Nowadays, although love is no longer a main theme, the Lantern Festival is still celebrated with a variety of fun activities. Recently, Chinese-style Lantern Festival celebrations have also started popping up in Western countries, including the United States, where events like the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival enjoy increasing popularity. Lantern Festivals have been popular in various Asian countries for hundreds of years. Therefore, people in China don’t usually get any days off from school or work for this holiday. Today, the Lantern Festival is still popular, but it isn’t one of the seven official public holidays recognized in Mainland China. In ancient times, the Lantern Festival was a romantic holiday when people of different genders were allowed to mingle freely.
This romantic facet of the Lantern Festival is reflected in the plot of various Chinese operas, as well as in many works of art and literature from both the Song and Ming Dynasties. Thus, the holiday presented a unique opportunity for people of different genders to mingle with each other.
Women were also allowed to leave the house. Due to traditional gender norms, women were also generally expected to stay indoors at all times, regardless of whether or not there was a curfew in place.ĭuring the Lantern Festival, however, curfews were lifted so people could go out at night to view the lanterns. In ancient times, there were strict curfews that were meant to keep people inside after dark. So much so, in fact, that some say that it’s the real traditional Chinese Valentine’s Day, a designation usually reserved for describing the Qixi Festival. The real Chinese Valentine’s Day?Īlthough it’s no longer the case today, the Chinese Lantern Festival was closely associated with love in ancient China.
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In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE), celebrations were particularly lengthy, with some lasting a full 10 days. They were extended to five days during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), lantern festival celebrations lasted for three days. The Lantern Festival has been celebrated with various degrees of pomp and circumstance over the years. Thanks to Chinese cultural influence on other Asian countries, it didn’t take long for the festival to spread to neighboring nations like Korea and Japan. Whatever its origins, the Lantern Festival soon developed into a popular Chinese holiday. Some say the red lanterns used in today’s Lantern Festival celebrations are meant to represent the firecrackers, lanterns and fires used by ancient villagers to deceive the Jade Emperor. We’ve outlined two of the most important ones below. Several different origin stories are used to explain where the festival came from. The holiday's exact origins are somewhat unclear. Lantern Festival celebrations began around 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). Like many traditional Chinese holidays, the Lantern Festival has a long history. Today, the Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, which generally falls sometime in February or early March. The origins and history of the Lantern Festival Experience the festivities for yourself!.Origin story two: A trick played on the Jade Emperor.Origin story one: A Buddhist celebration.The origins and history of the Lantern Festival.
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