What are the customs of the Lantern Festival What are the customs of the Lantern Festival?

1, eat Lantern Festival

New Year's Eve to eat Lantern Festival, "Lantern Festival" as a food, in our country has a long history. Song Dynasty, the folk that is popular a Lantern Festival to eat novelty food. This food, the earliest called "floating yuanzi" after the name "Lantern", the businessman also beautifully called "Yuanbao". Lantern that is the dumplings to sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow cinnamon, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste, etc. for the filling, wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round, can be meat or vegetarian, different flavors. It can be boiled in soup, deep-fried or steamed, and has the meaning of reunion. Shaanxi's dumplings are not wrapped, but rolled in glutinous rice flour, or boiled Division or deep-fried, hot, hot, reunion.

"Lantern" as a food, in China also has a long history. Song Dynasty, the folk that is popular a Lantern Festival to eat novelty food. This food, the earliest called "floating Yuanzi" later called "Lantern", the businessman also beautifully called "Yuanbao". In ancient times, "Lantern" is more expensive, there is a poem that says: "Your guests hook curtains to see the Royal Street, the market treasures a moment to. In front of the curtain, there is no way to walk through the flower racks, no money shall not return."

Northern "roll" Lantern, southern "package" dumplings, which are two different practices and taste of food.

2, Lantern

The first fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the "Lantern Festival", this festival folk have hanging lanterns, playing lamps, lanterns and other customs, so also known as the Festival of Lights.

The Lantern Festival is a traditional Lantern Festival customs, began in the Western Han Dynasty, flourished in the Sui and Tang dynasties. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the wind of lights prevailed, and inherited in later generations. And the first month of the 15th, and is the annual lantern fireworks climax. So also the Lantern Festival known as the "Festival of Lights" in Shanxi, the county of the first level of the city outline and even townships, towns, these residents are concentrated, busy and bustling area, before the arrival of the first month of the fifteenth, the streets are full of lanterns, flowers everywhere, the lights are swaying, to the night of the first month of the fifteenth night to reach a climax. The first day of the first month of the "lanterns" has become the Shanxi folk spontaneous activities, in the night of the first month of the first day of the 15th, the streets and alleys, red lanterns hanging high, there are palace lanterns, animal head lamps, horse lanterns, flower lamps, bird and bird lamps and so on, attracting the masses of the lanterns. Taiyuan area, Taigu County lights are very famous. Taigu lamps are famous for their variety, exquisite production and attractive appearance.

3, guessing riddles

Guessing riddles, also known as lantern riddles, is China's unique rich national style of a traditional form of folk entertainment activities, from ancient times on the circulation of the Lantern Festival featured activities. On the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the traditional folk are to hang up colored lanterns, fireworks, and then there are good people to write riddles on paper strips, pasted on the colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can enlighten wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, so the response of many people, and then riddles gradually become an indispensable program of the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles add to the festive atmosphere, showing the ingenuity of the ancient working people and the desire for a better life.

4, playing dragon lantern

Juggling dragon lanterns, also known as the dragon lantern dance or dragon dance. 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. And according to the "Sui Book - Music Zhi" records, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, similar to the hundred plays in the dragon dance performance of the "yellow dragon change" is also very wonderful, dragon dance popular in many parts of China. Huaxia revered the dragon as a symbol of good luck.

5, stilt-walking

Stilt-walking is a kind of mass skill performance popular among the people. 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 in the article of "Lie Zi - Said Fu": "There was a Lanzi in Song, who used his skills to dry Song Yuan. Song Yuan summoned him to see his skill.

6. Lion Dance

Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. Whenever there is a Lantern Festival or a gathering for celebration, the folk will cheer up with lion dance. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period, began to popularize the North and South Dynasties, has a history of more than a thousand years.

"Lion Dance" began in the Wei and Jin dynasties, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the "Lion Dance", "Peaceful Music", generally completed by three people, two people dressed as a lion, a person as the head of the lion, a person as the body and the back of the lion. One person as a lion body and back feet, another person when the lion guide, the dance method and there are cultural and military points, cultural dance to show that the lion's tame, there are shaking the hair, rolling and other actions, martial arts lion lion to show that the lion's ferocious, there are prancing, stomping high, rolling colorful ball and other actions.7, rowing dry boat

Rowing dry boat, also known as dry boat, that is, imitating a boat on the land, the performance of the work of running a dry boat, most of the running boat is a girl. Dry boat is not a real boat, more than two pieces of thin board, sawed into a boat shape, bamboo and wood tied into, and then masked with colorful cloth, set of tie in the girl's waist, as sitting in the boat, as in the hands of the paddle, do rowing posture, one side of the run, one side of the local ditty singing, singing and dancing, which is the rowing of dry boat. Sometimes there is another man dressed as a boat passenger, partnering performance, most of them dressed as clowns, with a variety of comical actions to amuse the audience. Rowing the dry boat is popular in many parts of China.

8. Sacrifices to the Gate and the Household

There were "Seven Sacrifices" in ancient times, and these are two of them. Sacrifices were made by sticking a poplar branch above a gateway, inserting a pair of chopsticks in a bowl containing bean porridge, or placing wine and meat directly in front of the door.

9, rat

Rat is a traditional folk activity during the Lantern Festival, which began in the Wei and Jin dynasties. It is mainly said to the silkworm family. Because mice often eat silkworms in the night in large pieces, people say that on the fifteenth day of the first month with rice porridge to feed the mice, it can not eat silkworms.

The Jing Chu chronicle says that on the fifteenth day of the first month, a fairy descended to the family of a man named Chen, and said to them: If you can worship me, let your silkworms have a good harvest. Later on, the custom was formed.

10, send children lights

Short for "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 home, in order to add a small auspicious omen, because "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.

11, welcome purple aunt

Purple aunt is also known as chi aunt, the north more known as toilet aunt, pit three aunt. Ancient folk custom on the fifteenth day of the first month to welcome the toilet god Zigu and sacrifices, divination sericulture, and accounted for all 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, the toilet god. Every day to welcome the purple nun this night, people with straw, cloth, etc. tied into a life-size portrait of the purple nun, and at night in the toilet between the pigsty to meet and worship. This custom is popular throughout the north and south, as early as the period of the North and South Dynasties are seen in the record.

Walking the hundred diseases

"Walking the hundred diseases", also known as the tour of the hundred diseases, scattered hundred diseases, baked hundred diseases, walk the bridge, etc., is a kind of elimination of disasters and pray for health activities. The night of the Lantern Festival, women meet to travel, traveling in pairs, see the bridge must be crossed, that can get rid of diseases and prolong life.

Walking 100 diseases is a custom in the north since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some in the fifteenth, but more in the sixteenth. On this day, women dressed in festive costumes, groups of people out of the house, walk the bridge across the danger, ascent to the city, touching the nail to seek a son, until midnight, began to return.