Lantern Festival Folk Customs

The Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, is a traditional festival in China, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, the ancients called it "night", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon night of the year, so the first month of the fifteenth for the Lantern Festival. It is also known as the Small New Year's Day, the Lantern Festival, or the Lantern Festival, and is the first major festival after the Spring Festival. Lantern Festival Customs Since the Lantern Festival custom of the formation of the Lantern, the dynasties have been to the first month of the 15th Lantern Lantern Lantern as a major event. Emperor Jianwen of Liang once wrote a "Laying Lights Fugue": "The southern oil is full, and the western lacquer is burning. 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, play 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 restaurants lights and candles, drums and gongs, firecrackers, hundreds of miles of lights.　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 eighth day of the first month on the lights, seventeen down 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 this day.　Guessing riddles

"Guessing riddles", also known as "playing riddles", is a Lantern Festival after the increase in an activity, riddles are the earliest riddles 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 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, people gradually lost **** the same spiritual interest, the complexity of the festival has been simplified to "eat Lantern" food customs.

Juggling dragon lanterns

Juggling dragon lanterns is also known as dancing dragon lanterns 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 head and body played by a human being, and then six auger dragons interspersed with each other in the dance scene were 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 a dragon's head, body and tail, 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 popular folkloric performance. Stilts are a kind of ancient Chinese opera, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The earliest introduction of stilts in China is "Lie Zi - said Fu": "Song has Lanzi, with the skills of 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 all 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 great interest of the audience. 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 outstanding 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 West, the lion is Manjushri'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 the peacock. 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, one in the north and the other in the south. The northern school of lion dance is based on the performance of "martial lion", that is, the Wei Dynasty "Rui Lion", which was authorized by Emperor Wu of the 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, action rough and warlike, 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 made great achievements in curing water. Rowing a dry boat, also known as running a dry boat, is an imitation of a boat ride on land, and most of the dry boat performers are 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 sticking a poplar branch above a gateway, inserting a pair of chopsticks in 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."

Sending children lights

Abbreviated as "send lights", 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 omen, because the "lights" and the "lights" and the "lights" and the "lights" and the "lights" and the "lanterns". "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

Purple nun also called Chi Nun, the north 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 throughout 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, the spirit of Zixu has come.

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 said to him, "Don't say anything for three years, you're too precious to say anything." It meant that Tao Kan would be rich in three years, and later it was true. Ancient Chinese Valentine's Day

The Lantern Festival is also a romantic festival, Lantern Festival in the traditional feudal society, but also to the unmarried men and women to provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the traditional society of young girls are not allowed to go out to free activities, but the festival can be accompanied by a trip out to play the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival is just an opportunity to fellowship, unmarried men and women to enjoy the Lantern Festival can also be by chance to find objects for themselves! The Lantern Festival is an opportunity for friendship. During the Lantern Festival, it is also a time for young men and women to meet their lovers.

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

Walking the hundred diseases

"Walking the hundred diseases", also known as touring the hundred diseases, scattered hundred diseases, baked hundred diseases, walking bridge, etc., is a kind of elimination pray for health activities. The night of the Lantern Festival women meet to go out, 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 diseases and disasters. 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 "walk 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'm begging for next year's fate. 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 hunting customary activities, 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, the people from, 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, but also play dragon lanterns, lion lanterns, white crane lanterns and other activities.