The origin of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival, or Lantern Festival. The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. On the night of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace, which was regarded by later generations as the first sacrifice to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month.

Yuanxiao originally meant "the night of Shangyuan Festival", because the main activities of Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month were to eat glutinous rice balls and enjoy the moon at night, and later the name of this festival evolved into "Lantern Festival". On the night of Lantern Festival, the streets are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and people enjoy lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns and eat Lantern Festival, which pushes the celebration activities started on New Year's Eve to another climax and becomes a custom handed down from generation to generation.

Yuanxiao was only called the fifteenth day of the first month, the first half of the first month or the full moon when the early festivals were formed, and it was called Yuanxiao or Yuanxiao after Sui. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, but it was only in the late Tang Dynasty that it was occasionally called Yuanxiao. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dengxi. In the Qing dynasty, it was also called the Lantern Festival.

Extended data

Customs of Lantern Festival:

1, eat Yuanxiao

Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao".

Yuanxiao is filled with white sugar, rose, sesame, red bean paste, osmanthus fragrans, walnut kernel, nuts and jujube paste, and wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape, which can be both meat and vegetarian with different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. It's called Yuanxiao in the north and Tangyuan in the south.

Step 2 send lanterns

Sending lanterns is also called sending lanterns to children. In ancient times, before the Lantern Festival, newlyweds always received lanterns from their parents. Because lanterns are homophonic with Ding, it means that their daughters will be able to import more flowers and the population will flourish in the new year. Now there are many such scenes in many TV dramas, where women put lanterns in the river.

Step 3 play with dragon lanterns

Since ancient times, China people have regarded themselves as descendants of dragons, because dragons symbolize good luck and wealth. On the Lantern Festival, dancing dragon lanterns together adds a festive atmosphere to the festival. Now many parks hold lantern festivals, which probably evolved from here.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Lantern Festival