During the period of Yongping (58-175 AD), the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, because the Ming Emperor advocated Buddhism, coincided with Cai Cheng's return from India to seek Buddhism, saying that on the fifteenth day of the first month in Mohatuo, India, monks gathered to pay tribute to Buddhist relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in the palace and temple on the fifteenth night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth 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.
It is also said that the Lantern Festival originated from the "Torch Festival". In the Han Dynasty, people held torches in rural fields to drive away insects and beasts, hoping to reduce pests and pray for a good harvest. To this day, people in some areas in southwest China still make torches out of reeds or branches on the fifteenth day of the first month, and hold them high in groups and dance in fields or grain drying fields. Since the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been in full swing. Tens of thousands of people took part in singing and dancing, from faint to dull. With the changes of society and times, the customs of Lantern Festival have changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China.
Another theory is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "three-yuan theory"; The 15th day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the 15th day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the 15th day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower three elements are heaven, earth and man respectively, and the heaven official is happy, so the lantern festival should be lit. The festivals and customs activities of the Lantern Festival are extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of the festival is concerned, it was only one day in the Han Dynasty, three days in the Tang Dynasty, and five days in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the lights were lit from the eighth day of the eighth month until the night of the seventeenth day of the first month, for ten days. Connecting with the Spring Festival, the day is the city, which is very lively, and the lights are lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. By the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, roller boating, walking on stilts and dancing yangko, but the festival was shortened to four to five days: the folk custom of eating Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival. Yuanxiao is made of glutinous rice, either solid or stuffed. Filled with bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, all kinds of fruit materials, etc., it can be cooked, fried, steamed and fried when eating. At first, people called this kind of food "Floating Yuanzi", and later they called it "Tangtuan" or "Tangyuan". These names "Reunion" have similar sounds, meaning reunion, which symbolizes the reunion of the whole family, harmony and happiness, and people also miss their parting relatives and place their good wishes on their future life. In some places, the Lantern Festival also has the custom of "walking all kinds of diseases", also known as "roasting all kinds of diseases" and "dispersing all kinds of diseases". Most of the participants are women. They walk together or walk by the wall, or cross the bridge and walk in the suburbs, in order to drive away diseases and eliminate disasters. 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 playing dragon lanterns, playing lions, walking on stilts, rowing dry boats and dancing yangko, and playing Taiping drums. This traditional festival, which has been passed down for more than 2,000 years, is not only popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also celebrated year after year in areas inhabited by overseas Chinese.