During the period of Shun Di in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling, a native of Pei Guofeng, held a "Lantern Festival" ceremony in Hemingshan, Sichuan, which is the oldest known primitive Lantern Festival. During the Southern Dynasties, the custom of holding the traditional Lantern Festival appeared in Jiankang (now Nanjing), and its grand occasion was the highest in the country. Lantern Festival flourished in Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty.
On May 20, 2006, the Qinhuai Lantern Festival declared by Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage (category: folk customs; No.: X-50). [ 1]
On June 7, 2008, the Lantern Festival declared in many places was approved by the State Council to be included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list (category: folk custom; No.: X-8 1). [2]
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, a traditional festival in China, was ushered in. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "Xiao", so they called the fifteenth day of the first month the Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. On the night of Spring Festival, people celebrate this festival and the continuation of the Spring Festival. Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival".
According to the folk tradition in China, on this bright night, people light thousands of lanterns to celebrate. Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting and setting fires, solve riddles on the lanterns, spending the Lantern Festival together, family reunion and celebrating festivals are all pleasant.
According to documents, as early as the beginning of the Southern Dynasties, the Lantern Festival was held in Nanjing, the capital city, which was the earliest recorded Lantern Festival in China. In order to pray for a good weather, a happy family and a peaceful world, scenes decorated with lanterns began to move from deep palaces and religious places to folk people, and the scene of "bright lights" was quite spectacular. In this regard, Liang,, Xiao Gang, etc. They all described the social fashion of adding festive atmosphere with lanterns in the Southern Dynasties with vivid poems.
During the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Nanjing was the capital of China at that time. There are many dignitaries, nobles and celebrities living along the Qinhuai River. Every Lantern Festival, they follow the example of the imperial court and decorate with lanterns. Poets in the Eastern Jin Dynasty learned to carve teeth with a poem "Poem Lantern" to describe the situation of decorating lanterns at that time. During the reign of Xiaowu in the Southern Dynasty, papermaking technology developed rapidly and the cost was low, which replaced the extensive application of silk fabrics and made the lantern color art develop rapidly.
During the Han and Jin Dynasties, whenever flowers bloom in the spring, the rulers of Shu county should "entertain the people and play in the West Garden". At the same time, the lights are brightly lit and whitewashed.
Since the Sui Dynasty, the custom of decorating the Lantern Festival began to take shape, and activities such as decorating and watching lanterns began to become a common practice. Wei Zhi's Sui Shu in the Tang Dynasty described in detail the custom of decorating the Lantern Festival in Nanjing.
Rutland fair
According to the Diary of Lighting in Tang Dynasty, Emperor Tianbao of Tang Dynasty fled to Chengdu during the fifteen-year Anshi Rebellion and went to the streets to watch the lanterns with Taoist exorcist Qing Ye. Lu, one of the "four outstanding figures in the early Tang Dynasty", wrote a poem "Watching Lights", which said: "There was a fragrant banquet in Jinli and Meilan in the early years. The color is far, and the light is far. After the fall of China people's suspected star, the building was like a hanging moon. Don't have a thousand smiles, come and reflect nine. " This poem tells the grand occasion of Chengdu Lantern Festival at that time.
Wang Jianchang, the former Emperor of Shu, "visited Huanhuaxi and reached Dan every night". At that time, "turn on the light when asking, and the rate is uncertain." Meng Changjun, the Emperor of the Later Shu Dynasty, once "looked at the table lamp".
Li Shangyin said in the poem "I can't wait to see the lights in one night in beijing on the fifteenth day of the first month": "The moonlight lights are full of imperial city, and cars are precious." It can be seen that the Lantern Festival in the Tang Dynasty has already reached a considerable scale.
In the first year of Jingyou in the Northern Song Dynasty (1034), the most sacred Wenxuan King Temple (now Nanjing Confucius Temple) was built in Nanjing, and Qinhuai River became a scenic spot. The Confucius Temple Lantern Festival began to appear and developed rapidly.
Xin Qiji's Jade Case Yuan Xi: "Thousands of trees bloom in the east wind night. It blows down and the stars are like rain. BMW carved cars are full of incense. The phoenix flute moves, the jade pot turns, and the fish dragon dances all night. " It also vividly describes the grand occasion of the Lantern Festival in the Southern Song Dynasty.
According to the careful "Old Wulin Stories", Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, was originally just some teahouses on the street, and lanterns were hung for sale during the Lantern Festival. After several years, it gradually became a climate, and the lantern market was formed. Lantern Festival usually begins a few days before the Lantern Festival. In order to make the lantern market lively, Mute sends people to inspect the lantern market every year, and distributes certain candles, lamp oil and expenses according to the number of lanterns hung in each shop. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Silent Club has personally been to the Lantern Festival, and the entourage will carry pockets full of paper money and give red envelopes to street vendors during the Lantern Festival to thank them for their contribution to the prosperity of the Lantern Festival. This is called "buying the market".
Rutland fair
In order to ensure the safety of the people enjoying the lanterns, local officials have also made great efforts in security. During the annual Lantern Festival, huge candles or pine trees are lit as street lamps in the bustling area of the square, and soldiers stand by and maintain order. Next to the street lamp, there will be several criminals on display, and the reason for this person's crime will be written on him. For example, stealing women's hair accessories, or misbehaving, take advantage of many people and play hooligans around women. In fact, these people were all imprisoned for crimes before, and they were put on public display. The purpose is to warn criminals and do their best to nip crimes in the bud.
The Southern Song Emperor also supported the Lantern Festival. On the second drum of the Lantern Festival every year, the emperor took a car and led the imperial secretary to Xuande Gate to watch Aoshan Mountain. Aoshan is an aojiang-shaped platform built in the center of the lantern market, on which hundreds of lanterns are hung. The scale of the Aoshan Mountain was clearly recorded in the Song Dynasty's "Xuanhe Legacy": "From the winter solstice, we began to build a tall lamp on the Aoshan Mountain, with a length of 16 feet and a width of 265 steps, with two pillars in the middle." In Water Margin, the background description of downtown Tokyo in jy, Li Kui may be based on these real-life plots.
When the emperor enjoys the lanterns, silence will make a group of selected vendors with neat clothes and hygienic food, or artists with beautiful songs and dances wait outside Xuande Gate. The emperor will call these people to perform upstairs, and the concubines will also buy snacks made by vendors. Because they don't know the price, their fees are often several times higher than ordinary people, and even some vendors get rich overnight.
Rutland fair
In addition, some large families in Lin 'an will arrange lanterns in their gardens and waterside pavilions, open doors for anyone to visit, and prepare food and wine to show their wealth. And those small families who live in the quiet oil mill lane have several colored glass bulbs hanging in front of their doors, which look like a fairyland from a distance.
After Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, made Nanjing his capital, he advocated the Lantern Festival and extended the annual Lantern Festival in Nanjing to ten nights, making it the longest Lantern Festival in the history of China. Qinhuai Lantern Festival reached its climax during this period. Zhu Yuanzhang spends a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to make a considerable number of lanterns every year to attract people to participate in the grand Lantern Festival.
In the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1372), the Lantern Festival was even more ingenious, and ten thousand water lanterns were ordered to be set off on the Qinhuai River. Zhu Yuanzhang is also a master of playing riddles, and promoted the development of the Lantern Festival in a more colorful direction. At the beginning of the seventh year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1409), Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, continued to decorate the Lantern Festival and created a festive atmosphere. Three years later, it was ordered that a lantern festival be organized by skilled craftsmen outside the meridian gate of Nanjing Forbidden City, and the "Long Live" lamp on Aoshan Mountain was carefully tied to share the fun with the people. It happens every year. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, Nanjing had become the largest city in the world at that time. Pictures such as "Du Nan Fan Hui Feng Guang Tu" vividly depict the lively scene of Aoshan fireworks and ordinary people watching the performance. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Lantern Festival depicted in Zheng Dejiang Ningxian Annals was even more lively.
Nanjing 20 1 1 Su Table Lamp Meeting
Compared with the Lantern Festival in Song Dynasty with strong government color, the Lantern Festival in Beijing in Ming Dynasty has evolved into a pure market behavior. Every year from the 10th to 16th day of the first month, businessmen and craftsmen from all over the world gather in Beijing to sell their lanterns in the North Street outside Dong 'anmen. In this short time, it is not only the competition of lantern making technology, but also the competition of commercial strength. Every year when the Lantern Market in Beijing opens, the rent of shops and houses near the Lantern Market will double, which is several times more expensive than usual. If you are not a businessman with a particularly big business, it is easy to be afraid to ask. In addition, the styles and techniques of lamps are novel and diverse, including lamps inlaid with rare jewels and lamps sold back from neighboring countries or overseas, attracting an endless stream of visitors. A high-priced lamp costs thousands of taels of silver.
Jiang Yikui, a Ming Dynasty man, recorded one thing in his book Outside Yaoshan Hall: During the Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty, a craftsman in Beijing burned glass bottles with glutinous juice, and then made them into lanterns, which could store water and raise fish, with candlelight beside them, which was transparent and lovely. Wang Guzhi, a native of Huangyan, spent a lot of money to buy one at home. He couldn't put it down and played all day. One day, he accidentally hit the glass bottle on the ground and broke it into pieces, lamenting, "My family's plan has been here all my life, and now it's gone!" " The exquisite degree and value geometry of lanterns in Ming Dynasty can also be used as circumstantial evidence.