When is the Lantern Festival in 2023?
Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival, Lantern Festival or Lantern Festival, falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year.
The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called "night". The fifteenth day of the first month is the first full moon night in a year, so it is called "Lantern Festival". According to the Taoist "Sanyuan Festival", the fifteenth day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". Since ancient times, the custom of Lantern Festival has been based on the warm and festive custom of watching lanterns. ?
The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, which is rooted in the folk custom of turning on the lights to pray. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty, but the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month really became a national folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties.
Folk activities of Lantern Festival
As one of the traditional festivals in China, the folklore of Lantern Festival mainly includes watching lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls, solve riddles on the lanterns and setting off fireworks.
In addition to regular folk activities, many places have added traditional folk performances, such as Youlong lanterns, lion dances, walking on stilts, boating, yangko and playing Taiping drums. In June 2008, the Lantern Festival was selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage.