The last night of the New Year season
The Lantern Festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which usually falls in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar. Because the New Year begins on the first day of the first month, the fifteenth is two weeks later and coincides with the first full moon of the lunar year. For many families, this is when the holiday season ends, school and work resume in earnest, and decorations come down.
The festival is also called Yuanxiao, from a word meaning the first night. The name Shangyuan is also used, referring to its place as the “upper” or first of three traditional “yuan” festivals during the year. In English it is often called the Lantern Festival because of its most visible custom.
Where it came from
There is no single agreed origin, and the accounts are a mix of record and tradition. Several threads are frequently mentioned.
One is a link with the Han dynasty, when there are records of rites on the fifteenth night of the first month associated with worship of a deity called Taiyi, a spirit tied to the pole star. Some accounts describe the rites as lasting through the night with lamps lit. Another is a Buddhist connection: Chinese Buddhism traditions of lighting lamps to honor the Buddha are sometimes said to have encouraged the spread of the lantern custom in the centuries after Buddhism arrived in China. A third is a general connection to the new year and the first full moon, which would have been a natural time to gather and celebrate once the winter was ending.
By the Tang dynasty, the festival had become a major public event in the capital cities. Normally, strict night curfews applied in cities, but they were relaxed for the festival nights, allowing people to walk about, view lanterns and enjoy music. Under the Song dynasty, the celebration grew even larger, with entertainment, markets and lights stretching over several nights. Poets from these periods wrote enthusiastically about crowds and brilliant lamps. One often-quoted Song poem describes a person searching for a companion in a throng of lights, only to find them standing quietly where the lamps were dim.
Lanterns
Lanterns are made from paper, silk or other materials stretched over frames of bamboo or wire, with a candle inside, and today often an electric light. They come in many shapes: round, palace-style, animals, flowers, characters from famous stories, and the animal of the year from the Chinese zodiac. Some are carried by children, some hang from eaves, and large ones are displayed in parks and temple courtyards. Some places are known for particular styles. In the Jiangnan water towns, for example, lantern displays and boat processions form part of the local festival.
Many lanterns are painted with scenes or messages. Making them is a craft of its own, related to paper cutting and to the wider family of traditional crafts in which bamboo, paper and silk are used. Some communities also release sky lanterns or float lanterns on the water, though local rules differ and fire safety is a concern in many places.
Tangyuan and yuanxiao
The traditional food is a sweet glutinous rice ball, called yuanxiao in the north and tangyuan in the south, served in hot water or in a light syrup. The fillings vary, with black sesame paste, red bean paste, peanut and fruit being common. The two names refer to slightly different ways of making them: in a common northern method, filled pieces are rolled in rice flour in a basket, while in the south the dough is typically wrapped around the filling.
The round shape and the sound of the name, which resembles the word for reunion or roundness, are linked to family togetherness, just as the shape of the full moon is. Eating them is meant to express the hope that the family stays together and complete. This echoes the themes of the reunion dinner two weeks earlier.
Riddles
Guessing riddles written on slips of paper and attached to lanterns is a popular part of the evening. A riddle might describe a character, an object or a phrase, and the answer may depend on wordplay with the sound or shape of Chinese characters. Participants who answer correctly traditionally receive a small prize. Because good lantern riddles depend on puns and the shapes of characters, the game has long been popular with scholars and word lovers.
Processions and performances
In many towns, the night is also an occasion for public performance. Lion dances and the dragon dance move through streets, groups walk on stilts, drum troupes play, and folk songs and dances are staged. In certain areas, opera and puppet shows also form part of the celebrations; Chinese opera and shadow puppetry are among those with long associations with festival nights. The mood is lively, and the festival is one of the best times for visitors to see local folk culture.
Customs vary
Not every place celebrates the same way. In some regions, the main event might be a procession for a local deity, in others the lighting of bonfires, and in others, a simple family meal. Overseas, major cities with Chinese communities hold lantern shows in the days around the festival, sometimes tied to the end of New Year celebrations. In the traditional calendar, the fifteenth night is also followed by a gradual return to normal life, which is what makes it the closing chapter of the season described by the Chinese New Year.