Lantern Festival or Chinese new Year: History and Traditions and Origins

Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival mostly prevalent in South-East Asia, in the countries of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. Usually celebrated between the months of February-March, the date of this festival is set on the 15th day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar. This festival is also known as Spring festival, it marks the final day of Chinese new year celebrations. It is celebrated on the first full moon night of the new year according to Chinese calendar.

Lantern Festival or Chinese new Year: History and Traditions and Origins 

Origin and History

The history of the Lantern Festival dates back as far as 2000 years ago. There are many widely believed origins of this festival. The first origin was, as believed, during the reign of the second Emperor of Chinese Han dynasty, Emperor Ming, who noticed Buddhist monks lightning the temples with lanterns and candles on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Emperor Ming turned this tradition of lighting lanterns into a festival, by ordering all the households, workplaces, and buildings to lighten up with lanterns on that day. 

Another legend states that the festival originated as a celebration of "declining darkness of winter season". The cold winters, especially in China, bought about loneliness in streets, declining markets and darkness. This festival marked the decline of winter darkness and brought about celebrations and happiness in people's lives. 

Wudi and Han dynasties declared this day as one of the biggest festivals of China. Sooner, it spread to other countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia etc.. Nowadays, it is celebrated in various countries, even far off from China throughout the world. 

Customs and Traditions

In countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia, Lantern festival is known as "Chap Goh Meh", meaning 15th night. In Japan, it is known as 小正月 (Koshogatsu), or New year. People celebrate this festival by decorating their houses with various lanterns. Lanterns of various textures, colors and shapes such as dragons, long kites, traditional globes, and goats fill up the cities and the skies. People gather at various places to illuminate the sky with thousands of lights at once displaying a beautiful amalgam of joy, hopes and liveliness. People also enjoy eating various dishes such as Tangyuan or Yuanxiao, a round sweet mouth watering delight. 

Lantern Festival or Chinese new Year: History and Traditions and Origins 

Today, a display of lanterns is still a major event in this festival. Various parks and gardens look like oceans of colorful lanterns. In various metropolitan cities like Shanghai or Hangzhou have adopted neon lanterns, which are seen along with wooden or paper lanterns. People in countries such as India, Pakistan, USA and various other countries of western world also celebrate the Lantern festival with excitement and delight. This festival conveys the messages of love, family reunion, prosperity, peace, happiness and abundant harvest. Lantern quizzes and riddles are also an important part of this festival.