Meaning: Happy family reunion, which symbolizes the auspiciousness of reunion. The bright moon in the sky, glutinous rice balls in the bowl, and the reunion of every household.

Origin:

It is said that there was a maid named "Yuanxiao" in the palace of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. She stayed in the palace for many years, missing her parents and crying all day long. Dongfang Shuo was determined to help her, so he lied to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that the God of Fire was ordered by the Jade Emperor to burn Chang'an on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The only way to escape the disaster was to have the "Yuanxiao girl" do a lot of fire work on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. They love to eat glutinous rice balls, and all the subjects light up lanterns to worship them.

According to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the "Yuanxiao" girl finally met her family. After that, the Lantern Festival was formed, and the custom of eating glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival also spread at this time.

Folk activities of the Lantern Festival:

1. Guessing lantern riddles

"Guessing lantern riddles" is also called "playing lantern riddles", which is an additional activity after the Lantern Festival. The activity appeared in the Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin'an, the capital, made riddles during the Lantern Festival, and many people guessed riddles. In the beginning, the good guys wrote riddles on slips of paper and pasted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can enlighten wisdom and are interesting, they are very popular among all walks of life in the process of spreading.

2. Lantern viewing

The Song Dynasty paid more attention to the Lantern Festival, and the lantern viewing activities became more lively. The lantern viewing activities lasted for five days, and the styles of lanterns were more abundant. In the Ming Dynasty, lantern viewing lasted for 10 consecutive days, making this the longest lantern festival in China. Although the lantern viewing event in the Qing Dynasty only lasted for three days, it was very large-scale and unprecedentedly grand. In addition to lighting lanterns, fireworks were also set off to add to the fun. ?