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China Lantern Festivals
The
Chinese Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month,
usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. This is the day on
which the festival activities reach a climax.
The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival", because it
is the first full moon night. Due to the custom of watching bright lights,
it is also called the Festival of Lights. According to folk legend, this
festival has been significant since as early as the Western Han Dynasty when
Liu Che, the Western Han Emperor, worshipped the god in the Ganquan Palace
on that night. However, it became a real folk festival only later in the
Eastern Han. The introduction of Buddhism in the Eastern Lantern Festival
Han Dynasty is an important part in promoting this festival.
 Throughout
the Han Dynasty, 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, this Buddhist ritual 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, extremely excited, hold self-made or bought lanterns to
stroll with on the streets.
 "Guessing lantern riddles" is an activity that emerged during the people's
enjoyment of lanterns throughout the Song Dynasty. 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
owner to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a small gift.
As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular
activity among all social ranks.
People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also
called the "Yuanxiao Festival". Yuanxiao was initially known as the "tangyuan",
due to increased consumption during the Lantern Festival, and are also known
as the "lantern". Businessmen also euphemistically call it "ingots". They
are small balls made of glutinous rice flour with a variety of fillings,
such as sugar, rose petals, Lantern Festival
sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit and edible oil,
etc. offering a variety of flavors. They can be boiled, fried or steamed,
tasting sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar
pronunciation with "tuanyuan", meaning reunion. So people eat it to denote
union, harmony and happiness for the family.
 In
the daytime, 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 are staged.
At night, besides the magnificent lanterns, an array of firework exhibits
form beautiful scenes. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring
Festival and let them off during the Lantern Festival. Some local
governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the
first full moon enters, people become really intoxicated by the impressive
fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
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