Where is the custom of sending lanterns on the 15th day of the first month?

Sending lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is a custom in the areas of Guangshan County, Shangcheng County, Xinxian County (except for Arrow Factory River, Guojiahe and other places), and Duochuan County (southwestern part) of Xinyang City, Henan Province.

The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar to their ancestral graves to the deceased ancestors to send lamps, the day of the year, families with children in the dark before rushing to the graves of loved ones, first before and after the graves of the weeds, tree branches to remove, inserted three to four bamboo sticks, surrounded by the size of the lampshade, in the center of the insertion of a candle, covered with a lampshade.

When it gets dark, the candles are lit, paper is burned, and firecrackers and fireworks are set off. Then, adults and children kowtow and say something like we came to see you or pray for blessings. Those who stayed at home were mostly the elderly and very young children who could not walk easily, as well as women who took care of the elderly and children.

The Legend of Sending Lights on the Fifteenth Day

According to the local legend of Guangshan, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's mother begged her way to Guangshan, Guangzhou, and died of illness and hunger on the roadside, and was buried by the local people in the area of Tiancicheng, Guangshan. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor, he sent someone to Guangshan to pay tribute to his mother. However, there were many graves on the mountain, and the person who sent him could not be sure for a moment which grave was the emperor's mother's, so he returned the favor to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Liu Bo Wen, the military adviser, came up with an idea, saying, you are the emperor, no one can accept your kneeling, unless your parents. In this way, the emperor, you have people in front of each grave to insert a candle, you can kneel and candle not extinguished is your mother's grave. Zhu Yuanzhang acted accordingly, and it was true.