Government through generations attached great importance to the sanctity of the buddhist kingdom Mountain Jiuhua. Every canker such as taking taking up holy place as booth, blocking the traffic by building hotel, slaughtering livestock and tarnishing buddhist doctrine was strictly forbidden. Therefore the vegetarian-oriented life style had been formed. During the transitional period from Qing Dynasty to Minguo, business men and country man loosened, so the blending situation that the monks ate vegetarian diets and inhabitants had meat or fish appeared, and people gradually became accustomed to it. However, due to respect for tradition, they first first celebrate the meat new year and then the vegetable new year. The former is on 28th, December, in lunar calendar. The whole family eat meat or fish that day, next day, all the bowls and containers will brushed with plant ash and people begin to eat vegetarian dishes on 30th, they again prepare vegetarian dishes for New Year's Eve. After that, people either do ancestor cult, or stay up late, or go on pilgrimage. People will live on vegetarian diet till the third day of the new year. Meat New Year and Vegetable New Year has become one of the important programmes when one tours Mountain Jiuhua in winter. |