What are the customs of the Lantern Festival in China?

Customs of the Lantern Festival

Since the Lantern Festival, after the formation of the custom of the lantern, the dynasties have been to the first month of the fifteenth lantern as a major event. Liang Jianwendi once wrote a "lamp fugue": "South oil is full, the west of the paint to burn. Su Zheng rest, wax out of Longchuan. The slanting sunlight is reflected, and the reflection is clear and fresh." It depicted the pomp and circumstance of the palace at the Lantern Festival. 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 envoys 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 on the drums will be prohibited to travel, criminal night to be punished; only in the first yuan festival, the emperor chartered three days, known as "put 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 gathered under the two corridors of the Imperial Street, strange arts and crafts, singing and dancing, and music and noise for more than ten miles." The streets and alleys, tea houses and wine shops were lit up with lights and candles, gongs and drums sounded, and firecrackers cracked, and the lights continued to shine for hundreds of miles.

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 first eight of the first month on the lights, seventeen lights, even Zhang ten nights, every house is hanging colorful lanterns, lanterns depicting a variety of characters, 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 "riddles", is a Lantern Festival after the Lantern Festival to increase the number of activities, lantern riddles is the earliest from the development of riddles, originated in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. 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: "Silk lamps cut and written poems, sometimes with ridicule and laughter, and painting characters, hidden hidden words, and gags in the old capital, teasing pedestrians." Lantern Festival, the Imperial City is not night, the spring Lantern Festival lanterns, the people mixed, poetry riddles book in the lamp, reflected in the candle, listed in the thoroughfare, let people guess, so called "lantern riddles". Nowadays, every Lantern Festival, all places are playing lantern riddles, hoping that this year can be joyful and peaceful. Because riddles can enlighten and interest people, they are popular among all social classes.

All kinds of juggling skills began to appear in the lantern market in 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 away from the hundred diseases and other customs, there are 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, and the complexity of the festival has been simplified to the food custom of "eating Lantern Festival". Dragon Lantern Dance

Juggling Dragon Lanterns

Juggling Dragon Lanterns is also known as the Dragon Lantern Dance or Dragon Dance. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times. Legend has it that as early as during the time of the Yellow Emperor, in a large-scale song and dance called "Qingjiao", there was an image of a dragon with a bird's body played by a human being, and later a dance scene with six augur dragons interspersed with each other was choreographed. 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. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" says: "The dragon, its shape has nine: body like a snake, face like a horse, horns like a deer, eyes like a rabbit, ears like a cow, belly like a mirage, scales like a carp, claws like an eagle, palms like a tiger is also." In the minds of the ancients, the dragon has the function of calling the wind and rain, eliminating disasters and epidemics, and our country since ancient times, that is, to agriculture as a country, the wind and rain for the production of life has an extremely important significance, so the ancients desperately hoping to get the blessing of the dragon, which formed the dragon dance in the festival and in the Lantern Festival Dragon Dance custom. Wu Zimu in the Song Dynasty, "Dream sorghum record" records: the night of the Lantern Festival, "the grass bound into a dragon, with a green screen to cover the grass, the dense set of lamps and candles ten thousand, looking at the winding, such as the double dragons flying away from the shape." In the long-term development and evolution, the dragon dance has also formed many different styles, mainly dragon lanterns, cloth dragons and so on. The dragon lantern, also known as the "fire dragon", is one of the most popular dragon dances. This kind of dragon is made of gabion bamboo and tied into the head, body and tail of the dragon, on which paper is glued and then painted with colors. The dragon body has many sections, the number of sections can be more or less; but it must be an odd number. Candles are lit in each section; some places do not light candles, but use tung oil, cotton yarn or lampstraw made of "oil twist". This oil twist burning power is very long-lasting, the dragon lantern dance colorful, never go out. Below is equipped with a wooden handle for the dancers to hold. There is a hand in front of the dragon to raise the red silk beads to command the dragon dance. Such as Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, "Carp into a dragon", flexible and clever, good at changing, the dragon dancers dressed in open and close the carp skin, the audience initially saw a fish playing in the water, with the bright music suddenly changed, the fish into a dragon, and then a fire-breathing carp in the mouth leaped over the body of the dragon to symbolize the "Carp Jump Dragon Gate" meaning. Cloth dragon, also known as "color dragon", mainly performed during the day, the festival does not burn candles, so the performance of flying and leaping, like the river and the sea waves, the momentum is extraordinary and majestic, and have a merit. Dance dragon following the trend of coherent performance of the dragon circling and roaring, the action is very complex. In some places, the Lantern Festival, all the way up to more than a hundred dragon lanterns, the team up to two or three miles long. Each dragon lantern is accompanied by ten gongs and drums, and the sound is heard for ten miles, which is very spectacular. Overseas, there are still many Chinese associations that have preserved the ancient tradition of performing dragon lanterns, often for local festivals and competitions.

Stilt-walking and lion dance

Stilt-walking is a kind of popular skill show. Stilts are a kind of ancient Chinese opera, which appeared as early as 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 summoned him to see his skill. To double the length of the branch times its body, belonging to its shins, and tends and chi, get the seven swords iterative and leaping, five swords are often in the air, Yuanjun was shocked, and immediately gave gold and silk." It can be seen from the text, as early as five hundred years BC, stilts have been popular. Performers not only walk on long wood bound to the foot, but also jump and dance sword, stilts stilts, stilts and running stilts three kinds of stilts, the highest more than one zhang. According to the ancient records, the ancient stilts are made of wood, in the middle of the planed wooden stick to make a support point, so as to put the foot, and then use the rope tied to the leg. Performers on stilts, can make sword dance, split, jumping stool, over the table, twisting rice-planting song and other actions. In the northern Yangge on stilts, the characters played are fishermen, matchmakers, silly eunuchs, little brothers, Taoist nuns, monks and so on. The performers look funny and can arouse the audience's great interest. The stilt walkers in the south play the roles in the opera, such as Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Lu Dongbin, He Xiannu, Zhang Sheng, Hongniang, Jigong, Shenxian, and clowns. They act and sing, lively and lively, make fun of, as if walking on the ground. It is said that this form of stilt-walking was originally developed as a kind of stilt-walking activity by ancient people who tied two long sticks to their legs in order to collect wild fruits from trees for food.

Lion dance, is China's excellent folk art, every Lantern Festival or gathering celebrations, folk lion dance to cheer. 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. According to legend, it was first imported from the western region, the lion is Manjushri Bodhisattva's mount, with the introduction of Buddhism into China, the lion dance activities also imported into China. The lion was a tribute brought back by Zhang Qian, sent by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, together with peacocks and other animals from the Western Regions. The technique of the lion dance was introduced from the "mask play" of the Western Liang, and it is also believed that the lion dance was created in the army in the fifth century, and later introduced into the folklore. Both claims have their own basis, and today it is difficult to judge their rights and wrongs. However, during the Tang Dynasty, the Lion Dance has become an activity prevalent in the court, military and civil society. Tang Duan Anjie "music miscellaneous search" said: "the play has five square lions, more than ten feet high, each dressed in five colors, each lion, there are twelve people, wearing red smudged forehead, clothing painted clothes, holding a red whisk, known as the lion Lang, dancing peace music." Poet Bai Juyi "Xiliang Kabuki" poem has a vivid depiction of this: "Xiliang Kabuki, Xiliang Kabuki, masked hu people fake lions. Carved wood for the head and silk for the tail, gold plated eyes and silver teeth. Fenxun sweater swinging both ears, as from the quicksand to ten thousand miles." The poem describes the lion dance at that time.

In the course of more than a thousand years of development, the lion dance has formed two styles of performance in the north and south. The northern school of lion dance is based on the performance of the "martial lion", that is, the Wei Dynasty "Rui Lion", which was authorized by Emperor Wu of Wei Dynasty. Small lion dance by one person, the big lion dance by two people, a standing lion dance head, a person bends down to dance the lion body and tail. The lion dancer is clad in a lion quilt, wearing the same color as the lion's body, green lion pants and gold claw hoof boots, people can not identify the lion dancer's body, its appearance and the real lion is very similar. The lion dancer is dressed as an ancient warrior, holding an embroidered ball in his hand, and is accompanied by gongs, cymbals and drums to attract the lion. Under the guidance of the "Lion Lang", the lion performs tricks such as prancing, falling, jumping, ascending, worshipping, and other difficult maneuvers such as walking on a plum blossom pile, scurrying on a table, and stepping on a rolling ball. The southern school of lion dance to perform "Wen lion" is the main performance, the performance is concerned about the expression, there are scratching, shaking hair, licking hair and other actions, exquisite, amusing, but also more difficult to spit the ball and other skills. Southern Lion Dance is centered in Guangdong and popular in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia. Although the southern lion is also a two-person dance, but the lion dancers under the lantern pants, the top just draped over a piece of colorful lion and dance. And the northern lion is different from the "lion Lang" head wearing a big head Buddha mask, dressed in robes, waist colorful belt, holding a sunflower fan and teasing the lion, which dances a variety of beautiful strokes, the action is funny and interesting. There are many schools of Southern Lion Dance, including the "Cock Lion" of Qingyuan and Yingde, the "Big Head Lion" of Guangzhou and Foshan, the "Duckbill Lion" of Gaohe and Zhongshan, and the "Kirin Lion" of Dongguan. "Kirin Lion" in Dongguan, and so on. In addition to the different appearance of the southern lions, there are also different personalities. White-bearded lion dance range is not wide, not many varieties of colors, but calm and robust, dignified and powerful, known as "Liu Bei lion". Black-bearded red-faced lion, known as the "Guan Gong Lion", dancing brave and majestic, extraordinary temperament. Gray and white bearded lion, rough and warlike movements, commonly known as "Zhang Fei Lion". Lion for the dignity of the beasts, the image of majestic and handsome, giving people a sense of majesty, courage. Ancient people took it as a symbol of bravery and strength, that it can drive away evil spirits and demons, blessing people and animals peace. So people gradually formed in the Lantern Festival and other major events in the custom of lion dance, in order to pray for life auspicious and peaceful.

Rowing a dry boat

Rowing a dry boat, according to folklore, is in honor of Yu, the great man who was successful in curing water. Rowing a dry boat, also known as running a dry boat, is to imitate a boat on land, the performance of running a dry boat is mostly girls. 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 were two of them. They were performed by placing a poplar tree branch above a gateway, inserting a pair of chopsticks into a bowl of 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 worship me, this year, let your sericulture harvest. Then the custom was formed.

Another story is that a man named Zhang Cheng in Wu County saw a beautiful woman standing in the southeast corner of his house, raising her hand to summon him when he got up at night. Zhang Cheng went up to the woman and said to him, "I am the god of this part of your house. On the fifteenth day of the first month of next year, you make a good porridge and cover it with meat to sacrifice to me. Then your family's silkworms will have a good harvest." After saying this, the woman disappeared. Zhang Cheng did this every year from then on, and sure enough, he had a good harvest every year.

So in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, when the silk industry was booming, this custom spread. People made good porridge and prayed, "Denggao Mee. The rat's brain. Want to come not come. Stay with me three silkworms old."

Send children lamps

Short for "send lamps", also known as "send lanterns" and so on, that is, before the Lantern Festival, the mother's family to send lanterns to the newly married daughter's home, or general friends and relatives to give the newlyweds infertile family, 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

Welcome the purple nun

Purple nun is also known as the Chi Nun, the northern part of the 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 room, become a toilet god, so the folk more than a woman into the shape of a purple nun, and at night in the toilet room pigsty to meet and worship. This custom is popular in all parts of the north and south, as early as in the period of the north and south dynasty is seen in the record.

The ancient benediction was: "Zixu is not there. Yun is his son-in-law. Mrs. Cao has traveled. Cloud is his wife. The little nun may come out." Recite such words and take the human form of Zixu to the toilet, pigsty and next to the kitchen; if you feel that the human form has become sunken, it is the coming of Zixu's spirit.

There is also a story that Zigu was the daughter of the emperor, and when she was dying, she said that she usually liked to roam around, and instructed those around her to greet her spirit with her clothes on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so that she could continue to enjoy the bustle of the Lantern Festival.

Later in the legend, Zigu became the god of toilet. It is said that Tao Kan once met a man in the toilet, claiming to be the Empress Dowager, who told him, "Don't say anything for three years, you're too expensive to say anything." It meant that Tao Kan would be rich in three years, which was true later. Lantern Festival, "walk a hundred diseases" for well-being

Walk a hundred diseases

"Walk a hundred diseases", also known as swim 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 costumes, groups of people out of the house, walking bridge across the danger, climbed the city, touching the nail for a child, until midnight, to return.

Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing and other places on the fifteenth day of the first month, the women's night about the same out walking, a person holding incense in front of the guide, and must go to the bridge. Participants are mostly women, they walk in pairs or go to the wall, or across the bridge over the walk in the countryside, the purpose is to drive away the disease in addition to disaster. Lantern Festival night women meet to travel, walking in pairs, see the bridge must pass, that can get rid of diseases and prolong life. Also known as "walking bridge". Jiangnan Suzhou area known as "walking three bridges".

Ming Liu Dong, Yu Yizheng "imperial capital scenery slightly - spring field": "eight to eighteen days ...... women with white silk shirt, team and night line, said no waist and legs of the disease, said walking bridge." Ming Zhou with "walk a hundred diseases line": "The capital city lights market spring head bloom, everyone small family with the festival. Auntie old old lead small aunt, fling comb make-up to go a hundred diseases. It is said that this night is empty of ghosts, and all diseases will return to the dust. Otherwise, I will be sick this year, my arms will be withered, my eyes will be dark and my head will be windy. It is better to wear a pair of embroidered shoes on the street than to drink two bells of water from a doctor's prescription. Who is the old woman who doesn't go out and hobbles around the house with folded feet? This year's walk is as healthy as last year's, and I am begging for the fate of next year. The one-inch fire of the herb leaves only burns on other people's flesh." Qing Gu Lu, "Qing Jia Lu - first month - walk three bridges": "On the eve of the New Year, women walk together in the night in order to get sick. They must stop at three bridges, which is called "walking three bridges".

In present-day Tianjin, the custom of "walking for a hundred diseases" is still preserved. Because it is carried out on the sixteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, locally known as "slippery hundred diseases". But because of the change in conditions it is now mostly women who take their husbands and children back to their mother's home for a meal on this day.

Stealing Vegetables Festival

The Stealing Vegetables Festival of the Miao ethnic group, which is popular in the area of Huangping, Guizhou Province, is also held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. On the day of the festival, the girls go in groups to steal vegetables from other people's homes, and it is strictly forbidden to steal from their own families, nor can they steal from the homes of their friends of the same sex, because stealing vegetables has something to do with their marriages. The vegetables are limited to cabbages, and the quantity is enough for everyone to have a meal. There was no fear of being caught stealing vegetables, and the family that was given a share was not to be blamed. Everyone gathered the stolen vegetables together and made 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 to celebrate the return of the custom of hunting words, no fixed festival. In the old days, people returned from hunting to pack up the prey, the head of the animal to the command of the hunt, the animal skin to the hunter, the meat is barbecued, during which the head of the animal before the animal with the skin, from the crowd, around the fire to recreate the action of the hunt. After the meat is cooked, the people share the food. Later gradually evolved into a fixed festival. Festivals in the Bawu dance by twelve wooden drums, twelve thallium gongs and twelve suona (thirteen pieces for each leap year) to form a band accompanied by thirty-six young women draped in tigers, leopards, bears, deer, tigers, rabbits, foxes, etc., or the head inserted into the Jinji and a variety of birds and birds of a feather. Dressed as birds and beasts, they danced around the fire, showing the postures of various animals and imitating their cries. The hunters, holding bows or steel forks, surround the "prey" and perform various caracal hunting maneuvers in the opposite direction of the rotation of the "prey". During the festival, there are also dragon lanterns, lion lanterns, white crane lanterns and other activities.

The Lantern Festival customs vary across the country.

Hebei Province

Yongping Province Lantern Festival, sick women gathered under the kiln, called "Tao Moxibustion". Children staggered to the bridge, called "Duo Bai'er". Some people also cut paper for nine paper rope, hand knotted to divine the blame, called "knot sheep's intestines". And twelve face calendars to store oil into the pot to steam, to face the calendars of the amount of water to foretell the month's rain or shine. Jinghai County on the Yuan Festival to large steamed bread for the festival. In the Lantern Festival in Qingyun County, men are invited to teach their fists and sticks to the Five Ancestors, and women are invited to divine their fortune with the Purple Nun.

Shandong Province

Zibo City, Zichuan District of the Lantern Festival in the waterfront home more river lanterns. Ningyang County, Tai'an City, the Lantern Festival to send lamps to the ancestral tomb. Binzhou City, Boxing County, the Lantern Festival has the custom of lighting. Boys carrying lamps, around the jujube tree six times, recite "Duoluo Duoluo, blossom knot jujube" six times, can make the jujube tree harvest. Rizhao City, Ju (jǔ) County, men, women and children on the sixteenth day of the first month in the field, known as the "walk old appearance", it is said that once a year to walk can always be young.

Henan Province

Xiangcheng County, the Lantern Festival to eat wonton soup, known as the "reunion tea", the mother's family to pick up married daughters to go home for the holidays, the county Lantern Festival lights, young and old people who are sick, all the fire moxibustion stone turtle. If there is a local bridge over the river, they will cross the bridge at the same rate. If there is no bridge, the boards built several feet high "sky bridge", known as the "walk a hundred diseases.

Shanxi Province

Fengxiang County in the Lantern Festival feast daughters, son-in-laws, known as "eat fifteen". It is also called "adding oil" to send lamps and oil.

Jiangsu Province

Wujin County on the first day of the yuan tied reed into a ten feet of the torch, inserted in the field, said the "light Tian Cai", used to predict early scribbling. Fire color white for water, red for drought. Yixing on the first day of the Yuan, children wearing ghost masks, flexing their feet and vibrating their shoulders and jumping, known as "jumping ghosts".

Zhejiang Province

Hangzhou folk on the fifteenth day of the first month for the first yuan of heavenly officials to give the blessing of the hour, more than vegetarian chanting, prostrate to the Wushan worship. Haining County Lantern Festival is best known for its delicate chrysanthemum lanterns. In Shangyu County, few people compete in martial arts on the moon stage of the Lantern Festival. Jiande County people have a new wife, in the Lantern Festival to set up wine to the bed.

Jiangxi Province

Newly built county people in the Lantern Festival tomb sweeping bamboo for the lamp. Wanan County townships in the Lantern Festival rituals on the Yuan Shenzhou.

Hubei Province

Yunmeng County (today's Jianghan), the old farmers on the night of the Lantern Festival, holding a torch in the field, called the "light Jedi silkworms". The children will welcome the gods with field drums to divine the year's events. In Wuchang, the "Dragon Festival" lasts for three days. The men, women and children of the village follow the dragon lanterns to neighboring villages for banquets, known as "dragon for wine".

Hunan Province

Changde Shangyuan families to pepper for the soup, adding leeks and fruits to treat guests, known as the "soup". Xintian County, after the dragon lanterns, the dragon lanterns will be put to the torch, known as the "send disaster".

Sichuan Province

Sichuan Lantern has a "four steal" custom: "a steal dumplings, two steal the green, three steal eaves light four steal red." Apart from stealing the green to strengthen the body, the rest is a custom to seek children. In Kaixian County, there is a custom of "scolding each other". During the Lantern Festival, people carry benches outdoors and curse out all their grievances, and those who are cursed are not allowed to curse back.

Fujian Province

Quanzhou lanterns are unique, there are incense lanterns, paper folded lotus lanterns, silk lanterns, eight knot lamps and so on. Shaowu County Lantern Festival in the territory of the temple around the border to welcome incense, known as "net street". In southern Fujian, there are two villages on the Lantern Festival, children throw stones for each other as a custom of the play. It is said that if you do not throw the stone, the village must have a plague.

Guangdong Province

The people of Xin'an County, who gave birth to a male child last year, celebrated the Lantern Festival on the night of the Lantern Festival. During the Lantern Festival in Nanxiong, parents take the dragon's whiskers from the dragon lanterns and tie them around their children, which is said to keep them free of disease. It is also said that the remaining candles in the dragon lanterns can be used to light up the bed, which is said to give birth to a son. Wenchang County, the night of the Lantern Festival people steal green, steal in order to be scolded as a good omen, steal not in order not to be scolded as a good omen.

Yunnan Province

Yunlong County in the Lantern Festival before the welcome three Chong God, along the streets of the shed sacrifice. Mile State one day after the Lantern Festival burning incense in the bridge, throwing stones in the water, and then take the water to wash their eyes, it is said to be able to go to the disease. Lantern Festival to eat Lantern Festival, is the *** with the customs across the country. This food first appeared in the Song Dynasty, the poet Jiang Baishi in a poem "Wing Lantern" wrote: "Your guests hook curtains to see the Royal Street, the city treasures a moment to. "The "treasures of the market" refers to the Lantern Festival. Zhou Bidai, a Song Dynasty poet, also wrote a poem entitled "Boiling Floating Dumplings on Lantern Festival": "What is the night of this evening, the reunion is the same. The soup officer inspects the old flavors, and the cook's maid is surprised by the new achievements. The stars are in the dark clouds, and the beads float in the cloudy water. The poem is a compilation of various chants at different times of the year, and is accompanied by a description of the family customs.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, there are still unmarried women in the Lantern Festival night to pick onions or vegetables will be married to a good husband of traditional customs, commonly known as: "Stealing onions, married a good inibs," "Stealing vegetables, married a good son-in-law," hoping that the marriage of the girl, to the night of the Lantern Festival, to the vegetables, to the night of the Lantern Festival, to the night of the Lantern Festival, to the night of the Lantern Festival to the vegetables, to the night of the Lantern Festival. To the night of the Lantern Festival to the vegetable garden to steal pick onions or vegetables, looking forward to the future of family happiness, the Tang Dynasty lantern market also appeared music and dance performance, thousands of courtesans, folk girls singing and dancing under the lights, called the line song, step on the song.

Lunar New Year's Eve food customs

At the same time, but also eat some festive food, in the North and South Dynasties poured with gravy on the rice porridge or bean porridge. But this food is mainly used for rituals, not yet talk about the festival food. To the Tang Dynasty, Zheng Wangzhi's "Catering Record" recorded: "Bianzhong festival food, on the Yuan oil hammer. The method of making oil hammer, according to "Taiping Guangji" cited "Lu's Miscellaneous Sayings" in a "Shangshi food order" records, similar to the later generation of deep-fried Lantern Festival. It is also known as "oil painting pearl".

The Tang Dynasty's Lantern Festival food was the noodle worm. Wang Renyu's (880-956) "Kaiyuan Tianbao last thing" records: "every year on the first day of the New Year, the custom of man-made face silkworms to the Song Dynasty still remains, but the different festive food is more abundant than the Tang Dynasty". Lv Yuanming's "Miscellany of the Year" mentions: "Beijing people make mung bean powder for Kodou soup, boil glutinous for balls, sugar for meat broth, called round salt and black bean. Twisting the head of mixed meat soup, called salt and black bean soup, and as a human day to create silkworms, all on the Yuan Festival food. To the Southern Song Dynasty, there is the so-called "lactose rounds" appeared, which should be the predecessor of the dumplings.

At least by the Ming Dynasty, people were calling these glutinous rice balls 'yuanxiao'. Liu Ruoyu's (b. 1541) Zhizhong Zhi (酌中志) recorded the method of making the dumplings: "The method of making them was to use glutinous rice with fine noodles, fill them with walnut kernels, sugar and roses, and then roll them in water to make them as big as walnuts, which is what they are known as in Jiangnan as soup dumplings".

During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the Imperial Household Cuisine's special "Eight Treasures Lanterns" was a famous delicacy. Ma Siyuan was a master of making Yuanxiao in Beijing at that time. He was well known for his powder-dripping snacks. Fu Zeng (born in 1688) wrote in his "Bamboo Poem for the Last Lantern": "The osmanthus fragrance is wrapped in walnuts, and the river rice is like a pearl poured into the well. I have seen that the Ma family sells Lanterns in the wind, saying that the Ma family sells good powder". The poem is about the famous Ma Jia Lanterns.

Over the past thousand years, the production of the lanterns has become increasingly sophisticated. In terms of crusts alone, there are river rice noodles, sticky sorghum noodles, yellow rice noodles, and podded grain noodles. The fillings are sweet, salty, non-vegetarian and all kinds of stuffing. The sweet ones are so-called osmanthus sugar, hawthorn sugar, assorted, bean paste, sesame, peanut, etc. The savory ones are lard and meat. The salty ones are stuffed with pork lard, which can be used for deep-frying and stir-frying. The vegetarian ones are mustard, garlic, leek and ginger, which make up the five Xin Yuanxiao, meaning hard-working, long-lasting and upward thinking.

The method of production is also different from north to south. The north of the Lanterns more with the method of the Wuhu roll hand shaking, the south of the dumplings are more with the heart of the hand kneading dough. Lantern can be as big as walnuts, there are small like soybeans, cooking methods with soup, fried, blanching, steaming and so on. Whether there is no filling, are equally delicious. At present, the Lantern has become a kind of all-time snack snacks, at any time you can come to a bowl to quench your thirst.