What are the origin and customs of the Lantern Festival?

The Origin and Customs of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the Lantern Festival. It is also known as Shangyuan Festival, Yuanyuan Night, and Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is an important traditional festival in China. In ancient times, this day was called "on the Yuan", and its night was called "Yuan night", "Yuan Xi" or "Lantern Festival". China's ancient calendar and the moon phase has a close relationship, the 15th day of the month must be full moon, called "hope". The full moon symbolizes reunion, and on the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, people ushered in the first night of the full moon, which is rightly regarded as an auspicious day. According to the Records of the Grand Historian (史记?) Book of Music", as early as the early Western Han Dynasty, the court had a first month of the fifteenth day of sacrifice to Taiyi God (God of Heaven), praying for the blessing of the ceremonial activities. According to Chinese folk tradition, on this night when the moon is high in the sky, people will light up ten thousand colored lanterns to celebrate.

Lantern Festival lanterns, go out to enjoy the moon, burning lanterns and fireworks, happy to guess the riddles, *** to eat Lantern Festival, family reunions, celebrating the festive season, a joyful and happy.

The Lantern Festival is the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, symbolizing the arrival of spring, people eat lanterns, lanterns, riddles, to show congratulations.

Origin and origin of the Lantern Festival

The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, according to historical data and folklore, the 15th day of the first lunar month in the Western Han Dynasty has been attached importance to the activities of the Han Emperor's first lunar month on the night of the Sin in the Ganquan Palace sacrifices to the "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the god who dominates everything in the world), was regarded by later generations as the first day of the first lunar month to sacrifice to the gods. The 15th day of the first month of the sacrifice to the gods of heaven.

The first fifteenth day of the first lunar month really became a folk festival after the Han and Wei dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty was an important impetus to the formation of the custom of celebrating the Lantern Festival.

During the Yongping period of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty (58-175 A.D.), when Emperor Ming advocated Buddhism, Cai Chuan, who had returned from India with the Dharma, claimed that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the country of Moghul, the monks would gather to venerate the relics of the Buddha, which was an auspicious time to attend the Buddha's service. Han Mingdi in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the 15th of the first month in the palace and the temple "lighted table Buddha". Therefore, the custom of burning lamps on the night of the 15th day of the first month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture.

There is also a theory that the Lantern Festival originated from the "Torch Festival", in which people in the Han Dynasty held torches in the countryside and fields to drive away insects and beasts in the hope of mitigating insect pests and praying for a good harvest. Since the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties, the festival has become even more popular. Until today, people in some areas of southwestern China on the fifteenth day of the first month of the reed wood or twigs made of torches, groups of people holding up torches in the fields or sunbathing field dancing.

Another theory is that the custom of burning lanterns on the Lantern Festival originated in Taoism's "Three Elements": the 15th day of the first month of the first element festival, the 15th day of the seventh month of the middle element festival, the 15th day of the tenth month of the lower element festival. In charge of the upper, middle and lower three yuan respectively for the sky, earth, human three officials, the heavenly officials happy, so the festival to light.

The length of the festival, the Han Dynasty is a day, to the Tang Dynasty has been three days, the Song Dynasty is up to five days, the Ming Dynasty is from the eighth light, until the night of the seventeenth day of the first month of the lights, the whole ten days. With the Spring Festival, the day for the city, bustling, night lights, spectacular. To the Qing Dynasty, and added a dragon dance, lion dance, running boats, stilt walkers, rice-planting songs and other "hundred plays" content, but the festival was shortened to four to five days.

Customs of the Lantern Festival

There are many kinds of customs in the folk Lantern Festival, and the ways of different ethnic groups to celebrate the Lantern Festival will be different, the following are the ways of different ethnic groups to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

1, eat Lantern Festival

New Year's Eve to eat Lantern Festival, "Lantern Festival" as a food, in China has a long history. Song Dynasty, the folk that is popular a Lantern Festival to eat novelty food. This food, the earliest called "floating yuanzi" later called "Lantern", the businessman also beautifully named "Yuanbao". Lanterns to sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow cinnamon, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste, etc. for the filling, wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round, meat or vegetarian, different flavors. It can be boiled in soup, deep-fried, steamed, and has the meaning of reunion. The north is called Lantern, the south is called dumplings.

2, watch the lamp

Han Mingdi Yongping years (AD 58-75), Han Mingdi in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the fifteenth day of the first month of the palace and the temple "lighted table Buddha". Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the 15th night of the first month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture.

The custom of releasing lanterns on the 15th night of the first lunar month developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty, and after the Middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. Tang Xuanzong (685 - 762 AD), the beginning of the heyday, Chang'an lantern market is very large, burning lamps 50,000, lanterns, lanterns, the emperor ordered to make a giant lantern building, as wide as 20 rooms, 150 feet high, bright gold, extremely spectacular.

Following generations of Lantern Festival continues to develop, the time of the festival is also longer and longer. Tang Dynasty lantern festival is "one day before and after the first yuan", the Song Dynasty and in the sixteen days after the addition of two days, the Ming Dynasty is extended to the eight to eighteen by the whole ten days.

To the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus dominated the Central Plains, the court no longer held lanterns, folk lanterns are still spectacular, the date was shortened to five days.

"Guessing lantern riddles", also known as "playing lantern riddles", is an activity added after the Lantern Festival, which appeared in the Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the capital Lin'an made riddles every Lantern Festival, and there were many people guessing riddles. In the beginning, the riddles were written on strips of paper and pasted on colorful lanterns for people to guess. The riddles were popular among people from all walks of life because they were both intellectually stimulating and interesting.

3, Chinese Valentine's Day

Lantern Festival is also a romantic festival, Lantern Festival in the traditional feudal society, but also to the unmarried men and women to provide an opportunity to get to know each other, the traditional society of the young girls are not allowed to go out to free time, but the festival can be accompanied by a trip out to play the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival is just an opportunity to fellowship, unmarried men and women through the Lantern Festival can also be by the way to search for their own objects. The Lantern Festival is an opportunity for friendship, and unmarried men and women can search for their own partners by viewing the lanterns. During the Lantern Festival, it is the time for young men and women to meet with their lovers.

4, walking disease

Lantern Festival in addition to the celebration, there are faith-based activities. That is, "walking hundred diseases", also known as "baked hundred diseases", "scattered hundred diseases" participants are mostly women, they walk in pairs or walk along the wall, or across the bridge to the countryside, the purpose is to drive away the disease in addition to disaster.

5, fireworks

The most joyous activity of the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival night in the square are going to fireworks activities, when the whole family went to the street, to see the beautiful fireworks, fireworks more and more beautiful, more and more big, more and more high technology, more and more beautiful and more colorful.

6, guess the riddles

"Guess the riddles," also known as "riddles," is a Lantern Festival after the increase in an activity, the riddles were first developed by the riddles, all places are playing the riddles, hope that this year will be joyful, safe and sound. Because riddles can enlighten and interest people, they are popular among all social classes.

7. Juggling Dragon Lanterns

Juggling Dragon Lanterns is also known as Dragon Dance or Dragon Dance. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times. Legend has it that as early as in the period of the Yellow Emperor, in a kind of large-scale song and dance of "Qingjiao", there appeared the image of a dragon head and bird body played by people, and then choreographed the dance scene of six augur dragons interspersed with each other. See in the written records of the dragon dance, is the Han Dynasty Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu", the author of the hundred plays in the narrative of the dragon dance made a vivid depiction. According to the "sui book - music" records, the emperor of sui yang similar to the hundred plays in the dragon dance performance of the "yellow dragon change" is also very wonderful, the dragon dance is popular in many parts of China. The Chinese people revere the dragon as a symbol of good luck.

8, stilt-walking

Stilt-walking is a kind of mass skill performance popular among the people. Stilts are a kind of ancient Chinese opera, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The earliest introduction of stilts in China is in the article of "Lie Zi - Said Fu": "There was a Lanzi in Song, who used his skills to dry Song Yuan. Song Yuan summoned him to see his skill.

9. Lion Dance

Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. Whenever there is a Lantern Festival or a gathering for celebration, the folk will cheer up with lion dance. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period, began to popularize the North and South Dynasties, has been more than a thousand years of history.

"Lion Dance" began in the Wei and Jin dynasties, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the "Lion Dance", "Peaceful Music", generally completed by three people, two dressed as a lion, a person acting as the head of the lion, a person acting as the body and the back of the lion. One person as a lion body and back feet, the other when the lion guide, dance method and there are cultural and military points, cultural dance lion tame, there are shaking hair, rolling and other actions, martial arts lion lion lion ferocious, there are prancing, stomping high, rolling colorful ball and other actions.