The Symbolic Significance of the Origin of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China, which existed in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Lantern Festival viewing began in the period of Emperor Han Ming in the East. Ming Di advocates Buddhism. He heard that on the fifteenth day of the first month, monks watched the Buddhist relics and lit lanterns to worship the Buddha, so that all the gentry and ordinary people hung lanterns. Later, this Buddhist ceremonial festival gradually formed a grand folk festival. The festival has experienced a development process from the court to the people, and from the Central Plains to all parts of the country. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, just after the Spring Festival, the traditional festival Lantern Festival in China was ushered in. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", so they called the fifteenth day of the first month the Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. On the night of Spring Festival, people celebrate this festival and the continuation of the Spring Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival". According to the folk tradition in China, on this bright night, people light thousands of lanterns to celebrate. Go out to enjoy the moon, light and set fire, enjoy riddles, celebrate the Lantern Festival, have family reunion, and celebrate the festive season. It's fun [1]. During the reign of Emperor Wendi, the fifteenth day of the first month was named Lantern Festival. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrificial activities of "Taiyi God" were scheduled for the 15th day of the first month. Taiyi: the God who rules the universe. When Sima Qian founded the taichu calendar Law, he had already identified the Lantern Festival as the Lantern Festival. Another way of saying it is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the "ternary theory" of Taoism; The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit. The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, lights were lit from the eighth day of August until the seventeenth night of the first month, a total of ten days. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days. Shangyuan means the first full moon night of the New Year. The origin of Shangyuan Festival is recorded as years old in Miscellaneous Notes, which is a Taoist stereotype. Taoism once called the 15th day of the first month the Shangyuan Festival, the 15th day of July the Zhongyuan Festival and the 15th day of October the Xiayuan Festival, which were collectively called the "Sanyuan Festival". The gods worshipped by Wudou Midao, an important school of Taoism in the late Han Dynasty, were celestial officials, local officials and water officials. They said that God bless the people, the local officials forgive sins, and the water officials relieve Eritrea. They used three yuan to match the three officials, saying that Shangyuan Tianguan was born on the fifteenth day of the first month, Zhongyuan was born on the fifteenth day of July, and Xiayuan Shuiguan was born on the fifteenth day of October. In this way, the fifteenth day of the first month is called Shangyuan Festival. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu said in a dream: "The fifteenth day of the first month is the day when God bless the people." It is said that God bless the people and local officials make atonement, but the real motivation of the Lantern Festival custom is that it is at a new time point, and people make full use of this special time stage to express their wishes for life. The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to historical data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the God who rules everything in the world) in Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first month, which was regarded by later generations as the first sacrifice to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month. However, the fifteenth day of the first month is indeed a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs. During the reign of Emperor Yongping (AD 58- 175), the Lantern Festival, because Ming Taizu advocated Buddhism, coincided with Cai Cheng's conversion to Buddhism from India, saying that on the fifteenth day of the first month in India, monks gathered to pay tribute to relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to carry forward Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in the palace temple on the 15th night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month, with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture, gradually spread in China. It is also said that the Lantern Festival originated from the Torch Festival. In the Han dynasty, people held torches in rural fields to drive away insects and wild animals, hoping to reduce pests and pray for a bumper harvest. To this day, people in some areas in southwest China still use reeds or branches as torches on the 15th day of the first month, and hold high in groups to dance in fields or grain drying fields. Since the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been in full swing. Tens of thousands of people took part in singing and dancing, from faint to dark. With the changes of society and times, the custom of Lantern Festival has changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China. Another way of saying it is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the "ternary theory" of Taoism; The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit. The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, lights were lit from the eighth day of August until the seventeenth night of the first month, a total of ten days. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.