Why is the first month 15 called Lantern Festival?

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, which began 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. This festival has experienced the development process from the court to the people, and from the Central Plains to the whole country.

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ordered the 15th day of the first month to be designated as the 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 created the taichu calendar Law, he had already identified the Lantern Festival as a major 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.

There are several interesting legends about the origin of the Lantern Festival:

1 Legend of Lights

Legend has it that a long time ago, there were many fierce birds and beasts everywhere that hurt people and livestock, so people organized to defeat them. A god bird was trapped and landed on the earth, but was accidentally shot by an unsuspecting hunter. The Emperor of Heaven was very angry when he learned that. He immediately issued a decree, ordering the heavenly soldiers to set fire to the land on the fifteenth day of the first month, burning all the people, livestock and property. The daughter of the Emperor of Heaven is kind-hearted. She couldn't bear to see the innocent suffering of the people, so she risked her life and secretly rushed Xiangyun to the world to tell people the news. When people heard the news, it was like a blow to the head. I'm so scared that I don't know what to do. After a long time, an old man came up with an idea. He said: "On the 14th, 15th and 16th of the first month, every family decorated their houses, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks. In this way, the emperor will think that people have been burned to death. "

Everyone nodded and said yes, and they were ready to go separately. On the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, the emperor looked down and found that for three consecutive nights, the world was red and the noise was deafening. He thought it was the flame of a big fire, and soon. In this way, people saved their lives and property. In order to commemorate this success, every household hangs lanterns and sets off fireworks on the fifteenth day of the first month to commemorate this day.

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty set it up to commemorate Pinglu.

Another legend is that the Lantern Festival was established by Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty to commemorate Pinglu. After the death of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, Lv Hou's son Liu Ying became Emperor Hui of Han Dynasty. Hui Di was born weak and indecisive, and power gradually fell into the hands of Lv Hou. After Hui Di's death, he monopolized state affairs and turned Liu's world into Lu's. The old courtiers and Liu's imperial clan were deeply indignant, but they were afraid of cruelty and dared not speak out.

After Lv Hou's death, Zhu Lu has been in a state of anxiety, afraid of being hurt and excluded. So, in the general's home, they secretly assembled and plotted to make trouble in order to completely seize Liu's country.

This incident reached the ears of Liu Nang, the king of Qi in the Liu clan. In order to protect Liu's country, Liu Nang decided to fight with Zhu Lu. Then, he contacted the founding fathers Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, and planned to get rid of Lv Lu. Finally, the "Zhu Lu Rebellion" was completely put down.

After the rebellion, the ministers made Liu Heng, the second son of Liu Bang, emperor and called him Emperor Wen. Impressed by the hard-won peace and prosperity, Emperor Wen designated the 15th day of the first month of the first month to quell the "Zhu-Lu Rebellion" as a day to have fun with the people, and every household in Beijing celebrated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Since then, the fifteenth day of the first month has become a popular folk festival-"Lantern Festival".

Dong Fangshuo and Yuanxiao Girl.

This legend is related to the custom of eating Yuanxiao: According to legend, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a favorite named Dong Fangshuo, who was kind and funny. One winter, it snowed heavily for several days, and Dong Fangshuo went to the Imperial Garden to fold plum blossoms for Emperor Wu. As soon as I entered the garden gate, I found a maid-in-waiting in tears ready to throw herself into the well. Dong Fangshuo rushed forward to help and asked her why she committed suicide. It turns out that this maid-in-waiting is named Yuanxiao, and there are parents and a sister at home. She has never seen her family since she entered the palace. Every spring comes, I miss my family more than usual. I think in front of my parents, I would rather die than be filial. Dong Fangshuo expressed deep sympathy for her suffering and assured her that she would try her best to reunite with her family.

One day, Dong Fangshuo left the palace and set up a divination pavilion on Chang 'an Avenue. Many people are scrambling to find him for divination. Unexpectedly, what everyone wants is the signature of "burning us on the 16th day of the first month". Suddenly, there was a panic in Chang 'an. People are looking for a solution to the disaster. Dong Fangshuo said, "On the 13th night of the first month, Vulcan will send a goddess in red to visit the earth. She is the messenger who ordered the burning of Chang 'an. I'll give you the copied poem and let the emperor do something. " Say that finish, then dropped a red pillar and roared off. The people picked up the red post and quickly sent it to the palace to report to the emperor.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took it and read: "Chang 'an is robbing, and the imperial palace is being burned. It has been burning for fifteen days, and the midnight snack is red." He was so scared that he hurriedly invited resourceful Dong Fangshuo. Dong Fangshuo thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Vulcan likes to eat dumplings. Don't Yuanxiao in the palace often make dumplings for you? Let Yuanxiao package jiaozi on 15th night. Long live the incense and offerings, and order every family in Kyoto to pack jiaozi and worship Vulcan together. Then tell the subjects to hang lights together on the fifteenth night and set off firecrackers and fireworks all over the city, as if the whole city were on fire, so that the jade emperor could be fooled. In addition, the people outside the city were informed that they would go to the city to watch the lights on the fifteenth night, and they would eliminate disasters and solve problems in the crowd. Liang Wudi was very happy after hearing this, so he ordered him to do it according to Dong Fangshuo's method.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Chang 'an City was decorated with colorful lights, crowded with tourists and very lively. The parents of the maid-in-waiting Yuanxiao also took their sister to the city to see the lights. When they saw the big palace lantern with the words "Yuanxiao" written on it, they shouted in surprise: "Yuanxiao! Lantern Festival! " When Yuanxiao heard the shouts, she was finally reunited with her relatives at home.

After such a busy night, Chang 'an was safe. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed and ordered that glutinous rice balls should be made for Vulcan every year on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the whole city was decorated with lanterns and set off fireworks. Because jiaozi cooked by Yuanxiao is the best, people call it Yuanxiao, and this day is called Lantern Festival.

Telephone lamp link

Lantern Festival is a traditional custom of our people. Throughout the ages, there are not only a large number of popular Yuanxiao poems, but also countless interesting Yuanxiao couplets.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, a man named Jia Sidao was guarding Huaiyin (present-day Yangzhou). One year, lanterns were put on the Lantern Festival, and a guest chose Tang poetry as lanterns, saying, "Three-minute moonlit night, Little Red House in Yangzhou." It is said that this couplet is the earliest lantern couplet in China. Since then, people all over the world have followed suit. Hanging wall lamp couplets and door lamp couplets on the gates or conspicuous pillars not only adds festive interest to the Lantern Festival, but also increases the appreciation content for the people who enjoy the lanterns.

In the Qing Dynasty, people from Tongcheng, Anhui Province and Zhang were known as "Bachelor of Father and Son, Second Prime Minister", and both of them were good at poetry. One year during the Lantern Festival, Zhang Fu decorated lanterns and set off firecrackers as usual. The old prime minister went out to take the exam. "The red candle with high fever reflected the sky, bright and full of light." When Xiao Ting was thinking, she heard a burst of fireworks outside the door, and suddenly realized, "The low fireworks shook the earth, and the sound made her breathe." The antithesis is neat and seamless, which is wonderful.

Perhaps the most fascinating story is the story of Wang Anshi's wonderful alliance in the Northern Song Dynasty. When Wang Anshi was 20 years old, he went to Beijing to take the exam. He passed a place during the Lantern Festival. As he walked, he admired lanterns. He saw a large family with lanterns and couplets hanging under them to attract relatives. Lian said, "Run with the light, and the light will move quickly and stop." When Wang Anshi saw it, he couldn't answer it at the moment, so he kept it in his heart. When I arrived in Beijing, the examiner went out and the flying tiger flag fluttered in the wind. "Flying Tiger Flag, Flying Tiger Flag, Flying Tiger Flag hide." Wang Anshi responded, recruited relatives and was taken as a Jinshi. I passed by that house when I returned home. I heard that there was still no one to match my relatives, so I contacted the examiner and recruited me as my husband. A pair of coincidental couplets actually made Wang Anshi's two happy events.

According to legend, Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, traveled incognito during the Lantern Festival one year and met a scholar. They had a rather speculative talk. Judy went out to take the exam, and Li Anyun said, "Lights are bright, lights are bright, and Daming is unified." The scholar immediately wrote a couplet, "Jun Le Min Le, Jun Min Le, Yong Wan Le Year." "Yongle" is the title of Ming Chengzu. Judy was overjoyed, so he was awarded the title of champion.

Legend has it that one year during the Lantern Festival, Emperor Qianlong took a group of civil and military ministers to watch the Lantern Festival with great interest. Look at the colorful lanterns on the left, they look great; Look at all kinds of lanterns on the right. They are unique and interesting. When Emperor Qianlong was happy, he accompanied his ministers to make a riddle for everyone to guess. Ji Xiaolan, an accompanying bachelor, wanted to think and wrote a couplet on the palace lantern.

Black is not, white is not, and neither is red and yellow. Foxes, wolves, cats and dogs seem to be neither domestic animals nor wild animals.

Poetry is not, words are not, and neither is the Analects of Confucius. Blurred to the east, west, north and south, although it is a short product, it is also a wonderful article.

Emperor Qianlong looked at it and thought hard. The ministers of civil and military affairs scratched their heads one by one, but they couldn't guess. Finally, Ji Xiaolan solved the mystery himself: guessing.

Lantern Festival poetry

"A song of Haruka is like the sea, and thousands of lights are like night." There are countless poems praising Lantern Festival lanterns by literati in past dynasties, which are still interesting to read today.

By the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival had developed into an unprecedented lantern market. The capital "made lanterns 20 feet high, resplendent in clothes, decorated with gold and silver, burning 50,000 lanterns and clustering them into flower trees". Su Weidao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "The fifteenth night of the first month", saying, "The fire trees and silver flowers are combined, and the stars and bridges are locked. The dark dust goes with the horse and the bright moon comes. " It depicts a scene of colorful lights, bright moonlight, tourists weaving and excitement. Zack Zhang, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once praised that "the door of the calyx building is full of rain and dew, and Chang 'an is peaceful. The dragon holds a thousand lights in the fire tree and the chicken steps on the lotus. " Describe the scene of enjoying the Lantern Festival to the fullest. Li Shangyin used the poem "The Imperial City is full of moonlight lights, and the treasures of horses and chariots overflow the thoroughfare" to describe the grand scale of watching the lights at that time. It is worth mentioning that the first one to be recommended should be the poem "The Last Yuan Night" by Cui Ye, a poet in Tang Dynasty. Who can sit on the moon and smell the lights? Although there is no positive description of the Lantern Festival, it contains a very happy and lively scene.

The Lantern Festival in the Song Dynasty is even more grand, and the Lantern Festival is even more spectacular. Su Dongpo has a poem: "Lights are everywhere, songs are everywhere." Fan Chengda also wrote a poem, "Wutai was a prosperous place and preferred the Lantern Festival." The "shadow lamp" in the poem is the "running lantern". Xin Qiji, a great poet, once wrote a poem praising the grand occasion of the Lantern Festival, saying, "Thousands of trees open in the easterly night, blowing down even more, and flowers are like rain. BMW carved cars are full of incense. Bagpipes move, jade pots turn and fish dragons dance all night.

The Ming dynasty was even more extravagant, changing the Lantern Festival from three nights to ten nights. Tang Bohu once wrote poems praising the Lantern Festival, bringing people into the charming Lantern Festival night. The poem says: "No moon without lights, no spring without lights. When spring comes to the world, people are like jade, and the lamp burns silver next month. The streets are full of girls wandering in the spring, singing and competing with social gods. How can you get rid of this great time without smiling? "

In addition to all kinds of lanterns, there are dancing torches, fireballs, fire rain and so on. In Ruan Yuan, there is a poem about the Yangcheng Lantern Festival: "The sea claw clouds are exquisitely carved, and Demen is clearly listed in color screens. The city fire is overwhelming, and Yangde has recovered for many years. Full moon and spring can be a night, and people are like flowers. It means that there are two guests in Yingzhou, and the book window is more colorful. " In the poem Ode to the Lantern Festival written by Yao, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, "The bees and butterflies among the flowers are wild with joy, and the night of the BMW is long. The headlights on the twelfth floor are like fire, and the moon outside Siping Street is like frost. " It is more vivid, wonderful and unique.

The poetic and romantic Lantern Festival is usually associated with love. Among the poems of past dynasties, there are many poems expressing love through Yuanxiao. Ouyang Xiu in the Northern Song Dynasty wrote, "On the first night of this year, the moon lights remained unchanged; I didn't see it last year and cried Man Chun's shirt sleeve. " Expressed the pain of missing your lover.

Dietary customs

Besides watching lanterns for entertainment, eating customs are also fascinating. Oil hammer food for the Lantern Festival, oil hammer appeared in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Song people's Chronological Miscellanies said: "On the Yuan Festival, eating coke hammers was the most prosperous and lasted for a long time." It shows that oil hammer is a festival food in Bianzhong (now Kaifeng, Henan Province) in Song Dynasty. What kind of food is oil hammer? According to the Song Dynasty's Taiping Guangji, after the oil was heated, the hammer stuffing was taken out of the silver box. Combine them with things on a good soft surface. Put the ball hammer in the pot and cook it. Take it out with a silver policy and soak it in a new well. Then put the oil hammer into the oil pan, fry for three or five times and take it out. It tastes "crisp and beautiful, unspeakable." It turns out that the oil hammer in the Tang and Song Dynasties was the fried Yuanxiao in later generations. This record can be used as a reference for the development of "imitation Tang cuisine" today. With the development of 1000 years, the production methods and varieties of oil hammer have local characteristics. In Guangdong province alone, there are several kinds of "concentric pile speculation", "road team" in Dongguan and "pile speculation" in Jiujiang. It can be said that the dietary style of the Tang and Song Dynasties still exists today.

Yuanxiao is also called Tangyuan, Shuotuan and Zi Yuan. Eating dumplings on the Lantern Festival was first seen in the sequel to the Plain by Song Bida, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. There is a record in the book that "the food cooked in Yuanxiao is rich, but it seems that the predecessors did not give it." The floating ring in Song Dynasty was also called Tangtuan. By the Southern Song Dynasty, there were only lactose pills, yam pills, pearl pills, sand pills, kumquat pills, pink water pills, glutinous rice balls and so on. Then, why can this kind of "jiaozi" similar to rice noodles become a festive food of Shangyuan? It turns out that you must eat Yuanxiao on the Lantern Festival in order to get the auspicious meaning of "reunion is like the moon". In the Ming Dynasty, Yuanxiao was very common as a food for the Lantern Festival in Beijing. Its production method is glutinous rice flour, which is made of walnut kernel, sugar and roses by sprinkling water and rolling, which is as big as walnut, that is, dumplings in the southeast. In the Qing Dynasty, the royal chef made a palace-style "Babao Lantern Festival". As early as the Kangxi period, there were rumors in the ruling and opposition parties. Kong Renshang, the author of the famous drama Peach Blossom Fan, once wrote such a poem to the Babel Lantern Festival: "Ziyun Teahouse pours nectar, and the Babel Lantern Festival will be in effect." Today, Yuanxiao has formed the characteristics of different regions, different flavors and rich colors. Surface lamp, also called surface lamp, is a kind of lamp made of flour, which is popular in northern China. There are various forms of water surface lamps, some of which are twelve lamps (thirteen lamps in leap year), which are lit with edible oil, or steamed in a pot, depending on the residual oil in the lamp or the residual water in the lamp after steaming, so as to predict the flood and drought situation in the next twelve months. This is understandable in an era when science is underdeveloped. For example, during the reign of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty, Shaanxi's "County Records of Cone South" recorded that "on the fifteenth day of the first month, buckwheat noodles steamed and it rained in December." Expressed people's desire to pray for good weather. Noodles are cooked or steamed on the sixteenth day of the first month. During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Chengcheng County Records" in Shanxi recorded that "on the fifteenth day of the first month, buckwheat noodles were steamed into lamps, and the lamps were burned with oil, and they were eaten the next morning." At present, this custom still exists in rural areas.

Noodles are the food for Lantern Festival dinner. In ancient times, there was a folk saying, "Put the Lantern Festival, put down the lamp surface, and look forward to next year after eating." This eating custom is very popular in the north of the Yangtze River. "Annals of the Emblem" states: "On the 18th day of the first month, the lights go out and people spit on their faces. As the saying goes,' when the light is on, it goes out', and everyone celebrates. " Eating noodles with lights out symbolizes continuous celebration.

Sticky cakes are also called rice cakes. Besides Yuanxiao and noodles, some people eat sticky cakes on the Lantern Festival. Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in Diet Therapy, "autotrophic rice is sweet, slightly cold, non-toxic, clearing heat and benefiting qi." After the Tang Dynasty, there were also records of eating cakes during the Lantern Festival in the Yuan Dynasty.

Bad soup is eaten after watching lanterns on the fourteenth day of the first month in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. Stir-fried with shredded pork, shredded winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus, fresh duckweed, dried bean curd, oil bubble, Sichuan watercress, spinach, etc. Then add a little rice flour to make salty paste food. The rotten soup drunk on the fifteenth day of the first month is sweet, made of sweet potato powder or lotus root powder with lotus seeds, candied dates and longan.

In addition, Zhejiang Pujiang area eats steamed bread and wheat cakes. Steamed bread is made of dough, and wheat cake is round, which means "reunion of children and grandchildren".

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, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.

Look at the lights.

During the Yong Ping period of Han Dynasty (AD 58-75), when Ming Chengzu advocated Buddhism, it happened that Cai Cheng returned from India to seek Buddhism, saying that it was the fifteenth day of the first month of Mohato, India, and the monks gathered to pay tribute to the relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Hanming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in palaces and temples on the fifteenth night of the first month. Since then, the custom of putting lights on the Lantern Festival has spread from being held only in the court to the people. That is, on the fifteenth day of the first month, both the gentry and the people hang up lights, and the urban and rural areas are brightly lit all night.

The custom of setting off lanterns during the Lantern Festival developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty. Chang 'an, the capital at that time, was already the largest city with a population of one million in the world, and its society was rich. Under the personal initiative of the emperor, the Lantern Festival became more and more luxurious. After the middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. In the prosperous period of the Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan (685-762 AD), the lantern market in Chang 'an was very large, with 50,000 lanterns and all kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered 20 giant lantern buildings with a height of 150 feet, resplendent and magnificent.

The Lantern Festival in Song Dynasty is superior to that in Tang Dynasty in scale and dreamy lighting, with more folk activities and stronger national characteristics. Since then, the Lantern Festival has continued to develop and the time of the Lantern Festival has become longer and longer. The Lantern Festival in Tang Dynasty is "the day before and after Shangyuan". In the Song Dynasty, two days were added after the 16th, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was extended from the 8th to 18th to ten days.

In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu entered the Central Plains, and the court no longer held lantern festivals, but the folk lantern festivals were still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days and continues to this day.

In Taiwan Province Province, lanterns have the meaning of light and elegance, and lighting them means lighting up the future. The homonym of Taiwan Province Lantern and En stands for having a boy. So in the past, women would deliberately wander under lanterns, hoping to "drill under lanterns to lay eggs" (that is, swim under lanterns to give birth to boys).

lion dance

Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. Every Lantern Festival or assembly celebration, people come to the lion dance for entertainment. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and was popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a history of 1000 years. According to legend, it was first introduced from the western regions, and the lion was the mount of Manjusri Bodhisattva. As Buddhism was introduced into China, lion dance was also introduced into China. The lion is a tribute brought back with the peacock after Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. However, the skill of lion dance originated from Xiliang's "masked play". Some people think that lion dance originated from the army in the fifth century and was later introduced to the people. Both statements have their own basis, and it is difficult to judge whether they are right or wrong today. However, in the Tang Dynasty, lion dance has become a popular activity in the court, the army and the people. Tang Duanan Festival "Yuefu Miscellaneous Search" said: "There are five lions in the play, more than ten feet high, each with five colors. Each lion has 12 people, wearing red stripes, wearing clothes and painting clothes, and holding red pens. They are called lion lang and dance Taiping music. " The poet Bai Juyi described it vividly in his poem "West Cool Geisha": "West Cool Geisha, West Cool Geisha, Masked Hu Ren, False Lion. Wood carvings at the head and tail, gold-plated eyes and silver teeth. Fenxun sweaters have ears, such as coming to Wan Li from quicksand. " This poem describes the scene of lion dance at that time.

In the development of 1000 years, lion dance has formed two performance styles, north and south. The lion dance of the Northern School mainly performed the "Wushi", that is, the "Ruishi" appointed by Wei Wudi in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Little lions dance alone, while big lions dance in pairs. One stood and danced the lion's head, and the other bent down to dance the lion's body and tail. The lion dancer is covered with a lion quilt, wearing green lion pants and golden claw boots of the same color as the lion's body. People can't recognize the lion dancer's body, and its shape is very similar to that of a real lion. The lion guide dressed as an ancient warrior, holding a spinning hydrangea with Beijing gongs, drums and cymbals to tease the lion. Under the guidance of "Lion Lang", lions perform somersaults, jumps, climbs, bows down and other techniques, as well as some difficult movements such as walking plum blossom piles, jumping on tables and stepping on bowling balls. Shi Wen is the main performance of the Southern Lion Dance. When performing, it pays attention to expressions, such as scratching, shaking hair, licking hair and so on. Vivid and lovely, but also have difficult skills such as spitting the ball. South Lion, centered in Guangdong, is popular in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia. Although the Southern Lion is also a duet, the lion dancers are all dressed in knickerbockers, and only a colorful lion is danced. Different from the lions in the north, "Lion Lang" wears a big head Buddha mask, a cassock, a ribbon around his waist and a sunflower fan in his hand to tease the lions, thus dancing all kinds of beautiful movements, which is ridiculous. There are many schools of southern lions, such as the lion with the head of a dog in Qingyuan and Yingde, the lion with a big head in Guangzhou and Foshan, the duck-billed lion in Gaohe and Zhongshan, and the unicorn lion in Dongguan. In addition to their different shapes, heather also has different personalities. The white beard lion dance method is not wide, and there are not many varieties of colors, but it is calm and powerful, and it is called "Liu Beishi" by the people. Known as the "Guan Gong Lion", the black-bearded red-faced lion dances bravely and fearlessly. Gray bearded lion, rough and belligerent, commonly known as "Zhang". The lion is the statue of all animals, and its image is majestic and martial, giving people a sense of majesty and bravery. The ancients regarded it as a symbol of courage and strength, and thought it could ward off evil spirits and keep people and animals safe. Therefore, people gradually formed the custom of dancing lions during the Lantern Festival and other major events, hoping for good luck and peace of life.