The Implication of Lantern Festival Indoor Lighting
1, exorcism: On the fifteenth day of the first month, although the moonlight is just right, it is also celebrated in the dark, so most people will light two lanterns at the gate, which means to dispel the evil spirits in the dark, so as to achieve the purpose of exorcising evil spirits and turning evil spirits into evil, which is a very auspicious practice. Therefore, lanterns at 15 o'clock in the first month often mean exorcism and disaster elimination.
2. Pray for peace: Most of the lanterns hung on the fifteenth day of the first month are red lanterns, on the one hand, because red lanterns look very bright, on the other hand, because red is a very auspicious and festive color. When hung on the fifteenth day of the first month, there are often meanings such as praying for peace and praying for the best, so hanging lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month also means praying for peace.
3. Burning lanterns to show Buddha: On the fifteenth day of the first month, lanterns originally meant burning lanterns to show Buddha, because this custom originated from Buddhism. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Hanming would light lanterns to worship Buddha on the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of each year, so as to achieve the purpose of lighting lanterns to show Buddha. But nowadays, people seldom light lamps to show Buddha. Lantern Festival lighting mostly means exorcising evil spirits and praying for blessings.
Brief introduction to the origin of Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Shangyuan Festival, Xiao Yuan Festival, Yuanxi Festival or Lantern Festival, is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called the night "night", so the fifteenth day of the first full moon in a year was called the Lantern Festival. According to the folk tradition in China, on this bright night, people light thousands of lanterns to celebrate. Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting and setting fires, enjoying lantern riddles, eating Yuanxiao, family reunion and celebrating festivals are all enjoyment.
Lantern Festival, as early as 2000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty. It is said that it was set up to commemorate Pinglu when Emperor Wendi died. After Emperor Liu Ying of the Han Dynasty, Lv Hou usurped power, and the Lushi family dominated the state affairs. After Lv Hou's death, Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and others eliminated the influence of Lv Hou and established Liu Heng as the emperor of China. Because the day to quell Zhu Lu is the fifteenth day of the first month, after that, every year on the fifteenth night of the first month, Emperor Wen of Han will go out of the palace to celebrate with the people incognito and set the fifteenth day of the first month as the Lantern Festival.
The custom of lighting lanterns on the Lantern Festival originated from the "ternary theory" of Taoism. The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The three officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man, respectively. Heaven officials are happy, and lanterns are lit on the Lantern Festival.
Another way of saying it is that the Lantern Festival began in the East with Emperor Han Ming. Ming Di advocates Buddhism. He heard that on the fifteenth day of the first month, monks observed Buddhist relics and lit lamps to worship Buddha. He ordered that lights should be lit in palaces and temples to worship Buddha that night, so that all the gentry and ordinary people could hang lights. Later, this Buddhist ceremonial festival gradually formed a grand folk festival. This festival has experienced the development process from the court to the people, and from the Central Plains to the whole country.
The festivals and customs of Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. As far as the length of festivals is concerned, there is only one day in Han Dynasty, three days in Tang Dynasty and five days in Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, lights were lit from the eighth day of August until the seventeenth night of the first month, a total of ten days. Connected with the Spring Festival, it is a city during the day, full of excitement, and brightly lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more "hundred operas" such as dragon dancing, lion dancing, dry boating, walking on stilts and yangko dancing, but the festival period was shortened to four to five days.
In Chaoshan and other Lingnan areas, every household should light a lamp from the 11th to 18th of the first month, especially the Lantern Festival. If there was a boy at home after the Lantern Festival last year, lanterns would be hung on the lampstand of the ancestral hall of the clan in the township to announce the deterioration of the township and accept the congratulations of the villagers. Guangzhou once turned on the light for the "bedside woman" on the twelfth day of the first month, praying for the healthy and safe growth of children. On the thirteenth day of the first month, you should "light the kitchen lamp" in the kitchen until midnight snack.
Because China has been in an agricultural society for a long time, the male labor force of the family is very important to the prosperity of the family, and having a boy is a happy event for the whole family. In ancient times, there was a saying that boys were born in Jiading, and "Ding" and "Deng" were homophonic in many dialects. Therefore, the custom of midnight snack lanterns and chandeliers also has good wishes of "adding branches and leaves".