On the Traditional Culture of Lantern Festival

Since the custom of decorating lanterns on the Lantern Festival was formed, the fifteenth day of the first month has been an important event in all dynasties. Emperor Wen of Liang Jian once wrote a poem "Li Edeng Fu": "The south is full of oil, and the west is full of paint. Su Zheng is resting in peace, and the wax comes out of Longchuan. " Oblique light sets each other off, and the reflection is clear. "It depicts the grand occasion of the court decorating lanterns during the Lantern Festival. During the reign of Yang Di, a grand banquet was held every year on the 15th day of the first month to entertain guests and envoys from all over the world. According to the Records of Music in Sui Shu, the Lantern Festival is very grand, with lanterns and colorful decorations everywhere, singing and dancing day and night, with more than 30,000 performers and more than 0.8 million musicians. The stage is eight miles long, and countless people are watching lanterns, staying up all night, enjoying themselves and being very lively. In the Tang Dynasty, it developed into an unprecedented lantern market, and after the middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. In the prosperous period of the Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan (685-762 AD), the lantern market in Chang 'an was very large, with 50,000 lanterns and all kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered 20 giant lantern buildings with a height of 150 feet, resplendent and magnificent. In the Tang dynasty, a curfew was imposed, and it was forbidden to travel when drums were banned at night. Those who committed crimes at night were punished. Only on the Lantern Festival did the emperor grant a three-day ban, which was called "letting the night go". In the Song Dynasty, lanterns were extended from three nights to five nights. In addition to lanterns, fireworks were set off, and various juggling performances were held, making the scene more lively. "Tokyo Dream" records that during the Lantern Festival, on the Imperial Street in Kaifeng, 10,000 lanterns piled up into a lantern mountain, and the lanterns were fireworks, resplendent and magnificent. The girls in Kyoto are singing and dancing, and people are watching. "Tourists gathered under the two colonnades of the Imperial Street, with unique skills, singing and dancing, tangent scales and noisy music, stretching for more than ten miles." Streets and alleys, teahouses and restaurants, lights and candles are burning together, gongs and drums are loud, firecrackers are ringing, and hundreds of miles of lights are lit, and compatriots everywhere celebrate the Lantern Festival.

In the Ming Dynasty, after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne in Jinling, in order to make the capital prosperous and lively, he also stipulated that the lights should be turned off on the eighth day of the first month and on the seventeenth day for ten consecutive nights. All kinds of figures are depicted on lanterns, dancing, birds flying, dragons dancing, lanterns and fireworks shining all night, drums and music ringing, which is the longest Lantern Festival in China. In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu entered the Central Plains. The date was shortened to five days and continues to this day.

Solve riddles; solve lantern riddles; guess riddles on hanging lanterns

"Lantern riddle", also known as "playing riddles", is an added activity after the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles first developed from riddles and originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This is a literary game full of ridicule, discipline, humor and banter. Lantern riddles hung on lanterns for people to guess and shoot began in the Southern Song Dynasty. "Old Things in Wulin: Lights" records: "People make poems with silk lanterns, laugh at them, draw characters, hide their heads and slang, and tease pedestrians." Lantern Festival, the imperial city stays up all night, and the Lantern Festival is enjoyed in spring. People are mixed. Poems and riddles are written on lanterns, reflected on candles and listed on the road, so people can guess, so they are called "riddles". Now every Lantern Festival, playing riddles is everywhere. I hope this year is festive and safe. Because riddles are enlightening and interesting, they are welcomed by all walks of life in the process of communication. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, various acrobatic skills began to appear in the lantern market. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, besides riddles and hundreds of operas, there were also opera performances. In addition to visiting the lantern market, people in the past dynasties also had customs such as welcoming children to visit Ce Shen, crossing the bridge and touching nails to walk away from all diseases, and playing games such as Taiping Drum, Yangko, stilts, dragon dance and lion dance. Lantern Festival in traditional society is a folk festival that both urban and rural areas attach importance to. It is particularly lively in the city, which embodies the unique carnival spirit of China people. The traditional Lantern Festival's function of festival customs has been dispelled by daily life, and people have gradually lost their spiritual interest. The complicated holiday custom is simplified to the eating custom of "eating Yuanxiao". Dance dragon lantern

Play with dragon lanterns

Playing dragon lanterns, also known as dragon lanterns or dragon dancing. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times. Legend has it that as early as the Yellow Emperor, in a large-scale song and dance in the suburbs of Qing Dynasty, there was a leading bird image played by a man, and then a dance scene with six dragons interspersed with each other was arranged. The dragon dance recorded in writing is Zhang Heng's Xijing Fu in Han Dynasty. The author vividly described the dragon dance in the descriptions of hundreds of plays. According to Sui Shu Le, Huanglongbian, which is similar to the dragon dance performance in Yang Di's hundred operas, is also very wonderful, and dragon dance is popular in many places in China. The Chinese nation advocates dragons and regards them as auspicious symbols.

walk on stilts

Walking on stilts is a popular folk performance. Stilts, originally one of the hundred plays in ancient China, appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. China first introduced stilts in Liezi Fu Shuo: "There were orchids in the Song Dynasty, and they used their own skills to dry the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Summoned in the Song and Yuan Dynasties to see their skills.

lion dance

Folk Traditional Program-Lion Dance

Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. Whenever the Lantern Festival or the celebration of the General Assembly, people always come to the lion dance to entertain. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and was popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a history of 1000 years. "Lion Dance" began in Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in Tang Dynasty. Also known as "lion dance" and "peace music". It is usually done by three people. Two people dressed as lions, one as the lion's head, one as the lion's body and hind feet, and one as the lion's head. Dance is divided into civilian and military. The dance shows the gentleness of the lion, shaking his hair and rolling. The military lion shows the ferocity of the lion.

Dry boating

Rowing a dry boat, folklore is to commemorate Dayu who has made great contributions to water control. Rowing a dry boat, also known as running a dry boat, is an imitation of a boat on land, and the performers are mostly girls. Dry boat is not a real boat. It is made of two thin wooden boards, sawed into a boat shape, tied with bamboo and wood, covered with colored cloth and tied around the girl's waist, just like sitting on a boat, rowing with paddles in hand, singing and jumping while running. This is a dry ship. Sometimes, another man dressed as a boatman performs with his partners, mostly dressed as a clown, and amuses the audience with various funny actions. Dry boats are very popular in many areas of China.

eat yuanxiao

As a kind of food, Yuanxiao has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". In ancient times, "Yuanxiao" was more expensive, and a poem said: "Guests look at the Imperial Street with a hook curtain, and the treasures in the city come for a while. There is no way to go before the curtain, and the money can't be returned. " On the fifteenth day of the first month, Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains white sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round. [3]

Sacrifice the door and family

There were "seven sacrifices" in ancient times, which were two of them. The method of sacrifice is to insert poplar branches above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks in a bowl filled with bean porridge, or put wine and meat directly in front of the door.

Mouse chase

This activity is mainly aimed at sericulture families. Because mice often eat silkworms in large areas at night, it is said that they can stop eating silkworms by feeding them rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month. As a result, these people cooked a large pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, and some even covered it with a layer of meat. They put porridge in a bowl and put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, cursing that mice will not die a natural death if they eat silkworm babies again. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu, on the fifteenth day of the first month, a fairy descended to a family named Chen and said to them, If you can sacrifice to me, your silkworm will have a bumper harvest this year. Later, a custom was formed.

Send a children's lamp.

Short for "sending lanterns", it is also called "sending lanterns", that is, before the Lantern Festival, the bride's family sends lanterns to the newly married daughter's house, or ordinary relatives and friends give them to the newly married infertile family to add auspiciousness, because "lamp" is homophonic with "Ding". This custom exists in many places. In Xi city, Shaanxi province, lanterns are put on from the eighth to the fifteenth day of the first month. In the first year, a pair of palace lanterns and a pair of stained glass lamps were presented. I hope my daughter will be lucky after marriage and have children early. If the daughter is pregnant, in addition to the big palace lantern, one or two pairs of small lanterns should be sent to wish her a safe pregnancy.

Yingzigu

Zigu is also called Gucci, and in the north she is called toilet aunt and pit aunt. The ancient folk custom is to offer sacrifices to Ce Shen Zigu on the 15th day of the first month, and to offer sacrifices to silkworm and mulberry, which shows many things. Legend has it that Zi Guyuan was a concubine and was envied by her eldest daughter. On the fifteenth day of the first month, he was killed in the toilet and turned into Ce Shen. On the night of welcoming the daughter-in-law, people tie the portrait of the daughter-in-law with straw and cloth, and greet her in the toilet with pigsty at night. This custom is popular in the north and south, and it was recorded as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties. On the Lantern Festival, "walk through all diseases" to seek happiness.

Walking sickness

"Walk through all the diseases" is also called swimming through all the diseases, dispelling all the diseases, baking all the diseases, crossing the bridge and so on. It is an activity to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings. On the Lantern Festival night, women meet and go out together. When they see the bridge, they will cross it, thinking that this can cure diseases and prolong life. Walking away from all diseases has been a custom in the north since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some of which were carried out in the fifteenth, but most of them were carried out in the sixteenth. On this day, women dressed in festive costumes went out of their homes in droves, crossed the bridge for danger, went into the city, and knelt down to beg for their children until midnight.

Edit this paragraph of minority customs.

Stealing vegetables festival

The Miao People's Vegetable Stealing Festival, which is popular in Ping Huang, Guizhou Province, is also held on the 15th day of the first lunar month. On this day of the festival, girls will steal other people's food in droves. It is forbidden to steal from one's own family or friends of the same sex, because stealing vegetables is related to one's marriage. The stolen vegetables are limited to cabbage, and the quantity is enough for everyone to eat. Stealing vegetables is not afraid of being discovered, and people who are stolen are not strange. Everyone put together the stolen dishes and made a cabbage feast. It is said that whoever eats more will get the right person early. At the same time, the silkworms they raise are also the strongest and the silks they spit out are the best.

Bawu Festival

Bawu Festival is a traditional festival of Yi people, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. "Eighth Five-Year Plan" means "coming back from hunting". Found in Heihu residential area, a branch of Yi nationality in Heqing, Yunnan. At that time, this festival was originally a custom activity to celebrate the return from hunting, and there was no fixed festival.

Edit the food customs of this festival.

Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. Representative food of Lantern Festival

This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round. At the same time, we should eat some seasonal foods. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, rice porridge or bean porridge was poured with meat and poop soup. However, this kind of food is mainly used for sacrifice, not holiday food. Until the Tang Dynasty, Zheng's Record of Chefs recorded: "Go on a diet in the middle of the year and get rid of the oil hammer." According to the records in Tai Ping Guang Ji and Lu Shi Za Shuo, the method of making oil hammer is similar to that of frying Yuanxiao in later generations. Some people call it "the pearl in oil painting". On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month; Lantern Festival; night of the 15th of the first lunar month；Lantern Festival；yuanxiao

In the Tang Dynasty and Lantern Festival, silkworms were eaten. Wang Renyu (1880- 1956) recorded in the "Tianbao Legacy of Kaiyuan": "The custom of artificial sericulture is still left over in the Song Dynasty, but the food in different seasons is richer than that in the Tang Dynasty." Lu Yuanming mentioned in Chronological Miscellanies: "Beijingers use mung bean powder as a branch to make soup, glutinous rice as a pill, and sugar as a mash, which is called Zi Yuan salted soybean. Cooking soup with mixed meat is called salt and black bean soup. Every day, it is like making silkworms, and it is eaten in Yuanjie. " In the Southern Song Dynasty, the so-called "lactose dumplings" appeared, which should be the predecessor of glutinous rice balls. At least in the Ming Dynasty, people called this kind of dumplings Yuanxiao. Liu Ruoyu (born in 154 1 year) recorded the practice of Yuanxiao in the Proceedings: "Its preparation method is to use glutinous rice flour, with walnuts, sugar and roses as stuffing, and roll it with water, which is as big as walnuts, that is, the glutinous rice balls called in the south of the Yangtze River." During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Babao Lantern Festival" specially made by the chef was famous for its delicacy in the ruling and opposition circles. Ma Siyuan was a master of Lantern Festival in Beijing at that time. His glutinous rice dumplings are famous far and wide. Fu Zeng (born in 1688) wrote: "Osmanthus fragrans is full of walnuts, and the rice is like a pearl well. Watch Ma Jiahao drop powder and try to sell Yuanxiao in the wind. " The poem is about the famous Majia Lantern Festival. In the past thousand years, the production of Yuanxiao has become more and more exquisite. As far as dough is concerned, there are glutinous rice noodles, sticky sorghum noodles, yellow wheat noodles and corn noodles. The contents of fillings are sweet, salty, vegetarian and everything. There are also so-called sweet-scented osmanthus candy, hawthorn candy, assorted foods, bean paste, sesame seeds, peanuts and so on. Salty with lard meat stuffing, can be fried and fried for Yuanxiao. There is also a spiced Lantern Festival composed of mustard, garlic, leek and ginger, which means hard work and long-term progress. The production methods are also different from north to south. In the north, Yuanxiao is made of reeds by hand, while in the south, jiaozi is made of palms. Yuanxiao can be as big as a walnut or as small as a soybean. Cooking methods include taking soup, frying, frying and steaming. With or without stuffing, it's just as delicious. At present, Yuanxiao has become a ready snack. You can have a bowl at any time to relieve your hunger.