1, the origin of the Lantern Festival.
Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on lights to pray. Lights are usually turned on to pray for blessings from the 14th night of the first month, and the 15th night is the "positive light". People turn on lights, also known as "sending lights", and carry out activities of offering sacrifices to 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 Lantern Festival customs. During the Yongping period of Emperor Hanming, 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.
Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the 15th night of the first month gradually spread in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Lantern Festival lighting gradually became a trend. Liang Wudi believed in Buddhism, and the palace was brightly lit on the 15th day of the first month. During the Tang Dynasty, cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries became closer, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "burned lanterns to worship Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month, so Buddha lanterns spread all over the people. It has been legal to display lanterns on the Lantern Festival since the Tang Dynasty.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival and Lantern Festival. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "night", so they called the fifteenth day of the first month "Lantern Festival". With the changes of society and times, the custom of Lantern Festival has changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China.
Yuanxiao was only called the fifteenth day of the first month, the first half of the first month or the full moon when the early festivals were formed, and it was called Yuanxi or Yuanye after Sui Dynasty. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, but it was only occasionally called Yuanxiao in the late Tang Dynasty. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dunhill Road. In the Qing dynasty, it was also called the Lantern Festival. In foreign countries, Lantern Festival is also called Lantern Festival. On the evening of the 15th day of the first month, people in China have a series of traditional folk activities, such as watching lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls, eating Yuanxiao, solve riddles on the lanterns and setting off fireworks.
2. The cultural value of Lantern Festival.
The traditional festival customs in China have adapted to the comprehensive needs of the broad masses of people in China in material, spiritual, ethical and aesthetic aspects. In terms of material life, traditional festivals in China have many unique foods in different festivals. On the Lantern Festival, the whole family eats glutinous rice balls together. "Tangyuan" sounds similar to "reunion" and symbolizes reunion and harmony.
The cultural value of Lantern Festival lies in that it is a national carnival, in which everyone participates and enjoys it. Because of the opening of the ancient Lantern Festival, the crowds are woven, men and women meet, and it is easy to have love. For thousands of years, two of a kind's love story staged on the Lantern Festival is endless.
The main activity of Lantern Festival is mass entertainment, but its social and cultural significance is not just entertainment. There are many religious activities on the fifteenth day of the first month, praying for the blessing of the gods. Lantern Festival is also a good time to find children. In Song Dynasty, Chen's Book of Years, Volume 12, Stealing Lights, explained why people stole lights at that time, saying, "Whoever steals lights from a cloud is a good omen for men." Here, the homonym of "light" is "Ding", which means male.
In this way, stealing lights symbolizes the birth of a son, and stealing lights is to pray for children to continue. In the same way, watching lanterns also means looking for children. Therefore, it is natural for ancient women to go out to watch the lights for this reason.
Festival culture has no national boundaries, such as Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. The enthusiasm, boldness and publicity of hundreds of millions of people can be compared with the revelry in Brazil, Germany and other countries.
3. The historical value of Lantern Festival.
The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs. During the reign of Emperor Yongping of Han Dynasty, because Ming Yingzong advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Mao's return from India to seek Buddha, saying that on the 15th day of the first month in Mohamad, India, monks gathered to pay tribute to relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lanterns to show Buddha" in palaces and temples on the fifteenth night of the first month.
Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the 15th night of the first month gradually spread in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture. Nowadays, with the development of the times, today's Lantern Festival is moving from family to society. No matter how the Lantern Festival, lanterns and fireworks change, the ancient traditional customs that the Lantern Festival continues remain unchanged. These elements of traditional culture are always the feelings that people keep giving up.
5. The economic value of Lantern Festival.
As the Lantern Festival approaches, the business of lanterns, glutinous dumplings and fireworks is booming, and the "Lantern Festival Economy" in Rizhao City, Shandong Province is booming. Merchants blew the "assembly number" of the Lantern Festival economy. 2011February 17 is the Lantern Festival. Every citizen is trying to catch the tail of the Spring Festival and enjoy the flavor of the year at the Lantern Festival. When the Lantern Festival comes, the festival economy is stirred again, hotels are fully booked, and supermarkets sell well for the Lantern Festival.
In recent years, some colleagues, relatives and friends who have no time to get together during the Spring Festival take the Lantern Festival as an opportunity to eat together, which greatly increases the booking rate of Lantern Festival hotels. The number of meals ordered during the Lantern Festival is almost no less than that of New Year's Eve. Some hotels have specially launched "recalling bitter experience and thinking sweet" dishes, coarse grains, wild vegetables and wowotou on the Lantern Festival, which are well received by the public.
6. Festival significance of Lantern Festival.
Lantern Festival, like Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, is a traditional festival in China. In fact, its cultural connotation and social value are far superior to other festivals, which is of extraordinary significance.
The Spring Festival begins with the closing of New Year's Eve and ends with the Lantern Festival. It is a process in which people constantly expand their activities and interpersonal relationships. Pay New Year greetings to parents on the first day and on the second day. In the future, we will gradually expand the scope of New Year greetings to ordinary relatives and friends. During this period, people's activities are limited to acquaintances.
The fifth day is the fifth day, so farm work can start and shops can open. During this period, society began to function normally. On the fifteenth day of the first month, all social members, regardless of gender, age and age, took part in the festival activities. Therefore, the Lantern Festival has the significance of confirming the relationship between all members of society (including people who don't know each other).