Is Lantern Festival Valentine's Day?

Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Valentine's Days in China. There are three versions of Valentine's Day in China: one is Lantern Festival (also known as Shangyuan Festival, that is, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month); The second is Shangsi Festival (the third day of the third lunar month); Third, Tanabata (Seven Sisters's birthday, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month). Lantern Festival, Shangsi Festival and Chinese Valentine's Day are the most interesting festivals for ancient women.

Lantern Festival, also known as Lantern Festival, Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival and so on. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called night night, so they called the fifteenth day of the first month Lantern Festival. With the changes of society and times, the custom of Lantern Festival has changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China. Yuanxiao was only called the fifteenth day of the first month, the first half of the first month or the full moon when the early festivals were formed, and it was called Yuanxiao or Yuanxiao after Sui. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, but it was only in the late Tang Dynasty that it was occasionally called Yuanxiao. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dengxi. In the Qing dynasty, it was also called the Lantern Festival. On the evening of the 15th day of the first month, people in China have a series of traditional folk activities, such as watching lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls, solve riddles on the lanterns and setting off fireworks. Lantern Festival is also a romantic festival. In the feudal traditional society, Lantern Festival also provides unmarried men and women with opportunities to get to know each other. In traditional society, young girls are not allowed to go out freely, but they can go out to play together on holidays. Lantern Festival lanterns are just an opportunity to make friends, and unmarried men and women can also find their own partners by the way. During the Lantern Festival, it is also the time for young men and women to meet their lovers.

Yuanxiao love element

The poetic and romantic Lantern Festival is usually associated with love. Among the poems of past dynasties, there are many poems expressing love through Yuanxiao. Ouyang Xiu's Ci in the Northern Song Dynasty: On the first night of this year, the moon light remained the same; See last year, tears Man Chun shirt sleeve. Expressed the pain of missing your lover. Xin Qiji (jade case) wrote: Many people looked for it and suddenly looked back, and that person was in the dim light. It is a scene describing midnight snack, while the traditional opera Chen San and Wu Niang met at the Lantern Festival and fell in love at first sight. In the second episode of "Nightingale", Lechang official and Xu Deyan made love at the Lantern Festival, and in "Spring Lantern Enigma", they made love with ying niang at the Lantern Festival.

Because unmarried girls in ancient times generally stayed at home, only the Lantern Festival was allowed to go out to watch the lights together, and many affectionate men and women took the opportunity to find their sweetheart and spark love. Therefore, the Lantern Festival has also created countless beautiful couples, which is called Valentine's Day in China.

The other two valentine's days

Shangsi

Shangsi Festival has a long history. In ancient times, Shangsi Festival has become a large-scale folk festival in some places. In spring and quiet time, people go out of their homes and gather at the water's edge to hold ceremonies to clear up the ominous. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the fashion of advocating nature and indulging in landscapes, the significance of celebrating the last festival was greatly weakened for people, while the significance of enjoying the Spring Festival became stronger and stronger. The Biography of Xia Zhongyu in the Western Jin Dynasty described Luo Yang as a gaudy man and a gaudy woman. The festival of Shangsi Festival is scheduled for March 3rd of the lunar calendar. [7] In ancient times, one of the main activities of Shangsi Festival was to meet men and women, that is, Valentine's Day when men and women expressed their love. There is a saying in The Book of Songs Zheng Qin Feng Yan: Qin and Yan are distinct. Scholars and women are rich. W: What do you think? Scholars say: both. Watch it? Besides, you can enjoy yourself. Wizards and women, benefiting qi and teasing, feed them a spoonful of medicine. Li Zhou has a rule that unmarried women should stay in the boudoir (that is, women in the boudoir), so they can only go out for a few days a year. Although this is etiquette, it is not a rigid rule, but who will pursue people who do not follow the etiquette. ) Watch the Lantern Festival and go out for an outing on March 3rd. So the third day of March became the day when single men and women met and knew each other.

Chinese Valentine's Day; Qixi Festival

Valentine's Day in China began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, Valentine's Day in China was an exclusive festival for beautiful girls. Among the numerous folk customs of Qixi, some have gradually disappeared, but quite a few have been continued by people. In fact, China's Valentine's Day is not to commemorate the love of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but to worship the star (the heroine of Wu), which later evolved into a mythical goddess, also known as Seven Sisters and Qi Niang. Valentine's Day in China is a festival for women, and the Weaver Girl is regarded as the goddess of textiles and lovers, the protector of women and children. July 7th is the birthday of Weaver Girl. On the night of the seventh day of July, it is inevitable that ordinary women beg her for wisdom and skillful skills and ask for a happy marriage. The trick of Qixi is to pray for ingenuity to Seven Sisters (Weaver Girl), hoping for a happy marriage and a happy family. In the past, beautiful girls begged Qi Jie to teach them clever skills. In fact, begging for cleverness is just fighting cleverness. After historical development, Tanabata has been endowed with the beautiful love legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, making it a festival symbolizing love. It is regarded as the most romantic traditional festival in China, and it also has the cultural significance of China Valentine's Day in contemporary times.