Shangsi Festival

Shangsi Festival (Chinese: 上巳节; pinyin: Shàngsì Jié), also known as the Double Third Festival (Chinese: 三月三), is an ancient Chinese festival celebrated on the third day of the third month of the Chinese calendar. During the festival people would go for an outing by the water, picnic, and pluck orchids. It is also a day for invoking cleansing rituals to prevent disease and get rid of bad luck. The day is also traditionally considered to be a possible birthday of the Yellow Emperor. The ancient traditions of Shangsi have been lost in most regions of China and the festival is not well known today. Only isolated communities still celebrate this holiday, such as the ancient village of Xinye which holds elaborate ancestor worship ceremonies on this day. 

The great calligrapher Wang Xizhi mentions this festival in his famous work Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems, written in regard to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering during the Six Dynasties era.