birth and the Symbolic Animals 57
Meaningful Surnames 63
Birth Rituals 70
One-month-Old Celebration and Haircut 74
"Zhua Zhou"(Grabbing Test on the Occasion of a Baby's First Birthday) 78
The Significance of Naming a Child 81
Rituals of Coming-of-Age—Past and Present 84
Multifarious Marriage Customs 87
Birthday Celebration and Longevity Celebration 92
Funeral—The Last Scene of One's Life 96
Chapter Three Folk Customs and People's Daily LifeColourful Tea Customs 101
"There is no banquet without alcohol-drinking"—Alcohol drinking and Chinese People 105
Seating Arrangement at Banquets 109
Chapter Four Folk Customs and Folk LanguageHumorous Allegorical Folk Sayings 113
Street Corner Wisdom in Proverbs 117
Proverbs Related to Farming 122
Proverbs about Staying in Good Health 127
Chapter Five Folk Customs and Folk BeliefsThe Misery-Relieving Goddess Kwan-yin 131
The Sea Goddess Mazu 135
The Ever-smiling Buddha Maitreya 140
The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea,Each Reveals its Divine Power 143
Mountain Gods,River Gods and Thunder Gods 149
Earth Gods and Earth God Temples 153
Guan Yu and the Lord Guan Temple 157
Why Town God's Temple is Found Everywhere? 161
The Highly-worshiped Gods of Fortune 165
Gift Money and Protective Talismans 170
Eight Treasures and Eight Mascots 176
Jade and Traditional Folk Beliefs 183
Chapter Six Folk Customs and Folk ArtsYangko Dance and Walking on Stilts 187
Festive Lantern and Dragon Lantern 191
The Age-old Papercut Art 196
The Story of the Door Gods 201
Exotic New Year Pictures 206
The Appealing Chinese Shadow Play 211
Chapter Seven Traditional Festivals Celeb rated by Ethnic MinoritiesThe Cheerful Singing-Song Festival of the Zhuang Nationality 217
The Jubilant Water-Splashing Festival of the Dai Nationality 221
The Exciting Torch Festival of the Yi Nationality 223
The Joyous Reed Pipe Festival of the Miao Nationality 226
The Grand Shoton Festival of the Tibetans 229
The Kuzhazha Festival of the Hani Nationality 233