Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsFuzhoushimayi, FujianBatch 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. Since ancient times the residents of the two places have had the festival custom of presenting and playing with decorated lanterns during the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival; the origin of this custom is related to an ancient legend on the two shores of the Min River estuary.

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. Mawei and Matsu lie on opposite banks of the mouth of the Min River, less than one hundred nautical miles apart. It is said that long ago the third prince of the Jade Emperor, for standing up for those wronged, violated heavenly law and was banished to the mortal world, where he was reborn into a fishing family on the east coast and shared weal and woe with the seafarers. He aided the poor and the needy and was generous and upright; in order to help the fishing families drive away evil and dispel disaster, he fought with the third prince of the Dragon King. The Jade Emperor flew into a rage and sent heavenly soldiers to seize him; after the cruel punishment of being dismembered into three parts, his head was thrown into 'Matsu Harbor' between the Huangqi Peninsula and the Matsu Islands. On the eleventh day of the first month, the fishermen of the peninsula carried the head of the Jade Emperor's third prince back onto the shore, set up an altar to offer sacrifices, and honored him as a god of the sea. Thereafter, in every first month the fishermen spontaneously made lanterns in the shape of the sea god's head and, around the Lantern Festival, carried torches and accompanied them in procession all night long in his memory. Since the reform and opening up, folk exchanges across the Taiwan Strait have steadily strengthened, and Matsu residents and overseas Chinese have returned to their hometowns in growing numbers to seek their roots and honor their ancestors. The Fuzhou Mawei Economic and Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Center and the Matsu Economic, Trade and Cultural Exchange Association on the other side of the Strait, carrying on the tradition, jointly hold the Mawei-Matsu Lantern Festival revelry. Each year before the fifteenth day of the first month (roughly on the eleventh), the Mawei side ships the decorated lanterns of various kinds it has made to the Matsu Islands. The Mawei Economic and Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Center has also carried out diverse forms of folk cultural exchange, sending Spring Festival couplets and Min opera performances to the people of Matsu Island and holding calligraphy, painting, and photography exhibitions; Matsu residents, for their part, cross the Strait to the mainland on the day of the Lantern Festival to take part in the Mawei lantern fair. Every Lantern Festival night, Mawei and Matsu are both ablaze with light and crowded with people; fireworks and firecrackers blaze in every color, street-parade teams dance in step, and the joyous, lively atmosphere deeply moves everyone who is present. Particularly eye-catching are the exquisitely made and richly symbolic lanterns bearing the 'two Ma' (Mawei and Matsu) side by side, which fully express the beautiful wish of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for unity and reunification.

The sea-god head lantern

Fishermen parade lanterns shaped like the sea god's head, keeping vigil with torches through the night.

Carrying lanterns across the strait

Lanterns are shipped from Mabu ahead of the festival and distributed among the island villages.

The paired Mabu-Matsu lanterns

Lanterns joined from both straits are displayed side by side, expressing the wish for union.

The street parade of the lantern night

Parades and lanterns fill the streets on the night, crowds moving with the parade.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

This lantern custom on the two shores of the Min River estuary has always appeared in pairs: around the eleventh day of the first month, the Mawei side first makes decorated lanterns of various kinds and ships them to the Matsu Islands; on the day of the Lantern Festival, the Matsu residents then cross the Strait to the mainland to attend the lantern fair. Lanterns travel east and people come west, and in that going and returning the festival custom is linked into a round trip. The lantern custom has turned from a purely commemorative occasion into a standing venue for folk exchange across the Strait.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

This activity has been passed down from generation to generation and transmitted without interruption over a long period, gradually becoming a custom of both Mawei and Matsu, carrying the wish for peace and abundance.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Lantern Festival (Fuzhoushimayi, Fujian) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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