What is the origin and customs of the Lantern Festival?

Every year on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, just after the Spring Festival, it is ushered in the traditional Chinese festival - the Lantern Festival.

The first month of the first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called the night "xiao", so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the first full moon night of the year, and it is also the night of the rejuvenation of the earth, which is celebrated and the continuation of the celebration of the new year. The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival".

According to Chinese folk tradition, on this night when the moon is high in the sky, people light up 10,000 lanterns to celebrate. Go out to admire the moon, light the lanterns, guess the lantern riddles, eat the Lantern Festival, reunite with the family, celebrate the festival together, and enjoy it.

The Lantern Festival is also known as the Lantern Festival, the custom of lighting the lantern festival originated in the Han Dynasty, to the Tang Dynasty, the lantern appreciation activities were more prosperous, the palace and the streets were hung everywhere, and the tall lantern wheels, lantern towers and lantern trees were also established. ”

The Song Dynasty paid more attention to the Lantern Festival, and the lantern viewing activities were more lively, and the lantern viewing activities took 5 days, and the styles of the lanterns were also more abundant. In the Ming Dynasty, lanterns were enjoyed for 10 days in a row, which was the longest lantern festival in China. Although the lantern viewing activity in the Qing Dynasty is only 3 days, the lantern viewing activity is very large-scale, and the grand occasion is unprecedented.

"Guessing lantern riddles", also known as "playing lantern riddles", is an activity added after the Lantern Festival, which appeared in the Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the capital Lin'an was fascinated during the Lantern Festival, and there were many people guessing riddles. In the beginning, it was the good deeds who wrote riddles on slips of paper and pasted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess.

Because riddles can enlighten wisdom and are very interesting, they are popular with all walks of life in the process of circulation.

The folk custom of eating Lantern Festival during the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival is made of glutinous rice, either solid or stuffed. The filling has bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, all kinds of fruits, etc., which can be boiled, fried, steamed and fried when eaten.

At first, people called this food "floating balls", and later called "soup balls" or "soup balls", these names "reunion" are similar in sound, take the meaning of reunion, symbolize the reunion of the whole family, harmony and happiness, people also miss the parting relatives, and place good wishes for the future life.

The Lantern Festival in some places also has the custom of "walking a hundred diseases", also known as "roasting a hundred diseases" and "scattering a hundred diseases", the participants are mostly women, they walk together or walk by the wall, or cross the bridge, go to the suburbs, the purpose is to drive away the disease and eliminate the disaster.

With the passage of time, there are more and more activities in the Lantern Festival, and many local festivals have added traditional folk performances such as dragon lanterns, lion playing, stilt walking, rowing boats and twisting Yangge, and playing Taiping drums. This traditional festival, which has been inherited for more than 2,000 years, is not only popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also celebrated every year in the areas inhabited by overseas Chinese.

Lantern Festival lanterns, lantern riddles, and Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, as early as 2000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty, the Lantern Festival began in the Eastern Han Dynasty during the Ming Emperor period, the Ming Emperor advocated Buddhism, I heard that Buddhism has the first month of the fifteenth day of the monk to view the Buddha relics, light the lamp to worship the Buddha's practice, on the order of this night in the palace and temple to light the lamp to worship the Buddha, so that the common people of the scholar clan are hung lanterns. Later, this kind of Buddhist ritual festival gradually formed a folk grand festival. The festival has experienced the development process from the court to the people, from the Central Plains to the whole country.

Lantern Festival lanterns, lantern riddles, and Lantern Festival.

The origin of the Lantern Festival: It originates from the Buddhist monks on the fifteenth day of the first month to view the Buddha relics and light the lamps to worship the Buddha. The Lantern Festival folk also have the customs of hanging lanterns, lighting lights, and watching lanterns.

The main program of the Lantern Festival is lantern viewing. There are two theories about lighting lamps, appreciating lanterns, and lighting lamps. One theory is that the custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival first originated from the worship of fire.

After mastering the use of fire, primitive people could disperse fierce beasts, so they lit bonfires on full moon nights and held exorcism rituals. It turns out that the custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival evolved from this sacrificial activity of the Chinese ancestors.

Another theory is that the custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival should originate from the Taoist "three yuan" theory: the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is the Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is the lower Yuan Festival. The Shangyuan Heavenly Officials and Fire Officials in the Three Officials Emperor were born on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so the Lantern Festival is also called the "Shangyuan Festival", and the lanterns should be lit to celebrate.

The Lantern Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China, dating back to the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. The traditional Lantern Festival of the Han nationality began in the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ordered the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to be designated as the Lantern Festival. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty created the "Taichu Calendar".

The Lantern Festival is further identified as a major festival. As the first full moon night of the new year, the Lantern Festival has a unique significance, and this day is also a festival celebrated by the whole people.

Origin of the Lantern Festival:

The Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty and is said to have been established to commemorate the "Ping Road" of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ying, the Marquis of Lü usurped power, and the Lu family took control of politics. After Lu Hou's death, Zhou Bo and Chen Pingren wiped out Lu Hou's forces and established Liu Heng as Emperor Wen of Han.

Because the day of quelling the bamboo deer is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every night on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Wen of Han went out of the palace to show respect. The 15th day of the first month is designated as the Lantern Festival. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrifice of "Taiyi God" was on the 15th day of the first month.

Sima Qian listed the Lantern Festival as an important festival in the "Taihang Calendar".

Customs: The Lantern Festival mainly includes a series of traditional folk activities such as viewing lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls, guessing lantern riddles, and setting off fireworks. In addition, the Lantern Festival in many places has also added traditional folk performances such as dragon lanterns, lion dances, stilt walking, rowing boats, twisting Yangge, and playing Taiping drums.

A common event during the Lantern Festival

1. Guess the lantern riddle.

Guessing lantern riddles, also known as playing lantern riddles, is a form of traditional folk entertainment activities with a unique national style in China, and it is a characteristic activity of the Lantern Festival that has been circulating since ancient times. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the traditional folk have to hang up lanterns and set off fireworks, and later some good deeds write riddles on slips of paper and paste them on colorful lanterns for people to guess.

2. Play dragon lanterns.

Playing dragon lanterns, also known as dragon lantern dancing or dragon dance. The dragon dance seen in the written record is Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" in the Han Dynasty, and the author made a vivid description of the dragon dance in the description of the hundred operas. According to the records of the Book of Sui, the "Yellow Dragon Change" similar to the dragon dance performance in the hundred operas during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was also very exciting, and the dragon dance was popular in many parts of China.

Huaxia admires the dragon and regards the dragon as a symbol of good luck.

3. Step on stilts.

Walking on stilts is a popular mass skill performance among the people. Stilts are one of the hundred operas in ancient China, which has appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The earliest introduction of stilts in China is the chapter "Liezi Shuofu": "Those who have Lanzi in the Song Dynasty will do the Song and Yuan dynasties with skills." Song Yuan summoned him to see his skills.

The origin of the Lantern Festival, why is it the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and what customs do you know?