What are the customs and traditions of the Lantern Festival? What is the origin of the Lantern Festival?

What are the customs and traditions of the Lantern Festival? What is the origin of the Lantern Festival?
The Lantern Festival is the first important festival after the Spring Festival, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the Little New Year, and the Lantern Festival. So, what are the customs and habits of the Lantern Festival? What is the origin of the Lantern Festival? Shuimoxiansheng.com has carefully compiled detailed information about the first month of the lunar calendar in 2019. If you want to know the auspicious and inauspicious days in the first month of the lunar calendar, just visit Shuimoxiansheng.com.

Lantern Festival customs and practices:

1. The custom of hanging lanterns originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty and became popular during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there are many lantern festivals and exhibitions all over the country, such as the Lantern Festival in Beihai Park in Beijing, the Zigong Lantern Festival in Sichuan, the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival, etc.
2. Dragon dance is also called dragon lantern dance or dragon dance. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times. Legend has it that as early as the Yellow Emperor period, in a large-scale song and dance called "Qingjiao", there appeared an image of a human playing a dragon head with a bird body. Later, a dance scene of six dragons interweaving with each other was choreographed. The first recorded dragon dance was in the "Fu of Western Capital" by Zhang Heng of the Han Dynasty. The author gave a vivid description of the dragon dance in the narration of a hundred plays.
According to the "Book of Sui·Music Records", during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, the "Yellow Dragon Change" performance, which was similar to the dragon dance in various acrobatics, was also very exciting and dragon dance became popular in many places in China. The Chinese nation worships the dragon and regards it as a symbol of good luck.
There is also a legend that during the Tang Dynasty, there was a severe drought one year and the Dragon King made the mistake of causing rain and drowned many people in Chang'an. The Jade Emperor killed the Dragon King, but his spirit lingered and disturbed the palace every night, scaring Emperor Li Shimin. The ministers believed that the Dragon King should be liberated, and thus, people developed the custom of playing with dragon lanterns on the Lantern Festival.
3. Walking Away from All Diseases Walking away from all diseases is also called traveling to get rid of all diseases, dispersing all diseases, roasting all diseases, walking on a bridge, etc. It is an activity to eliminate disasters and pray for health. On the night of the Lantern Festival, women make appointments to go out together. They walk together and cross every bridge they see, believing that this can cure diseases and prolong life.
Walking away all diseases has been a custom in the north since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Some people do it on the 15th day, but most of them do it on the 16th day. On this day, women dressed in festive attire, went out of their homes in groups, walked across dangerous bridges, climbed up city walls, and touched nails to pray for children, and did not return until midnight.
4. Sacrifice to the door and sacrifice to the household In ancient times, there were "seven sacrifices", and sacrifice to the door and sacrifice to the household were two of them. The method of sacrifice is very simple. Insert a poplar branch above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks in a bowl of bean porridge, or directly place wine and meat in front of the door.
5. Guessing lantern riddles, also known as playing lantern riddles, is an activity added after the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles were first developed from riddles and originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is a literary game full of satire, admonition, humor and jokes. The practice of hanging riddles on lanterns for people to guess began in the Southern Song Dynasty.
"Wulin Jiushi·Lanterns" records: "Poems were written on silk lanterns, sometimes with satires, figures, hidden words, and old Beijing jokes, to tease passers-by." During the Lantern Festival, the imperial city never sleeps, and people gather at the lantern viewing party in the spring night. Poems and riddles were written on lanterns, reflected by candles, and placed in the streets for everyone to guess, so they were called "lantern riddles." Nowadays, every Lantern Festival, riddles are posted in various places, hoping for joy and peace. Because riddles can enlighten the mind and are interesting, they are welcomed by all walks of life during the process of circulation.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, various acrobatic performances began to appear in lantern fairs. In addition to lantern riddles and various kinds of singing and dancing, the lantern fairs in the Ming and Qing dynasties also added opera performances.
6. Stilt walking is a popular mass performance among the people. Stilt walking is a type of acrobatics in ancient China and appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The earliest introduction of stilts in China is in the chapter "Shuo Fu" of Liezi: "In Song there was a man named Lan Zi, who used his skills to compete with Song Yuan. Song Yuan summoned him and showed him his skills.
7. Lion dance is an excellent Chinese folk art. During the Lantern Festival or gatherings and celebrations, people perform lion dance to add to the fun. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period, became popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and has a history of more than a thousand years.
Lion dancing originated in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. It is also known as lion dance and Taiping music. It is usually performed by three people, two of whom dress up as lions, one acts as the lion's head, one acts as the lion's body and hind legs, and the other acts as the lion's leader. There are two types of dance: civil and martial. The civil dance shows the lion's tameness, with movements such as shaking its hair and rolling on the ground. The martial lion dance shows the lion's ferocity, with movements such as leaping, kicking high, and rolling colorful balls.
8. Rowing the land boat Rowing the land boat, according to folklore, is to commemorate Dayu who made great contributions to flood control. Land boat rowing is also called land boat running, which is to imitate the movement of a boat on land. Most of the people who perform land boat running are girls. The land boat is not a real boat. It is made of two thin boards, sawn into a boat shape, tied with bamboo and wood, and covered with colorful cloth. It is tied around the girl's waist. It is like sitting in a boat. She holds oars in her hands and makes rowing gestures while running, singing local tunes and dancing at the same time. This is land boat rowing. Sometimes there is another man dressed as a passenger on the boat, and his partner in the performance is mostly dressed as a clown, using all kinds of funny actions to amuse the audience. Land boat rowing is popular in many areas of China.
9. The activity of chasing rats is mainly for people who raise silkworms. Because mice often eat large numbers of silkworms at night, people heard that if you feed mice with rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, they will stop eating silkworms. Therefore, these families would cook a big pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some would even cover it with a layer of meat. They would put the porridge in bowls and place them on the ceilings and corners where mice were active. They would mutter something while putting the porridge in their mouths, cursing the mice that they would not have a good death if they ate silkworms again.
"Jingchu Sui Shi Ji" said that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a god came down to a family surnamed Chen and said to them: If you can offer sacrifice to me, you will have a good harvest of mulberry silkworms. Later, it became a custom.
10. Sending lanterns to children is abbreviated as sending lanterns, also known as sending flower lanterns, that is, before the Lantern Festival, the daughter’s family sends flower lanterns to the family of the newly married daughter, or relatives and friends send lanterns to the family of a newly married infertile couple, in order to pray for a good omen of having a child, because "lantern" and "ding" are homophones.
This custom exists in many places. In Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, lanterns are sent between the 8th and 15th day of the first lunar month. In the previous year, a pair of large palace lanterns and a pair of painted glass lanterns are sent, hoping that their daughters will have good luck after marriage and give birth to a son soon. If a daughter is pregnant, in addition to the large palace lanterns, one or two pairs of small lanterns are also sent, wishing her a safe pregnancy.
11. Welcoming Zi Gu Zi Gu is also called Qi Gu. In the north, it is mostly called Toilet Gu or Keng San Gu. According to ancient folk customs, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people would welcome the toilet goddess Zi Gu and offer sacrifices to her, and predict silkworms and other matters. Legend has it that Zi Gu was originally a concubine of a family. She was envied by the eldest wife and was killed in the toilet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. She became the toilet god. On the night of the Zigu Festival, people would make a life-size portrait of Zigu out of straw and cloth, and worship her in the pigpen between toilets at night. It truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of the working people, who are kind, loyal, and sympathetic to the weak. This custom is popular in all parts of the north and south, and was recorded as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
12. The Lantern Festival is a romantic festival among Chinese traditional festivals, when couples express their love . In ancient times, the Lantern Festival provided an opportunity for unmarried men and women to get to know each other. Young girls at that time were not allowed to go out freely, but they could go out and play together during the festival. Viewing the lanterns during the Lantern Festival was a good opportunity for socializing, and unmarried men and women could also use the opportunity to look for partners. During the Lantern Festival, it is an opportunity for young men and women to meet their lovers.

Origin of Lantern Festival:

The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival which has existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. The Lantern Festival began during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Ming promoted Buddhism. He heard that in Buddhism, monks would view Buddha relics and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. So he ordered that lanterns be lit in the palace and temples on that night to worship Buddha, and ordered both the nobles and common people to hang lanterns. Later, this Buddhist ritual festival gradually became a grand folk festival. This festival has gone through a 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, an order was issued to designate the fifteenth day of the first lunar month as the Lantern Festival. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the sacrificial activities for "Taiyi God" were set on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. When Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar", he had already designated 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 the seventh lunar month is the Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month is the Xiayuan Festival. The three officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower Yuan are the three officials of heaven, earth and man respectively. The official of heaven is happy, so lights must be lit on the Lantern Festival.
The period and customs 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, five days in the Song Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty the lights were lit from the eighth day to the seventeenth night of the first lunar month, a full ten days. It is connected with the Spring Festival. It is very lively 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 and lion dances, land boat racing, stilt walking, and yangko dance were added, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.

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