Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsHuairou, BeijingBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

China began lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival as early as the Han dynasty, and this gradually developed into a popular custom. By the Tang dynasty the custom was even more widespread: the lines 'Fire trees and silver blossoms merge; the star bridge opens, its iron locks undone' describe the splendor of the Lantern Festival in Chang'an. In the Ming dynasty the Lantern Festival had already become an important part of the people's lives, with ten consecutive days of lantern-viewing. In the Qing dynasty it was a folk festival shared in merriment by the whole population, and setting off firecrackers and fireworks added to the excitement of the lantern-viewing activities. A number of traditional activities are also carried out at the Lantern Festival. The first is guessing lantern riddles, also called 'beating lantern riddles', which first appeared in the Song dynasty: riddles are hung up for people to guess, and those who guess correctly receive a prize. The second is eating yuanxiao (sweet rice dumplings). Yuanxiao was originally called 'fuyuanzi' (floating round balls) and is also known as 'tangtuan' or 'tangyuan'; it is a ball-shaped food made of glutinous rice flour, usually with a filling, boiled in water before eating, and remarkably sweet and delicious. Eating yuanxiao symbolizes that the whole family is reunited, harmonious, and happy. Besides the Han, many ethnic minorities also celebrate the Lantern Festival, including the Manchu, Korean, Hezhe, Mongolian, Daur, Evenki, Oroqen, Hui, Xibe, Tibetan, Bai, Naxi, Miao, Yao, She, Zhuang, Buyi, Li, and Gelao peoples, and their festival activities each have their own distinctive features. Liulimiao Town in Huairou District, Beijing, took shape during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing dynasty. From that time onward, the female villagers of Liulimiao Town have gathered together every year during the Lantern Festival to eat 'lianqiaofan' (rice for gathering skill), a local custom that has been handed down for more than one hundred and eighty years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Lantern Festival, also called the 'Shangyuan Festival', the 'Yuanxi Festival', or the 'Festival of Lanterns', is a traditional Chinese festival, widely observed throughout the country. In China the first month of the lunar calendar is the yuan (first) month, and in ancient times night was known as 'xiao'; therefore the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, when the year's first full moon appears, is named the 'Yuanxiao Festival'. In some places the Lantern Festival also includes the custom of 'walking off a hundred ailments', also called 'roasting away a hundred ailments' or 'dispersing a hundred ailments'. On the day of the festival people walk in groups, crossing bridges together or heading out into the countryside, symbolizing the dispelling of illness and disaster and the attainment of peace and good health. Since modern times, traditional performance items such as dragon-lantern dances, lion dances, stilt walking, land-boat rowing, yangge (rice-sprout) dances, and Taiping drum playing have been added to Lantern Festival activities in various places, giving the festival new development in the course of its transmission. The Lantern Festival, with a history of more than two thousand years, is not only widely celebrated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait but is also highly valued in overseas Chinese communities. On the eve of the sixteenth day of the first month, girls of twelve or thirteen in the village go from house to house collecting grain and vegetables. On the sixteenth day itself, older women help the girls cook the food, and all the women of the village eat it together. While cooking, items such as needles, thread, and copper coins are placed in the pot; whoever gets one in their bowl believes they have obtained skillful handicraft and good fortune in wealth. Before eating the lianqiaofan, people scatter rice to feed the 'qiao' — sparrows, tits, and other birds — while reciting auspicious words: first to thank the birds for their grace, and second to pray for a bumper harvest in the coming year. After the meal they walk on the ice, a practice called 'walking a hundred ices (ailments)', expressing the wish that all ailments be dispelled. Whenever the lianqiaofan activity is held, opera troupes and floral fairs (huahui) stage performances to add to the merriment. The lianqiaofan custom has a long history and has continued unbroken over a long period; even during the 'ten years of turmoil' it was still held regularly, and it is welcomed and loved by the local people.

Collecting grain and vegetables

The night before the day, girls go house to house gathering grain and vegetables, given freely.

One pot for all the women

Older women cook the pooled vegetables and the village's women eat them from one pot.

Needles and coins in the pot

Needles and coins are boiled in the pot, and whoever finds one claims skill and fortune.

Throwing rice to the sparrows

Rice is thrown to the birds called qiao, in thanks for a good harvest and in prayer for another.

Walking on the ice

After the meal the women walk on the ice, the day's name punning on a hundred ailments.

Theatre and flower pageants

Travelling troupes and flower pageants add music, making the meal a village festival.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In addition, the word 'qiao' is a local term used for birds of the sparrow family. This custom is a survival of the agrarian culture of northern China. In the course of its development it has gradually become an inseparable and important part of the Spring Festival folk activities of Huairou, vividly presenting a distinctive traditional folk-cultural form of the Beijing area.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

With changes in the social environment and the emergence of many forms of entertainment, some of the traditional activities of the lianqiaofan custom have already disappeared, while others are gradually losing their original meanings. Powerful measures are urgently needed for their excavation and protection.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Lantern Festival (Huairou, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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