Chinese Valentine's Day about Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival, which is full of poetry and romance, is often associated with love. Throughout the ages, there have been many poems expressing love and admiration through the Lantern Festival. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu's words, "This year's Lantern Festival, the moon and the lamps are still the same; I don't see last year's people, the tears are full of spring shirtsleeves." The song is about the moon and the lanterns are still on the same night, and I don't see anyone from last year.

The 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 acquainted with the traditional society of young girls are not allowed to go out to free activities, but the festival can be accompanied out to play, Lantern Festival Lantern Festival is just an opportunity to fellowship, unmarried men and women through the Lantern Festival can also by the way to search for their own objects. During the Lantern Festival, it is also a time for young men and women to meet their lovers.

Xin Qiji (Qingyu case) wrote: "Looking for it a thousand times, and then suddenly looking back, that person is in the end of the lights." Is to describe the situation on the night of the Lantern Festival, and the traditional opera Chen San and Wu Niang is in the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival to enjoy the lanterns into the encounter and love at first sight, Lechang Gongwen and Xu Deyin in the night of the Lantern Festival to break the mirror to reunite, the "Spring Lanterns Riddles," Yuwen Yan and the Shadow Niang in the Lantern Festival engaged in love. Since the Lantern Lantern custom formed, the dynasties have been to the first month of the 15th Lantern Lantern Lantern as a major event. Emperor Jianwen of Liang once wrote a piece of "Laying Lanterns Fugue": the southern oil is full, and the western lacquer is burning. Su Zheng rest, wax out of Longchuan. The slanting sunlight is reflected, and the reflection is clear and fresh. Depicted the palace in the Lantern Festival at that time. In the time of Emperor Yang of Sui, a grand party was held on the 15th day of the first month every year to entertain the guests and ambassadors from all over the world. According to the "Sui book - music" records: the Lantern Festival is very grand, everywhere lights and colors, day and night singing, dancing and playing music, performers up to more than 30,000 people, playing music up to more than 18,000 people, the stage is eight miles long, playing the people watching the lights is countless, all night long, enjoy the fun, lively very much. In the Tang Dynasty, it developed into an unprecedented lantern market, and after the Middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (AD 685--762), the beginning of the heyday, Chang'an lamp market is very large, burning lamps 50,000, lanterns, lanterns, the emperor ordered to make a giant lamp building, as wide as 20 rooms, 150 feet high, bright gold, extremely spectacular. Tang Dynasty is the implementation of the curfew, the night ban drums on the sound of the ban on travel, criminal night to be punished; only in the first yuan festival, the emperor licensed three days, known as the release of the night. Along to the Song Dynasty, the lights from three nights extended to five nights, lights outside the fireworks, performing a variety of juggling, the scene is more lively. Tokyo Dreaming Records recorded: every Lantern Festival, Kaifeng Imperial Street, ten thousand colored lanterns base lamps mountain, lanterns fireworks, gold and blue shot, embroidery and glitter. The girls of Kyoto sang and danced, and ten thousand people gathered around to watch. Tourists set the two corridors of the Imperial Street, strange arts and crafts, singing and dancing, scales cut, music and noise for more than ten miles. The streets and alleys, tea houses and restaurants lights and candles lit, the sound of drums and gongs, firecrackers, hundreds of miles of lights incessantly

Compatriots around the Lantern Festival

To the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang in Jinling, after the throne, in order to make the capital prosperous and lively, and the provisions of the eighth day of the first month of the lights, seventeen lights, even Zhang ten night, every house is hanging colorful lanterns, lanterns on the depiction of a variety of figures, dancing, birds flying flowers. Dragons and fish leap, lanterns and fireworks shine all night long. Drums and music. Noisy Dan, which is China's longest festival of lights, the Qing Dynasty, Manchu dominated the Central Plains, the court no longer do lights, folk lights but still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days, has continued to today.

Guess the riddles

"Guess the riddles", also known as "playing riddles, is an activity added after the Lantern Festival, the riddles were first developed from the riddles, originated in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It is a kind of literary game which is full of ridicule, admonition, warning, wit and jest. Riddles are hung in lamps for people to guess and shoot, which began in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Old Story of Wulin - Lanterns" recorded that: the silk lamps were cut and written with poems, sometimes with ridicule and laughter, as well as painted characters, hidden words, and gags in the old capital, teasing pedestrians. Lantern Festival, the Imperial City is not night, the spring Lantern Festival, the people are mixed, the riddles book in the lamp, reflected in the candle, listed in the street, let people guess, so called Lantern Riddles. Nowadays, every Lantern Festival, all places are playing lantern riddles, because the riddles can enlighten wisdom and interest, so the process of circulation by the popularity of all social classes.

A variety of juggling skills began to appear in the lantern markets of the Tang and Song dynasties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in addition to the lantern riddles and a hundred plays and dances, the lantern market also added the content of opera performances.

Throughout the ages, in addition to touring the lantern market, there are welcome Zigu worship toilet god, bridge touch nails to walk away from a hundred diseases and other customs, there are playing drums, rice-planting songs, stilt walkers, dragon dance, lion dance and other games.

The Lantern Festival in traditional society is a folk festival valued by both urban and rural areas, and the Lantern Festival in the city is particularly enthusiastic, reflecting the unique carnival spirit of the Chinese people. The traditional Lantern Festival has been dissolved by daily life, and people have gradually lost the same spiritual interest in the festival, and the complexity of the festival has been reduced to the food custom of "eating Lantern Festival".

[Dragon Lantern Dance]

Dance Dragon Lantern

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 large-scale song and dance called "Qingjiao", there appeared the image of a dragon head with a bird's body played by a human being, and then choreographed a dance scene in which six auger dragons were 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, sui yang emperor, similar to the dragon dance performance in the hundred theater "yellow dragon change" is also very wonderful, dragon dance is popular in many parts of our country. The Chinese people revere the dragon as a symbol of good luck.

Stilts

Stilts are a kind of popular skill show. Stilts are a kind of ancient Chinese opera, which appeared as early as in the Spring and Autumn Period. China's earliest introduction to stilts is "Liezi - said Fu" chapter: "Song have Lanzi, to skill dry Song Yuan. Song Yuan called and made to see his skills.

Lion Dance

Lion Dance is an excellent folk art in China, and every Lantern Festival or gathering celebration, the folk will come to cheer 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.

Traditional Folk Programs--Lion Dance

Rowing Dry Boats

Rowing dry boats, according to folklore, commemorates Yu, who is credited with curing water. Rowing a dry boat, also known as running a dry boat, is to imitate a boat on land, most of the performance of running a dry boat is a girl. Dry boat is not a real boat, more than two thin boards, sawed into a boat shape, bamboo and wood tied into, and then masked with colorful cloth, set of ties in the girl's waist, as sitting in the boat, as in the hands of the same paddle, to do the rowing position, one side running, one side singing some local ditties, singing and dancing, which is the rowing of dry boat. Sometimes there is another man dressed as a boat passenger, partnering with the show, is mostly dressed as a clown, with a variety of comical actions to amuse the audience joy. Rowing dry boat is popular in many parts of China.

Sacrifices to doors and households

There were "seven sacrifices" in ancient times, and these are two of them. Sacrifices were made by sticking a poplar branch above a gateway, inserting a pair of chopsticks in a bowl containing bean porridge, or placing wine and meat directly in front of the door.

Rats

This activity is mainly said to people who raise silkworms. Because the rats often ate the silkworms in large pieces at night, people heard that on the 15th day of the first month, they fed the rats with rice porridge, so that they could stop eating the silkworms. So, these people in the first month of the fifteenth simmering on a big pot of sticky porridge, some also covered with a layer of meat on the top, the porridge with a bowl, put the porridge into the rat-infested roofs, corners, and put the side of the mouth while chanting, cursing the rats to eat silkworms again on the baby shall not die.

The Jing Chu chronicle said, the first month of the fifteenth time, there is a fairy down to a family surnamed Chen, said to them: if you can sacrifice me.

Send children lamps

Short for "send lamps", also known as "send lanterns", etc., that is, before the Lantern Festival, the mother's family to send lanterns to the new daughter's home, or general friends and relatives to give the newlyweds infertile home, in order to add a Ding auspiciously, because the "lamp" and the "lamp" are the same as the "lamp", and the "lamp" is the same as the "lamp", and the "lamp" is the same as the "lamp". "Lights" and "Ding" harmonized. This custom in many places, Xi'an, Shaanxi area is the first eight to fifteen during the first month to send lamps, the first year to send a pair of large lanterns, a pair of glass lamps with colorful paintings, hope that the daughter of the marriage of the lucky star, early birth of a child; such as the daughter of the pregnancy, in addition to the large lanterns, but also to send one or two pairs of small lanterns, wishing the daughter a safe pregnancy.

Welcome the purple nun

Purple nun also called Chi Nun, the north more known as the toilet nun, pit three nuns. Ancient folk custom on the fifteenth day of the first month to welcome the toilet god Zigu and sacrifice, divination sericulture, and account for many things. Legend has it that the purple nun was originally a concubine, jealous of the older women, the first month of the fifteenth was killed in the toilet, the toilet god. Every day to welcome the purple nun this night, people with straw, cloth, etc. tied into a life-size portrait of the purple nun, and at night in the toilet between the pigsty to meet and worship. This custom is popular throughout the north and south, as early as in the period of the North and South Dynasties in the record.

Lunar New Year's Lantern Festival, "walk a hundred diseases" to seek well-being

walk a hundred diseases

"Walk a hundred diseases", also known as the tour of a hundred diseases, scattered a hundred diseases, baked a hundred diseases, walk the bridge, etc., is a kind of elimination of disasters and pray for the health of the activities. The night of the Lantern Festival, women meet to travel, traveling in pairs, see the bridge must be crossed, that can get rid of diseases and prolong life.

Walking the hundred diseases is a custom in the north since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some in the 15th, but more in the 16th. On this day, women dressed in festive attire, groups out of the house, walk the bridge across the danger, climbed the city, touching the nails for a child, until midnight, to return.

Stealing Vegetables Festival

Popular in Guizhou Province, Huangping area of the Miao Stealing Vegetables Festival is also held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year. On the day of the festival, girls go in groups to steal other people's vegetables, strictly prohibited from stealing their own family, but also can not steal from friends of the same sex, because stealing vegetables is related to their marital affairs. The vegetables they steal are limited to cabbages, and the quantity is enough for everyone to have a meal. There is no fear of being caught stealing vegetables, and the family is not blamed for the theft. Everyone gathers the stolen vegetables together and makes a cabbage feast. It is said that whoever eats the most will be able to get the man of his choice early, and at the same time raise the strongest silkworms, which will spit out the best and most silk.

Bawu Festival

The traditional festival of the Yi people, the Bawu Festival, is held on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. The word "Ba'u" means "return from hunting". In Yunnan Heqing Yi tribal branch of the black living people living area. This festival was originally a customary event to celebrate the return of hunting, with no fixed festival.

The Lantern Festival, in addition to love, more hot in the family reunion, entertainment, prayers, is China's "reunion festival".