Why do you hang lanterns during the Spring Festival?
Hanging lanterns in the Spring Festival is a custom, which is to "celebrate the New Year" and create a festive atmosphere, which can set off the atmosphere of the New Year. Generally, red lanterns are hung and Spring Festival couplets are posted on New Year's Eve. This is the custom of welcoming the Spring Festival. In some areas, lanterns are hung during the Spring Festival, while in others, lanterns are hung during the Lantern Festival.
There is a legend about hanging lanterns during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, all the gods returned to their places, except Jiang Ziya, who had nowhere to go. Seeing that he was pitiful, the people lit a lamp at the head of the Gaoshe and let him spend the night under the lamp. Over time, the custom of lighting lamps has been formed.
In addition, people hang lanterns to drive away the legend of Nian beast. According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, which was very fierce and even hurt people's lives. Later, it was discovered that Nian animals are afraid of red things, so on New Year's Eve, everyone hangs red lanterns, sticks red couplets and sets off firecrackers.
In fact, these are just legends. Hanging lanterns in the Spring Festival is just a custom. Red lanterns look very festive and make people feel better. At the same time, hanging red lanterns symbolizes family reunion and prosperity, and also symbolizes happiness, brightness, vitality, perfection and wealth. Of course, not all regions will hang lanterns on New Year's Eve.
What is the geomantic stress about hanging lanterns during the Spring Festival?
1, even number
Hanging red lanterns must be even, whether hanging on both sides of the gate or on the balcony, it must be counted as even, such as two, six, eight and so on.
2. Symmetry
Hanging red lanterns must be symmetrical and have a moderate height distance. Paired lanterns should not be one high and one low, and the distance is moderate. If they get too close, they will be too crowded. If it is too far away, it will be unnatural, even beyond the scope of symmetry, and it will be somewhat independent. This is also a very big taboo.
3. Hang South and Don't Hang North
Hanging a red light needs to be hung in due south, due east or due west, but avoid hanging in due north, which will not bring the above auspicious meaning, but will damage good luck because there is water in due north.
Step 4 touch the light
Touching the light means destroying it. After the off-year (the fifteenth day of the first month), you should take off the lights and destroy them, and don't use them for the next year. In the past, candles were lit in lanterns, but after the Chinese New Year, the two lights collided and touched each other. Nowadays, lanterns are all electric lights. There is no need to touch them, but they should be put away and thrown away in clean garbage bags.
5. The size of the lantern
On the one hand, if it is too big, it will be very eye-catching and seem a bit overwhelmed. On the other hand, it will be difficult to hang and the indoor space is limited. Large lanterns will be particularly crowded when hung together, and they are too heavy to stick to the ceiling.
It's usually better to hang a few lanterns during the Spring Festival.
There is no fixed number of lanterns hanging at home during the Chinese New Year. Generally, even numbers such as 2, 4 and 6 are chosen.
The first meaning of hanging red lanterns in the New Year is to welcome the arrival of the New Year and have a prosperous and auspicious year.
The second moral of hanging red lanterns in the New Year is to welcome the good luck of the next year. On New Year's Eve, we paid two years to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Red lanterns are hung high above our heads, people walk under the lights and look up at good luck, which means we have good luck in the new year.
There are three meanings of hanging red lanterns in Chinese New Year. The light is homophonic with Ding. Another implication of hanging red lanterns is family prosperity, family prosperity.
Lanterns in China originated in the Western Han Dynasty more than 1800 years ago. Every year around the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people will hang red lanterns in every household to celebrate. Later, lanterns became a symbol of happiness for the people of China. There are more and more kinds of lanterns and more and more patterns.
According to historical records, during the reign of Kaiyuan Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty, there were 100 lantern trees in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, which were 80 feet high and stood on the mountain. On the night of Shangyuan, a hundred miles can be seen, and the light captures the moonlight, which became a major landscape at that time. The history of making lanterns in Sanzhao Village can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. Sanzhao Village Lantern has been exported to other parts of China, such as Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and even South Korea, Hong Kong and other East Asian regions for its elegant modeling, exquisite workmanship, novel and unique patterns, strong local flavor and rich history and culture.