The Lantern Festival, falling on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is the final significant celebration of the Chinese Spring Festival season. In the ancient Chinese calendar, the first month is called "yuan month" (meaning the first month). According to "Shuowen Jiezi" (the first Chinese dictionary that analyzes characters), "Yuan means beginning; Xiao means night." As this is the first full moon night of the new year, it is named "Yuanxiao Festival." This festival has historically featured lantern viewing, hence it is also called the "Lantern Festival." Before the Song Dynasty, it was often referred to as "Yuanye," "Yuanxi," or "Shangyuan," but post-Song literature frequently uses the term "Yuanxiao."
The formation of the Lantern Festival underwent a long process, with various theories about its origin. The most influential one traces back to Emperor Wu of Han offering sacrifices to the Supreme God Taiyi on the first Xin day of the first month by lighting lanterns. Therefore, if calculated from the Western Han Dynasty, it has existed in China for over two thousand years. Since the implementation of the "Taichu Calendar" in the Han Dynasty, the 15th day of the first month was designated as a major festival. Starting from the Tang Dynasty, lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival became mandatory and gradually evolved into a folk custom. The duration of the festival activities varied across different historical periods; during the Ming Dynasty, it lasted for ten days, marking the longest lantern festival in Chinese history.
The Lantern Festival signifies the beginning of a new cycle and the return of spring. Chinese people have always valued new beginnings and the first, celebrating with diverse activities themed around "festivity." These include traditional customs such as going out to admire the full moon, lighting lanterns and setting off fireworks, guessing lantern riddles, and eating Yuanxiao together, as well as folk performances like dragon lantern dances and stilt walking. All these express people's wishes for a bountiful year. The festival's characteristic food is "Yuanxiao," also known as "Tangyuan," symbolizing reunion and perfection.
As a traditional Chinese festival, the Lantern Festival constitutes an essential part of the Spring Festival customs and is truly a "carnival" for the entire society. From staying home on New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first month, people of all ages and genders participate in the festivities. The Lantern Festival is not only popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait but also highly valued in overseas Chinese communities. In June 2008, the folk customs of the Lantern Festival were inscribed in the second batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
