When does the Lantern Festival begin and what are the legends about it?
The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in my country with a long history. Not only among the common people, but even the royal family in ancient times still celebrates the Lantern Festival. But when did the Lantern Festival begin? What are the legends of the Lantern Festival? If you want to know more about the first month of the lunar calendar in 2018, please pay attention to our fortune teller website!When does the Lantern Festival begin?The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival. Also known as the Lantern Festival, Yuan Ye, and Lantern Festival. According to legend, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty (179-157 BC) would go out of the palace to enjoy himself with the people on the fifteenth night of the first lunar month to celebrate the fact that Zhou Bo put down the Rebellion of the Lü clan. In ancient times, two nights were called "yuan" and the first month was also called "yuan". Therefore, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty designated the fifteenth day of the first lunar month as the Lantern Festival, and this night was called Yuanxiao. Sima Qian created the Taichu Calendar and listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival. It flourished during the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. "Book of Sui·Music" states: "Every first month, all nations came to pay tribute, and they would stay until the 15th day in a theater outside Duanmen and inside Jianguomen, which stretched for eight miles, with plays set up as the theater stage." There were tens of thousands of people participating in the singing and dancing, from dusk to dawn, and ending at the end of the day. With the changes of society and times, the customs and habits of the Lantern Festival have undergone great changes, but it is still a traditional Chinese folk festival.The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival that dates back to the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. According to historical records and folk legends, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was already taken seriously in the Western Han Dynasty. The activity of Emperor Wu of Han offering sacrifices to "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the god who dominates everything in the universe) in Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first lunar month was regarded by later generations as a precursor to the worship of gods in heaven on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Yuanxiao originally meant "the night of the Lantern Festival". Because the main activity of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is eating glutinous rice balls and admiring the moon at night, the name of the festival later evolved into "Lantern Festival". On the night of the Lantern Festival, the streets and alleys are decorated with lights, people admire the lanterns, guess lantern riddles, and eat Lantern Festival rice dumplings, bringing the celebrations that began on New Year's Eve to another climax and becoming a custom passed down from generation to generation. When the Lantern Festival was in its early stages of being a festival, it was only called the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the middle of the first lunar month, or the full moon. After the Sui Dynasty, it was called Yuan Xi or Yuan Ye. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, and it was occasionally called Yuanxiao in the late Tang Dynasty. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dengxi. In the Qing Dynasty, it was called the Lantern Festival. What are the legends of the Lantern Festival?Legend has it that the Lantern Festival was established during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han to commemorate the "suppression of the Lü clan." After the death of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, Liu Ying, the son of Empress Lü, ascended the throne as Emperor Hui of Han. Emperor Hui was cowardly and indecisive by nature, and power gradually fell into the hands of Empress Lü. After Emperor Hui of Han died of illness, Empress Lü took control of the government and turned the Liu family's empire into the Lü family's empire. The old ministers in the court and the Liu family were deeply indignant, but they were afraid of Empress Lü's cruelty and dared not speak out. After Empress Lü died of illness, the Lü clan became extremely worried and fearful of being harmed and ostracized. So, they secretly gathered at the home of General Lu Lu and conspired to make a rebellion in order to completely seize the Liu family's kingdom. This matter reached the ears of Liu Xiang, the King of Qi, who, in order to protect the Liu family's kingdom, decided to lead an army to attack the Lü clan. He then contacted Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, two of the founding ministers, and designed a plan to remove Lü Lu. Finally, the "Lü Rebellion" was completely put down. [3]After the rebellion was quelled, the ministers supported Liu Bang's second son Liu Heng to ascend the throne and he was called Emperor Wen of Han. Emperor Wen felt that peace and prosperity were hard-won, so he designated the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the day when the "Lu Rebellion" was quelled, as a day to celebrate with the people. Every household in the capital decorated their homes with lanterns and streamers to celebrate. From then on, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month became a folk festival celebrated throughout the country - "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. (Taiyi: the god who dominates everything in the universe). When Sima Qian created the "Taichu Calendar", he had already designated the Lantern Festival as a major festival. |
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