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Chinese Language Scholarship for March Intake (2019)

What Is the College Canteen in China Look Like

SOME SUGGESTION FOR PART-TIME JOB

Do you Know China ranks 3rd study destination globally?

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Intro to Lantern Festival

Andrew   2020-12-17332Browse / 0Reply

Andrew

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Logintime:2020-12-17

Published in:2020-12-17 10:33:08

Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Yuanxi Festival or Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals. It is held on the fifteenth of the first lunar month of each year. The first lunar month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called "night" as "xiao". The fifteenth of the first month is the first full moon night of the year, so the fifteenth of the first month is called the "Lantern Festival".


According to Taoism, the fifteenth of the first lunar month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". The custom of Lantern Festival has been dominated by the custom of warm and festive lantern viewing since ancient times. The formation of the Lantern Festival takes a long time, rooted in the ancient customs of people turning on lanterns to pray for blessings. According to relevant records, the fifteenth of the first lunar month has been paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty.

 

The Lantern Festival is one of China's traditional festivals. It mainly includes a series of traditional folk activities such as viewing lanterns, eating rice balls, guessing lantern riddles, and setting off fireworks. In addition, many local Lantern Festival also added traditional folk performances such as dragon lanterns, lion dances, walking on stilts, paddling boats, twisting yangko, and playing Taiping drums. In June 2008, the Lantern Festival was selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage.


The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and it is celebrated all over the country. Among them, eating Yuanxiao, admiring the lantern, dragon dance, and lion dance are several important folk customs of Lantern Festival. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there is a custom of eating Yuanxiao. "Yuanxiao" as food has a long history in our country. In the Song Dynasty, a novel food for the Lantern Festival was popular among the people. This kind of food was first called "Floating Yuanzi" and later "Yuanxiao".

 

Yuanxiao is filled with sugar, rose, sesame, red bean paste, cinnamon, walnut kernel, nut kernel, jujube puree, etc. It is wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape, which can be meat or vegetable and has different flavors. It can be cooked in soup, deep-fried, and steamed, which means a happy reunion. The glutinous rice balls in Shaanxi are not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, boiled or fried. The shape of the Lantern Festival symbolizes family reunion.


Appreciating lanterns is one of the traditional festival customs of Lantern Festival, which began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The fifteenth of the first lunar month is the most lively time of the year to enjoy lanterns and fireworks. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the prosperous streets were full of lanterns. The crowd will walk to the street to admire all kinds of lanterns. The shapes of lanterns are different, such as palace lanterns, animal head lanterns, revolving lanterns, flower lanterns, bird lanterns and so on. These lantern exhibitions attract the crowd watching the lanterns.



Guessing lantern riddles, also known as lantern riddles, is a unique form of traditional folk cultural and entertainment activities with rich ethnic style in China. It is a characteristic activity of Lantern Festival that has been spread since ancient times. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people will hang up lanterns and set off fireworks. Some people write riddles on paper and paste them on colorful lanterns for people to guess.

 

Because riddles can enlighten wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, so many people responded and then riddles gradually became an indispensable program for the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles add to the festive atmosphere, showing the wisdom of the ancient working people and their yearning for a better life.


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