Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao Festival , Shangyuan Festival)
it is celebrated on the 15~b of the fist lunar month. The first lunar month is called
"yuan" which means "first" in Chinese, Night was called "xiao" in ancient times. It is
said after the death of the Hun Empror Liu Bang, his Empress Lu usurped the throne in
the Hart Dynasty (206 BC--220). When Empress Lu died, two important ministers
killed two members of the Lu family who were covetous of the throne. They helped a
member of the family of Liu Bang onto the throne on the 15'h of the first lunar month.
This new emperor Liu Heng merged incognito with common people of his country on the
night of that day every year to mark the event. He made the day the Lantern Festival,
People carried various colorful lanterns in a public place ~br a big "lantern fair",
The lanterns usually illuminated the Stl~ets in Chang'an (Xi'an) throughout the 15~
night of the 1st lun~ month in the Tang Dynasty (618--907), Some buildings in
Chang'an were decorated with lanterns made of silk cloth, strings of pearls and gold or
sihier pendants for lantern displays for lantern displays. When wind blew, people could
hear jingles coming from them. Lines of trees decorated with lanterns l~om the hills near
Chang'an could be seen kilometers away. The lantern display hecalne very popular in the
period of the Southern and Northern dynasties (42O--589), when people walked along the
river bank decorated with lanterns, the l~terns and the moonlight added radiance and
beauty to each other and were reflected on water, making visitors joyous. During the gong
(960--1279) period, such lantern fair extended for miles. Lanterns range from orange
lantel~s, silk lantenls, colorful trotting horse and sheepskin lanterns to Kongming lanterns,
On some lanterns, flowers, pthnts, landscapes, figures and historical events were drawn,
Magic, acrobatics and other performances were offered in the imperial Street of the capital
city Bianliang (Kaifeng). There used to be a department of the Qing court to make and
manage all kinds of lanterns, lanterns in the imperial court were mare handsome and
splendid. The lantern display is still grand. The ice sculpture lantern display appeared lo
mark the Lantern Festival in the northern provinces of China mo~ than one hundred years
ago. Ice Sculpture Lantern Fair in Harbin of Heihingjiang Province is very famous these
years. The giant figures of ice sculptures may be in the shapes of pagodas, towers,
bridges, animals, flowers and so on. Connected with the electric sources, the ice sculptures and a sea of various tight make the Lantern Fair an attractive scenery, During the Lantern Festival, various lanterns are exhibited in d fferent cities. The
lantern fair in Zigong of Sichuan Province is the most famous. People who go to the
lantern displays can enjoy the various beautiful lanterns and guess the riddles on hem in a
joyful atmosphere. More lanterns today are complicated with advanced technology such
as electrical lanterns and cartoons.
The festive food is not the same in the different periods of the festival's 2000-odd-year
history. The festive food popular from the Southern Song Dynasty (t127--1279) to the
present time has been Yuan Xiao. It is a particular food for this festival, which is smalt
round balls made of glutinous rice flour stuffed with sweet or other flavors. Its white
roundness symbolizes the first fult moon and the completeness of family reunions. People
had it with their best wishes for family reunion and completeness of their llfe. People
usually boil Yuan Xiao~ though they also steam or fry them. In northern areas, people
have Yuan Xiao while Tang Yuan is poputar m southern areas. The material is similar
hut the different food preparation techniques make Tang Yuan softer than Yuan Xiao.