Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - The origin of enjoying the moon on Lantern Festival

The origin of enjoying the moon on Lantern Festival

Origin of Lantern Festival viewing: Lantern Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China, which existed more than 2,000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty. Watching the Lantern Festival began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Ming Di advocated Buddhism, and heard that there was a custom in Buddhism that monks watched the Buddhist relics light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the first month, so he ordered that all the gentry and people should hang lanterns in palaces and temples on this night.

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. Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting and setting fires, enjoying lantern riddles, eating Yuanxiao, family reunion and celebrating festivals are all enjoyment.