The Lantern
Festival in China is very old; legend has it that there are many wonderful
stories about how the Lantern Festival first began. One story is
that in ancient times, people would go in search of spirits with burning
sticks. They thought the spirits could be seen during a full moon.
Another is about a lonely young girl, in Han times, who tricked an
emperor into having a wonderful festival just so she could visit her
family. The emperor apparently had such an excellent time, he
decided to make this festival an annual event.
According to one legend, from ancient times, a celestial swan came
into the mortal world where it was shot down by a hunter. The Jade
Emperor, the highest god in Heaven, vowed to avenge the swan. He started
making plans to send a troop of celestial soldiers and generals to Earth
on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with orders to incinerate
all humans and animals.
However, the other celestial beings
disagreed with this course of action, and risked their lives to warn the
people of Earth. As a result, before and after the fifteenth day of the
first month, every family hung red lanterns outside their doors and set
off firecrackers and fireworks, giving the impression that their homes
were already burning. By successfully tricking the Jade Emperor in this
way, humanity was saved from extermination.
By T'ang times, many families simply set aside one evening, during
the first full moon after the new year, to honour the moon. They would
sit outside, and gaze up, in awe and delight.
Today, people wear white in honour of the moon, lanterns are hung in
the malls and markets, and children carry paper lanterns to school, to
light their way to a bright and happy future.
The lantern displays can be found in the town centres, the squares
and temples. In China there is often a lantern competition at the temple. Traditional
lanterns are made of paper. They can make the lamps turn by the heat
circulation from the candle inside.
Today the light of the lamp comes
mostly from electricity. People like to design for the Chinese New
Year Lantern Festival by using zodiac
animals, historical figures, saint and gods of Taoism or Buddhism. Certainly, the current year's animal symbol of the Chinese calendar is
most popular subject. Using a computer they can now design the lantern
with different movements, the different colours of light and even using
the laser light with special visual and sound effects.
The Lantern Festival is also referred to as the Yuan-Xiao Festival.
This is because Chinese eat Yuan-Xiao on this day. This custom
originated from the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth century and then
became popular during the Tang and Song Dynasty.
Yuan-Xiao is Similar to Tang-Yuan
They consist of sweet rice flour and are made into sticky glutinous
balls. These can then be filled in with sesame, red-bean or peanut
butter paste. Usually, they are served with sugar water; although some
people still make a salty Tang-Yuan.
The difference between Yuan-Xiao and Tang-Yuan is the way they are
made and cooked. This is because that Chinese in different geographic
areas prepare the food in different ways. The Chinese people call
the one they eat on Winter Solstice Day, Tang-Yuan. The one they eat on
the Lantern festival is called Yuan-Xiao.
The traditional food for the Chinese Lantern Festival is Yuanxiao dumplings,
named after the lonely palace maid of long ago. [Some versions of the
story have her preparing stuffed dumplings for the God of Fire, as this
was one of his favourite foods]. Yuanxiao are made with sticky rice flour.
They can be sweet or savoury; filled with everything from sugar, walnuts,
and dried tangerine peel to meat and vegetables. Incidentally,
lanterns are widely used on China
Day.
The Chinese masks that you see during the Chinese New Year Lantern
Festival are
exclusively used during that time of the year only. The general feeling
generated by the Chinese masks during this festive season is that of
happiness and joy.
A man ties a New Year wish to a "wishing tree" at the Taoist White
Cloud Temple, Beijing, on the day of Chinese New Year
A child in traditional costume takes part in the third day of Chinese
New Year celebrations at the Dongyue temple, Beijing, China. The
Lunar New Year will be marked with a week-long holiday.
At the Chinese New Year red is important. People wear red clothes, they write poems on red paper, and give children 'luck money' in red envelopes. The symbolism behind the red colour is fire,
and fire burns off bad luck. As for fireworks one belief is that the cracker jacks and sparks frighten away evil spirits.
After the fireworks at the beginning of the celebration of the Chinese
new year, comes the more tranquil Lantern Festival on the last day of the festivities. Most Lantern parades feature a dragon made of silk and bamboo. The dancers hold the monstrous
dragon aloft on sticks. Their coordination skills make the dragon appear to dance.
Zhongqiu jie
- Mid-autumn Moon Festival
This is the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節 which is held on the 15th day of the eighth month
in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early
October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the
autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at
its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake, of which there are many different varieties.
See more on Zongqui jie here.
Footnote Please write to Will and Guy if you have any
pictures of Chinese New Year lanterns.
If you like this page then please share it with your friends
See More About the Chinese New Year Calendar, also Jokes and
Funny Stories:
Get a clean joke delivered to your inbox every
day, no strings attached, just part of our service. Free
subscription to
our Funny Joke of the Day email.
We have over 1,500 pages of funny pictures, clean jokes, stories and amusing videos. Please use the Search below to find a topic of particular interest:
Thought of the Day Subscription
Our offer is to email you an inspirational
'Thought of the day'. Your subscription is completely free of cost and there
are no adverts. Sign up for our 'Thought of
the Day'.
