The origin of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival, the Lantern Festival is the main traditional festival in China, also called Yuanxiao, Yuanxiao, and Shangyuan Festival, because it is the first full moon night of the New Year. Because this festival has the custom of watching lanterns in past dynasties, it is also called Lantern Festival.

There are two theories about the origin of Lantern Festival:

First, the Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Lantern Festival viewing began in the period of Emperor Han Ming in the East. Because Emperor Hanming advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Chong's return from India. Cai You said that on the fifteenth day of the first month in India, monks got together to pay tribute to the Buddhist relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism.

In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Hanming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in palaces and temples on the fifteenth night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the 15th night of the first month has gradually spread in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture.

Secondly, the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from Taoism's "ternary theory"; The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit. The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history.

As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, lights were lit from the eighth day of August until the seventeenth night of the first month, a total of ten days. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.

The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. On the first night of the first month of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sacrificed "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace, which was regarded by later generations as the first sacrifice to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month. However, the fifteenth day of the first month is indeed a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs.

Legend of Lantern Festival:

Legend has it that a long time ago, there were many fierce birds and beasts everywhere that hurt people and livestock, so people organized to defeat them. A god bird was trapped and landed on the earth, but was accidentally shot by an unsuspecting hunter. The Emperor of Heaven was very angry when he learned that. He immediately issued a decree, ordering the heavenly soldiers to set fire to the land on the fifteenth day of the first month, burning all the people, livestock and property. The daughter of the Emperor of Heaven is kind-hearted. She couldn't bear to see the innocent suffering of the people, so she risked her life and secretly rushed Xiangyun to the world to tell people the news. When people heard the news, it was like a blow to the head. I was so scared that I didn't know what to do. After a long time, an old man came up with an idea. He said: "On the 14th, 15th and 16th of the first month, every family decorated their houses, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks. In this way, the emperor will think that people have been burned to death. " Everyone nodded and said yes, and they were ready to go separately. On the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, the emperor looked down and found that for three consecutive nights, the world was red and the noise was deafening. He thought it was the flame of a big fire, and soon. In this way, people saved their lives and property. In order to commemorate this success, every household hangs lanterns and sets off fireworks on the fifteenth day of the first month to commemorate this day.

Customs of Lantern Festival:

The main custom of the Lantern Festival is to eat Yuanxiao, and the earliest record of eating Yuanxiao can be found in the Song Dynasty. At that time, Yuanxiao was called "floating dumplings", "dumplings", "lactose dumplings" and "sugar dumplings". According to historical records such as Pingyuan Xu, Guangji Four Years Old and Ode to Daming, Yuanxiao, as a timely food to celebrate the Lantern Festival, began in the Song Dynasty. Because we must eat "Zi Yuan" during the Lantern Festival, people named it Yuanxiao.

In addition, the customs of Lantern Festival include: playing lanterns, walking on stilts, eating Yuanxiao, dancing lions, solving riddles on lanterns and Youlong lanterns, welcoming Zigu, setting off fireworks, dancing Yangko and playing Taiping Drum.