Lantern Festival, an ancient folk culture in China, generally refers to the large-scale lantern show held by the government around the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, which is often accompanied by some folk activities, which is very traditional and local. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the Lantern Festival, people in China have the custom of watching lanterns.
According to documents, as early as the beginning of the Southern Dynasties, the Lantern Festival was held in Nanjing, which is the earliest recorded Lantern Festival in China.
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, a traditional festival in China, was ushered in. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", so they called the fifteenth day of the first month the Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. On the night of Spring Festival, people celebrate this festival and the continuation of the Spring Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival".
According to the folk tradition in China, on this bright night, people light thousands of lanterns to celebrate. Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting and setting fires, enjoying lantern riddles, eating Yuanxiao, family reunion and celebrating festivals are all enjoyment.
According to documents, as early as the beginning of the Southern Dynasties, the Lantern Festival was held in Nanjing, the capital city, which was the earliest recorded Lantern Festival in China. In order to pray for a good weather, a happy family and a peaceful world, scenes decorated with lanterns began to move from deep palaces and religious places to folk people, and the scene of "bright lights" was quite spectacular. In this regard, Liang,, Xiao Gang, etc. They all described the social fashion of adding festive atmosphere with lanterns in the Southern Dynasties with vivid poems.
According to legend, Zhang Daoling, a native of Pei Guofeng in the Shun Di period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, held a ceremony of "burning lanterns to offer sacrifices" in Hemingshan, Sichuan, which is the oldest known primitive Lantern Festival. During the Southern Dynasties, the custom of holding the traditional Lantern Festival appeared in Jiankang (now Nanjing), and its grand occasion was the highest in the country. Lantern Festival flourished in Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty.
During the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Nanjing was the capital of China at that time. There are many dignitaries, nobles and celebrities living along the Qinhuai River. Every Lantern Festival, they follow the example of the imperial court and decorate with lanterns. Poets in the Eastern Jin Dynasty learned to carve teeth with a poem "Poem Lantern" to describe the situation of decorating lanterns at that time. During the reign of Xiaowu in the Southern Dynasty, papermaking technology developed rapidly and the cost was low, which replaced the extensive application of silk fabrics and made the lantern color art develop rapidly.
During the Han and Jin Dynasties, whenever flowers bloom in the spring, the rulers of Shu county should "entertain the people and play in the West Garden". At the same time, the lights are brightly lit and whitewashed.