Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival or Lantern Festival, falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called "night". The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night in a year, so it is called "Lantern Festival". According to the Taoist "Sanyuan Festival", the fifteenth day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival", and the Lantern Festival custom has been dominated by warm and festive lantern watching customs since ancient times.
The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on the lights to pray. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty, but the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month really became a national folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The rise of the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is also related to the spread of Buddhism to the east. In the Tang dynasty, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "lit lanterns for the Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month, so Buddhist lanterns were spread all over the people. Since the Tang Dynasty, Lantern Festival lighting has become a legal thing.
Festivals and customs
The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the Lantern Festival lasted from the eighth day to the seventeenth night of the first month. This is the longest Lantern Festival in the history of China, which is related to the Spring Festival. It is a city during the day, which is very lively, and it is spectacular to light the lights at night. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival.
In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days. In ancient China, Lantern Festival was a romantic festival. Women who stay indoors on weekdays can go out to enjoy the lanterns on this day, which also provides opportunities for young men and women to meet. It can be seen that the Lantern Festival has created a good opportunity for people to express their feelings, and it is also the "Valentine's Day" in ancient China.
Refer to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Lantern Festival