Lantern Festival

The tradition & historical record

The Lantern Festival (traditional Chinese: 元宵節; simplified Chinese: 元宵节; pinyin: Yuánxiāo jié), also called the Shangyuan Festival or the Yuanxiao Festival, is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. Usually falling in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. As early as the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solving riddles written on them (traditional Chinese: 猜燈謎; simplified Chinese: 猜灯谜; pinyin: cāidēngmí). In ancient times, lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large, ornate ones. In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with intricate designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune. The festival acts as an Uposatha day on the Chinese calendar. It should not be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is sometimes also known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. ¹

There are several beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival. However, its roots trace back more than 2,000 years and is popularly linked to the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han dynasty. Emperor Ming, an advocate of Buddhism, noticed Buddhist monks would light lanterns in temples on the fifteenth day of the first lunisolar month. As a result, he ordered all households, temples and the imperial palace to light lanterns on that evening. From there it developed into a folk custom. Another likely origin is the celebration of "the declining darkness of winter" and community's ability to "move about at night with human-made light," namely, lanterns. During the Han dynasty, the festival was connected to Ti Yin, the deity of the North Star. ¹

There is one legend that states that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that Taiyi controlled the destiny of the human world. He had sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence upon human beings. Beginning with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, all the emperors ordered splendid ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people. Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty directed special attention to this event. In 104 BC, he proclaimed it to be one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would last throughout the night. Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism. Tianguan is the Taoist deity responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunisolar month. ¹

In Chinese culture, the festival is often considered the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. Historically, it was one of the few times young women were allowed to leave their homes to admire lanterns, providing a rare opportunity for them to meet and interact with potential suitors. Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing couples. The brightest lanterns were symbolic of good luck and hope. As time has passed, the festival no longer has such implications in most of mainland China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. In Malaysia and Singapore, some unmarried women write their names and contact details on mandarin oranges. The oranges are then thrown into lakes or rivers in the hope that they are retrieved by a potential suitor. ¹

Eaten during the Lantern Festival, tangyuan '湯圓' (Southern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia) or yuanxiao '元宵' (Northern China) is a glutinous rice ball typically filled with sweet red bean paste, sesame paste, or peanut butter. Tangyuan is different from yuanxiao due to different manual making and filling processes. However, they are very similar in shape and taste, so most people do not distinguish them for convenience and consider them as the same thing. Chinese people believe that the round shape of the balls and the bowls in which they are served symbolize family togetherness, and that eating tangyuan or yuanxiao may bring the family harmony, happiness and luck in the new year. ¹

During the Sui dynasty in the sixth century, Emperor Yang invited envoys from other countries to China to see the colourful lighted lanterns and enjoy the gala performances. By the beginning of the Tang dynasty in the seventh century, the lantern displays would last three days. The emperor also lifted the curfew, allowing the people to enjoy the festive lanterns day and night. It is not difficult to find Chinese poems which describe this happy scene. In the Song dynasty, the festival was celebrated for five days and the activities began to spread to many of the big cities in China. Today, displaying lanterns remains a major tradition across China on the fifteenth day of the first lunisolar month. Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province, for example, holds a lantern fair each year in Culture Park. During the Lantern Festival, the park is a virtual ocean of lanterns. Many new designs attract large numbers of visitors. The most eye-catching lantern is the Dragon Pole. This is a lantern in the shape of a golden dragon, spiraling up a 38-meter-high pole, spewing fireworks from its mouth. Cities such as Hangzhou and Shanghai have adopted electric and neon lanterns, which can often be seen beside their traditional paper or wooden counterparts. Another popular activity at this festival is guessing lantern riddles, a tradition which dates back to the Song dynasty. ¹

Lion dance (舞獅), walking on stilts (踩高蹺), riddle games (猜燈謎), and dragon dances (耍龍燈) are very popular activities during the festival day and the days following. The lantern riddle, according to Japanese scholars, became popular as early as the Northern Song dynasty (960–1126). The lantern riddles are done by a host blocking one side of the lantern and pasting riddles on the remaining three sides of the lanterns. Participants will guess the blocked side by solving the riddles, which is called "breaking/solving lantern riddles". The theme of riddles can be drawn from classics, biographies, poetry, the various philosophers' well-known stories and novels, proverbs, (the names of) all kinds of birds, animals, and insects, as well as flowers, grasses, vegetables, and herbs. Participants can tear off the riddle of the lantern and let the host verify their answers. Those who answer the correct answer can get a "riddle reward", including ink, paper, writing brushes, ink slabs, fans, perfumed sachets, fruit, or eatables. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Lantern Festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Lantern Festival is festival marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 11 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²