1. There are two widely circulated theories about the origin of the Lantern Festival. One is that the Lantern Festival originated from the "Taiyi Festival" to Taiyi God. On the first full moon of the new year, the fire was lit all night, which means that "man can keep the Yuan, and heaven and man seek peace", which is a continuation of "keeping the Year".
According to the History Book, there were thousands of lights in the palace of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the "Taiyi God" was sacrificed all night. Song quoted this sentence in the article "Lantern in Shangyuan": "Han people often take Xin Temple as a sweet spring in the first month and arrive at Ming Temple at night. It is their legacy to watch lanterns on a moonlit night. "
2. The second argument is that in order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lanterns to show Buddha" in the court and temples on the 15th night of the first month. In Buddhism, the lamp is the law. For many years, lanterns have been used as the custom of Lantern Festival.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival developed to an unprecedented scale, and at the same time, a series of folk carnival activities such as enjoying lanterns appeared. In Tang Ruizong, the 15th day of the first month officially became the Lantern Festival. In the Southern Song Dynasty, people tied riddles to colorful lanterns for viewers to guess and shoot, which was called "riddles", adding to the fun of watching lanterns.
Legend story one
In the Song Dynasty, there was a magistrate named Cai in Fuzhou, who wanted to whitewash the peace in the face of thousands of miles of famine. He ordered to rule all the people, and every household must light seven lights on the night of the Lantern Festival. A poor man named Zhan made a headlight more than ten feet high and wrote a poem: "A rich man has a lamp, but Taicang is a drop in the bucket;" A poor family has a lamp, and a father and son cry. Hearing this, the magistrate had to take back his words. "。
Legend 2
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. A maid-in-waiting named Yuanxiao was unable to reunite with her parents on the fifteenth day of the first month because she was in the deep palace. To this end, she wanted to commit suicide by jumping into a well. Clever Dong Fangshuo came up with a plan to help Yuanxiao girls to be filial to their parents. He told Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that the Jade Emperor, the highest god in the sky, ordered the burning of Chang 'an on the 16th day of the first month. In order to save Chang 'an, Emperor Wu asked Dong Fangshuo what to do.
Dong Fangshuo replied that Vulcan people like red lanterns best. He suggested hanging red lanterns in the street, and emperors, queens, concubines and court ministers should all go out to see the lanterns. This can distract Vulcan's attention and avoid disaster. The emperor accepted Dong Fangshuo's suggestion. When everyone went out to enjoy the lanterns, Yuanxiao had a chance to sneak out of the palace to reunite with his family.