The origin of lantern riddles

In ancient times, every Lantern Festival, people always divided Cao Fu into two halves as a joke. Lantern riddles first developed from riddles and originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This is a literary game full of ridicule, humor and banter. Lantern riddles hung on lanterns for people to guess and shoot began in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Solve riddles on the lanterns is a traditional form of entertainment in China, especially the Lantern Festival, where riddles can be seen everywhere. Lantern riddles developed from ancient games. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, word games such as "argot" and "crossword puzzle" appeared in the court, which can be said to be the earliest lantern riddle. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were more people doing crossword puzzles and guessing crossword puzzles. Song Dynasty writers Wang Anshi and Su Shi were both experts in solve riddles on the lanterns. During the Southern Song Dynasty and the Lantern Festival, scholars wrote riddles on tulle lanterns for people to guess.