The Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lantern Festival, is a traditional Chinese folk festival.

The first lunar month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", and the 15th is the first full-moon night of the year, so the 15th day of the first lunar month is called the Lantern Festival.

Also known as Xiaozhengyue, Lantern Festival or Lantern Festival, it is the first important festival after the Spring Festival.

China has a vast territory and a long history, so the customs of the Lantern Festival are different across the country. Among them, eating Yuanxiao, admiring lanterns, dragon dancing, and lion dancing are some of the important folk customs of the Lantern Festival.

Introduction to the Beijing Lantern Festival. Every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar, just after the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, one of the traditional festivals of the Chinese Han people, is ushered in. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "xiao", so it is called the first month.

The fifteenth day is the Lantern Festival.

The 15th day of the first lunar month is the first full-moon night of the year. It is also the night when the Yuan Dynasty begins and the earth returns to spring. People celebrate this and it is also the continuation of celebrating the New Year.

The Lantern Festival is also called the "Shangyuan Festival".

According to Chinese folk tradition, on this night when the bright moon hangs high in the sky, people light up thousands of colored lanterns to celebrate.

They go out to enjoy the moon, light lanterns and set off flames, guess lantern riddles, and eat Yuanxiao. The family reunites and celebrates the festival together, and it is a joyful time.

Shangyuan means the first full moon night in the new year.

The origin of the Shangyuan Festival is recorded in "Sui Shi Za Ji" that it is due to the stereotypes of Methodism.

Taoism once called the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the year the Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month the Xiayuan Festival, collectively known as the "Three Yuan Festival".

The gods worshiped by Wu Dou Mi Dao, an important sect of Taoism in the late Han Dynasty, are Tianguan, Diguan, and Shuiguan. It is said that Tianguan blesses blessings, Diguan forgives sins, and Shuiguan relieves misfortunes. It also uses three yuan to match the three officials, and it is said that Tianguan is the first month of the Yuan Dynasty.

Born on the 15th day of the month, Zhongyuan Diguan was born on the 15th of July, and Xiayuan Shuiguan was born on the 15th of October.

In this way, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is called the Shangyuan Festival.

Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty said in "Mengliang Lu": "The Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is the time when the heavenly officials of the Shangyuan Dynasty bestow blessings." It is said that the heavenly officials grant blessings and the earthly officials forgive sins, and the real driving force of the Lantern Festival customs is

Because it is at a new point in time, people make full use of this special time stage to express their life wishes.

Origin: The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. It existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Lantern viewing began during the period of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Ming advocated Buddhism. I heard that in Buddhism, on the 15th day of the first lunar month, monks view Buddha relics and light lanterns to worship the Buddha.

In order to do this, he ordered that on this night, lanterns should be lit in palaces and temples to worship the Buddha, and all the nobles and common people should hang lanterns.

Later, this kind of Buddhist ritual festival gradually became a grand folk festival.

The festival has experienced the development process from the palace to the folk, and from the Central Plains to the whole country.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was designated as the Lantern Festival.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrificial activities for "Taiyi God" were held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

(Taiyi: the God who controls everything in the universe).

When Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar", he had identified the Lantern Festival as a major festival.

Another theory is that the custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "Three Yuan Theory"; the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is the Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is the Xiayuan Festival.

The three officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower yuan are respectively heaven, earth and man. The heavenly officials are happy, so the Lantern Festival food - Lanterns must be lit during the Lantern Festival.

It is also said that the Lantern Festival originated from the "Torch Festival". People in the Han Dynasty held torches in the countryside to drive away insects and beasts, hoping to reduce insect pests and pray for a good harvest.

To this day, people in some areas of southwestern China still make torches out of reeds or tree branches on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and hold the torches high in groups to dance in fields or grain drying fields.

Since the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, it has become even more prosperous.

Tens of thousands of singers and dancers participated in the performance, from dusk to dusk, and then stopped at dusk.

With the changes of society and times, the customs and habits of the Lantern Festival have already undergone major changes, but it is still a traditional Chinese folk festival.

The festival period and customary activities of the Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history.

In terms of the length of the festival, it was only one day in the Han Dynasty, three days in the Tang Dynasty, and five days in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the lights were lit from the eighth day of the lunar month until the lights were turned off on the night of the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, a full ten days.

Connecting with the Spring Festival, the city is bustling during the day, and the lights are lit at night, which is spectacular.

Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival.

In the Qing Dynasty, dragon dance, lion dance, land boat racing, stilt walking, Yangko dancing and other "hundred operas" were added, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.

The lanterns imply that people should set up a "Heaven and Earth Hall" when worshiping God on New Year's Eve.

People set up a small shed in the yard, and on the small table inside the shed stood the altar of "the true master of all spirits in the ten directions of the three realms of heaven and earth"; in front of the altar were placed incense burners, offerings, and a lantern, which represented Jiang Taigong.

seats.

It is said that when Jiang Taigong was canonizing gods, others were canonizing them, but he forgot to canonize himself. He had no seat and had to sit with God.

Lanterns are associated with gods, so they are also given a lot of symbolic meaning.

In ancient times, in order to drive away the fear of darkness, lanterns were developed to exorcise evil spirits and bring blessings and pray for light.

In the Hokkien language, the pronunciations of "lamp" and "ding" are similar, so lanterns are also used to pray for children, gain fame, and avoid evil and peace.

There is a kind of "bright lantern". At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, lanterns are placed in temples to use the power of Buddha to seek peace and success throughout the year.