Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the lunar month, and has many fun activities. The highlight is to watch colorful lanterns in varied shapes which include electric wall lamps and electric-powered lanterns of life-size animals. In addition, groups of lanterns recount episodes from classic novels. The brightness of the moonlight and the lantern light enhances each other.
This festival dates back to the Warring States period(475 BC-220 BC ), when people watched lanterns under the moonlight. At first, they did this on this day to offer sacrifices to the Sun God, who was known as the Lord of the East. Lantern Festival became official in the Han Dynasty. According to ancient Chinese history, after the death of Liu Ying (Han Emperor Hui), Queen Lu usurped the power of the state and set up her own dynasty. Zhou Bo , Chen Ping, and other top court officials wanted to continue Liu's dynasty. Therefore after the death of Queen Lu, they jointly started a campaign to get rid of queen Lu's administration and made Liu Heng the emperor of the Han Dynasty. The campaign was successful, and the Han Empire was restored. Because Queen Lu's dynasty ended on the fifteenth day of the first month, Emperor Wen named the fifteenth day of the first month yuan xiao jie (元宵节). In ancient times. The word xiao means "evening," and yuan" the first month of a year.
Why is Juan xiao jie translated to the lantern festival. In English? Maybe it is due to a variety of lanterns on show. This custom at first was related to the night curfew in ancient China. Common people had been forbidden to go outdoors or get together at night. Later, the imperial rulers relaxed the night curfew during this festival because the rulers also wanted to have fun themselves.
By the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), oil lanterns, lacquer lanterns, some burning incense, and burning candles were on display in the festival. The lights beamed together, reflecting in the water. The exhibition of lanterns was part of the festival. In the Tang Dynasty(618-907), the lantern festival was a three-day national holiday and all government offices were closed on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth Curfew was lilied for three nights for city residents to go out and have as much fun as they liked. Emperors would watch lanterns from an imperial tower on the night of the festival. The imperial household, the Daoist and Buddhist temples, and the household of the nobility and the rich would all put up colorful lanterns.
In the Song Dynasty(960l 1279), the lantern exhibition was prolonged from three 1o five nights. There were lanterns made of colored glass, or even of white jade. Human figures, flowers, landscapes, and birds were all drawn on the lanterns. There were also lantern pagodas, lantern hills, lantern balls and lantern arches.
By the Ming Dynasty ( 1368-1644 ) under Zhu Yuan Zhang, the lantern exhibition was extended to ten nights. In The Ming and Qing dynasties theatrical performance were staged alongside the exhibition.
Lantern-making is a distinct craft of unknown origin., but some believe that it has existed for around two thousand years. Lantern-making combines craft skills in metal and wood working, paper-cutting, drawing, oil painting, weaving, and embroidery. Different areas in the country have developed their own distinctive styles.
It is interesting to visit the Lantern festival while travelling to China for your China holiday tour.