1、lantern festival,In Chinese is 元宵节The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significanceThis days important activity is watching la
2、nterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddhas body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in t
3、he imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lan
4、terns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.“Guessing lantern riddles“is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper
5、and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during peoples enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddl
6、e guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the “Yuanxiao Festival.“Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with ro
7、se petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. Whats more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with “tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote
8、union, harmony and happiness for the family.In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a
9、beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.元宵节为什么要放灯在很早以前，天上有一只神鹅落到人间，被猎人射伤。玉皇大帝非常生气，下旨在正月十五日派天兵天将到人间放火。天宫中有一个善良的仙女冒险下凡，把这个不幸的消息告诉人们。于是人们想出一个办法，家家户户挂起红灯，燃放烟火。天兵打开天门正准备下来放火，看到人间火光一片，以为火已经烧起来了，就去禀告玉皇大帝，不必再下凡放火了。这样，人们的生命和财产都保住了。从此，每逢正月十五日，家家户户都张灯结彩放鞭炮，一直延续到现在。
