Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsMiyun, 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. In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty (1371), migrants from Shanxi brought the 'lantern field' (dengchangzi) to Dongtiangezhuang, where it has been handed down to the present day, a history of more than six hundred 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. The Jiuqu Yellow River Array lantern custom is commonly known as the 'lantern field' (dengchangzi) and is transmitted in Dongtiangezhuang Village, Miyun County, Beijing. A chart of the Jiuqu Yellow River Array lantern fair preserved by the villager Liu Jihua is already a hundred years old. In the chart, the array is laid out according to the nine palaces and eight trigrams of the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), its nine bends formed with the traditional pattern of 'unbroken wealth and honor'. Within the array, the eight palaces of Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui, together with the central palace, make nine palaces in all; the array is modeled on ancient battle formations. Every year during the Spring Festival, Dongtiangezhuang begins setting up lanterns on the tenth day of the first lunar month, formally holds the lantern fair on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, and takes the lanterns down after the seventeenth. During the lantern fair, people come from all directions to view the lanterns and enjoy the festivities, to walk the lantern array, and to watch the grand opera. The Dongtiangezhuang Jiuqu Yellow River Array lantern custom has two main features: first, the lantern field is combined with the floral fair (huahui); second, the lantern fair is combined with opera performance.

Building the lamp field

From the tenth day of the first month the lamps are built to the array diagram and taken down after the seventeenth.

Walking the array

The nine palace positions of the eight trigrams are laid out in an unbroken wealth pattern resembling a battle array.

Walking the array the auspicious way

Getting through the maze and out again is taken as a good omen, so visitors return year after year.

Lamp field joined with flower pageants

The lamp field is joined by flower pageants, whose poles and banners alternate with the lamp stands.

Lamps and theatre on one stage

Theatre is staged beside the lamps so that walking the array and watching plays form one outing.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

After entering the mouth of the lantern array, if one can successfully pass through the linked array and then return by the exit, it means the whole year will go smoothly and safely; hence the local saying 'Follow the lantern array and you will live to ninety-nine.'

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Jiuqu Yellow River Array lantern fair has something of the nature of an intellectual puzzle game. The lantern array and the lantern fair that extends from it contain rich cultural connotations and have considerable value for historical and cultural research. For a variety of reasons, the Jiuqu Yellow River Array lantern custom is now in an endangered state, and Miyun County has drawn up practical and effective measures for its rescue and protection.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

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

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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