Video: Yuanxiao: Chinese Lantern Festival instead of Valentine's Day
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In mid-February, when the whole world celebrates Valentine's Day, China is preparing for their traditional holiday, which from time immemorial has been celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. This festival - chinese lanterns yuanxiao, and this year it fell on February 17 … Therefore, the Chinese today had a great time, and lit the next several million lanterns, both in their homes and on the main streets and squares of large and small cities. Yuanxiao is the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. According to custom, on this day, the souls of deceased ancestors, who descended to earth to spend the old year with their families, return back to heaven, and flashlights are needed to illuminate their way home. They are lit first in houses - the so-called "Lantern Test", and then large and small, round and oblong, in the form of animals, birds and plants, the lanterns migrate to the central streets, where it is as light as day.
A lot of legends, traditions and beliefs are associated with the Yuanxiao holiday. So, on this day, something called "yuanxiao" is served for dinner, a kind of fried balls of glutinous rice stuffed with candied fruits, nuts, raisins and dried fruits. They need to be eaten by the whole family, and then peace, prosperity and harmony will not leave this house. Also, the Chinese family make homemade paper lanterns with puzzles and riddles written on them. A piece of paper with a guess is usually tied to such a ball with a secret from below. If any of the guests knows the correct answer, he must first voice it, and then remove the leaf from the flashlight and check the answer. The guesser receives a small gift from the author of the flashlight.
As a rule, all these riddles carry a philosophical meaning, but this is another tradition in China. As well as lanterns in the form of huge dragons and other monsters that do not look evil and cruel at all - Yuanxiao is still a good holiday. It ends, as a rule, with fireworks, dances, songs and walks through the streets illuminated by the light of millions of lanterns.
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