Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, and the formation of Lantern Festival custom takes a long time. According to general data and folklore, the 15th day of the first month has been paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. The activity of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offering sacrifices to the "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace on the night of the first month is regarded by later generations as the forerunner of offering sacrifices to the gods on the 15th day of the first month. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of the Lantern Festival custom.
Yuanxiao originally meant "the night of Shangyuan Festival", because the main activity of Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month was to eat glutinous rice balls and enjoy the moon at night, and later the name of the festival evolved into "Lantern Festival". On the night of Lantern Festival, the streets are decorated with lanterns, and people enjoy lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns and eat Lantern Festival, which will push the celebration activities that began on New Year's Eve to another climax and become a custom that lasts for generations.
Yuanxiao was only called the 15th 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. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, and it was only in the late Tang Dynasty that it was occasionally called Yuanxiao. But it has also been called Dengxi since the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, it was also called Lantern Festival. In foreign countries, Yuanxiao is also known as The Lantern Festival.