How did the Lantern Festival come about? Why do we set off fireworks during the Lantern Festival?
Introduction: The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is a night of full moon and flowers, and it is also my country's traditional festival, the Lantern Festival. This day is a day of celebration for all, and it is also the most lively festival since the Spring Festival. When we talk about the Lantern Festival, we immediately think of the brightly lit streets and the fireworks blooming in the sky. Why do we set off fireworks during the Lantern Festival? Let’s find out the specific content with the editor! In addition to the grand and festive celebrations of the Spring Festival, we also need to pay attention to some taboos regarding the Spring Festival. Next, let’s take a closer look at the Spring Festival special topic compiled by Mr. Shui Mo!The Origin and Development of the Lantern FestivalThe 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. (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. 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.The Origin of the Lantern Festival Custom of Setting Off FireworksLegend has it that a long time ago, there were many ferocious birds and beasts that hurt people and livestock everywhere, so people organized themselves to fight them. One day, a divine bird landed on the earth because it got lost, but was accidentally shot to death by an unsuspecting hunter. When the Emperor of Heaven learned about it, he was very angry, and immediately issued an order to the heavenly soldiers to set fire to the human world on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and burn all the people, animals and property in the human world to death. The Emperor of Heaven's daughter was kind-hearted and could not bear to see innocent people suffer, so she risked her life and secretly came to the human world on a auspicious cloud to tell people the news. When everyone heard the news, it was like a loud bang in their heads. They were so scared that they didn't know what to do. After a long time, an old man came up with a solution. He said, "On the 14th, 15th and 16th days of the first lunar month, every household should decorate their homes with lanterns, light firecrackers and fireworks. In this way, the Emperor of Heaven will think that people have been burned to death." Everyone nodded in agreement and went to prepare separately. On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Emperor of Heaven looked down and found that the world was full of red light and there was a deafening noise. This happened for three consecutive nights. He thought it was the flame of a big fire and was very happy. In this way, people saved their lives and property. To commemorate this success, every household hangs lanterns and sets off fireworks on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to commemorate this day.Summary: The above article gives us a detailed introduction to the content and origin of the custom of setting off fireworks on the Lantern Festival. I hope everyone can understand it and feel the cultural charm of Chinese traditional festivals! After reading this article, there are more exciting content in the Spring Festival special topic, let’s take a look! |
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