Legend has it that when Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, there was a courtesan in the palace named "Yuanxiao", who was secluded in the palace for many years, missed her parents and washed her face with tears all day long. Minister Dongfang Shuo determined to help her, so the emperor lied to the fire god by the order of the Jade Emperor on the 15th of the first month of the fire burned Chang'an, to escape the movement of the difficult, the only way is to let the "Lantern Girl" on the 15th of the first month of the day to make a lot of the fire god loves to eat dumplings, and all the subjects to open the lamps for worship. Emperor Wu allowed it to happen, and the "Lantern Girl" finally met her family. Since then, the Lantern Festival has been formed.

On the formation of the Lantern Festival custom, say a lot, but generally become in the Han Dynasty on the first embryonic form. It is said that during the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han family had to sacrifice to a god called "Taiyi". Allegedly, Taiyi was a rather prominent god at that time, the status of the five emperors above, and have benefited from the Han Emperor, so by the worship of the more prosperous. It is rumored that another Han emperor, Han Wendi, was also associated with the Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival is also known as dumplings, history, there are many aliases "cocoon, powder fruit, Yuanbao, soup cake, round not fall corner" and so on, until the Ming Yongle years was officially named "Lantern Festival". Lanterns are divided into two kinds of stuffed and unfilled. Unstuffed small, sweet flavor, with sugar, cinnamon, cinnamon, lotus root, candied fruit as a condiment, also known as "pearl dumplings", stuffed with a large, like walnuts. Northern snacks are mostly sweet filling, sugar, bean paste, sesame, hawthorn and other categories, the South is sweet, salty, meat, vegetarian, especially Ningbo Tangyuan, Guiyang Wu family Tangyuan famous.