Festival luči: zadnji dan praznovanja kitajskega novega leta

Praznik luči, ki pade na 15. dan prvega luninega meseca, je znan tudi kot festival Yuanxiao - Yuan dobesedno pomeni prvi, Xiao pa se nanaša na noč. To je prvič, ko vidimo polno luno novega leta. To noč bodo ljudje prižigali luči, ugibali uganke luči, jedli Yuan Xiao in uživali v času z družinami ali ljubimci.

The Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty to commemorate the "pacification of Lü". After the death of Emperor Hui, Liu Ying, Queen Lü was in power and the Lü clan took control of the dynasty. After the death of Queen Lü, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping quelled the chaos caused by Lü clan and Liu Heng succeeded to the throne as Emperor Wen of Han. Since the 15th day of the first month was the day when the Lü clan was put to rest, and the Emperor knew that the peaceful life was not easy to get and maintain, so he went out of his palace every year on the night of this day to have fun with common people.

Later, Emperor Wu designated this day for worship rituals for Taiyi, one of the universe's sovereigns. In the "Taichu Calendar", Sima Qian included the Lantern Festival as a major festival. Emperor Ming of the later Eastern Han was a devout Buddhist. He heard that on the 15th, monks would light candles for the Buddha. He ordered the palace and temples to light candles, and for the citizens to hang lanterns.

Vsi dogodki so se združili in se sčasoma razvili v Festival Lantern, ki ga poznamo danes.

Festival luči je tradicionalno zadnji dan obdobja praznovanja kitajskega novega leta. To je pomemben dan in vrhunec novega leta. Na ta dan bodo potekale številne dejavnosti.

Svetlobne luči

Lanterns are the most notable part of the festival. In the early days, the Lantern Festival was also called Shang Yuan. It was dedicated to the heavenly palace. People would gather in their yards and give offerings to the gods. The lit lantern near the setup represented a god's seat. Throughout history, the largest Lantern Festival celebration took place in the early part of the 15th century. The festivities continued for ten days. Emperor Chengzu had the downtown area set aside as a center for displaying the lanterns. Even today, there is a place in Beijing called Dengshikou. In Chinese, Deng means lantern and Shi is market. The area became a market where lanterns were sold during the day. In the evening, the local people would go there to see the beautiful lit lanterns on display.

Ugani uganke luči

Stari Kitajci so se pogosto dobivali s prijatelji, pili vino in pisali poezijo. Igra z besedami in ugankami so bile najljubša zabava. Uganke so bile zapisane na lučkah, da so jih ljudje lahko ugibali. Pogosto so vsebovale sporočila o sreči, združitvi družine, obilni letini in ljubezni. V starih časih so lahko samski ljudje pritegnili pozornost svoje simpatije s to igro ugibanja. Običaj se je začel iz dinastije Južna Song. In vse do danes Kitajci sklicujejo čudovita tekmovanja ugank, da bi proslavili festival luči.

Jejte Yuan Xiao

Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the Lantern Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour. We call these balls Yuan Xiao or Tang Yuan. It is said that the custom originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the 4th century, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods. Yuan Xiao is glutinous rice dumplings with sweet fillings made of syrup, red bean paste, black sesame paste or more. They can be steamed or fried, but usually boiled and served in hot water. Shaped like a round ball, Yuan Xiao symbolizes the full moon and people's desires for happiness and family reunions.

Zmajev ples

Dragon dance has a history almost as long as Chinese culture itself. Chinese people advocate dragon much - it is considered as a symbol of good luck. According to legend, as early as the Yellow Emperor period, in a so-called "clearance angle" big dance, it appeared the image of the person playing the leading body of the dragon.

Pogost je tudi levji ples. Lev je zapleteno oblikovan, s premičnimi očmi in usti. Včasih bo lev odprl usta in zahteval hrano in rdeče žepe. Drugič se valjajo in se igrajo kot preveliki mucki.