What folk activities are there in the Lantern Festival?

Walking on stilts is a very old folk performance, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Lantern Festival, a folk activity of walking on stilts, is very popular in many places. Stilts are usually made of wood. Make a support point on the planed wooden stick to put your feet, and then tie it to your legs with a rope. Performers can not only walk freely on stilts, but also do various difficult movements such as splitting, jumping on the bench, yangko, knife and gun.

Second, lion dance.

Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. On the Lantern Festival or other assembly ceremonies, people will entertain themselves with lion dancing. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and was popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a history of 1000 years.

Third, the flower viewing lamp

The custom of enjoying lanterns on the Lantern Festival originated from the period of Emperor Han Ming. During the Yongping period, Emperor Hanming strongly advocated Buddhism and ordered "burning lamps to offer Buddha" in palaces and temples on the 15th night of the first month. Later, the custom of putting lights on the Lantern Festival spread to people in the court. During the Lantern Festival, no matter gentry or civilians, every household hangs lanterns and the streets are brightly lit.

Fourth, play with dragon lanterns.

Playing dragon lanterns, also known as "dragon dancing", has a history of more than two thousand years. Playing dragon lanterns originated from people's worship of dragons. In ancient times, people prayed for the blessing of dragons by dancing dragons, in order to have a good weather and a bumper harvest in the coming year. The custom of dragon dancing has also been carried forward by overseas Chinese. Whenever people in China have traditional festivals or major celebrations, they will dance lions and play dragon lanterns, showing a strong oriental atmosphere.

V. Yangko

On the Lantern Festival, simple northerners like to dance yangko to celebrate. The styles of yangko vary from place to place, including northern Shaanxi yangko, northeastern yangko, Hebei yangko, Shandong yangko and so on. Among them, the northeast yangko is the most popular and the artistic level is the highest.