The Lantern Culture of Nanhou Street Lantern Festival

It is said that lanterns in Nanhou Street began in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Lanterns have the functions of viewing, praying and adding happiness, and are loved by people at the Nanhou Street Lantern Festival, which has been passed down for thousands of years. As early as the Song Dynasty, Fuzhou lanterns were very famous. According to the Song Dynasty's Old Wulin Story, Fuzhou lanterns inlaid with pure white jade are "dazzling, like ice-clearing jade pots" and are listed as top-grade lanterns in Beijing. At that time, lanterns were made all over the country, Suzhou and Fuzhou were the best, and Fuzhou was above Suzhou. Explain the high level of Fuzhou lamp-making technology.

The original Lantern Festival was just a folk lantern show held by the government to show "having fun with the people". Wang Yingshan, a scholar of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, recorded that "hanging lanterns along the door and enjoying them all night is called the lantern market". However, people's hearts and passions aroused by lanterns have become the traditional culture of today's folk festivals. There are also some exciting stories. For example, during the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to whitewash the peace, the government ordered Fuzhou people, rich or poor, to donate several lanterns to every household during the Lantern Festival. Chen Lie, a scholar and poet living in Langguan Lane, Nanhou Street, was greatly indignant. Chen Lie is honest and knowledgeable, and he is also called "Four Gentlemen of the Seaside" with the famous Neo-Confucian Chen Xiang, imperial academy Zheng Mu and Zhou Ximeng. Chen Lie thought that the government ignored people's livelihood and wasted people's money, so he ran to the rostrum of the "mighty military gate" (Drum Tower) and wrote: "A rich man has a lamp, Taicang has a millet, a poor man has a lamp, and his father and son cry together. Do you know the wind is too protective? I still hate singing songs that are not wonderful. " Expressed the voice of the people, let Fuzhou satrap Liu Jin realize his mistake and take back his life. Chen Lie's action was recorded by Liang Kejia, prime minister of Xichun in the Southern Song Dynasty, in the "Three Mountains Record" which has been circulated for ages.