What activities will be held on the 15th day of the first lunar month in 2018? What are the customs of the Lantern Festival?
The Lantern Festival is on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year. As a traditional festival in my country, the Lantern Festival has a history of thousands of years, and many traditional customs have been derived from it. Because of the different geographical locations of different places, the customs are also different. What activities will be held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in 2018? The New Year Fortune Teller website provides you with more information related to the New Year and the first month of the lunar calendar in 2018. Everyone is welcome to learn about it together!What are the entertainment activities during the Lantern Festival?It is said that the custom of hanging lanterns originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty and became popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, the lantern festival lasted for three days, from the 14th to the 16th of the first lunar month. In the Song Dynasty, it was changed to five days, and in the Ming Dynasty it was ten days. In the Qing Dynasty, lanterns were hung in the palace starting from the New Year's Eve. There is a beautiful legend about hanging lanterns among the people. In ancient times, a hunter shot and killed a divine goose. Upon hearing the news, the Jade Emperor was furious and wanted to avenge the divine goose. He intended to burn the human world on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. A kind-hearted fairy sneaked down to the mortal world and reported the news to people. People decided to hang red lanterns and set off fireworks in every household around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month so that when the heavenly soldiers were about to descend to the earth, a sea of fire would be seen. Thinking that the fire had already started, he did not go down to the mortal world but reported directly to the Jade Emperor. Thus, the human world was spared from disaster. From then on, every household would hang lanterns on this day. To this day, there are still many lantern festivals and exhibitions across the country on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The famous ones include the Lantern Festival in Beihai Park in Beijing, the Zigong Lantern Festival in Sichuan, and the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival.Lion dance began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. It is also called "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 guide. The dance is divided into civil and martial. The civil dance shows the lion's tameness, with movements such as shaking its hair and rolling on the ground, while the martial lion dance shows the lion's ferocity, with movements such as leaping, kicking high, and rolling colorful balls. The legend of the Dragon Lantern Dance states that there was a severe drought one year in the Tang Dynasty, and the Dragon King made the mistake of causing rain, drowning many people in Chang'an. The Jade Emperor ordered Wei Zheng to supervise the execution of the Dragon King. Afterwards, the Dragon King's spirit lingered and disturbed the palace every night, frightening Emperor Li Shimin of Tang. So he asked his ministers for advice, and they thought that the Dragon King should be liberated. Thus, the people developed the custom of dancing with dragon lanterns on the Lantern Festival. Dragon lanterns are usually made of bamboo, wood, colored paper, cloth, etc., with an odd number of sections and are several meters long. The ones that can burn candles in the sections are called "dragon lanterns", and the ones that cannot burn candles are called "cloth dragons". The lead dancer holds the dragon head, and dozens of people follow behind, holding up wooden sticks connected to the dragon's body. The whole dragon runs along the prescribed route and formation to the sound of music. The dragon seems to be alive, and people use this energy to pray for good weather and a good harvest. The activity of chasing rats is mainly aimed at silkworm farmers. 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. Welcoming Zi Gu Zi Gu is a kind, poor girl in folk legends. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Zi Gu died of poverty. The people sympathized with her and missed her, and in some places the custom of "welcoming Zi Gu on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month" emerged. Every night on this day, people make a life-size portrait of Zi Gu out of straw and cloth. The women stood by the toilet, pigpen and kitchen where Zi Gu often worked to welcome her. They held her hands, spoke kind words to her and comforted her with tears, just like they would their own sister. The scene was very vivid and truly reflected the working people's thoughts and feelings of kindness, loyalty and sympathy for the weak. The Origin of the Lantern FestivalThe Lantern Festival has existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty. According to historical documents, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was already valued by the people in that period. Emperor Wu of Han's worship of Taiyi was recorded as the first sacrifice on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The Lantern Festival was originally the night of the Shangyuan Festival. Because the activity of the Shangyuan Festival was to eat Lantern Festival dumplings, it gradually evolved into the Lantern Festival. On the day of the Lantern Festival, everyone hangs lanterns, guesses riddles, and eats Lantern Festival dumplings, feeling very comfortable.The duration of the Lantern Festival varies in different eras. It lasted one day in the Han Dynasty, three days in the Tang Dynasty, five days in the Song Dynasty, and nine days in the Ming Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, it was connected with the Spring Festival and was very lively. In the Qing Dynasty, it only lasted four to five days. But a lot of activities have been added. The modern era continues the Qing Dynasty and is also five days. During the Lantern Festival, people also hang a lantern to worship Jiang Taigong. The customs of the Lantern Festival are generally eating Yuanxiao, playing with lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, playing with dragon lanterns, stilt walking, lion dancing, land boat racing, eating Yuanxiao, etc. The ethnic minorities also celebrate the Lantern Festival. The Manchus, like the Han, eat Yuanxiao and hang colorful lanterns, while the Bai people play with dragons and do lion dances, etc. The most popular food on the Lantern Festival is Yuanxiao, and there are several types of Yuanxiao, such as sugar Yuanxiao and salty Yuanxiao. |
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