What is the Lantern Festival?

1. The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Xiaozhengmu, Yuanxi or Lantern Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year. The Lantern Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China and the Chinese Character Cultural Circle area as well as for overseas Chinese. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called the "night" "night", so the first full-moon night of the year, the 15th day of the first month, is called the Lantern Festival.

2. In ancient Chinese custom, the Upper Yuan Festival (Tian Guan Festival, Lantern Festival), the Middle Yuan Festival (Di Guan Festival, Bon Festival), and the Lower Yuan Festival (Shui Guan Festival) are collectively known as the Sanyuan. The Lantern Festival began more than 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen ordered that the 15th day of the first month be designated as the Lantern Festival. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the "Taiyi God" festival was held on the 15th day of the first month (Taiyi: the God who dominates everything in the universe). When Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar", the Lantern Festival was already recognized as a major festival.

3. Traditional customs go out to enjoy the moon, lanterns and fireworks, happy to guess the riddles, *** eating Lantern Festival, pulling the rabbit lamps and so on. In addition, many places Lantern Festival also added a dragon lantern, lion, stilt walkers, rowing dry boat, twisting rice-planting songs, playing the drums and other traditional folk performances. 2008 June, the Lantern Festival was selected into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Lantern Festival, which is also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the Night of Lanterns, and the Lantern Festival. According to legend, Han Wendi (179 - 157 years ago) to celebrate Zhou Bo in the first month of the fifteenth to survey the leveling of the chaos of Zhu Lu, every night, must go out of the palace to play with the people, in ancient times, the night is the same as the night, the first month of the first month is also known as the month of the yuan, Han Wendi the first month of the fifteenth is designated as the Lantern Festival, the night is called the night of the yuan. Sima Qian created the Taichu Calendar, which listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival. Since the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties, it has been even more prevalent. "Sui book - music Zhi" day: "Whenever the first month, all the countries to the court, stay until the 15th in the Duanmen outside the Jianguo Gate, stretching eight miles, the play for the theater," to participate in the songs and dances up to tens of thousands of people, from the dusk to the end of the day, to the obscurity of the end. When with the changes in society and the times, the Lantern Festival customs and habits have long had a big change, but is still a traditional Chinese folk festival.