Lantern Festival Story

The 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is the Lantern Festival, a traditional festival following the Spring Festival. This festival is very important to the Chinese people, it is generally said that after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the year is considered to be really finished, so people celebrate it warmly, hoping that the new year will be a good year with good weather and a good luck. About the Lantern Festival, there are many stories, take a look!

? The story of Dongfang Shuo and the courtesan?

The legend goes that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty had a favorite minister named Dongfang Shuo, who was kind and funny. One winter day, after a few days of heavy snowfall, he went to the imperial garden to make plum blossoms for Emperor Wu, and found a courtesan in tears, ready to throw herself into a well. Dongfang Shuo rushed to her rescue and asked her why she wanted to commit suicide. It turned out that the courtesan's name was Yuan Xiao, and she had two parents and a younger sister at home. Since she entered the palace, she never had the chance to meet her family. Every year to the end of the spring season, more than usual miss their families. She felt that it would be better for her to die than to be able to fulfill her filial duties in front of her parents.

Dongfang Shuo heard her story and sympathized with her, so he assured her that he would try to reunite her with her family. One day, Dongfang Shuo went out of the palace and set up a divination booth on Chang'an Street. Many people were eager to ask him for divination. Unexpectedly, what everyone asked for was the sign of "the 16th day of the first month, the fire burns my body". For a while, Chang'an was in a great panic. People were asking for a solution to the disaster.

Dongfang Shuo said, "On the evening of the thirteenth day of the first month, the Fire God will send a red-clothed goddess down to visit the earth, and she will be the messenger who is ordered to burn Chang'an, so I'm going to give you a copy of the gatha to let the current son of heaven think of a solution." When he had finished speaking, he threw down a red post and went away.

The common people picked up the red post and hurriedly sent it to the palace to report to the emperor. Han Wu Di received a look, only to see written on it: "Chang'an in the robbery, the fire burns the Imperial Palace, fifteen days of fire, flame red night", he was shocked, and hastened to invite the resourceful Dongfang Shuo.

Dongfang Shuo pretended to think for a moment, then said: "I heard that the fire god gentleman loves to eat dumplings, the palace Lantern is not often for you to do dumplings? Fifteen nights can let the Lantern make good soup dumplings. Banzai burned incense and made offerings, and ordered every family in Kyoto to make dumplings to honor the Fire Goddess. And then, you will summon your subjects to hang lanterns together on the fifteenth night, and light firecrackers and set off fireworks all over the city, as if the city is on fire, so that you can hide it from the Jade Emperor. In addition, inform the people outside the city to come into the city on the fifteenth night to watch the lanterns and mingle in the crowd to eliminate the disaster."

Wu Di was very happy when he heard this, and he passed the order to do as Dongfang Shuo had done. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the city of Chang'an was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and there was a great bustle of people coming and going. The parents of the courtesan Yuan Xiao also took their sister into the city to watch the lanterns.

From then on, the folk have the first month of the 15th to eat Lanterns, lanterns custom, this day was later called Lantern Festival.

? The love story of the Lantern Festival?

During the period of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, it was the annual Lantern Festival, and Bianliang in Tokyo was bustling with people. The first one was a red silk handkerchief tied with a scented bag. Zhang Sheng opened the handkerchief and looked at it carefully, but he saw a song written on it begging for love: "The scent in the bag was stolen by someone, and the shark's raw silk was dyed red with drops of blood. The first thing I want to say is that I'm not sure how much I want to be loved, but I'm sure I want to be loved, and I'm sure I want to be loved. What is even more amazing is that there is a line of small words under the courtship poem: "The sentimental person picked up this handkerchief, not to be forgotten, please wait until the 15th night of the first lunar month of the coming year at the back door of the basket for a while, in front of the car there are mandarin ducks lamps are also."

Zhang Sheng is a man of heart, the next year, the night of the Lantern Festival, he went to the appointment. The result was that he really saw a lantern car with a mandarin duck hanging on it.

Zhang Sheng walked up, the car window suddenly appeared in a beautiful beautiful scenery, a delicate voice came: "I would like to see last year to meet the matchmaker."

Zhang Sheng heard the words and surprised and happy, and quickly took out a token of incense, the beauty of the hand outstretched to take, after seeing, whispered and laughed: "The Beijing carriage characters are very much, but you get it, is not the God's gift of my marriage?" So he opened the window and let Zhang Sheng on the carriage, and the two held hands and went away, accomplishing a beautiful marriage.