The origin of hanging lanterns on Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China. During the Lantern Festival, there are many custom activities, and hanging lanterns is one of them. What is the origin of hanging lanterns on the Lantern Festival? Next, let's take a look at this issue of the old almanac!

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The origin of hanging lanterns on Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. As early as 108 BC, Emperor Wendi won the rebellion, which happened to be the 15th day of the first month, and was designated as the Lantern Festival.

There were simple celebrations in the Western Han Dynasty, but there was no habit of hanging lanterns on the Lantern Festival, and only on the fifteenth night of the first month, the Emperor of Heaven was sacrificed. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ming Di Liu Zhuang believed in religion and ordered officials and people to hang lanterns on the Lantern Festival. This is the earliest record of hanging lanterns on the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival" because lanterns are widely hung in the streets and in every household.

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Although lanterns originated in the Han Dynasty, they really became popular in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. In order to celebrate the safety of the country and people, people tied lanterns, symbolizing "colorful dragons are auspicious, the people are rich and the country is strong" through flashing lights, and the lantern custom has been widely popular since then.

Legend has it that Emperor Taizong of Li Shimin encouraged reading, and all the people sent their children to school. The first program of admission is called "Turn on the light", which is to bring lanterns made in advance to the school and ask a learned old gentleman to light them to symbolize a bright future. In the past, most private schools started school on the fifteenth day of the first month, so the opening lanterns became decorations for the "Shangyuan Festival".

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Lanterns have other meanings besides lighting. In ancient times, in order to dispel the fear of darkness, lanterns were derived with the meaning of exorcising evil spirits and praying for light. In Minnan dialect, the pronunciation of "Deng" is similar to that of "Ding", so lanterns are also used to pray for children to add Ding, seek fame and avoid evil spirits. In the Japanese occupation era, patriots painted folk stories on lanterns to teach their children and grandchildren to know their own culture, so it has the significance of being passed down from generation to generation.