What are the main activities of the Lantern Festival and what are the special folk activities
The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in my country, and it is also one of the most popular and grand festivals among the people.Whenever the Lantern Festival comes, we have to carry out a series of folk activities such as eating Lantern Festival, guessing lantern riddles, viewing lanterns, dancing dragons and lions, making lanterns, and offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods.
Lantern Festival Introduction
The Lantern Festival, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the Little First Moon, the Lantern Festival or the Lantern Festival, is one of the traditional festivals in China, which falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year.The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar.The ancients called "night" as "xiao".The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night in the year.According to Taoism "Sanyuan", the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is also called "Shangyuan Festival".The Lantern Festival custom has been dominated by the warm and festive lantern viewing custom since ancient times.Now it is one of the important traditional festivals and intangible cultural heritages in my country.
The origin of the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China.The formation of the Lantern Festival custom has a long process, which is rooted in the ancient folk custom of turning on lights and praying for blessings.Turning on the lights and praying for blessings usually begins on the 14th night of the first lunar month, and on the 15th night is the "zheng lantern".Folks need lanterns, also known as "send lanterns", in order to carry out the activities of worshiping gods and praying for blessings.The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty, It also plays an important role in promoting the custom of the Lantern Festival.During the Yongping period of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, in order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Ming of Han ordered the 15th night of the first lunar month to "burn the lamp to represent the Buddha" in the palace and temples.
Therefore, the 15th night of the first lunar month was burned on the night of the first lunar month.
The custom of lanterns gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and later the addition of Taoist culture.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Lantern Festival became more and more popular.Emperor Wu of Liang believed in Buddhism, and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in his palace was lit with lights.During the Tang Dynasty, Cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries have become closer, Buddhism has flourished, officials and people generally "lit lanterns to worship Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and Buddhist lights spread throughout the people.Since the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival has become a legal thing.
Customs and activities of the Lantern Festival
The festival and festival activities of the Lantern Festival are 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, and it was already in the Tang Dynasty.It lasts for three days, the Song Dynasty lasts five days, and the Ming Dynasty lights up from the eighth day until the night of the seventeenth day of the first lunar month.It is the longest lantern festival in Chinese history., the lights are lit at night, which is spectacular.Especially the delicate and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival.In the Qing Dynasty, dragon dances, lion dances, dry boat running, stilt walking, Yangko dance, etc.were added.The content of "Hundred Plays" is only shortened to four to five days.
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