Shangsi refers to the first day of March in the summer calendar. This is a folk festival to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings in China. As early as the Zhou dynasty, there was a custom of facing the water, and the court appointed a full-time witch to take charge of this matter. Pit is to eliminate evil spirits; Oh, it's an honest and clean life. Sickness is a ritual instrument to remove severe illness by washing the body. Every spring and autumn, people meet to "lead an honest and clean life on running water". That is, taking a bath.
It was not until the third day of March in the Han Dynasty that it was designated as a festival. On this day, not only the people will go to the water's edge to wash, but also the imperial concubines and concubines will go to the water's edge to remove scales and eliminate evil. Later, this custom evolved into a waterfront banquet. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi was officially designated as the third day of March in the summer calendar, that is, the Spring Festival. As an important festival, all seaside activities and banquets are held on this day.
The activity of "Qushui Flowing" originated from the custom of Shangsi Festival. After the ceremony, people sat by the winding canal and put the glass upstream to let it flow down. Whoever stops in front of the glass will take a sip and appreciate each other, so it is called "Qushui Flow". The jackal is an ancient cup for holding wine, usually made of wood with a bracket at the bottom. It is small and light, and can float in the water. There are also pottery cups with ears on both sides, also called "feathers". Because the volume is heavier than the wooden cup, it should be placed on the lotus leaf and let it float.
Wang Xizhi's activities in Lanting are the most famous in history. They sat on the floor beside Qingxi, put the wine in the stream, slowly descended from the upstream and crossed the winding stream. Whoever turns or stops in front of them will improvise poetry and drink, and those who can't compose poetry will be fined. In this competition, 1 1 people wrote two poems, 15 people wrote a poem, 16 people didn't write a poem, and each had three drinks. After the activity, Wang Xizhi collected everyone's poems, prefaced them with cocoon paper and moustache pen, and wrote the world-famous Preface to Lanting Collection, which was praised by later generations as "the best running book in the world" and respected as "the sage of books". Later generations also called the inscription and postscript of Preface to Lanting Collection "Mao Tie".
In Shaoxing, the elegant and popular style of singing poems and drinking wine brought by the activity of "Quliu Shuiyi" has always been popular. From the "Longshan Poetry Nest" established by Yang Lianfu, a poet in the Yuan Dynasty, to 10 people including Shen in the Ming Dynasty. Today, every year on the third day of March in the summer calendar, Chinese and foreign calligraphers will get together in Lanting, Shaoxing, splashing ink, reciting poems and rolling paper to commemorate Wang Xizhi and playing a game of "Qushui".
The custom of "Qushui Flowing" also spread to Japan. As early as 958 AD, Tianman Palace in Dazai Prefecture, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan imitated Lanting's Qushui Yunxing for the first time and held a Qushui Banquet. The ceremony was very grand. Participants also put on antique costumes, performed dust-washing (pruning) etiquette, danced witchcraft, and then held a "Qushui Banquet".