Is Lantern Festival a traditional festival in China?

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China.

Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Little Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival or Lantern Festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on lights and praying for blessings. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty, but the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month really became a national folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties.

The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called "night". The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night in a year, so it is called "Lantern Festival". According to the Taoist "Sanyuan Festival", the fifteenth day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". Since ancient times, the custom of Lantern Festival has been based on the warm and festive custom of watching lanterns.

The origin of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, and the formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on lights to pray. Generally, turning on the light for blessing begins on the 14th night of the first month, and the 15th night is "positive light". People light lanterns, also known as "sending lanterns", and carry out activities of offering sacrifices to gods and praying for blessings.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Lantern Festival gradually became a trend. Liang Wudi believed in Buddhism, and the palace was brightly lit on the fifteenth day of the first month. During the Tang Dynasty, cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries became closer, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "burned lanterns to worship Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month, so Buddha lanterns spread all over the people. It has been legal to set off lanterns on the Lantern Festival since the Tang Dynasty.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Lantern Festival