Discover the historical origins of the lantern festival that is celebrated during the Chinese New Year.
Yuan Xiao is the Chinese lantern festival that is celebrated during the season of the New Year. Lantern is a significant symbol linked with the Chinese New Year. Yuan word is derived from the year's first month and word Xiao comes from the word night as referred to, by the Chinese people.
The exact timing of the celebration of the lantern festival is after the fifteenth day of entering into the New Year when the full moon is observed for the first time. The environment becomes happy as the full moon gleams in the blue sky and huge groups of Chinese people aggregate at the festival location and hold up colorful lanterns, completely lighting up the entire area.
There are many complexities involve with Chinese lanterns. These are no ordinary lanterns rather they can be an extremely engaging item once you begin to indulge in the puzzles that are often featured on the lanterns. The eating of glutinous rice balls also goes along with the lantern celebrations which are shared amongst friends and families.
The origins of the lantern tradition
As is the case with many other traditional practices of China you will find a number of mythologies concerning the lantern New Year tradition. The most popular legend is associated with the worship of a God known as Taiyi who was supposedly the ruler over the heavens in ancient times.
The fortune of the human race was believed to be under the power of Taiyi, the lord of heaven. He had the power of inflicting natural disasters or medical epidemics to impose any penance on the humans. This tradition was initiated by the emperor Qinshihuang who held this ceremony of the lantern festival to pacifythe lord. This was done solely so that he wouldn't create any natural calamities.
With time the ceremony gained money and was highly sponsored during the Han dynasty. In fact it was during the rule of the emperor Wudi that the event became one of the most important ceremonies in China which would go on for the entire night.
The story behind the lantern festival however had a different explanation too that said the Taoists influenced these celebrations. The fortune of the Chinese people was in the hands of the Taoist lord Tianguan, apparently, and he seemed to have taste for Chinese entertainment. Hence, the Chinese took to satisfying him by, celebrating on the streets and executing various performances to keep him happy.
There was another edge to this old legend that said that the ceremony of lantern lighting was discovered by the emperor Mingdi. He was influenced by Buddhist preaching and also he had a dream that made him select the fifteenth day after the New Year date as the day of lantern lighting.
There might have been various sides to the historical story behind the reason to celebrate the lantern festival but nonetheless this event is a major celebration of the New Year season. The lanterns are specially decorated with traditional designs on them. - 30294
Yuan Xiao is the Chinese lantern festival that is celebrated during the season of the New Year. Lantern is a significant symbol linked with the Chinese New Year. Yuan word is derived from the year's first month and word Xiao comes from the word night as referred to, by the Chinese people.
The exact timing of the celebration of the lantern festival is after the fifteenth day of entering into the New Year when the full moon is observed for the first time. The environment becomes happy as the full moon gleams in the blue sky and huge groups of Chinese people aggregate at the festival location and hold up colorful lanterns, completely lighting up the entire area.
There are many complexities involve with Chinese lanterns. These are no ordinary lanterns rather they can be an extremely engaging item once you begin to indulge in the puzzles that are often featured on the lanterns. The eating of glutinous rice balls also goes along with the lantern celebrations which are shared amongst friends and families.
The origins of the lantern tradition
As is the case with many other traditional practices of China you will find a number of mythologies concerning the lantern New Year tradition. The most popular legend is associated with the worship of a God known as Taiyi who was supposedly the ruler over the heavens in ancient times.
The fortune of the human race was believed to be under the power of Taiyi, the lord of heaven. He had the power of inflicting natural disasters or medical epidemics to impose any penance on the humans. This tradition was initiated by the emperor Qinshihuang who held this ceremony of the lantern festival to pacifythe lord. This was done solely so that he wouldn't create any natural calamities.
With time the ceremony gained money and was highly sponsored during the Han dynasty. In fact it was during the rule of the emperor Wudi that the event became one of the most important ceremonies in China which would go on for the entire night.
The story behind the lantern festival however had a different explanation too that said the Taoists influenced these celebrations. The fortune of the Chinese people was in the hands of the Taoist lord Tianguan, apparently, and he seemed to have taste for Chinese entertainment. Hence, the Chinese took to satisfying him by, celebrating on the streets and executing various performances to keep him happy.
There was another edge to this old legend that said that the ceremony of lantern lighting was discovered by the emperor Mingdi. He was influenced by Buddhist preaching and also he had a dream that made him select the fifteenth day after the New Year date as the day of lantern lighting.
There might have been various sides to the historical story behind the reason to celebrate the lantern festival but nonetheless this event is a major celebration of the New Year season. The lanterns are specially decorated with traditional designs on them. - 30294
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The Chinese new year astrology depends on a series of a dozen different animal-based signs . If you want to learn how to make your own Chinese new year lanterns click on the preceding link.
