Tag Archives: Lantern Festival

Things Chinese, Uncategorized

Chinese Lantern Festival 2024

Leave a comment

The Chinese Lantern Festival (AKA Shangyuan Festival) is on the 15th day after Chinese New Year. This year that’s Saturday, February 24th. It marks the end of the new year celebrations. The lunar new year celebrations start with the beginning of the first new moon and end on the 15th –when it reaches its peak and is the first full moon. This is to highlight the beginning of a positive future, since it’s a time when winter abates and spring is on the horizon. Some consider this to be the most joyous of holidays.

Lanterns of different shapes and colors are hung in houses and out in the streets. Children and adults may walk the streets carrying lanterns. The lanterns may be round, square, of fish or other animal shapes. To make things even more fun, a lantern may have a riddle written on it and the person who guesses the riddle correctly gets a prize. The public festivities include parades with lion and dragon dances. The sound of fireworks can be heard everywhere.  

A favorite treat on this day are glutinous rice balls called yuanxiao or tangyuan. These round dumplings usually have a sweet black sesame, lotus paste, or red bean filling. Although any number of other fillings may be tried. Their round shape suggests something that is complete and whole and is used to symbolize a unified, strong family. Another popular food is an egg noodle known as the longevity noodle because of its length. Eating these noodles symbolizes enjoying a long life.

If you want to make lanterns there are several good DIY sites on the web. Making a lantern is also a good project to share with your child. Here are a few sites that will show you how to make fun, easy-to-do lanterns to celebrate this holiday.

DIY Lunar New Year lanterns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rQ4ib7pSp4  A child demonstrates how to make lanterns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gA0zE_7j2k   Shows 1 simple lantern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeZKYGmuZn0   Extremely simple paper lantern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSWcUKYrXyE   One level up from “Extremely simple paper lantern” above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v12j1bQh9A   5 different ideas for lanterns.

photos are from depositphotos.com

https://www.amazon.com/Mei-hua-Trilogy-P-Voe-ebook/dp/B075SQ261G/
Things Chinese

The Lantern Festival

Leave a comment

The Lantern Festival, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the end of the two-week celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

All of the New Year decorations are taken down and the New Year taboos are lifted. These taboos include things like not scolding children, not mentioning illnesses or using unlucky words (ex., the number 4), don’t ware old clothing, avoid breaking things like a mirror or bowl, and avoid sweeping or taking out the garbage.

Do you wonder why people avoid the last two—sweeping and taking out the garbage? It’s so they don’t accidentally throw out their good fortune. Yet, the house needs to be clean. What to do? People have a simple solution to this problem: reverse how they clean the floor, go from the outside to the inside of the house. Clever!

And, of course, there are special, tasty foods to eat. Tangyuan, a ball of sticky rice wrapped around a sweet filling, is a number one favorite, along with dumplings, sweet rice cakes, and spring rolls (with or without meat).

The lion dance is performed everywhere. Since the lion is strong and brave, it ensures a secure and safe life by chasing away possible disasters.

In the Spring Festival’s night sky there is a full moon, making it a perfect time for a moon-gazing party. People can view the full moon set in the dark sky or enjoy the moon’s reflection in a pool of water.

And, of course, the night is filled with lanterns. Lanterns everywhere and of all types. Their light in the darkness symbolizes chasing away evil, assuring a good, prosperous year ahead. Many lantern owners make a game for on-lookers by pasting a riddle to their lantern. Something to have fun with while enjoying the festive day.

To quickly learn more about this fun holiday, here are a few internet sources to look at: https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/chinese-new-year-taboos.htm; https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/festivals/chinese-new-year-taboos.htm; https://blogs.furman.edu/chinamyths/2016/10/26/foods-of-the-spring-festival/; https://hashtaglegend.com/culture/6-must-eat-lucky-foods-during-chinese-new-year-spring-festival/; https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/lantern-festival.htm; https://cn.hujiang.com/new/p446587/