Lantern Festival Celebrations
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Since returning to Xi'an from traveling over the semester break, I have been busy getting ready for the new semester which begins Monday. I have also joined friends at 3 parks around Xi'an to enjoy all the lanterns which are part of the Lantern Celebration. This celebration has been going on in some fashion for the past month and tomorrow is the official "Lantern Festival" which is the formal end of the new year celebration. Here's a little information I thought would help explain the holiday.
The Lantern Festival ends the 15th day celebration of Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, and is celebrated the night of the first full moon of the lunar New Year.
The date of Chinese New Year changes and is different from the date of the New Year holiday in the United States. Chinese New Year is based on the Chinese calendar, which is a complex combination of the solar and lunar calendars.
During the 15 day celebration of the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, people make a fresh start, and set the tone for the upcoming year. It is a time for reconciliation, to make peace and forgive old grudges. People are warm and friendly to one another, and many families, friends and neighbors exchange gifts. There are many practices that symbolize starting anew: homes and businesses are cleaned, and many people wear only new clothing on New Year's Day. An essential part of the New Year celebration is to honor and respect deceased relatives and ancestors and family unity is a central theme of Chinese New Year. The holiday brings families together to celebrate with each other. One news article referred to this as "The Great Migration," with an estimated 20 million Chinese traveling during the New Year celebration. This 15 day celebration ends with the Lantern Festival.
There are many different stories about the origins of the Lantern Festival. Some are based on spiritual practice like honoring Buddha, or Tianguan (the Taoist God of Good Fortune), while another popular story traces the Festival's origins to a homesick maid named Yuanxiao. Another story is that people believed they could see spirits flying in the light of the first full moon of the New Year, so they used lanterns to further illuminate the sky. The Festival has been in practice for around 2,000 years.
The main attraction at the Lantern Festival is the lanterns. Many lanterns are made to reflect historical Chinese themes, and depict scenes from stories and legends that express traditional values. They are also made to represent the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac and heroic figures. A popular component of some of the lanterns are lantern riddles. These are riddles that are stuck on the surface of some of the lanterns for people to guess. Historically, the subjects of the riddles were traditional songs, poems, stories or historical events.
The Lantern Festival is also popularly referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day. In the past, it was the only day of the year a single woman could go out (chaperoned) and be seen by eligible bachelors. Now, many single people gather at the Festival, and some play matchmaking games with the lanterns.
The Lantern Festival is also celebrated by eating Tang Yuan. Tang Yuan are round balls of sticky rice flour with a variety of fillings including black sesame paste, tangerine peel, walnuts, meats, fish, and vegetables. It is an important practice to eat Tang Yuan during the Lantern Festival because they symbolize family reunion and unity, essential values of the celebration, and their shape is harmonious with the full moon. I hope you enjoy the pictures from festivals here in Xi'an.
The date of Chinese New Year changes and is different from the date of the New Year holiday in the United States. Chinese New Year is based on the Chinese calendar, which is a complex combination of the solar and lunar calendars.
During the 15 day celebration of the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, people make a fresh start, and set the tone for the upcoming year. It is a time for reconciliation, to make peace and forgive old grudges. People are warm and friendly to one another, and many families, friends and neighbors exchange gifts. There are many practices that symbolize starting anew: homes and businesses are cleaned, and many people wear only new clothing on New Year's Day. An essential part of the New Year celebration is to honor and respect deceased relatives and ancestors and family unity is a central theme of Chinese New Year. The holiday brings families together to celebrate with each other. One news article referred to this as "The Great Migration," with an estimated 20 million Chinese traveling during the New Year celebration. This 15 day celebration ends with the Lantern Festival.
There are many different stories about the origins of the Lantern Festival. Some are based on spiritual practice like honoring Buddha, or Tianguan (the Taoist God of Good Fortune), while another popular story traces the Festival's origins to a homesick maid named Yuanxiao. Another story is that people believed they could see spirits flying in the light of the first full moon of the New Year, so they used lanterns to further illuminate the sky. The Festival has been in practice for around 2,000 years.
The main attraction at the Lantern Festival is the lanterns. Many lanterns are made to reflect historical Chinese themes, and depict scenes from stories and legends that express traditional values. They are also made to represent the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac and heroic figures. A popular component of some of the lanterns are lantern riddles. These are riddles that are stuck on the surface of some of the lanterns for people to guess. Historically, the subjects of the riddles were traditional songs, poems, stories or historical events.
The Lantern Festival is also popularly referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day. In the past, it was the only day of the year a single woman could go out (chaperoned) and be seen by eligible bachelors. Now, many single people gather at the Festival, and some play matchmaking games with the lanterns.
The Lantern Festival is also celebrated by eating Tang Yuan. Tang Yuan are round balls of sticky rice flour with a variety of fillings including black sesame paste, tangerine peel, walnuts, meats, fish, and vegetables. It is an important practice to eat Tang Yuan during the Lantern Festival because they symbolize family reunion and unity, essential values of the celebration, and their shape is harmonious with the full moon. I hope you enjoy the pictures from festivals here in Xi'an.
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| Tang Yuan |
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| Year of the Snake |
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| Cheesy but very traditional |
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| We couldn't get a cab so took one of the little cabs behind a motorcycle ... scary! |
