First, on the origin of the "three-element day"
In Taoism, there is such a saying:
"Three Yuan Day", the fifteenth day of the first month is the first yuan, and the heavenly official blesses; July 15 is the middle yuan, and the magistrate pardons the sins; October 15 is the next yuan, and the water official is relieved. The "three yuan days" are respectively the three official checks, the examination of good and evil is examined, and the deletion of merit is a check. All sentient beings are governed by the three senses of heaven, earth and water. The full title of the Heavenly Official is "Shangyuan Yipin Nine Qi Heavenly Official Blesses the Ziwei Emperor".
Ganbao of the Eastern Jin Dynasty recorded in the "Soushenji" that whenever the sun rose, he would come to earth, "observe the heavens and all the worlds, the ten directions of the earth, and treat his human body with his human ways." ”
According to the "Shangyuan Heavenly Official Confession of Sorrowful Crimes", he "resides in the Ziwei Palace, in charge of the thirty-six mansions, in charge of all things, and in charge of the rise and fall of immortals." Therefore, people who want fame and fortune and want to live a long life will worship them.
The lord of the prefecture, named "the lord of the seven qi prefectures of the second grade of the Middle Yuan", says in the Three Official Scriptures that he "resides in the northern capital, rules the three realms and nine lands, controls the eight poles, the four dimensions and the five mountains, examines the luck of all things, distinguishes yin and yang, and distinguishes yin and yang." "He who can forgive the sins of others, so that he who wants to be forgiven will pay homage to him."
Water God, also known as "Xiayuan Triple Five Qi Water God, Dongyin Emperor". The Three Senses Sutra says, "Qinghua Palace, with forty-two cao, is in charge of all things in heaven and earth and records the sins of living beings. "Those who can relieve people's misfortunes, so those who want to avoid trouble, pay more tribute to him.
It can be seen from this that in Taoism, the "three senses" not only dominate the auspicious fortunes of the world, but also dominate the operation of ghosts. For the origin of the "three senses", there are also many theories within Taoism, such as the "Lihai Collection" in the "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books and Divine Alien Classics", which mentions: "The three senses originate from gold, soil and water".
Ming Xudao's "Tongjian of the Immortals of the Past Dynasties" says that the three emperors and five emperors are the incarnations of the Yuan Shi Tianzun, from the nine qi of taiyin and the seven qi of taiyin, with the five qi of Hao as the guide, and the lower realm is Yao, Shun, Yu, and later generations are called the three emperors and five emperors. Yao Fujun of the Qing Dynasty said in "Zhuding Yuwen" that the "three councilors" of King Zhou You referred to Tang Hong, Ge Yong, and Zhou Wu.
There is also a widely circulated legend that a man named Chen Ziyu, who was talented and handsome, was favored by the Dragon King and married three Dragon Palace ladies. Each of the three dragon girls has a son, and the birthdays of the three sons fall on the 15th of the first month, the 15th of July, and the 15th of October. The three grew up, all of them had great powers, and Yuan Shi Tianzun called the three of them "three officials".
The history of the "belief in the three senses" has a long history, starting in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there are "three official books" in places such as Zhang Lu "Wudou Mi" and Zhang Jiao "Taiping", which are used to drive away disasters, cure diseases, eliminate sins, and pray for peace. So, among the Taoist priests, a "ghost" was set up to pray for the sick and write down their names to show guilt.
That is, ghosts are set up among the Taoists, praying for the sick, writing the patient's surname, and convincing the meaning of sin. The three links of writing, one of which goes to heaven, is placed on the mountain, one is buried in the ground, and the other is sunk in water, which is called the three palace handwriting.
In May 1982, a farmer from Dengfeng County, Henan Province, found a golden book from Wu Zetian's period in a rock gap at the top of Songshan Mountain, which read: Please ask the "three officials" to grant Wu Zetian forgiveness of sins and peace to her. According to the records of Qing Zhao Yi's "Qian Yu Cong Kao", the custom of "Sanyuan Festival" can be traced back to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and there are many different theories about the origin of "Zhang Deng".
Second, "Zhang Lantern traces its origin" said
When did Zhang Deng's "Lantern Festival" originate, there are different theories, some people say that it was because of the sacrifice of Tai Yi that this day was designated as the "Lantern Festival" and the ban on night was lifted. In the "Shiji Leshu", "the Han Dynasty worshiped Taiyi, at dusk, sacrificed until the dawn", and "the hope of the present month and the lantern at night are its legacy".
For example, the "Records of Initial Studies" written by Xu Jian in the Tang Dynasty, the "Taiping Yuyan" compiled by Li Yi and others in the Song Dynasty, the "Zhizhishu Yongping County" written by later generations, and the "Datong and Small Differences" written by the Qing Dynasty.
However, in the "Shiji Leshu", he can only see one sentence: "Every year at the beginning of January, the Han people will worship by the Taiyi Qingquan until it gets dark, and they will not die." This sentence is somewhat different from the statements of other scholars, because the day of "early January" is not fifteen, and there is no mention of the lantern.
"Search for Persona" and Yun: "There is no such article in today's history. "This is really suspicious. One is that the quotations in the "Shiji Leshu" have been misunderstood and miscommunicated, just like the aforementioned genres.
Second, there is indeed this sentence in the "Shiji Leshu", but this sentence was handed down before the Tang and Song dynasties, so this sentence is not known. But in any case, the "Lefu" in the "Shiji Leshu" is still a difficult problem to determine.
Third, it is also said that Emperor Wen of Han put down the Zhuge Rebellion on January 15 and designated this day as the "Festival of Lights". Others say that Emperor Ming once went to the temple during the Lantern Festival to confess his purity. The documents seen so far are: "Lielantern Fu", which was written by Emperor Jianwen of the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty.
"Ice melts in winter, the first bloom at dusk, the grass and trees shine, the snow flies, the south oil overflows, the western lacquer burns, Su Zheng sleeps forever, the wax comes out of the dragon river, the sunset shines, and the light shines." The words are about the grand scene of the lantern festival, calculated according to the season, it seems to be early spring, but I don't know if it is the fifteenth day of the first month.
There is also the verse "Sanskrit comes from heaven" by Emperor Sui's "On the 15th day of the first month, the lantern is built and the night rises to the South Tower". Thousands of lamps in the lamp tree, seven flowers burning fire. The moon shadow condenses the spring, and the plum blossoms in the spring breeze in the cold night. The golden earth shook, and the bell sounded in the blue sky. "This poem, let's not mention it for now.
The title alone says it all: "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, put a lantern on the street." "Ming people do not say secret words, and Emperor Sui does not explain that people do not say secret words, only that people do not say secret words. The Sui Book of Music also confirms this: "On the 15th day of the first month of the second year of the Sui Emperor's great cause (666), the gate of Kyoto was lit, and the torch was lit, shining all over the eight miles around, which was a theater.
The sound of metal rubbing resounded for ten miles, so it should be like this every year. This is the first record of Zhang Dengcheng's Lantern Festival customs. Although not as old as the Han Dynasty, it also has a history of more than 1,400 years.
Third, "forbidden lights" and "Zhang lanterns" in Beijing
Beijing was the capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with a history of more than 600 years. However, the "Festival of Lights" lanterns are not all. In the Yuan Dynasty, lanterns were banned from Kublai Khan. This is inseparable from the class conflict that arose during the Yuan Dynasty under the control of the Gentiles.
In the Yuan Dynasty, although it was clearly stipulated that "the etiquette system and the use of Han law" were clearly established, in order to protect the interests of the Mongols, their ethnic groups were divided into Mongols, Semu people, Han people, and southerners, and divided them into four categories. And there are very severe unequal terms in politics, economics, law.
Because they were worried about the artificial rebellion in the north and south, their weapons and horses were confiscated, and they were not allowed to practice martial arts, not to meet, and not even to allow lanterns. Ideologically, the Yuan Dynasty advocated Buddhism and opposed Taoism. Taoism is a native Han belief, and "three yuans" is a regular expression of Taoism.
Knowing this, it is not surprising. Yingzong ascended the throne in the year of his reign. There was a desire to set up lights in the palace and overlap them, and Zhang Yanghao, a counselor of Zhongshu Province, planned to submit a letter to ask Zuo Cheng to worship Chen Guo. With a wave of his sleeves, he entered the palace and met Yingzong.
Zhang Yanghao's fold reads: "The ancestor has been in the imperial court for more than 30 years, every New Year's Eve, between Lu and Yan, the lights are also forbidden, the strictness of the court, the palace is fierce, especially be cautious!" Then he advised Yingzong: "In the structure of this lamp mountain, the minister thinks that the person who plays is small, the person who is tied is big, the person who enjoys is small, and the patient is deep." I wish to take thrift and longevity as the law, and joy and happiness as a warning, and the country is very happy, and the subjects are very happy!" (See "Yuan Shi Zhang Yanghao's Biography")
Yingzong was furious at first, but after reading it, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered his removal. It should be said that there is a difference between Yingzong's strike on the lamp and the ancestor's ban on the lamp.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Han became the dominant ethnic group again. The custom of lanterns during the Lantern Festival follows the traditional customs of the Song Dynasty in many ways. Moreover, according to the records of the Ming Dynasty's "Imperial Capital Scenery and Objects": "The five lights of the Shangyuan Dynasty began in the Northern Song Dynasty; At the beginning of the lights, the Six Dynasties of the Shangyuan Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty; And the 'Shangyuan Ten Heavenly Lantern' began with my dynasty.
When Taizu established the southern capital, he set up a colorful pavilion, invited all heroes and heroes, and set up a lantern festival and a ten-day lantern festival. "The Lantern Festival of the Ming Dynasty not only lasted longer than previous periods, but also had more connotations of folk culture and less religious factors. This is the so-called "lamp market".
In the Ming Dynasty's "Yandu Tourist Record", it is recorded: "East of Chongwen Street in Donghuamen, west of Wangfu Street, and the lamp market is two lixu", which refers to the current Dongcheng Dengshikou. The lantern market starts on the eighth day of the lunar calendar and only becomes lively at the end of the thirteenth.
Business travelers from all provinces flocked to the city, with sales stalls, three lines of Qu, four columns of the city, and goods divided into teams. From morning to night, it is a bustling market. The goods here range from antique jewelry to folk medicines, to local specialties and even exotic curiosities.
There are too many people, can't see each other's faces clearly, traffic jams, and it's hard to move. At night, it's brightly lit. Lanterns of various colors from the north and south are scrambling to be placed on the stage. Famous lanterns include glazed balls, silk, yarn, sheep's horns, sheepskins, mica lamps, as well as wheat straw, grass, walking horses and various paper lamps. The dome curtain is intertwined, and the entire street is set off like a fairyland.
According to historical records, "There are good men and women, who are in the city, and the Yanlou Moon Hall and the Ao Mountain Fire Road are set up in the district, and rare treasures are collected, and every artifact is a superior thing, and each piece is worth a hundred laws." The buildings are scattered and staggered, dazzling from a distance, but orderly when seen up close. ”
It seems that these people who like gossip are the ancestors who collect light bulbs. Many foreigners in Beijing have also described the Lantern Festival in detail. The Persians said in the Shaharu Dispatch to China:
"Around the imperial city, they built a wooden hill, covered with pines and cypresses, like a jade mountain. Millions of lanterns hang in the air, and thousands of puppets look exactly like living people. Each candle has a fuse on it, and when it is lit, it burns down the rope, lighting all the candles. ”
People in the city also lit a lantern on their houses and shops. The "wooden hill" mentioned in this article is the Ao Shan lantern that has been handed down from the Tang and Song dynasties to the present. But the article said that they had never seen this "Ao Shan lantern", but had only heard about it.
"In that big city, where everyone illuminates houses and shops with flashlights, candles and oil lamps, you feel like the sun is out and you can see clearly even a needle falling on the ground."
The Italian missionary Matteo Ricci, who lived in Beijing for nearly thirty years and buried his body in Beijing, also mentions in his Notes on China: "In every house, lamps of all kinds made of cardboard, glass, or cloth were hung and illuminated bright and transparent. ”
At that time, China was considered a "superpower", and foreign visitors came to China, either to buy and sell, or to offer tribute and friendship. This scene stunned them.
In the Ming Dynasty, although the "Zhongyuan Festival" was not an official festival, it still had its customs among the people. There is a record in the "Imperial Scenery Strategy": "On the 15th of July (July), each temple set up an obon, and every night, lights were placed in the water, called "river lanterns". "The Cipaozi River is also the best place."
This river lantern is also called "illuminating the underworld", according to the Buddhist gate, it is to send the undead to heaven. "Water" refers to the back sea and stagnant pool of Shichahai, and the surface of the water is still there. Paozi River Past, located in the corner of the eastern city of Chongwenmen, is a low-lying land that has only left a name.
Now, the custom of putting lanterns on the "Three Yuan Day" has died out for two, leaving only the day of "the fifteenth day of the first month", and only the tradition of eating the Lantern Festival remains, which is the origin of the "Eating Lantern Festival".
In recent years, there have been occasional "lantern fairs". Many times, there will be large companies investing in the production of a large number of electronic street lights, which are placed in parks and squares. Due to the lack of extensive public participation to lay the deep foundation of Lantern Festival activities, Lantern Festival activities lose their traditional cultural meaning and are more of a superficial commercial activity.
The biggest feature of folk art is to popularize, to be popular, to let everyone participate, not just to see, these are two completely different concepts!
Bibliography:
"Shangyuan Tianguan Eliminates Crime Confession"
"Yandu Tour"
《Imperial Scenery》
"History of the Book of Music"
The Three Senses