The Lantern Festival In China – The Real Legend

Lantern Festival in China ( 元宵节) is a very popular festival. Actually, festivals reflect the cultural development of any country, and they can turn into anniversaries that are continually celebrated through generations to support the process of exchanging thoughts and cultures.

What is the Lantern Festival in China

Lantern Festival is celebrated every year at the end of the 15th day of the first month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

In other words, it starts at the end of February and the beginning of March.

On this day, children roam in the evening, holding lanterns with riddles.

Throughout history, the big lanterns were restricted to Sultans and kings, whereas, the people used small and primitive lanterns.

In recent years, there are lanterns of different shapes, like animal shapes.

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Actually, there is a spiritual bond with these lanterns in many countries, especially in China, for they symbolize to forgetting the past and have a new start. The red color is always used to refer to good luck.

And it is worth mentioning that there is a festival that takes place in autumn in China. It is also called the lantern festival. But it is different from the original festival that is celebrated in the lunar year.

On the other hand, we can say that this festival becomes very popular in many countries, especially those that have Chinese communities.

In addition, the most common lantern in this festival is the dragon lantern that emits fireworks from his big mouth.

Finally, the Chinese people eat rice balls stuffed with fruit and nuts in the celebration.

Legends about the origins of Lantern Festival in China

There are many legends about the origins of this festival. The first one is inherited from the Buddhist father who got very angry with some people who killed his swan.

As a result, he decided to kill them, burn their land and destroy it completely.

After that, a fairy appeared and advised the people to make lanterns and light them around the country when the king comes.

Upon his arrival, the king was astonished by the heavy lights and he thought that the country had been burnt.

In this way, he was deceived by these lights, thinking that they were fire flames.

From that day, the people of this country are still celebrating the lanterns that saved them and gave them a new life.

Actually, colorful lanterns are considered a symbol of optimism and good fortune.

The features of the Lantern Festival

1. Making a mixture between modern and old traditions. Thus, what makes this festival special is that it takes place in the lunar year.
   Also, all the officials of this festival try to keep the customs and traditions on which the festival is based, whether in villages or countries.
2. There is a close correlation between educational creativity and modern technology. The new techniques added extraordinary creativeness which affected the quality of decoration and coloring.
3. Linking economic and social benefits through reflecting traditional and cultural impression shared by the Chinese society in its different classes.

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Such events allow the country to express its cultural development which is very essential for China to build the Chinese human and the whole country.