Chapter 28 The third Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is an important traditional festival in my country.This day was called "Shangyuan" in ancient times, and its night was called "Yuanye", "Yuanxi" or "Yuanxiao".The ancient Chinese calendar is closely related to the phases of the moon. There must be a full moon on the 15th of every month, which is called "look".The full moon symbolizes reunion and happiness. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people ushered in the first full moon night of the year. This day is naturally regarded as an auspicious day.According to "Historical Records · Book of Music", as early as the early Western Han Dynasty, there were ritual activities in the palace on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to worship Taiyi God (Emperor of Heaven) and pray for blessings.

The relationship between Lantern Festival and lanterns is inseparable. Lantern lighting and lantern viewing are the most important activities of Lantern Festival, so it is also called "Lantern Festival".Lantern lanterns are said to have originated in the period of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty.In the tenth year of Yongping (AD 67), Cai Yin (yin sound) sent by Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty obtained Buddhism from India and returned to Luoyang, Kyoto. Western monks Shemo Teng and Zhu Falan also came with him.Emperor Ming personally went out of the palace to greet him, lit lamps to worship Buddha, and built a White Horse Temple in the west of Yongmen to promote Buddhism.This aroused strong opposition from Taoism.On the first day of the first lunar month in the fourteenth year of Yongping (71 A.D.), the Taoists proposed to the imperial court to fight against Buddhism.On the 15th, Emperor Ming organized Buddhism and Taoism to compete in the White Horse Temple, and the Buddhists won.Emperor Ming believed in Buddhism even more, and officially ordered that no matter the common people or nobles, every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, all lanterns and streamers should be displayed at night to show respect for Buddhism.After that, lighting up lanterns on the Lantern Festival became a common practice, and it became a common practice during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.Emperor Liang Jianwen of the Southern Dynasties once wrote an "Ode to Lanterns", which specifically described the grand occasion of watching lanterns during the Lantern Festival.In the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival and one day before and after it officially became a fixed holiday, and all government offices were closed.Moreover, during these three nights, "Golden Wu was allowed to relax the prohibition to watch the lights" ("New Records of Two Capitals"), that is, to suspend the decree prohibiting night travel, so that the citizens of the city can have fun.On the night of Shangyuan in the second year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty (713 A.D.), the gate of the palace was opened, and outside the palace gate "made a lamp wheel (lamp tree) 20 feet high...50,000 lamps were lit, and the clusters were like flower trees", He also ordered more than a thousand court ladies and young women from Chang'an to "sing and sing under the lamp wheel for three days and nights" ("Ministry of Chaoye").Since then, the emperors of all dynasties have "watched the lanterns in the imperial building" during the Lantern Festival.In the Song Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was increased from three nights to five nights ("Qiande Five Years Edict").In order to encourage people to go to the imperial street to watch the lanterns, the imperial court also stipulated that "everyone who comes to watch the lanterns will be given a glass of wine".In the seventh year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1409), an edict was issued to set the Lantern Festival holiday as ten days, which became the longest holiday at that time (at that time, officials had a five-day holiday for the Spring Festival and three days for the winter solstice).It can be seen that the Lantern Festival has been paid much attention in the past dynasties.

For ancient women, viewing lanterns during the Lantern Festival was the most attractive holiday activity of the year.According to the feudal ethics, every lady can only live in a deep boudoir, even Xiaojia Biyu can't show her face casually, living a close to claustrophobic life.But every Lantern Festival, they can no longer worry about the etiquette of the boudoir, and justifiably go out at night to watch the lanterns.Some young men and women who are not easy to get in touch with each other although they are attracted to each other also have the opportunity to talk about love.Therefore, Li Qingzhao of the Song Dynasty said in his poems: "Zhongzhou has a prosperous day, and there are many leisure time in the boudoir, remember to pay more attention to three or five."The ancient women under the oppression of feudal ethics only had a little freedom to move around the streets and alleys at the Lantern Festival, so traveling on the Lantern Festival is "especially for women".In the poem "Lantern Festival" by Liu Shiji of the Ming Dynasty, there are two lines "talking, laughing, playing and having fun, and the sons and daughters of a thousand families are making a fuss", which is a portrayal of this grand occasion.It can even be said that only during the Lantern Festival, women in ancient times could temporarily get rid of the shackles of feudal ethics and reveal a little bit of their original humanity.

As for the food of the Lantern Festival, since the Song Dynasty, every household has to eat "Yuanxiao".Yuanxiao is also called yuanzi, dumpling or glutinous rice balls.Eating Lantern Festival during the Lantern Festival symbolizes the reunion of people with a full moon and a symbol of wishing harmony and happiness for the whole family. Therefore, it has been a basic content of celebrating the festival for more than a thousand years and continues to this day.