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Lantern Festival | BACK |
This holidays originated from the Han dynasty where "Tai Yi", god of the heavens was worshipped. The worship ceremony occurred at night and lanterns were lighted from dusk to dawn.
January 15th of the lunar calendar is "Lantern Festival", the first full moon night of the new year. This day is also known as "Yuan Hsiao Jye" and is the last holiday of the New Year season. On this day, families eat glutinous rice balls called "Tang Yuan" or "Yuan Hsiao." Riddle guessing and lantern carrying are customs still carried on today.
The tradition of eating rice balls is symbolic of family unity. Northerners and southerners use different methods to make these rice balls. A variety of sizes, flavors and fillings can be used.
This holiday is also known as lantern festival because of the age-old custom of carrying lanterns that represent joy, happiness, luck, prosperity and hope. It is also considered a big part of the nation's cultural arts.
The origin of lantern-carrying began when students came to school after the holidays with home-made lanterns. The teachers would then light up their lanterns to symbolize that the students would have bright futures ahead. The lighting of lanterns later involved into the lantern-carrying custom seen today.
When the "Lantern Festival" is over, this concludes the entire new year's celebration period. Thus, people should start focusing on the promising New Year that waits ahead.
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