The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.
This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.
Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited. "Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival.
Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What’s more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.
In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
元宵节落在阴历的正月十五这一天,通常在公历2月或3月。早在西汉(206开始25),它已成为一个节日具有重要意义。
这一天最重要的活动就是看灯。早在公元前206年至公元220年的汉代,佛教在中国盛行。一个皇帝听说僧侣可以看到舍利,或仍从佛陀的尸体的火化,并点灯敬佛阴历的正月十五这一天,所以他下令点灯的皇宫和寺庙在这一天以表现他对佛祖的尊敬。后来,佛教仪式发展成为普通民众的盛大的节日,它的影响力从中原地区一直蔓延到整个中国。
直到今天,每年元宵节还举行了全国各地。不同形状和大小的灯笼会悬挂在街上,吸引无数的游人。孩子们将自制或购买灯笼漫步在大街上,非常兴奋。“猜灯谜”是节日的重要组成部分。
灯笼的主人会将谜语写在一张纸上并贴在灯笼上。如果游客有解决谜语,他们可以把纸灯笼的主人,去看他们的答案。如果他们是正确的,他们会得到一个小礼物。活动在人们赏灯的宋代(960 - 1279)。猜灯谜活动极富情趣,充满智慧,它已成为所有社会阶层中流行。
人们会吃元宵、粽子在这一天,所以它也被称为“元宵的节日。“元宵也有另一个名字,汤圆。它小糯米粉做的玫瑰花瓣、芝麻、豆酱、枣泥、胡桃肉、干果、糖和食用油做馅。汤圆可以煮、炸或者蒸来吃。它吃起来甜甜的,很美味。更重要的是,汤圆在中国也有类似的发音叫“浮圆子”,这意味着团聚。所以人们吃它们表示联盟、和谐、幸福的家庭。
在白天的节日,表演等,舞龙舞狮,土地船跳舞,踩着高跷秧歌舞蹈,散步和打会有。到了晚上,除了华丽的灯笼,烟火也是另一道美丽的风景。大多数家庭备用一些春节的烟花,让他们在元宵节。一些地方政府还会组织烟火晚会。在第一个满月的晚上进入新年,人们在燃放的烟花和明亮的月亮在天空中。
