Origin and Story of Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, also known as the Lantern Festival, is one of the traditional festivals of the Han Chinese and some of their brothers, as well as one of the traditional festivals of the Han Chinese Cultural Circle and overseas Chinese. The traditional Han Lantern Festival began more than 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, the 15th day of the first month was designated as the Lantern Festival. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the worship of the god "Taiyi" was scheduled for the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. (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. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, the ancients called the night "night", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon in a year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. It is also known as the Small New Year's Day, the Lantern Festival, or the Lantern Festival, and is the first major festival after the Spring Festival.

In the ancient customs of the Han people, the Upper Yuan Festival (Lantern Festival), the Middle Yuan Festival (Bon Festival), and the Lower Yuan Festival (Shui Kuan Festival) are collectively known as the three Yuan, and they are all very traditional and important festivals.

Eating Yuanxiao, enjoying lanterns and guessing riddles are some of the important folk customs of the Lantern Festival.

Chinese name: Lantern Festival

English name: Lantern Festival

Alternative name: Shangyuan Festival, Spring Lantern Festival, Xiaozhengmu

Festival time: the first month of the lunar calendar, the fifteenth

Type of festival: traditional festivals

Popularity: China

Origin of the festival: primitive worship, beliefs

Festivities: the original worship, beliefs

Festivals, events, and activities. p>

Festival activities: Lantern viewing, lantern riddles, dragon lantern juggling

Festival food and drink: Lantern Festival

Festival significance: the first full-moon night of the Lunar New Year

Setting time: Han Dynasty

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Festival origins

Lunar New Year's Eve, which means "the night of the Shangyuan Festival", is a traditional festival of the first month of the Chinese calendar. "The name of the festival evolved to "Lantern Festival" because the main activity of the "Shangyuan Festival" on the 15th day of the first lunar month is to eat soup dumplings and enjoy the moon at night. From the New Year's Eve to continue the celebration to another climax. On the night of the Lantern Festival, the streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns, and people enjoy the lanterns, guess the riddles, and eat the Lantern Festival, which has become a custom for generations.

The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, as early as 2000 years ago in the Qin Dynasty. According to information and folklore, the 15th day of the first lunar month has been emphasized in the Western Han Dynasty, and the activities of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the God who dominates everything in the universe) at the Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first lunar month were regarded as the precursor of the 15th day of the first lunar month when the gods of the heavens were worshipped.

Honoring Pinglue

Legend has it that the Lantern Festival was set up in honor of Pinglue during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ying, the son of Lv

Beijing Shangyuan Lantern Festival

, ascended to the throne as Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Hui was weak and indecisive, and his power gradually fell into the hands of Empress Lu.

After the death of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, the Empress Lu took control of the government and turned Liu's world into Lu's world. The senior officials of the court and Liu's clansmen were indignant, but they were afraid of the Empress Lu's brutality and dared not speak out in anger.

After the illness and death of Empress Lu, all of them were afraid of being harmed and ostracized. So, they secretly gathered at the home of the general Lu Lu Lu and ****planned for a rebellion, so as to completely seize Liu's kingdom.

This matter reached the ears of Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, who decided to start an army to crush Zhu Lu in order to protect Liu's kingdom. He then contacted the founding ministers, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, and designed to disarm Lu Lu, and the "Zhu Lu Rebellion" was finally completely pacified.

An album of lanterns for the Lantern Festival

An album of 19 pictures

After the quelling of the rebellion, the ministers of the government appointed Liu Heng, the second son of Liu Bang, to the throne as Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. Deeply impressed by the hard-won peace and prosperity, Emperor Wen set the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the day when the "Zhulu Rebellion" was quelled, as a day of fun with the people, and every house in the capital was decorated with lanterns and colors to celebrate the occasion. Since then, the 15th day of the first month has become a folk festival celebrated by all the people - the "Lantern Festival".

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the worship of the god Taichi was scheduled for the 15th day of the first lunar 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.

Torch Festival

The Lantern Festival has been a traditional festival in China since ancient times, and the Lantern Festival began when people in the ancient times held torches in the countryside to drive away insects and beasts in the hope of mitigating insect pests and praying for a good harvest. Until today, people in some areas of southwestern China still make torches with reed wood or branches on the fifteenth day of the first month, and dance in groups holding up the torches in the fields or grain fields. Since the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties, the festival has been very popular. Tens of thousands of people participated in the songs and dances, from dusk to dawn, until the end of obscurity. 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.

And the real impetus for the Lantern Festival customs is because it is at a new point in time, and people take full advantage of this special stage of time to express their wishes for life.

"Sanyuan"

The custom of burning lanterns at the Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "Sanyuan"; Shangyuan, which means the first full-moon night of the new year. The origins of the festival, "Miscellaneous Records of the Year" records that this is to follow the stereotypes of Taoism. Taoism used to call the 15th day of the first month of the year the Shangyuan Festival, the 15th day of the 7th month the Zhongyuan Festival, and the 15th day of the 10th month the Xiayuan Festival, collectively known as the "Three Elements". At the end of the Han Dynasty, an important sect of Taoism, Wudoumidao, worshipped the gods Tianguan (Heavenly God), Diguan (Earthly God) and Shuiguan (Water God), saying that Tianguan bestowed blessings, Diguan pardoned sins, and Shuiguan solved problems. In this way, the 15th day of the first month was called the Shangyuan Festival. Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty said in Mengliang Records, "the 15th day of the first month of the yen eve festival, is the upper yuan Tianguan give blessings of the hour." Therefore, lanterns should be lit on the Shangyuan Festival.

Ming Di honors Buddha

Originally, Buddhism said. This statement is mainly Mr. Hu Shen-sheng edited "social customs of 300 questions": "Buddhist teachings in the fire is compared to the Buddha's power and God, the Infinite Life Sutra has 'infinite flame, shining infinitely' said. In Buddhist teachings, lamps have always been used as one of the offerings before the Buddha. Moreover, Buddhist classics repeatedly publicize: 'A hundred thousand lamps are used to confess sins' (The Bodhisattva's Collection Sutra) and 'The most blessed field for the world's lamps' (The Sutra of Immeasurable Life). The lights are illuminated whenever there is a Buddhist event. In Buddhist legend, the connection between the lanterns on the 15th day of the first month is about the miracle of the Buddha's divine transformation. According to the "monks history", Buddha Shakyamuni show divine transformation, subdue the gods and demons is in the West on December 30, that is, the first day of the first month of the East, in commemoration of the Buddha's divine transformation, this day need to be held to burn the lamp will be. Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Morten Zhu Fran to preach in the East, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty ordered the first month of the fifteenth day of the Buddha's divine transformation of the lamp, and personally to the temple to open the lamp to show respect for the Buddha. Since then, Lanterns have become popular."

But some scholars believe that such a view is untenable, believing that Buddhism is only