The Origin, Stories and Legends of Lantern Festival
The story and legend of the origin of Lantern Festival, there is a beautiful legend behind every festival. As one of the traditional festivals in China, Lantern Festival is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called "night" "night". Let's share the stories and legends about the origin of the Lantern Festival.
The Origin of Lantern Festival 1 The Origin of Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival. Also known as Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival and Lantern Festival. According to legend, Emperor Wendi (179- 157) celebrated the 15th day of the first month to investigate the Zhu Lu rebellion. Every night, he goes to the palace to play with people. In ancient times, night was the same as night, and the first month was also called January. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty designated the fifteenth day of the first month as the Lantern Festival, and this night was called Yuanxiao. Sima Qian founded the taichu calendar, which listed the Lantern Festival as a major festival. Since the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been in full swing. "Sui Shu Music Record" Day: "Every first month, all nations come to the DPRK and live outside the Duanmen Gate, which lasts for eight miles until the 15th." Tens of thousands of people participated in singing and dancing, from faint to dark. With the changes of society and times, the custom of Lantern Festival has changed greatly, but it is still a traditional folk festival in China.
Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China, which existed as early as 2,000 years ago in the Qin Dynasty. According to data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. On the first night of the first month of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the God who rules everything in the universe) in Ganquan Palace, which was regarded by later generations as the forerunner of offering sacrifices to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month.
Yuanxiao originally meant "the night of Shangyuan Festival", because the main activities of Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month were to eat glutinous rice balls and enjoy the moon at night, and later the name of this festival evolved into "Lantern Festival". On the night of Lantern Festival, the streets are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and people enjoy lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns and eat Lantern Festival, which pushes the celebration activities started on New Year's Eve to another climax and becomes a custom handed down from generation to generation. Yuanxiao was only called the fifteenth day of the first month, the first half of the first month or the full moon when the early festivals were formed, and it was called Yuanxiao or Yuanxiao after Sui. Influenced by Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty, it was also called Shangyuan, but it was only in the late Tang Dynasty that it was occasionally called Yuanxiao. But since the Song Dynasty, it has also been called Dengxi. In the Qing dynasty, it was also called the Lantern Festival. In foreign countries, Lantern Festival is also called Lantern Festival.
Legend of the lantern festival
According to legend, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a favorite named Dong Fangshuo, who was kind and funny. If someone in the palace offended Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Dong Fangshuo always intervened.
One winter, it snowed heavily for a few days, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty felt a little bored. Dong Fangshuo went to the Imperial Garden to fold plum blossoms for Emperor Wu. As soon as I entered the garden gate, I found a maid-in-waiting crying and preparing to throw herself into the well. Dong Fangshuo rushed forward to help and asked her why she committed suicide.
It turns out that this maid-in-waiting is named Yuanxiao, and there are parents and a sister at home. She has not seen her family since she entered the palace. Every spring comes, I miss my family more than usual. She thought that since she could not be filial to her parents, she might as well die, so she came to the well. Dong Fangshuo sympathized with her after hearing what happened to her, and assured her that she would try her best to reunite her with her family.
On this day, after Dong Fangshuo left the palace, he set up a divination pavilion on Chang 'an Avenue. Many people are scrambling to find him for divination. Unexpectedly, what everyone wants is the signature of "The 16th day of the first month will burn us to death". Suddenly, there was a big panic in Chang 'an. People are looking for a solution to the disaster. Dong Fangshuo said, "On the night of the 13th day of the first month, Vulcan will send a' goddess in red' to visit us. She is the messenger who was ordered to burn Chang 'an. If you see a girl in red riding a pink silver donkey, kneel down and beg at once. The girl said, "I'm here to burn Chang 'an. The Jade Emperor will stand on the worse gate and watch. Since my father pleaded with me, I will give you the copied poems and let the current emperor do something. " Say that finish, then dropped a red pillar and roared off.
The people picked up the red post and quickly sent it to the palace to report to the emperor. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took it and saw that it read: "Chang 'an robbed, burned the palace, caught fire on the 16th, and had a red midnight snack." Surprised, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty invited resourceful Dong Fangshuo. Dong Fangshuo thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Vulcan likes to eat dumplings. Don't Yuanxiao in the palace often make dumplings for you? /kloc-You can let Yuanxiao package jiaozi on the evening of 0/5. Long live the incense and offerings, and order every family in Kyoto to pack jiaozi and worship Vulcan together. Then he told his subjects to hang lanterns, light firecrackers and set off fireworks together in Izayoi, making the city full of fires, so as to deceive the Jade Emperor. In addition, the people outside the city were informed that Izayoi went to the city to watch the lights and mingled with the crowd to eliminate disasters and solve problems. "
Liang Wudi was very happy after hearing this, so he ordered him to do it according to Dong Fangshuo's method. On the 16th day of the first month, Chang 'an City was decorated with colorful lights, and the tourists were bustling and very lively. Yuanxiao's parents also took their sister to the city to see the lights. When they saw the big palace lantern with the words "Yuanxiao" written on it, they shouted in surprise: "Yuanxiao! Lantern Festival! " When Yuanxiao heard the shouts, she was finally reunited with her parents and sister. After such a busy night, Chang 'an was safe. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed, so he ordered that glutinous rice balls should be made for Vulcan on the fifteenth day of the first month of each year, and the whole city would be decorated with lanterns and set off fireworks on the sixteenth day of the first month. Because jiaozi cooked by Yuanxiao is the best, people call it Yuanxiao, and this day is called Lantern Festival.
The Origin of Lantern Festival Story Legend 2 The Origin of Lantern Festival
The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to historical data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sacrificed "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the God who rules everything in the world) in Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first month, which was regarded by later generations as the forerunner of offering sacrifices to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month.
The fifteenth day of the first month is really a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs.
During the Yong Ping period of Han Dynasty (58- 175 AD), because Ming Taizu advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Cheng's return from India to seek Buddhism, saying that on the 15th day of the first month of Mohato in India, monks gathered to pay tribute to the relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to carry forward Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in the palace temple on the 15th night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month, with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture, gradually spread in China.
There is also a saying that the Lantern Festival originated from the Torch Festival. In the Han dynasty, people held torches in rural fields to drive away insects and wild animals, hoping to reduce pests and pray for a bumper harvest. Since the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been in full swing. To this day, people in some areas in southwest China still use reeds or branches as torches on the 15th day of the first month, and hold high in groups to dance in fields or grain drying fields.
Another way of saying it is that the custom of burning lanterns in the Lantern Festival originates from Taoism's "ternary theory": the fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit.
As far as the length of festivals is concerned, the Han Dynasty is one day, the Tang Dynasty is three days and the Song Dynasty is five days. In the Ming dynasty, the lantern festival lasted for ten days from the eighth day to the evening of the seventeenth day of the first month. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.
Legend of Lantern Festival
According to legend, in ancient times, in order to unify the whole country, the Jade Emperor sent the Kitchen God Bodhisattva to stay on earth to understand the people's feelings and report back every Wednesday. On the 23rd of the winter month in the summer calendar, the Kitchen God Bodhisattva reported back to the Jade Emperor: "People on earth eat only meager food for 365 days a year. Work hard every day and never rest. If this continues, I am worried that the common people will be exhausted and unable to produce because of excessive fatigue, which will definitely affect their contribution. " When the Jade Emperor heard this, he ordered his ministers to discuss a good plan. Taibai Jinxing said: "Your Majesty can order the founder of Heng Tuo to come down to earth and give people some medicine so that they can get sick slowly and rest naturally." The jade emperor allowed it to play, and the task was handled accordingly.
On the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Father Heng Tuo secretly put crazy drugs in people's rice cookers. When the medicine is put into the pot, it becomes soybeans, peas, garlic sprouts, tofu and meat. After eating it, the people are really "crazy" slowly: women sew new clothes and embroidered shoes, and men kill pigs and sheep, unwilling to work in the fields. After the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, crazy people became very valuable for medicine. People invite people to eat at their host's house and drink at their home. At noon on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the people took out all kinds of delicious food and sat around the table, and the family ate and drank. From the first day of the first month, men, women and children not only eat well, but also play around all day. Some painted painted faces, beating gongs and drums, wandering around; Some people invite people to pay New Year greetings with gifts.
On the thirteenth day of the first month, the kitchen god bodhisattva said to heaven, "Your Majesty, no, the people are crazy! Eat and play, live and do nothing. At this rate, how can you get it? " The Jade Emperor was very surprised when he heard that, so he ordered his ministers to discuss the best plan again. Taibai Venus also said, "If you want to cure crazy people, you can make the drug king Bodhisattva try." The Jade Emperor allowed the medicine king Bodhisattva to descend to the earth to govern.
On the 14th night of the first month, Bodhisattva, the King of Medicine, made the people's supper into glutinous rice balls, and put sesame seeds, walnuts, sugar and other anti-hangover agents into them. People ate them, and all the madness recovered the next morning, and the family went back to work as usual.
The Origin of Lantern Festival Story Legend 3 The Origin of Lantern Festival
Torch exorcises evil spirits
The origin of Lantern Festival is very old. One theory is that ancient people used torches to exorcise evil spirits during festivals. This festival is a sacrifice to God. Because it was held at night, it was natural to light a fire, and later it gradually evolved into the Lantern Festival. In the Han dynasty, people held torches in rural fields to drive away insects and wild animals, hoping to reduce pests and pray for a bumper harvest.
Sacrifice to Taiyi God
Another explanation of the origin of Lantern Festival is related to offering sacrifices to Taiyi God. God Taiyi, also known as God Taiyi, rules storms, famines and plagues on the earth. According to legend, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty recovered miraculously after a long illness, so he began to build an altar for Taiyi, and stayed up all night on the fifteenth day of the first month, decorating with lanterns. Later generations regarded this activity as the first sound of offering sacrifices to God on the fifteenth day of the first month.
The custom of the lantern festival
eat yuanxiao
Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.
Mouse chase
This activity is mainly aimed at sericulture families. Because mice often eat silkworms in large areas at night, it is said that they can stop eating silkworms by feeding them rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month. As a result, these people cooked a large pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, and some even covered it with a layer of meat. They put porridge in a bowl and put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, cursing that mice will not die a natural death if they eat silkworm babies again.
Yingzigu
Zi Gu is a kind and poor girl in folklore. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Zi Gu died of poverty. People sympathize with her and miss her. In some places, it is convenient to have the custom of "welcoming the daughter-in-law on the fifteenth day of the first month". Every night, people tie a life-size portrait of purple aunt with straw and cloth heads. Women have stood beside the toilet, pigsty and kitchen where Zigu often works to meet her, holding her hand like sisters, telling her sweet words and comforting her with tears. This scene is very vivid and truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of the working people who are kind, honest and sympathetic to the weak.
Walking sickness
Besides celebrating the Lantern Festival, there are also religious activities. That is to say, most of the participants in "taking all kinds of diseases", also known as "baking all kinds of diseases" and "spreading all kinds of diseases" are women. They walk together or against the wall, or cross the bridge through the suburbs, with the aim of driving away diseases and eliminating disasters.
As time goes by, there are more and more activities for the Lantern Festival. In many places, activities such as playing dragon lanterns, playing lions, walking on stilts, rowing dry boats, dancing yangko and playing Taiping drums were also added during the festival.
In this way, the cycle continues, forming the habit of Chinese New Year.