The formation of Lantern Festival custom 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 night of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "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, it was not until the Han and Wei Dynasties that the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was really regarded as a folk festival. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs.
Customs and habits of Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, so it is celebrated all over the country. The customs in most areas are similar, but each area still has its own characteristics.
1, eat Yuanxiao
Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.
Step 2 be careful with the lights
During the Yong Ping period of Han Dynasty (AD 58-75), when Ming Chengzu advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Cheng's return from India to seek Buddhism, saying that it was the fifteenth day of the first month of Mohato, India, and monks gathered to pay tribute to the 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. Since then, the custom of putting lanterns on the Lantern Festival has spread from the original palace to the people. That is, on the fifteenth day of the first month, both the gentry and the people hang up lights, and the urban and rural areas are brightly lit all night.
The custom of setting off lanterns during the Lantern Festival developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty. Chang 'an, the capital at that time, was already the largest city with a population of one million in the world, and its society was rich. Under the personal initiative of the emperor, the Lantern Festival became more and more luxurious. After the middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. In the prosperous period of the Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan (685-762 AD), the lantern market in Chang 'an was very large, with 50,000 lanterns and all kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered 20 giant lantern buildings with a height of 150 feet, resplendent and magnificent.
The Lantern Festival in Song Dynasty is superior to that in Tang Dynasty in scale and dreamy lighting, with more folk activities and stronger national characteristics. Since then, the Lantern Festival has continued to develop and the time of the Lantern Festival has become longer and longer. The Lantern Festival in Tang Dynasty is "one day before and after Shangyuan", with two days after 16th in Song Dynasty and ten days from 8th to 18th in Ming Dynasty.
In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu entered the Central Plains, and the court no longer held lantern festivals, but the folk lantern festivals were still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days and continues to this day.
In Taiwan Province Province, lanterns mean bright and elegant, lighting lamps means illuminating the future, and the homonym of Taiwan Province lamp and Ding stands for having a boy. Therefore, in the past, women would deliberately wander under lanterns, hoping to have boys.
3. Stay away from all diseases
Besides celebrating the Lantern Festival, there are also religious activities. That is to say, most of the participants in "walking all diseases", also known as "baking all diseases" and "eliminating all diseases" are women. They walk together or against the wall, or cross the bridge through the suburbs, in order to drive away the disease and eliminate the disaster.
4. A mouse.
This activity is mainly aimed at sericulture families. Because mice often eat silkworms in large areas at night, it is said that they can stop eating silkworms by feeding them rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month. As a result, these people cooked a large pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, and some even covered it with a layer of meat. They put porridge in a bowl and put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, cursing that mice will not die a natural death if they eat silkworm babies again.
Step 5 play with dragon lanterns
The dragon is the totem of China, and the Chinese nation advocates the dragon and regards it as a symbol of good luck. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the festive atmosphere of singing and dancing spread in many places.
6, lion dance
Lion dance, also known as "lion dance", "lion dance lantern" and "lion dance", is often performed in festivals and festive activities. Lions are regarded as auspicious animals in China, symbolizing good luck and good luck. Therefore, in the lion dance activities, people are entrusted with the good wishes of eliminating disasters and seeking good luck.
7. Solve riddles on lanterns
Every Lantern Festival, playing riddles is everywhere. I hope this year is festive and safe. Because riddles are enlightening and interesting, they are welcomed by all walks of life in the process of communication. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, various acrobatic skills began to appear in the lantern market. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, besides riddles and hundreds of operas, there were also opera performances.
Step 8 walk on stilts
Stilts clubs are generally organized by the masses spontaneously in series. On the 11th and 12th day of the first month, people began to take to the streets, which means to tell people that many folk flowers will be hung up this year. On the fifteenth day of the first month, I officially went to the streets until the end of the 18th National Congress.
9, offering doors, offering households
There were "seven sacrifices" in ancient times, which were two of them. The method of sacrifice is to insert poplar branches above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks in a bowl filled with bean porridge, or put wine and meat directly in front of the door.