Yuanxiao Festival (Lantern Festival)

China's traditional festival - Yuanxiao (Lantern Festival) falls on the fifteenth day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar. Yuanxiao means the first full moon in a year. Taoism worships Sanyuan (Three Primes), with Lantern Festival be- ing the birthdate of the first Prime, the festival is also called Shangyuan Festival.

Yuanxiao already received much attention back in the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 25). To promote Bud- dhism, Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) ordered to light up the royal palace and temples to pay tribute to Buddha, which gave birth to the later custom of lighting up lanterns on this day. Since the Sui (581-618) and the Tang (618-907) dynasties, lantern fairs would be held on the night of Yuanxiao; on these occasions, bright lanterns would light up the night as if it were daytime, and the lively fairs would hum with people who came to enjoy various-shaped lanterns, and solve riddles on the lanterns. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), people developed the tradition of eating yuanxiao or tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls) on the Lantern Festival - though of similar nature, the food's name is different due to different making process. People from northern China would make yuanxiao by rolling the rice flour with fillings into balls, while those from southern China would use the wrapping method to make tangyuan. Both yuanxiao and tangyuan contains the Chinese character yuan, which is a part of the Chinese word tuanyuan, meaning getting together with family. In the food resides people's wish for their family's harmony and happiness. Influenced by Chinese culture, countries like South Korea, Japan, North Korea and Vietnam all share this traditional festival. In the regions where oversea Chinese communities inhabit, people will hold various activities to celebrate this festival.

元宵節(jié)

農(nóng)歷正月十五是中國傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日元宵節(jié)。“元宵”意為一年中第一個月圓之夜。據(jù)道教“三元”的說法，又被稱為“上元節(jié)”。

西漢時期就已重視正月十五的節(jié)慶，東漢明帝為弘揚(yáng)佛法，下令正月十五夜晚在皇宮和寺廟里點燈敬佛，此后逐漸形成元宵張燈的習(xí)俗。隋唐以來，元宵節(jié)燈市熱鬧非凡，燈火如晝，人們出游賞花燈、猜燈謎。從宋代開始，正月十五形成吃元宵或湯圓的傳統(tǒng)，“北方‘滾’元宵、南方‘包’湯圓”都有“團(tuán)圓”之意，象征全家人和睦幸福。

受中華文化影響，韓國、日本、朝鮮、越南等國也有過元宵節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)，海外華人聚居區(qū)也多在元宵節(jié)舉辦各種慶祝活動。