Eating glutinous rice balls is one of the customs of Lantern Festival, which is a traditional festival in China. It falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year. It is also called Shangyuan Festival, Yuanxi Festival and Spring Lantern Festival. On the Lantern Festival, in addition to the custom of eating glutinous rice balls, there are also customs such as viewing lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns and walking on stilts.

Tangyuan is one of the traditional snack representatives in China, also known as Tangtuan and Fuyuanzi. People often eat it during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. Because it is spherical and its pronunciation is similar to reunion, people will eat it to hope that the family can be reunited and happy, which also shows China people's love and inheritance of traditional festivals.

The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called "night" "night". The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night in a year, so it is called "Lantern Festival". According to the Taoist "Sanyuan", the fifteenth day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". Since ancient times, Lantern Festival customs have been dominated by warm and festive customs.

Origin of Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. The formation of the custom of Lantern Festival has a long process, which is rooted in the ancient folk custom of turning on lights to pray for blessings. Usually, on the 14th night of the first month, the lights are tried, and on the 15th night, the lanterns are lit, also known as "sending lanterns", so as to carry out the activities of offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for blessings.

The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty also played an important role in promoting the formation of the Lantern Festival custom. During the reign of Emperor Yongping of Han Ming, in order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered that lanterns be lit in palaces and monasteries on the fifteenth night of the first month to show Buddha. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture.

In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, lantern festival became a trend. Liang Wudi believed in Buddhism, and there were many lanterns in his palace on the 15th day of the first month. In the Tang Dynasty, cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries became closer, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "burned lanterns to offer sacrifices to the Buddha" on the 15th day of the first month, so Buddhist lanterns were spread all over the people. Since the Tang Dynasty, lantern festival lanterns have become a legal thing.