Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month

 

Chapter 11 Lantern Festival

 

Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month

 

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it is also known as the Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival. The main customary activities include lantern viewing, lantern tours, wandering gods, boating, setting off fireworks, and Lantern Festival, etc. The customs of the Lantern Festival are very unique. Lantern viewing and fireworks are also one of the main customs of the Lantern Festival. Because this festival has the custom of viewing lanterns in the past dynasties, it is also called the Lantern Festival.

 

 

Lantern Festival

 

The Lantern Festival custom has been dominated by the warm and festive lantern viewing custom since ancient times. For example, "New Records of Two Capitals" of the Tang Dynasty says: "On the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month, King Wu was ordered to relax the ban, and he could watch the lights one day before and after them. The light would be like daylight."

Every first lunar month, the Zigong Lantern Festival becomes the most photogenic and imaginative "New Year's Eve event" in the South. This custom originated in the Tang and Song Dynasties. At that time, people lit and admired lanterns, which was an important custom during the New Year.

Sichuan used to be the land of Shu, so lantern fairs and lantern festivals originated earlier. Beginning in the mid-Qing Dynasty, due to the development of the salt industry, regional folk lantern festival activities gradually flourished.

 

temple fair

 

Visiting the temple fair is one of the traditional folk activities. The Guangfu Temple Fair and the Beijing Ditan Temple Fair are both known as the two major temple fairs in China. It covers theme activities such as puppet gathering, Chinese unique skills, martial arts conference, and Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, and contains rich content such as blessing culture, folk culture, food culture, business and leisure culture.

 

wear order

 

Punching the Ling, also known as the Ling Arrow, is a traditional folk stunt performed by wandering gods in some villages in Guangdong during the New Year's Lantern Festival. The custom of wearing orders is the product of the combination of Nuo custom and dragon worship custom. The "ling chopstick" used when wearing the order can also be used as a symbol of the "dragon beard", thus containing the content of dragon sacrifice. The custom of wearing orders has the characteristics of both Nuo custom and dragon worship. It is the product of the long-term collision between farming civilization and marine civilization.

 

eat rice balls

 

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, glutinous rice balls are eaten. "Tangyuan" is also called "Yuanxiao". Tangyuan has a long history as a food in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel food eaten during the Lantern Festival became popular among the people. This kind of food was first called "Fu Yuanzi" and later "Yuanxiao". Businessmen also euphemistically called it "Yuanbao". Tangyuan also means reunion.

 

The acting club is popular

 

In some places in the north, several villages gather together to perform Shehu on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Shehuo includes walking on stilts, Zhongkui dancing, floats, etc.