China News Service, Beijing, February 23rd: "The east wind blows thousands of trees into bloom at night." How do the Lantern Festival lights reflect the past and present?
——Exclusive interview with Xiao Fang, professor of the Department of Anthropology and Folklore, School of Sociology, Beijing Normal University
China News Service reporter Gao Kai
The Lantern Festival, also known as the "Lantern Festival" or "Lantern Festival", is one of the traditional Chinese festivals.
"Thousands of flowers bloom on an east wind night". From ancient times to the present, the Lantern Festival is not only a symbol of reunion and joy, but also a major festival that inherits the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
What is the origin of the Lantern Festival, and how do the Lantern Festival lights reflect the past and present?
How do you view the spread of the iconic festival symbols of the Lantern Festival overseas?
What are the changing trends as the Lantern Festival continues?
China News Service's "East-West Question" recently interviewed Xiao Fang, a professor at the Department of Anthropology and Folklore, School of Sociology, Beijing Normal University, and asked him to interpret the past and present of the Lantern Festival.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival with a long history and rich elements. What is its origin?
Xiao Fang:
The Lantern Festival is a major folk festival in China and is actually an integral part of the Spring Festival.
According to literature and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival) has been taken seriously in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty held an event to worship "Tai Yi" in Ganquan Palace on Xinye night of the first month of the first month, which was regarded by later generations as the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to worship "Tianguan". The precursor.
The introduction of Buddhist culture during the Eastern Han Dynasty played an important role in promoting the Lantern Festival customs.
In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty ordered that on the fifteenth night of the first lunar month, lanterns should be lit in palaces and temples to represent the Buddha. Therefore, the custom of lighting lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first lunar month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture. The Six Dynasties During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the lights became brighter and brighter at night during the first lunar month.
On February 22, 2016, the Lantern Festival, all the monks of Nanshan Temple in Sanya held a prayer meeting.
Photo by Chen Wenwu
Of course, the real driving force for the formation of Lantern Festival customs lies in its timing.
The ancient Chinese began to observe the changes of the moon's phases very early and paid great attention to its waxing and waning.
The so-called "Shangyuan Festival" is the first full moon day in the lunar calendar year. The ancients made full use of this special node to express their expectations for a better life.
Reporter from China News Service: Almost every traditional Chinese festival is closely related to "what to eat" and "how to eat". What is your understanding of the customs and delicacies of the Lantern Festival? What kind of stories and emotions are behind the food?
Xiao Fang:
China is a vast land with rich resources and a profound and diverse food culture.
The exact time when Chinese people started eating Yuanxiao and Tangyuan may not be known.
In the Tang Dynasty, there were records of eating "oil painting pearls" during the Lantern Festival. By the Song Dynasty, the Lantern Festival had become a very common and fixed dietary custom of this festival.
In terms of the expression of food culture, the Lantern Festival has a high degree of similarity between the north and the south.
Generally speaking, northern Yuanxiao and southern glutinous rice balls play the absolute leading role. Although there are many differences in fillings between the north and the south due to different eating habits and traditional products, the basic shapes and eating methods are similar.
The reason behind this is related to the highly consistent cultural sentiments of people from both north and south of the Yangtze River towards the Lantern Festival.
Both glutinous rice balls and yuanxiao represent reunion, completeness, sweetness and steaming heat.
Everyone’s emotions towards the Lantern Festival are mutual.
On January 26, 2024, children tasted glutinous rice balls in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
Photo by Wang Gang
Reporter from China News Service: How should we understand the "noisy" of "Lantern Festival"? Some people say that the Lantern Festival is the "Carnival" of the Chinese people. What do you think of this statement?
Xiao Fang:
The word "Nao" in "Hao Lantern Festival" has multiple dimensions.
First, people. On Lantern Festival night, people pay attention to going out to watch the lanterns, dragon and lion dances, and the lively crowds.
In ancient times, even women whose daily activities were highly restricted were allowed to go out on the Lantern Festival and participate in the festival's "comfort".
The other is the "noise" in the senses. Visually, the lanterns of the Lantern Festival are undoubtedly lively and prosperous. From the auditory perspective, whether it is gongs and drums, lion and dragon dances, or various folk performances, these elements are actually all for It heightens the festive atmosphere on the first full moon night of the new year and inspires popularity.
On the evening of February 7, 2024, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Chinese Dragon" lantern group was lit up in Zigong, Sichuan.
Photo by Zhang Lang
The Spring Festival is at the turn of winter and spring. Throughout the winter, the earth is silent, chilly, and cold, and the vegetation is also in a dormant state.
The Spring Festival means that people are ushering in another year of vitality. However, the chill has not disappeared at this time. The "noisy" of the Lantern Festival is to add strength to the coming vitality. People are willing to use collective strength and emotions in such a festival. The accumulation of energy, together with the life of spring, awakens the earth.
People sometimes call the Lantern Festival lanterns "spring lanterns", which is also the origin.
The Lantern Festival is indeed the most "carnival" among traditional Chinese festivals. Just take a story about Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty as an example.
On Lantern Festival night, Sima Guang's wife dressed up and prepared to go out to enjoy the lanterns.
Sima Guang asked: "Why go out to see the lights at home?" His wife replied: "I also want to see tourists." Sima Guang said: "I am a ghost?!" Although Sima Guang has an old-fashioned personality, this story also starts from a The side vividly shows that the day of Lantern Festival is indeed different. It is a day of lively fun and everyone no longer spends it according to the rhythm of daily life.
On the evening of February 2, 2024, in Tongliang, Chongqing, the fire dragon performance of the Tongliang Dragon Dance, a national intangible cultural heritage, was performed brilliantly.
Photo by He Penglai
Reporter from China News Service: Eating Lantern Festival, eating glutinous rice balls, appreciating lanterns, dragon and lion dances, etc. are all iconic festival symbols of the Lantern Festival. What cultural value do they carry? What do you think about the spread of these symbols overseas?
Xiao Fang:
I think these festival symbols are very meaningful, have a high degree of commonality, are visible, intuitive, and impactful.
From the perspective of overseas communication, through personal experience of highly symbolic holiday traditions, people are more likely to have relevant perceptual knowledge, which is a good way to start understanding.
Almost all Chinese traditional festival symbols are full of the Chinese people's reverence for nature, their yearning for harmony and peace, and their pursuit of national peace and harmony.
The Lantern Festival particularly emphasizes group harmony. The state of communication and integration between people is also a manifestation of sociality.
Through these traditional festival symbols, it is also easy to perceive the character, emotions and values of the Chinese people.
For example, during the Lantern Festival, there is not only reunion, but word games such as lantern riddles are full of wisdom. Lantern festivals, dragon and lion dances are festive and lively, showing a sense of vitality and power.
Reporter from China News Service: "The east wind blows thousands of trees and flowers at night, and even blows them down, and the stars are like rain." In your opinion, what is the changing trend of the continuation of the Lantern Festival?
Xiao Fang:
The Lantern Festival was originally a ritual activity in agricultural society to pray for a good harvest. Later, after the development of urban life, it gradually formed customs such as lantern festivals, and then became fixed as some important festival performances. Then it became a "carnival" nature With more social and recreational attributes, such as the Lantern Festival, which was even called "Valentine's Day", it was a rare opportunity for young men and women in ancient times to communicate.
On the evening of February 7, 2024, in Nanjing, Jiangsu, young people held fish lanterns and took photos at the Nanjing Dabaoen Temple Night Tour Lantern Festival.
Photo by Yang Bo
From the perspective of the continuation of festival customs, the Lantern Festival has changed and remained unchanged.
What has changed is the specific form of the festival, but the power generated by people’s pursuit of emotions and yearning for a “new beginning” constitutes the emotional core of the Lantern Festival, and I think this has never changed.
In the future, festival customs may change along with people's living habits, but what remains unchanged is the Chinese people's warmth toward human kindness, their feelings for nature, and their thinking about time. This is a positive attitude that remains in the heart.
Year after year, every Lantern Festival under the bright moon, we see ourselves through various rituals passed down from ancient times, reunite and dialogue with our past, and gain new strength.
(over)
Interviewee profile:
Xiao Fang, professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Sociology, Beijing Normal University, member of the 8th Discipline Review Group of the State Council, vice president of the International Asia Folklore Society, vice president of the 8th and 9th Chinese Folklore Society, and director of the Chinese Folk Literature and Artists Association He is also the director of the Festival Culture Research Center, a director of the Chinese Literary Critics Association, a director of the Beijing Sociological Society, a member of the Third National Special Committee on Grassroots Political Power and Social Governance, a member of the National Cultural and Art Resources Standardization Committee, and a member of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Expert Bank.
Mainly studies festival culture, traditional etiquette culture, intangible cultural heritage, rural social governance, etc.
He has presided over a number of major and key scientific research projects at the national, provincial and ministerial levels, published more than ten books, and published more than 100 academic papers.
He has won many government and industry academic awards.
Won the 2022 China Intangible Cultural Heritage Person of the Year.