Chapter 15 Section 7 Lantern Festival

Lanterns, also known as lanterns, are famous folk handicrafts in my country.In ancient times, every Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the first lunar month), people took advantage of the joy of the New Year to hang all kinds of lanterns in the streets and alleys, and stepped on the moon to watch the lanterns. The atmosphere was particularly warm and prosperous! Lanterns became popular along with the development of folk customs and folk art. In the palace of the Han Dynasty in our country, there was a custom of "building a mountain with lanterns" on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.Legend has it that in 179 A.D., Zhou Bo and Chen Pingping Zhulu revived the Han Dynasty and assisted Emperor Wen to ascend the throne. That day was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so Emperor Wen of Han stipulated that commemorative activities be held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year.The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was called "Shangyuan" in ancient times, and "Xiao" means night.After Buddhism was introduced to China, every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, that is, the "Lantern Festival", it is necessary to "light lamps to represent Buddha" and promote Buddhism.Later, the customs of China and India gradually merged, and lantern lighting on the Lantern Festival became one of the most important activities in urban and rural areas of our country every year.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, putting lanterns on the Lantern Festival had become an entertainment activity for urban and rural scholars and no longer had the content of worshiping gods and Buddhas.In the Tang Dynasty, Shangyuan (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month) was designated as the Lantern Festival, and later it was changed to "Fang Ye" (festival lanterns) for three days from Shangyuan. "Whoever sees the moon can sit idle, where can he hear the lamp without looking at it."In this way, the annual Lantern Festival has become a festival of joy for people. According to literature records, there were many kinds of lanterns in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.In addition to dragon lanterns, fish lanterns, lantern shadows, etc., there are many large and luxurious productions.Zhang Zhuo [zhuozhuo] "Chao Ye Qi Zai" and other records, Tang Ruizong, outside Chang'an Anfu Gate, made a huge wheel lamp, as high as 20 feet, wrapped with colorful silk and satin, burning 50,000 lamps, like a flower of rosy rays. Tree.Mao Shun, the fashionista of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, designed a "Lamp Building" in Shangyang Palace during the Lantern Festival. It is 150 feet high and 20 rooms wide. Pearls, jade, gold and silver tassels are hung on it, and dragons, phoenixes, tigers and leopards are painted on the lamps. It is very lifelike and very spectacular. !

In the Song Dynasty, the craftsmanship of Lantern Festival lanterns developed again.Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Menghualu" and other records, at that time, a few months before the Spring Festival in Kaifeng, preparations for the mountain shed began.The "Mountain of Lights" made in Kaifeng, after being lit, all lights are bright.The Bodhisattva on the lamp can still move his arms freely.The dragon lantern in front of the hall is tied with grass, surrounded by cloth curtains, and thousands of lamps and candles are placed in the dark. It looks like two dragons flying away from a distance.As for the "Small Ao Mountain" (a kind of Dengshan mountain, the lanterns are stacked into a mountain shape, which looks like the giant Ao in myths and legends, so it is named Aoshan) and "Glass Lantern Mountain" in the Southern Song Dynasty, they are even more exquisite, unique and brilliant.

The lanterns mentioned above are made by the palace. There are many folk lanterns and patterns.According to the records of Qianchun Years written by Zhou Mi in the Song Dynasty, the 15th day of the first lunar month is the day for appreciating lanterns. Before that, every street market had to make them in advance or go to the "Lantern Market" to buy them.At that time, folk lamp products mainly included "Wanyan lamp", "white jade lamp", "boneless lamp", "colorful sheepskin lamp", "silk lamp", "revolving horse lamp", "〔shen trial〕(fish brain bone) lamp", "bead lamp", "Luobo lamp", "fine bamboo wire lamp" and so on.These lanterns are either pasted with paper-cuts, or painted with figures, landscapes, birds and insects, or written poems, or concealed hidden language (lantern riddles), which are very delicately made.

In the Ming Dynasty, folk lanterns developed more.It is said that after Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Nanjing, in order to celebrate the Lantern Festival, he once attracted wealthy businessmen from all over the world and put up lanterns for ten days.There are colorful buildings in Jinling City, and tens of thousands of water lamps are set off on the Qinhuai River, which is very spectacular.Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, and set up Erli Changdeng Market at Donghua Gate. From the eighth to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the lanterns were set off, the fireworks were lit all night, and the drums and music juggling were noisy.Tian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Records" records that Hangzhou in the Ming Dynasty was "before Lahou and spring", from Shou'an Square to Zhong'an Bridge, all were lantern markets.The lanterns in the lantern market include figures of Lao Tzu, Beauty, Zhong Kui fighting ghosts, and Liu Hai playing Jin Chan; flower and fruit lamps of gardenia, grape, red bayberry, and orange persimmon; and bird and insect lamps of deer, cranes, fish, and shrimp. There are fancy lamps such as glazed glass, mica screens, crystal curtains, and eye masks. The lamps made by rich and wealthy families use silk, colored beads, bright corners, carved sheepskin, and tasseled treasure belts.There is a description of viewing lanterns in the novel that is more vivid:

The city of lights is crowded with people, and it is very lively... Golden lotus lanterns and jade building lanterns, you can see a piece of pearls; Stopping, there is the legacy of Confucius and Mencius; the daughter-in-law lamp, Rong De is gentle, imitating Meng Jiang's integrity; Evil gods; bang lanterns, carrying golden toads, teasingly swallowing treasures; camel lanterns, blue lion lanterns, carrying priceless treasures, roaring; ape lanterns, white elephant lanterns, entering the city's secret treasures, playing and playing; crabs with eight hands and eight legs The lamp, playing upside down, plays with the clear waves; the giant bearded catfish lamp swallows green algae flatly;...the lamp turns back and forth, the chandelier is up or down, the glass vase reflects beautiful women and strange flowers, and the mica barrier merges with Langyuan in Yingzhou ...

Lamps with so many names can be seen that folk lamps were flourishing at that time! Lanterns in the Qing Dynasty developed on the basis of the craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty.According to "Yanjing Years" and other records, in Beijing at that time, "every Lantern Festival, the inner court banquet, fireworks, and lights in the shops", Dongsi, Di'anmen, Zhengyangmen, etc., were decorated with gauze lanterns and glass lanterns of various colors. , Mingjiao lamps have different shapes, with ancient and modern stories painted on them, making people linger; ice lamps, box lamps, etc., look like crystal fire trees, and illuminate the night like day.The Qing Dynasty was a national regime established after the Manchus entered the customs. The Manchus originally lived in Heilongjiang in the northeast, and they had the custom of making ice lanterns.After they entered the Customs, they introduced ice lanterns to Beijing. "Ice lamps are made into utensils, and wheat seedlings are cut into figures, which are flashy but not extravagant, simple but not vulgar." This is a rare feature in the Central Plains and South China.

Lanterns are generally made by folks from various places using locally produced bamboo, wood, rattan, straw, animal horns, etc., and processed according to local customs and hobbies, so they have local characteristics.The famous lanterns in various places in ancient my country can be roughly divided into two categories: One is Xiao-shaped lamps, which are popular toy lamps all over the country.It is made of bamboo, wood or metal wire to tie the skeleton, pasted paper or silk on the outside, made into the shapes of various animals or utensils, and lit candles in the center, which is very popular.Xiao-shaped lamps can be divided into animals (such as rabbit lamps, lion lamps, sheep lamps, fish lamps, wild goose lamps, mandarin duck lamps), characters (opera characters, historical figures, ladies), pavilions, flowers (such as lotus lamps) according to their shapes. , gardenia), fruits, flower baskets, hydrangeas, etc.Some legendary animals and characters such as dragon, phoenix, unicorn, Monkey King, Hehe Erxian, Liu Haixi Jinchan, etc. are often themes of Xiao Xingdeng.

Among the Xiao-shaped lamps, there is a small red lamp without a skeleton, commonly known as a boneless lamp or a bodiless lantern. It is light and flexible, and is a favorite of children during the Lantern Festival.Some small-shaped lamps are equipped with wooden wheels underneath, tied with ropes, like a car walking, called "car lights", and are also very popular toy lights. Another category is revolving lanterns.The revolving horse lantern is made of sorghum straw or bamboo strips tied into a square lamp stand, with a shaft in the middle, and a wind wheel is installed on the upper end of the shaft. It drives the paper man and paper horse hanging on the shaft to run and rotate, so it is called "walking horse" lamp.The revolving horse lantern appeared in the Song Dynasty, and it was called "horse riding lantern".There are many poems about revolving horse lanterns in Song and Yuan literature, which shows that revolving horse lanterns in ancient Lantern Festivals are very eye-catching.Most of the content of revolving horse lanterns is the theme of war, "Qin army crushes Xianyang fire at night, Wu Ju gallops Chibi soldiers at night", which is related to the characteristics of revolving horse lanterns.

In addition to Xiao shaped lanterns and revolving horse lanterns, there are also various flower lanterns and gauze lanterns that are popular in various places.Palace lanterns, which were once used as palace lanterns, are also particularly popular in the Beijing area.Palace lanterns are palace lanterns made of red sandalwood, mahogany, rosewood and other precious woods as frames, with glass and gauze silk on the outside.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the feudal ruling class gradually collapsed, and the technology of making palace lanterns flowed into the folks, becoming Beijing lanterns with local characteristics.

There are many regions producing lanterns in my country, and the famous ones are as follows: The Suzhou Lanterns in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province have been famous as "Luo Lanterns" since the Song Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they were known as "Su Lanterns" because of their exquisite structure and gorgeous decoration. "Su Lantern" is an ingenious combination of paper-cutting, binding, and pasting techniques. The lanterns of Xia Xia Stone in Xia, Zhejiang, enjoyed a high reputation in the Southern Song Dynasty. They were mainly "small" revolving horse lanterns, tiger, leopard and animal lanterns, flying bird lanterns and "large" pavilion and pagoda lanterns. "The most peculiar. Quanzhou lanterns in Quanzhou, Fujian Province began in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "The moon draws the thousand-year shadow of the ancient pagoda", "the rainbow hangs ten miles of lights on the long street".Lotus lanterns, money drum lanterns, dice lanterns, silk lanterns and the "Qianqiu fire" which can roll on the ground with kicks and never go out are the most distinctive. The Foshan lanterns in Foshan, Guangdong are called "autumn colors" locally.After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tea lamps, tree lamps, octagonal lamps, and lamps in the shape of fish, shrimp, and toads became popular, with the characteristics of "paper horses and fire dragons". Chaozhou lanterns are famous for showing historical figures and complete plots of opera stories.Locally produced "Hundred Screen Lanterns", "Live Lanterns" After watching the gauze lanterns, Dong Zhuo Fengyi Pavilion on the head, Diao Chan and Gongyi are playing, Lu Bu is so angry that he beats his chest, Qin Qiong pours the bronze flag on the second screen, and Li Su shoots money on the third screen ", from to "Water in Liangshan", the content is coherent and the form is diverse.The figures use bamboo as their skeleton, silk as their clothes, and their faces are painted with grass slices. The lights and shadows are graceful and moving. Songjiang lanterns in Songjiang, Shanghai, are most famous for their paper-carved and gauze lanterns, which were popular in the Ming Dynasty.The modeling lamps in Nanjing and Nantong, Jiangsu have a long history and are of various types. The big lamps are as tall as a person, and the small lamps are shaped like bees, and are very delicately made.