In 2019, the Lantern Festival (Yuánxiāo jié 元宵节）falls on February 19th, the fifteenth and final day of Spring Festival. Although it’s not a public holiday, it is still widely celebrated, especially in southern China and amongst the diaspora. What’s this holiday all about and how can you celebrate it?
Read on to find out!
There are numerous legends about the origins of the lantern festival. One is that in the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Buddhism had just recently arrived in China. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the monks in Buddhist temples lit many lanterns as they observed Uposatha.
Emperor Ming, in an effort to popularise Buddhism, ordered that all households, including the imperial palace, should light lanterns. Combined with other tales and traditions, this gradually developed into a folk custom and became incorporated into the Spring Festival celebrations.
On the lantern festival, people traditionally light lanterns, go to public lantern displays, solve riddles and eat tangyuan. Solving riddles livened up lantern displays with intellectual challenges. Chinese riddles are difficult to translate as they usually depend on puns, historical figures, characters, idioms or places to make sense.
But here’s an example: These tall, thin brothers go everywhere and do everything together, and always avoid soup. Who are they? (Answer below.)
Tangyuan (Tāngyuán 汤圆) are round dumplings made of glutinous rice flour with sweet fillings, traditionally sesame paste. Their round shape represents the full moon (since the 15th day falls on the first full moon of the new year); and also unity and the coming together of the family at this time of year, as well as hope for togetherness in the new year. In some parts of China they are known as yuanxiao, hence the Chinese name of the festival. They are now widely available in supermarkets with all manner of fillings including kiwi and chocolate!
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– Cultural Keys; Photo credit
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