Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsXianyou, FujianBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Since the Han dynasty, the Chinese have lit lanterns on the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a practice that gradually developed into a folk custom. The custom became even more popular in the Tang dynasty; the lines 'fire trees and silver blossoms joined, the star bridge with its iron lock opened' describe the splendor of the Lantern Festival in Chang'an. In the Ming dynasty, the Lantern Festival had already become an important part of popular life, with ten consecutive days of lantern viewing; in the Qing dynasty, it was a folk festival celebrated by the whole nation, and the lantern-viewing activities were enlivened by fireworks. The Lantern Festival also involves several traditional activities. First is 'cai deng mi' (guessing lantern riddles), also called 'da deng mi', which first appeared in the Song dynasty; riddles are hung up waiting to be solved, and those who guess correctly receive prizes. Second is eating yuanxiao: 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 and eaten, with an exceptionally sweet taste. Eating yuanxiao symbolizes the whole family being reunited and living in harmony and happiness. Besides the Han, the Manchu, Korean, Hezhe, Mongol, Daur, Evenk, Oroqen, Hui, Xibe, Tibetan, Bai, Naxi, Miao, Yao, She, Zhuang, Buyi, Li and Gelao ethnic groups also celebrate the Lantern Festival, and their festival activities each have their own distinctive features. The custom of the nighttime lantern-viewing parade at Fengting began in the Song dynasty; by the Ming dynasty it had reached unprecedented splendor. It has been transmitted to the present day for more than nine hundred years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Lantern Festival, also known as the 'Shangyuan Festival', the 'Yuanxi Festival' and the 'Deng Festival' (Festival of Lanterns), is a traditional Chinese festival, popular throughout the country. In China, the first month of the lunar calendar is the yuan (first) month; in ancient times, night was called 'xiao'. Hence the first full-moon night of the year, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, is named the 'Yuanxiao Festival'. In some places the Lantern Festival also has the custom of 'zou bai bing' (walking off the hundred illnesses), also called 'kao bai bing' (roasting away the hundred illnesses) or 'san bai bing' (dispersing the hundred illnesses). On the day of the Lantern Festival, people set out walking in groups, following one another across bridges or traveling far into the countryside, symbolizing the dispelling of illness and disaster and the attainment of peace and health. In modern times, traditional performance items such as dragon lantern dances, lion dances, stilt walking, land-boat (dry boat) dancing, yangge dancing and taiping drum playing have been added to Lantern Festival activities across the country, giving the festival new development in the course of its transmission. With a history of more than two thousand years, the Lantern Festival is not only widely observed on both sides of the Taiwan Strait but also attaches great importance among overseas Chinese communities. Fengting lies at the junction of Putian and Quanzhou in Fujian, a thousand-year-old cultural town integrating natural landscapes, historic sites, ecological gardens, mountains, sea, farmland and rivers. Each year, from the thirteenth to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the lantern parade is held in sequence in the Xiaqiao, Xiajie, Lanyou and Xueshi communities of the Fengting market-town area and in the Beimen natural village of Xiajie, with more than four thousand participants. The honor guard advances behind a finely decorated head banner bearing the main inscribed tablet, while cart-drum troupes, shiyin bale (ten-tone, eight-tone) musical ensembles and women's waist-drum teams are interspersed among the various lantern parade columns. The lantern-frame team, composed of centipede lanterns, pine-tree lanterns, treasure-umbrella lanterns, aquatic-creature lanterns, lotus lanterns, flower-basket lanterns, butterfly lanterns, pigeon lanterns, dragonfly lanterns, phoenix lanterns and radish lanterns, presents a spectacular array of countless forms in dazzling colors. The 'hundred acts' decorated float lanterns blend drama, acrobatics and lantern-making skill, dazzling viewers with their superb artistry. The plain and elegant palm sedan-chair dance (zongjiao dance), zaili (yamen runner) dance and tongshen (spirit-child) dance are highly distinctive and are considered a unique treasure of Fujian folk culture, while dragon dances and lion dances add further brilliance to the Lantern Festival parade. Among Chinese communities on the southeastern coast and in Southeast Asia, the custom of the Fengting Lantern Festival lantern parade strikes deep roots and has a strong appeal and attraction, having become an important cultural medium for uniting compatriots at home and abroad.

The ceremonial banner and escort

The procession opens with an ornate banner, while drum and music groups move among the lantern teams.

The lantern racks

Racks carry dragons, trees, umbrellas, fish, flowers, birds and vegetables drawn from local life.

The acrobatics lantern stage

A single stage unites opera, acrobatics and lantern craft above and glowing lanterns below.

Palm-cabin dance and constable dance

Ancient palm-cabin, constable and children's dances carry set movements and formations.

Five days moving district by district

Over five days the parade moves from quarter to quarter, spreading the celebration across the town.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The spectacle of the Fengting lantern parade unfolds block by block through the market-town streets: Xiaqiao, Xiajie, Lanyou and the Xueshi community, and then the Beimen natural village of Xiajie, one place after another, with each procession passing in order and merging into a long line alternating between the lantern-frame team, the 'hundred acts' decorated floats and the honor guard. The more than four thousand participants are not limited to the town itself; outside visitors are also numerous. People from the Putian and Quanzhou coast, and even overseas Chinese relatives from Southeast Asia, make special trips to view the lanterns, so a lantern parade is at the same time a market gathering and an occasion of kinship reunion.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Fengting Lantern Festival lantern parade brings together diverse elements of classical and folk culture, including bonfires, shehuo (community festival) festivities, lantern floating, deity processions, ancient shamanic rites and martial dances, fusing folk lantern art, ballad singing, dance, shiyin bale music, drama and acrobatics into a unique folk custom of the thousand-year-old town. It has very important reference value for research on the traditional culture, folk customs and folk arts of the Fujian region and their evolution.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

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

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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