Introduction to the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Xiaozhengmu, Yuanshi or Lantern Festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China, and is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar every year. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, the ancients called "night" for "night", the first month of the fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon in the year, so the first month of the fifteenth day of the first month for the "Lantern Festival". According to Taoism's "Three Elements", the 15th day of the first month is also known as the "Festival of the Upper Elements". Since ancient times, the Lantern Festival has been dominated by the warm and festive custom of watching lanterns.
The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, rooted in the ancient folk custom of turning on the lanterns to pray for blessings. According to general information and folklore, the 15th day of the first lunar month has been emphasized in the Western Han Dynasty, but the 15th day of the first lunar month Lantern Festival is really as a national folk festival after the Han Wei Dynasty. The rise of the custom of lighting on the 15th day of the first lunar month is also related to the spread of Buddhism to the east, the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism flourished, the civil servants and the people in general on the 15th day of the first lunar month, "light for Buddha", the Buddhist lamps and lanterns were spread all over the people from the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival that became a legal thing.
The Lantern Festival is one of the traditional festivals of China and the Chinese Cultural Circle as well as overseas Chinese. The Lantern Festival is characterized by a series of traditional folk activities, such as viewing lanterns, eating dumplings, guessing lantern riddles and setting off fireworks. In addition, the Lantern Festival in many places has added traditional folk performances such as dragon lanterns, lion dances, stilt walkers, rowing dry boats, rice-planting songs, and playing peace drums, etc. In June 2008, the Lantern Festival was selected as one of the second batch of national intangible cultural heritages.
Significance of the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival can be said to be the authentic Chinese Valentine's Day. In ancient times, due to the opening of the Lantern Festival, the crowd was so crowded that men and women met each other, and it was easy for them to fall in love. Over the centuries, there have been countless love stories between two lovers on the Lantern Festival.
At the material level, the Lantern Festival, the whole family together to eat dumplings, "dumplings" and "reunion" similar to the sound of the word, symbolizing the reunion, harmony.
The cultural value of the Lantern Festival lies in the fact that it is a carnival for all people, in which everyone participates and enjoys. The main activity of the Lantern Festival is popular entertainment, but its social and cultural significance is more than just entertainment. There are many faith activities on the 15th day of the first month to pray for the blessing of the gods. The festival economy is stirred up when the Lantern Festival arrives.
Customs of the Lantern Festival
1, eating dumplings
Eating dumplings on the day of the Lantern Festival is a very important traditional custom in China. Soup dumplings, also known as Lantern Festival, every time the Lantern Festival comes, families are joyfully busy making Lantern Festival to celebrate the holiday. Although few people make dumplings by hand nowadays, it is still a very cozy and wonderful way to celebrate the Lantern Festival by sitting around and eating dumplings together as a family.
2, fireworks
From ancient times to the present day, fireworks have been an essential part of the celebration of festivals in China. When the fireworks are lit, flying into the sky bloomed at the moment, although the beauty of this only a moment, but in people's hearts left an eternal good memory. Fireworks viewing is also a traditional custom that people like very much when the Lantern Festival comes.
3, lion dance, lanterns and riddles
In some places, people like to celebrate the Lantern Festival by organizing activities such as lion and dragon dances, and so the lion dance is also a traditional custom during the Lantern Festival. Every Lantern Festival, many places will be held in the temple, the temple will always have a variety of seat brilliant lanterns, there will be a lot of interesting riddle activities, enjoy the lanterns guessing lantern riddle from ancient times is the Lantern Festival is extraordinarily important traditional customs.