Customs on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month:
1. Eating "Yuanxiao" on the Lantern Festival
Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is a long-standing custom in China. Namely "tangyuan", its preparation has different ingredients and flavors.
At first, the seasonal snacks during the Lantern Festival were not Yuanxiao. In the Southern Dynasties, they ate bean porridge or rice porridge mixed with meat and animal oil. In the Tang Dynasty, they ate a kind of silkworm-shaped pasta. It was not until the Song Dynasty that Yuanxiao made of glutinous rice flour and fructose appeared. However, it was not called Yuanxiao at that time, but was called Fuyuanzi or Tangyuan.
Later, because this food was eaten exclusively during the Lantern Festival, it was called Lantern Festival.
In fact, the only difference between glutinous rice balls and yuanxiao is the size and whether they are stuffed or not! Southerners use glutinous rice to make balls about the same size as longans, called glutinous rice balls.
Northerners eat larger dumplings with fillings inside, which are called Yuanxiao. Businessmen also call it "Yuanbao" because Yuanxiao also symbolizes prosperity.
But the meaning of eating Yuanxiao is the same. It represents reunion, harmony and beauty, and the days are getting more and more prosperous.
As the saying goes, harmony brings wealth. Family harmony and family reunion are so important factors for a complete family. Therefore, you must eat "Yuanxiao" with your family during the Lantern Festival.
2. Shangyuan Prayer
Shangyuan Prayer (worship to Emperor Tianguan). The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Shangyuan Festival and the birthday of Emperor Tianguan. Folks say this day is To celebrate the birth of God in the Three Realms, various houses and temples hold grand ceremonies in the early morning. The sacrifice ceremony is just like celebrating the birth of God in the ninth day of the lunar month. The Three Realms Sutra needs to be recited to pray for good luck.
3. "Send lanterns" during the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is also called the Festival of Lanterns, and lanterns are homophones for ding, so the lanterns have the meaning of praying for children. The New Year ballads include: Fourteen knots The records of the lantern shed being dismantled on the 15th day of the Lantern Festival and the lantern shed being dismantled on the 16th day of the Lantern Festival show that lanterns have become an indispensable activity of the Lantern Festival.
After the Tang Dynasty, lanterns were not only of various types and ever-changing, but also became a popular activity among the people; the Song Dynasty was the heyday of lanterns. In the Song Dynasty, lanterns looked like glass balls, and were also made of five-color wax paper, bodhi leaves, sheepskin, tortoiseshell, etc. , the gorgeousness and sophistication are unprecedented.
4. Dragon and lion dances during the Lantern Festival
The dragon is an auspicious mythical animal and the totem and symbol of the nation. Dragon lanterns are seen all over the country during the Lantern Festival.
The early dragon lanterns were about seven or eight feet long. They were made of dragon-shaped lanterns by pasting gauze on the bamboo drums. Dozens of candles were lit inside the dragon head and body, and then tied to wooden sticks. , there are more than a dozen strong men carrying it. During the performance, the dragon head chases the dragon ball and dances with graceful posture, commonly known as "Dragon Dance".
5. Guessing lantern riddles during the Lantern Festival
In addition to lanterns, the most popular activity during the Lantern Festival is guessing lantern riddles. Lantern riddles are made by pasting riddles on lamps, allowing people to guess the riddles while admiring the lanterns.
The answers to riddles mostly focus on the meaning of words, such as a word, a poem, an object or a name. Since lantern riddles are difficult to guess, just like tigers are difficult to shoot, they are also called lantern tigers (also called lantern tigers). Called Wenhu).
Lantern riddles are an original folk art in my country. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, they have been made into cryptic sentences with disguised sentences. It was only in the Han and Wei dynasties that they began to be called riddles (Dongfang Shuo was good at cryptic words during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He once collaborated with Emperor Wu's favorite minister Guo Guo Sheren spoke cryptic words in front of Emperor Wu, and won the trust of Emperor Wu).
After the Southern Song Dynasty, some people wrote riddles on lanterns, and asked people to guess spring lantern riddles during the Lantern Festival. Some people also cited the so-called shooting method of guessing riddles, which was called spotlight riddles. Since then, lantern riddle activities have been held across the country during the Lantern Festival.
6. Walking away all diseases during the Lantern Festival
It is also called "walking away all diseases", "walking away all diseases", "walking on bridges", etc. It is an activity to eliminate disasters and pray for health. On the night of the Lantern Festival, women meet to go out together and cross bridges whenever they see them, believing that this can cure diseases and prolong life.
7. Rat chasing during the Lantern Festival
The rat chasing is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people who raise silkworms cook a large pot of sticky porridge, and some even cover it with a layer of meat. The porridge is served in a bowl and placed on the ceiling or in a rat-infested area. In the corner of the wall, he put it in his mouth and muttered something, cursing the rat that it would die badly if it ate the silkworm babies. Legend has it that if you do this, this year's mice will not eat silkworm babies.
8. Welcome Zigu during the Lantern Festival
Welcome Zigu, also known as worshiping Dongshi Niang. Zigu is also called Qi (seventh) aunt. In the north, she is often called toilet aunt and pit third aunt. Ancient folk customs include offering sacrifices to Zigu, the toilet god, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, fortune-telling about dragon boats and silkworms, and fortune telling.
Every night on the day when Zigu is welcomed, people tie up a life-size portrait of Zigu with straw, cloth, etc., and worship her in the pig pen in the toilet room at night. It truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of the working people who are kind, loyal and sympathetic to the weak.
9. Stilt walking during the Lantern Festival
Stilt walking festivals are generally organized by the masses spontaneously. People start walking on the streets on the 11th and 12th of the first lunar month, which means to tell people to sign up for this year among the many folk flower parties. The festival officially takes to the streets on the 15th day of the first lunar month and ends on the 18th day of the lunar month.
10. Offer sacrifices to doors and households during the Lantern Festival
In ancient times, there were "seven sacrifices", and these are two of them. The method of offering sacrifices is to insert poplar branches above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks into the bowl of bean porridge, or place wine and meat directly in front of the door.
Besides this, there are others, such as listening to incense, drilling lamp feet (there are two versions of blind date and begging for a child), begging for turtles and flowers, looking at the moonlight, looking at well water and sleeping late, Lantern Festival There are many interesting customs such as making love.
In short, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, the Spring Lantern Festival, the Little New Year Festival, and the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. Because China has a vast territory and a long history, the customs of the Lantern Festival vary across the country.
Extended information:
Origin of the festival:
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival, and Lantern Festival. The first month of the first lunar month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called night "xiao", so the fifteenth day of the first lunar 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 when the Yuan Dynasty begins and the earth returns to spring. People celebrate this and it is also a continuation of celebrating the New Year. ?
Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar" and listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival. Since the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, it has become even more prosperous. "Book of Sui Dynasty Music Chronicles" states: "Whenever the first lunar month comes, all nations come to the DPRK and stay until the 15th day outside Duanmen and inside Jianguomen. It stretches for eight miles and is used as a theater." Tens of thousands of singers and dancers participated in the performance. It's dark until dawn, and then it's dark.
With the changes of society and times, the customs and habits of the Lantern Festival have already changed greatly, but it is still a traditional Chinese folk festival.
The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. The formation of the Lantern Festival customs has a long process. According to general information and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has been taken seriously in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went to Xinye on the first lunar month. The activity of worshiping "Tai Yi" in Ganquan Palace was regarded by later generations as the precursor to worshiping the gods on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty played an important role in the formation of the Lantern Festival customs.
The original meaning of Lantern Festival is "the evening of the Lantern Festival", because the main activity of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is eating glutinous rice balls and admiring the moon at night. Later, the name of the festival evolved into "Lantern Festival".
On the night of the Lantern Festival, the streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. People admire the lanterns, guess lantern riddles, and eat Lantern Festival. The celebrations that started on New Year’s Eve push to another climax and become a custom that has been passed down from generation to generation.
When the Lantern Festival was formed in the early stages of the festival, it was only called the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the first half of the first lunar month or the first day of the month. After the Sui Dynasty, it was called Yuanxi or Yuanye. In the early Tang Dynasty, it was influenced by Taoism, and it was also called Shangyuan. It was only occasionally called Yuanxiao in the late Tang Dynasty. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dengxi.
In the Qing Dynasty, it was also called the Lantern Festival. Abroad, Lantern Festival is also known as The Lantern Festival.
Cultural value of Lantern Festival:
Chinese traditional festival customs adapt to the comprehensive needs of the broad masses of Chinese society in terms of material, spiritual, ethical and aesthetic aspects. In terms of material life, China's traditional festivals have many unique foods for different festivals.
During the Lantern Festival, the whole family eats glutinous rice balls together. The pronunciations of "tangyuan" and "reunion" are similar, symbolizing reunion and living in harmony.
The cultural value of the Lantern Festival lies in the fact that it is a carnival for all the people, in which everyone participates and enjoys it. In ancient times, due to the lifting of bans on the Lantern Festival, there was a large flow of people. Men and women met, and it was easy to fall in love. For thousands of years, there have been countless love stories between two people that have been staged during the Lantern Festival.
The main activity of the 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 lunar month to pray for the blessings of the gods.
The Lantern Festival is also a good time to seek children. "Stealing Lamps" in Volume 12 of Chen Yuanliang's "Sui Guang Ji" of the Song Dynasty explained the reasons why people stole lanterns during the Lantern Festival at that time: "One cloud means that anyone who steals lanterns is a sign of a man." The word "lamp" here is homophonic to "ding". , that is, men. In this way, stealing a lamp symbolizes the birth of a son, and stealing a lamp means praying for the continuation of offspring.
According to the same principle, watching lanterns also has the meaning of seeking children. Therefore, it was justifiable for ancient women to go out to watch lanterns for this reason.
Festival culture has no national boundaries. This is true for the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival is no exception. The enthusiasm, unrestrainedness and publicity of hundreds of millions of Chinese people can rival the carnivals of Brazil, Germany and other countries.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Lantern Festival