What is the use of hanging lanterns?

Lanterns are closely related to people's lives in China. There are lanterns everywhere in temples and living rooms. After careful calculation, China had lanterns after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and paper lanterns probably after the invention of paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Lanterns in China are not only used for lighting, but also a symbol. Wu Dunhou said that he used to make bridal lanterns (that is, palace lanterns) to represent wedding celebrations; Bamboo lanterns announce that this is a funeral occasion; Umbrella lamp (word surname lamp), because the pronunciation of "lamp" and "ding" is the same, indicating that people are prosperous. Therefore, in the past, every household had a surname lamp hanging under the eaves and in the living room. Today, there are still two big lanterns in front of God's head, which is a continuation of this custom.

However, Yuanxiao is probably the most reverie and expectation of Lantern Festival. The custom of watching lanterns on the Lantern Festival originated in the early Han Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, in order to celebrate the country's prosperity and security, people hung lanterns and used flashing lights to symbolize "lucky dragons, rich people and strong country", and the custom of playing lanterns was widely spread. When Zhu Yuanzhang established Nanjing as his capital, he burned 10,000 water lanterns on the Qinhuai River. During the Yongle period, a lamppost was erected at the Wumen Gate and a "light market" was set outside the Huamen Gate, so that there was still a "dengshikou" street in Peiping. After the Republic of China, the practice of lanterns still existed, but it was much more prosaic. Fortunately, nowadays lanterns gradually occupy an important position in home decoration because of their popularity in China. However, some materials of lanterns have changed from paper and bamboo to cloth, plastic and iron wire, and their shapes and colors are very different from traditional ones.

Traditionally, temples are mainly yellow, and the size and color of lanterns are changed according to personal preferences, which has no symbolic significance.

Lanterns have other meanings besides lighting. Private school (ancient school) in the first month of each year.

At the beginning of school, parents will prepare a lantern for their children, which will be lit by the teacher, symbolizing the bright future of the students. It's called "turning on the light". Later, it evolved into the custom of carrying lanterns on the Lantern Festival. Because the pronunciation is similar to "Tianding", lanterns are also used to pray for children. 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.

There are many theories about the origin of playing lanterns. A widely circulated saying is that the custom of playing lanterns on the Lantern Festival began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Eastern Han Dynasty advocated Buddhism. He heard that on the fifteenth day of the first month, a Buddhist monk watched the Buddhist relics and lit lanterns to worship the Buddha, so all the gentry and ordinary people hung lanterns that night. 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. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, in order to celebrate the country's prosperity and people's peace, people tied lanterns, symbolizing "lucky dragons, rich people and strong country" with flashing lights. Since then, the custom of playing lanterns has been widely spread.

There is another interesting folk saying about the origin of playing lanterns. Legend has it that a long time ago, a god bird got lost and landed on the earth, but was shot by an unsuspecting hunter. When the Emperor of Heaven found out, he was very angry. He ordered the heavenly soldiers to set fire to the ground on the fifteenth day of the first month, burning all the property of people and animals. The daughter of the Emperor of Heaven was kind-hearted, and could not bear to see the innocent suffering of the people, so she secretly came to the world and told the people the news. A wise man came up with an idea. He asked everyone to decorate their homes, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks on the 14th, 15th and 16th of the first month, so that the Emperor of Heaven would think that it was the heavenly soldiers who set the fire. 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, thinking it was the flame of fire. In order to commemorate this success, from now on, every household will hang lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month to commemorate this day.