The ten major customs of the Lantern Festival!
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, Spring Lantern Festival, Little New Year's Day, and Yuanxiao Festival. The Lantern Festival is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. Due to China's vast territory and long history, the customs of the Lantern Festival are different across the country. The Fortune Teller website provides you with more information related to the first month of the lunar calendar in 2018. You are welcome to learn more about it!The ten major customs of the Lantern Festival!1. Eat Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is eaten on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. As a food, "Yuanxiao" has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel food for the Lantern Festival became popular among the people. This kind of food was first called "Fuyuanzi" and later called "Yuanxiao". Businessmen also called it "yuanbao". Eating Yuanxiao represents a more prosperous life, a happy and harmonious life.2. Dragon dance is a traditional dance originated in China. Dragon and lion dances were part of the annual major festivals in ancient times. The dragon is an ancient totem of China. The dragon lantern show on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has spread all over the country and even to places where Chinese people live around the world! 3. Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. During the Lantern Festival or gatherings and celebrations, people perform lion dance to add to the fun. Chinese folk tradition believes that lion dancing can drive away evil spirits. Therefore, during festive occasions, such as new opening celebrations, spring festivals, etc., people like to play gongs and drums and perform lion dances to add to the celebration. 4. Guess lantern riddles "Guessing lantern riddles" is also called "playing lantern riddles". It is a unique form of entertainment in China with rich national style. It is a special activity of the Lantern Festival that has been passed down since ancient times. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every household hangs up colorful lanterns and sets off fireworks. Later, some people wrote riddles on pieces of paper and posted them on the colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can enlighten the wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, many people responded to them, and guessing riddles gradually became an indispensable program of the Lantern Festival. 5. Sending Lanterns Sending lanterns is also known as sending flower lanterns. It is a traditional custom of the Han nationality. Before the Lantern Festival, the daughter’s parents send lanterns to the family of a newly married daughter, or general relatives and friends send lanterns to the family of a newly married couple without children, in order to pray for a good omen of having children. 6. Stilt walking Stilt walking is also called "stepping on high bridges", a kind of folk acrobatics. Performers dress up as characters from dramas or legends and perform as they walk on wooden sticks with footrests. Stilt-walking clubs are usually organized by the masses spontaneously. The street parade begins on the 11th and 12th day of the first lunar month, implying that people should register for one of the many folk flower festivals this year. The street festival officially starts on the 15th day of the first lunar month and ends on the 18th. 7. There were “seven sacrifices” in ancient times for offering sacrifices to doors and households , and these are two of them. The method of sacrifice is to insert a willow branch above the door, insert a pair of chopsticks into a bowl of bean porridge, or directly place wine and meat in front of the door. 8. Welcoming Zigu Welcoming Zigu is a traditional folk activity of the Han nationality. Zi Gu is also called Qi (Qi) Gu, and in the north it is often called Toilet Gu or Keng San Gu. According to the ancient Han folk custom, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people would welcome the toilet goddess Zi Gu and offer sacrifices to her, divine about 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. Therefore, the Han people often make a woman in the shape of Zi Gu and worship her in the pigpen in the toilet at night. This custom is popular in all parts of the north and south, and was recorded as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties. 9. Walking away all diseases is a traditional folk culture of the Han nationality in northern China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is sometimes done on the 15th day of the lunar calendar, but most of the time it is done 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. On this day, men, women, old and young in rural Ju County go for a walk in the wild. It is called "walking to keep old". It is said that walking once a year can keep one young and ageless. 10. Chasing away rats is a Lantern Festival activity which began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. This is mainly said to people who raise silkworms. Because mice often eat large numbers of silkworms at night, people say that if you feed mice with rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, they will stop eating silkworms. |
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