The ancients called the night "Xiao". The first lunar month is the first month in the lunar calendar. The first full-moon night in the first lunar month is the fifteenth day. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is our traditional festival "Lantern Festival". Festival". So do you know what are the customs of the Lantern Festival? Let me introduce them to you.
1. Sending lanterns
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. Records of the demolition of lantern sheds on the fifth day of the Lantern Festival and the sixteenth 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 were like glass balls, but also made of five-color wax paper, bodhi leaves, sheepskin, tortoiseshell, etc. The production is unprecedentedly gorgeous and exquisite.
2. Eating glutinous rice balls
It is said that glutinous rice balls originated in the Song Dynasty. A novel food that emerged in Mingzhou (now Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province) at that time was stuffed with black sesame and lard oil, a little sugar added, and the outside was rolled into a round shape with glutinous rice flour. After cooking, it tasted sweet and soft. Nuo, endless aftertaste. At the same time, glutinous rice balls symbolize family reunion, and eating glutinous rice balls also means family happiness and reunion in the new year, so it is a must-have delicacy during the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
3. Guessing lantern riddles
"Guessing lantern riddles" is also called "playing lantern riddles". It is a unique form of entertainment rich in national style in my country and has been spread since ancient times. Lantern Festival special activities. Every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every household would hang up colored lanterns and set off fireworks. Later, some good people would write riddles on paper and stick them on the colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can inspire wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, many people responded, and riddles gradually became an indispensable program of the Lantern Festival.
4. Walking away all diseases
"Walking all diseases" is also called traveling all diseases, dispersing all diseases, roasting all diseases, walking on a bridge, etc. It is a way to eliminate disasters and pray for health. activities. On the night of the Lantern Festival, women meet to go out together, walking together and crossing bridges whenever they see them, believing that this can cure diseases and prolong life. It has been a custom in the north since the Ming and Qing Dynasties to cure all diseases, sometimes on the 15th, but mostly on the 16th. On this day, women dressed in festive costumes walked out of their homes in groups, walked on bridges to overcome dangers, climbed to the city, touched nails to beg for children, and did not return until midnight.
5. Dragon Dance
"Dragon Dance" is also called "Dragon Lantern Dance" or "Dragon Lantern Dance". There are two types of "Dragon Dance" performances: "Single Dragon Playing with Pearls" and "Double Dragons Playing with Pearls". Dance is a unique folk entertainment activity in my country. The dragon is not a real animal in reality. It is a sacred species that ancient ancestors integrated into the ancient Chinese cultural system through imagination, representing auspiciousness and strength. Therefore, dragon dance has a beautiful meaning of praying for good weather in the new year, seeking good luck and avoiding bad luck.