The origin of the Lantern Festival.
There are many explanations about the origin of the Lantern Festival. Let me introduce them below.
One theory originated from Taoist ternary theory, that is, the 15th day of the first month is Shangyuan, the 15th day of July is Zhongyuan, and the 15th day of October is Xia Yuan. If people lead an honest and clean life and recite scriptures and Buddha on this Three-Yuan Festival, they can get close to the Buddha and get happiness. The first of the Three Yuan Festival is the Lantern Festival. -China exotic traditional vertical version P29.
On the other hand, in the Han Dynasty, lanterns were set up to worship Taiyi God. Influenced by Buddhism's "Great God Change" and "burning lanterns to worship Buddha", gentry and ordinary people all over the world were ordered to hang lanterns. Since then, Buddhist etiquette has evolved into a grand folk Lantern Festival.
There is also a saying that the Lantern Festival means blessing. Lantern Festival lighting and ignition in the spring and autumn season to take care of and pray for the new year and early agricultural "Big Mars" celebrations.
Another story is that during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a maid-in-waiting named Yuanxiao wanted to jump into a well and commit suicide because she couldn't go home to visit her parents on the fifteenth day of the first month. In order to help her, she said outside the court that the Jade Emperor would send Vulcan to burn Chang 'an on the 16th day of the first month, and told Emperor Wu that Vulcan liked to eat glutinous rice balls and watch lanterns. If the emperor and officials go to the market to enjoy the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month, it will be solved. Emperor Wu obeyed, and the ladies-in-waiting also took the opportunity to go home and reunite with their parents, which later formed a custom. -Illustration P45 of Festival Tang Poetry
2. The development of Lantern Festival.
Yuanxiao is only called on the fifteenth day of the first month, the first half of the first month or the first month of the lunar calendar, and it is called Yuanxiao or Yuanxiao after the Sui Dynasty. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called "Shangyuan", but it was only in the late Tang Dynasty that it was occasionally called "Yuanxiao". But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called "Dunhill Road". In Qing dynasty, it was also called "Lantern Festival". In foreign countries, Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival". Of course, all kinds of lanterns are the main features of Yuanxiao, but in the development history of this festival, lanterns did not appear until the Sui Dynasty (58 1 to 6 19), which was one of the later programs, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that lanterns became the main symbol of Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is a festival gradually formed from the third century, and developed into a fixed festival in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, lanterns and hundreds of dramas that later became the main festivals of the Lantern Festival did not appear until Yang Di.
3. The custom of Lantern Festival
Eat "Yuanxiao" on Lantern Festival.
Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month is a long-standing custom in China. Yuanxiao is called "Tangyuan". Its ingredients and taste are different, but the meaning of eating Yuanxiao is the same. Represents reunion and beauty, and the days are getting more and more prosperous. As the saying goes, harmony is more precious. Family harmony and family reunion are important factors of a complete family. Therefore, we must eat "Yuanxiao" with our families during the Lantern Festival.
Lantern Festival "Send Lanterns"
"Sending lanterns" is short for "sending lanterns", and its essential meaning is sending lanterns to children. That is, before the Lantern Festival, the bride's family sends lanterns to the newly-married daughter's family, or ordinary relatives and friends send them to the newly-married infertile family. In order to increase good luck, because "lamp" is homophonic with "Ding". Expressing the hope that her daughter will be lucky after marriage and have a son as soon as possible; If the daughter is pregnant, in addition to the big palace lantern, she should also send one or two small lanterns to wish her a safe pregnancy.
Play dragon lanterns on Lantern Festival.
The dragon is the totem of China, and the Chinese nation advocates the dragon and regards it as a symbol of good luck. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the festive atmosphere of singing and dancing spread in many places.
Lantern Festival lion dance
Lion dance, also known as "lion dance", "lion dance lantern" and "lion dance", is often performed in festivals and festive activities. Lions are regarded as auspicious animals in China, symbolizing good luck and good luck. Therefore, in the lion dance activities, people are entrusted with the good wishes of eliminating disasters and seeking good luck.
Solve riddles on lanterns during Lantern Festival.
Every Lantern Festival, playing riddles is everywhere. I hope this year is festive and safe. Because riddles are enlightening and interesting, they are welcomed by all walks of life in the process of communication. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, various acrobatic skills began to appear in the lantern market. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, besides riddles and hundreds of operas, there were also opera performances.
Walking on stilts in Lantern Festival
Stilts clubs are generally organized by the masses spontaneously in series. On the 11th and 12th day of the first month, people began to take to the streets, which means to tell people that many folk flowers will be hung up this year. On the fifteenth day of the first month, I officially went to the streets until the end of the 18th National Congress.
Doors and gates of the Lantern Festival.
There were "seven sacrifices" in ancient times, which were two of them. The method of sacrifice is to insert poplar branches above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks in a bowl filled with bean porridge, or put wine and meat directly in front of the door.
Lantern Festival is full of diseases.
"Walk through all the diseases" is also called swimming through all the diseases, dispelling all the diseases, baking all the diseases, crossing the bridge and so on. It is an activity to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings. On the Lantern Festival night, women meet and go out together. When they see the bridge, they will cross it, thinking that this can cure diseases and prolong life.
Yingzigu
Zigu is also called Gucci, and in the north she is called toilet aunt and pit aunt. The ancient folk custom is to offer sacrifices to Ce Shen Zigu on the 15th day of the first month, and to offer sacrifices to silkworm and mulberry, which shows many things. On the night of welcoming the daughter-in-law, people tie the portrait of the daughter-in-law with straw and cloth, and greet her in the toilet with pigsty at night. It truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of kind, loyal and sympathetic working people.
Mouse chase
The rat chasing festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Silkworm farmers cook a big pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, some cover it with a layer of meat, put the porridge in a bowl, put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, and curse the mice for eating silkworm babies again. Legend has it that by doing so, this year's mice will not eat silkworm babies.
Valentine's day
Traditional society does not allow young girls to go out for free activities, but they can go out to play together on holidays. In the feudal traditional society, Lantern Festival also provides unmarried men and women with opportunities to get to know each other. Unmarried men and women can also find objects for themselves by enjoying flowers and lanterns, which is also an opportunity for young men and women to meet lovers. Some people say, "believe in yourself, as long as there is love, happiness will certainly exist." It's not that you have eternal love, but that you have created eternal love. Lantern Festival is undoubtedly a romantic festival and an opportunity for young men and women to meet their lovers, so it has become the "Valentine's Day" in China.
4. What do you eat for the Lantern Festival?
Tangyuan 1
On the Lantern Festival, southerners eat glutinous rice balls mainly to pray for the whole family to be round and round. The glutinous rice used to make glutinous rice balls is flat in nature and sweet in taste, and has the functions of tonifying deficiency, regulating blood, invigorating spleen and appetizing, benefiting qi and stopping diarrhea, warming middle warmer, promoting fluid production and moistening dryness. In addition, the conventional fillings of various glutinous rice balls are mainly fruits and dried fruits, including sesame seeds, walnuts and peanuts, and vegetable oil has a "higher" nutritional value. Boiling jiaozi in water is the easiest way and the healthiest way to eat it.
2. Lantern Festival
On the Lantern Festival, northerners want to eat Yuanxiao. Speaking of Yuanxiao, many people think that glutinous rice balls are Yuanxiao. In fact, Yuanxiao and Tangyuan are actually two things, although there is little difference in raw materials and appearance. The most essential difference lies in the production process. It's easier to make dumplings. Generally, glutinous rice flour is mixed with water to make skin, and then "wrapped" stuffing. Making Yuanxiao is much more complicated: first, you need to mix dough and cut the solidified stuffing into small pieces. After watering once, throw it into a basket filled with glutinous rice flour and knead it into a ball, while sprinkling water until the stuffing is covered with glutinous rice flour and knead it into a ball.
3. Lettuce; lettuce
Besides dumplings, Cantonese also eat lettuce during the Lantern Festival. Guangdong people are calm and down-to-earth, and have good intentions for festivals. Lettuce, most commonly used in festive occasions such as the opening of new stores, is also an essential holiday product for the Lantern Festival. Lettuce, often a common vegetable on the dining table in the south, is homophonic with "getting rich", so it is also regarded as a festive thing symbolizing wealth and good fortune.
4. Lantern Festival tea
In Shaanxi and other places, there is a custom of eating Yuanxiao tea, that is, putting all kinds of vegetables and fruits in hot soup noodles, much like the ancient "Yuanxiao porridge". This kind of tea increases the intake of cellulose, minerals and vitamins, and is not as greasy as ordinary Yuanxiao. It has a neutralizing effect on the acidic constitution caused by eating more animal food in festivals, and also makes Yuanxiao more comprehensive in nutrition.
5. Camellia oleifera
On the night of Lantern Festival, the ground says "fifteen flat, sixteen yuan", one day to eat jiaozi, one day to eat Yuanxiao; In mountainous areas, it is "15 dozen camellia oleifera, 16 pinch flat grain". As the saying goes, "ten miles are different." Making tea is to stir tea noodles with chopsticks to make camellia oleifera, also called noodle tea.
6. Oil hammer
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, rice porridge or bean porridge was used as the festival food for the Lantern Festival. However, this kind of food is mainly used for sacrifice, not holiday food. Until the Tang Dynasty, Zheng's Record of Chefs recorded: "Go on a diet in the middle of the year and get rid of the oil hammer." According to the records in Tai Ping Guang Ji, Lu Shi Miscellaneous Notes and Guru Order, the method of making oil hammer is similar to that of frying Yuanxiao in later generations. Some people call it "the pearl in oil painting".
7. jiaozi
Jiaozi and Tangyuan are golden partners. Jiaozi is a folk food with a long history and is deeply loved by people. There is a saying among the people that "jiaozi is delicious or not".
8, jujube cake
People in western Henan like to eat jujube cakes on the Lantern Festival, which means good luck. Jujube cake was originally the imperial cake of Qing Dynasty. It is sweet and fragrant, and contains vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients, which can not only replenish the spleen and stomach, but also benefit qi and promote fluid production. It also has the functions of protecting the liver, increasing muscle strength, beautifying and preventing aging.
9.sticky cake
Sticky cakes are also called rice cakes. Besides Yuanxiao and noodles, some people eat sticky cakes on the Lantern Festival. Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Prescription for Emergency Use Dietotherapy", "It is sweet, slightly cold, non-toxic, clearing heat and benefiting qi." After the Tang Dynasty, there were also records of eating cakes during the Lantern Festival in the Yuan Dynasty.
10, surface lamp
Speaking of the custom of Lantern Festival, people usually think of eating glutinous rice balls, enjoying lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns. However, there is another custom handed down from the Han Dynasty, that is, bean flour lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month. Lantern is an auspicious lamp, which can drive away evil spirits and diseases. Therefore, squeezing bean flour lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is the common people's prayer for happiness and prosperity in the new year.
1 1, bean noodles
People in Kunming like to eat bean noodles, similar to Yuanxiao. They fry beans, grind them, then make them into balls and boil them in water. It tastes good.
12, rotten soup
Taizhou area eats rotten soup after watching lanterns on the fourteenth day of the first month every year. Stir-fry the soup with shredded pork, shredded winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus, fresh duck, dried bean curd, oil bubble, Sichuan bean board, spinach, etc. Add a little rice flour and cook it into a salty paste. The rotten soup drunk on the fifteenth day of the first month is sweet, made of sweet potato powder or lotus root powder with lotus seeds, candied dates and longan.
13, steamed bread, wheat cake
There is a custom of eating steamed bread and wheat cakes in Pujiang, Zhejiang Province during the Lantern Festival. It is said that the reason is that steamed bread is made of dough, and wheat cakes are round, which means "happy reunion of children and grandchildren". In Shangyuan County, Changde City, Hunan Province, it is called "time soup" to make soup with Chili peppers and add leeks and fruits to entertain guests.
14, noodles
There is a folk proverb in Jiangbei, which is called "Shangyuan Festival, save noodles, and look forward to next year after eating." Local people eat noodles on the fifteenth night of the first month, which sounds unrelated to the Lantern Festival, but it also means praying for good luck. "Annals of the Emblem" states: "On the 18th day of the first month, the lights go out and people spit on their faces. As the saying goes,' when the light is on, it goes out', and everyone celebrates. " Eating noodles with lights out symbolizes continuous celebration.