Every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, just after the Spring Festival, we usher in the traditional Chinese festival--the Lantern Festival.
The first month of the first lunar month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", so the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is called the Lantern Festival. The 15th day of the first lunar month is the first full-moon night of the year. It is also the night when the Yuan Dynasty begins and the earth returns to spring. People celebrate this and it is also the continuation of celebrating the New Year. The Lantern Festival is also called the "Shangyuan Festival".
According to Chinese folk tradition, on this night when the bright moon hangs high in the sky, people light up thousands of colored lanterns to celebrate. They go out to enjoy the moon, light lanterns and set off flames, guess lantern riddles, and eat Lantern Festival together. The family reunites and celebrates the festival together, and it is a joyful time.
The Lantern Festival is also called the Festival of Lanterns. The custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival began in the Han Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, lantern viewing activities became more prosperous. Lanterns were hung everywhere in the palace and on the streets, and tall lantern wheels were built. Regarding the lantern tower and lantern tree, Lu Zhaolin, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once described the grand occasion of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival in "Watching Lanterns on the Fifteenth Night" as follows: "The stars are falling, and the moon is hanging by the tower." ”
The Song Dynasty paid more attention to the Lantern Festival, and the lantern viewing activities became more lively. The lantern viewing activities lasted for five days, and the styles of lanterns were also more abundant. In the Ming Dynasty, lantern viewing lasted for 10 consecutive days, making this the longest lantern festival in China. Although the lantern viewing event in the Qing Dynasty only lasted for three days, it was very large-scale and unprecedentedly grand. In addition to lighting lanterns, fireworks were also set off to add to the fun.
"Guessing lantern riddles", also called "playing lantern riddles", is an activity added after the Lantern Festival and appeared in the Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin'an, the capital, made riddles during the Lantern Festival, and many people guessed riddles. In the beginning, the good guys wrote riddles on slips of paper and pasted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because riddles can inspire wisdom and are interesting, they are very popular among all walks of life in the process of spreading!
