The custom of Lantern Festival — — Lion dance (data map)
February 17th this year is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lantern Festival and the Spring Lantern Festival, which is a traditional folk festival in China. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called it "Xiao", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon night in a year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. Also known as the first lunar month, Yuanxi 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 Lantern Festival are different all over the country, among which eating Lantern Festival, enjoying lanterns, dancing dragons and lions are several important folk customs.
The origin and customs of Lantern Festival
The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to historical data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month has been paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. The activity of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to sacrifice the "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first month (Taiyi: the god who dominates everything in the world) is regarded by later generations as the forerunner of offering sacrifices to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month. However, the fifteenth day of the first month was really a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of the custom of Lantern Festival.
During the Yongping period of Emperor Han Ming (AD 58-mdash; — In 175), because the Ming Emperor advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Kun’s return from India for Buddhism, saying that on the fifteenth day of the first month in Mohatuo, India, monks gathered to pay tribute to Buddhist relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in the palace and temple on the fifteenth night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month has gradually spread in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture.
It is also said that the Lantern Festival originated from the "Torch Festival". In the Han Dynasty, people held torches in rural fields to drive away insects and beasts, hoping to reduce pests and pray for a good harvest. To this day, people in some areas in southwest China still make torches out of reeds or branches on the fifteenth day of the first month, and hold them high in groups and dance in fields or grain drying fields. Since the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been in full swing. Tens of thousands of people took part in singing and dancing, from faint to dull. With the changes of society and times, the customs of Lantern Festival have changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China.
Another theory is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the Taoist "three-yuan theory"; The 15th day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the 15th day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the 15th day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower three elements are heaven, earth and man respectively, and the heaven official is happy, so the lantern festival should be lit. The festivals and customs activities of the Lantern Festival are extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of the festival is concerned, 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 eighth month until the night of the seventeenth day of the first month, for ten days. Connecting with the Spring Festival, the day is the city, which is very lively, 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. By the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred plays" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, roller boating, walking on stilts and dancing yangko, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.
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