The Lantern Festival is also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the first month of the year. The new year’s Eve or the Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals. The time is the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called “night” as “Xiao”. The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night of the year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the “Lantern Festival”.
The origin of festivals
Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on lights and praying for blessings. On the 14th night of the first month, people usually begin to “test” the lamp. On the 15th night, people need to light the lamp, also known as “send the lamp”, to carry out the activities of offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for blessings. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty also played an important role in promoting the formation of the custom of the Lantern Festival. During the reign of emperor Yongping of the Han and Ming Dynasties, in order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han and Ming ordered “light lamps to show Buddhism” in the palace and temples on the 15th night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of lighting lamps on the 15th night of the first lunar month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and later the addition of Taoist culture. In the northern and Southern Dynasties, lantern festival became popular. Emperor Wu of Liang believed in Buddhism, and there were lights on the 15th day of the first month in his palace. In the Tang Dynasty, the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries were closer, and Buddhism flourished. Officials and common people generally “lit lamps for Buddha” on the 15th day of the first lunar month, and Buddhist lights spread all over the people. Since the Tang Dynasty, Lantern Festival has become a legal matter.
National Folklore
Eat yuanxiao
On the 15th day of the first month, people eat yuanxiao. As a kind of food, Yuanxiao has a long history in China. In Song Dynasty, a kind of novel food for Lantern Festival was popular among the people. This kind of food was first called “fuyuanzi” and later called “Yuanxiao”. Businessmen also called it “Yuanbao”. Yuanxiao, or “Tangyuan”, is filled with white sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, Huanggui, walnut kernel, nut and jujube paste. It is wrapped in glutinous rice flour and can be meat or vegetable with different flavors. Can be boiled soup, fried, steamed food, there is a happy reunion. The dumplings in Shaanxi are not wrapped, but “rolled” in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, hot and round.
Lantern Show
The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Lantern Show, which is also called the Lantern Festival because of the folk customs of hanging, playing and watching lanterns.
Lantern Festival is a traditional festival custom, which began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the wind of lighting prevailed and passed down to later generations. On the fifteenth day of the first month, it is the climax of the annual fireworks. In the county level cities, townships and towns of Shanxi Province, these residents are concentrated in the bustling areas. Before the arrival of the 15th day of the first lunar month, the streets are full of lanterns, full of flowers and flickering lights, reaching the climax on the evening of the 15th day of the first lunar month. “Lantern watching” on the 15th day of the first lunar month has become a spontaneous activity of the masses in Shanxi Province. On the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month, red lights are hanging high in the streets and alleys. There are palace lamps, animal lamps, horse lamps, flower lamps, bird lamps and so on, which attract the lantern watching masses. Taiyuan area, Taigu County lamp is very famous. Taigu’s lamps are famous for their variety, exquisite manufacture and attractive appearance.
Guess lantern riddles
Guessing lantern riddles, also known as playing lantern riddles, is a unique form of traditional folk cultural and entertainment activities with rich national style in China. It is a characteristic activity of the Lantern Festival that has spread since ancient times. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, traditional folk people hang up colorful lanterns and set off fireworks. Later, some good people write riddles on paper and paste them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can enlighten wisdom and cater to the festival atmosphere, so the response of many people, and then guess riddles gradually become an indispensable program of the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles add festive atmosphere and show the wisdom and yearning for a better life of the ancient working people.
