Lantern Festival
New Year's Day 15
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is another important festival of the Chinese nation, the Lantern Festival. Because it is the first full moon night of the year, it is also called Shangyuan Festival. This is the first major festival after the Spring Festival, and when the new year's celebrations are not yet over, this day once again sets off a lively atmosphere, including dragon and lion dances, stilts and singing performances, as well as family appreciation of the full moon, watching flower lanterns, guessing lantern riddles... The land of Shenzhou was full of joyful scenes.
In the Miscellaneous Records of the Ages, it is said that the "Shangyuan Festival" is a Taoist saying that is used, and together with the Zhongyuan Festival and the Lower YuanJie, it is collectively called "Three Yuan". But in fact, the origin of the Shangyuan Festival is earlier than Taoism.
Emperor Wen of Han (203 BC – 6 July 157 BC)
The third emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
The Lantern Festival has a very long history and has been valued by people in the Western Han Dynasty. More than two thousand years ago, Emperor Wen of Han had ordered that the fifteenth day of the first month be designated as the Lantern Festival.
Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty (156 BC – 29 March 87 BC)
The seventh emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
In the mythological system of the pre-Qin period, Taiyi Shen was the supreme god of the time, also known as the sun god. With the unification of the country by the Qin Dynasty, the monotheistic god gradually began to transform into a national faith. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the status of Taiyi Shen continued to improve, from the Eastern Emperor to the main emperor, and it is also believed to be the origin of all things. Emperor Wu of Han was an emperor who believed in gods and immortals, and in the face of such a noble Taiyi god in the hearts of the people at that time, how could he not make a big sacrifice. Therefore, he ordered that the "Taiyi" festival be held at Ganquan Palace on the fifteenth day of the first month of each year.
However, at this time, the Lantern Festival was mainly a festival circulating in the court, and the introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty played an important role in promoting the formation and promotion of the folk customs of the Lantern Festival.
Emperor Liu Zhuang of The Han Dynasty (15 June 28 – 5 September 75)
The second emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty
During the reign of Emperor Yongping of the Han Dynasty, Cai Yan brought back the Dharma from India, and the Western Records say that every fifteenth day of the first month in the Indian kingdom of Magadha, all the monks would gather to pay homage to the Buddha's relic, which was the auspicious day of visiting the Buddha. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Hanming ordered that on the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, lamps should be lit in the palace and temples to worship the Buddha.
In addition, the highest god in Taoist culture at that time, the Emperor the Emperor, had the status of the North Star and the Stars Arch, which coincided with the saying that taiyi god was "the name of the god of the North Star", and the Five Classics believed that the Emperor was the god of Taiyi.
Buddhism, Taoism, coupled with the time node at which the Lantern Festival itself is located, have spread from the court to the people, from the Central Plains to the whole country. Every night of the fifteenth day of the first month, whether it is the city or the countryside, the lights are brilliant everywhere, whether it is a scholar or a commoner, every house hangs a lamp. This has both the old saying of worshipping the one god and the devotion of lighting lamps to worship the Buddha, so it has formed such a unique custom.
Like the Spring Festival, the dates and folk activities of the Lantern Festival are constantly evolving.
During the Han Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was the fifteenth day of the first month. In the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival became the celebration time of the fourteenth to the sixteenth day of the first month, and the lantern viewing activities became more and more prosperous, not to mention the colorful lights everywhere, people would also make huge lamp trees, lamp posts, and lamp towers. Bai Juyi's description of Hangzhou's "Fifteen Nights and Moons of the First Month" writes:
It can be seen that the lively Lantern Festival in Hangzhou can already be mentioned alongside the Beijing Division.
In the Song Dynasty, it was more abundant, the Lantern Festival to be lit up for five days, it can be said that it is the most lively secular carnival of the year, lantern production is more exquisite and luxurious than the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty Ouyang Xiu had "Last year's New Year's Eve, the flower market lights like day." The moon is on the willow tip, and the person is about after dusk. " verse. Moreover, the much-loved riddle guessing and acrobatic performances also began at this time. More importantly, fireworks arose in the Song Dynasty, not only made into fireworks, but also made into firecrackers. In the past few days, regardless of whether men, women, young or old, or whether their status is high or low, it can be said that the whole country celebrates.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Lantern Festival lasted longer, from the eighth day of the first lunar month to the seventeenth day of the first month, which was the longest lantern festival in Chinese history, and it was very lively and lively. The famous poet and painter Tang Yin has a poem "Lantern" that depicts it very vividly:
In the Qing Dynasty, the court no longer held lantern festivals, and the festival time was shortened from ten days to three days, but the folk lantern festivals were still very spectacular, and activities such as dragon and lion dances, dry boat running, and stilt walking were added, which were very attractive.
If you talk about the traditional customs of the Lantern Festival, you must first say that you have to eat the Lantern Festival.
The custom of eating lanterns during the Lantern Festival was formed around the Song Dynasty. The poem "Lantern Boiled Floating Rounds" written by Zhou Bida in the Song Dynasty contains the verse "In the dark clouds of the stars, the pearls float in the turbid water". The Song Dynasty's elaborate "Past Events of Wulin" also records: "If dieting is still good, then lactose dumplings ... Ten sugars and the like. "Lactose dumplings" is the predecessor of tangyuan. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the title of "Lantern" was more frequent.
In modern times, the Lantern gradually became the title of the north, while the south was called "TangYuan".
The northern "rolling" Lantern and the southern "wrapping" tangyuan are two different foods with different methods and tastes, but the origins of both are the same. The feelings of southerners for Tangyuan are actually more than those of northerners for The Lantern.
Just now, in addition to mentioning the traditions of flower lanterns, guessing lantern riddles and dragon and lion dances, we also talked about rowing dry boats. So what exactly is a rowing boat?