What is the origin of Lantern Festival?

The origin of the Lantern Festival is that when Ming Chengzu advocated Buddhism in the Yongping period of Han Dynasty, it coincided with Cai _ returning to Buddhism from India, saying that on the fifteenth day of the first month of Mohato, India, monks gathered to pay tribute to Buddhist 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. Since then, the custom of putting lights on the Lantern Festival has spread to the people. Both the gentry and the people have to hang lights, and the urban and rural areas are brightly lit all night.

Shangyuan Festival, also known as Lantern Festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called "night". The fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. Since ancient times, it has been dominated by warm and festive lantern viewing customs.

There are a series of traditional folk activities, such as watching lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls, solve riddles on the lanterns and setting off fireworks. In addition, traditional folk performances such as Youlong Lantern, lion dance, walking on stilts, boating, yangko and playing Taiping drum have been added in many places. In June 2008, the Lantern Festival was selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival custom of Lantern Festival, which began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, lantern style prevailed in all previous dynasties and spread to future generations. The fifteenth day of the first month is the climax of the annual Lantern Festival, so it is also called the Lantern Festival.