The Lantern Festival is the same. According to an ancient legend, the people of China think that fire can help them drive away snakes and insects, and the low fire in Buddhist culture and art is also a key existence. Therefore, after Buddhism was introduced into China, the Lantern Festival related to fire also gained a corresponding development trend. In particular, Emperor Han Ming, who respected Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, ordered the people of the whole country to "light lamps to worship Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month in order to better publicize and plan Buddhism. This is the origin of the custom of enjoying lanterns on the Lantern Festival.
With the help of Emperor Han Ming, the Lantern Festival gradually became a national festival. Until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the ancients paid more attention to the Lantern Festival than before, and the Lantern Festival holiday changed from one day in the Han Dynasty to three days. Later, the development trend reached the Song Dynasty, and the Lantern Festival was further postponed to five days. During the Lantern Festival in Sui and Song San, the degree of prosperity and excitement gradually increased. During the Lantern Festival in the Song Dynasty, in addition to lighting and hanging lanterns, officials will continue to give out big red envelopes for Lantern Festival, and the monarch will also have fun with the people.
Xin Qiji, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, once read the poem "Thousands of trees bloom on windy nights and stars are like rain", describing the bustling scene of the Lantern Festival. On the basis of the original custom of Lantern Festival in Song Dynasty, other ways of celebration were developed, including solve riddles on the lanterns. In addition, the Lantern Festival in the Song Dynasty has a terrible color, and relevant prison units will use lighting or pattern design to publicize and plan prisoners' short stories during this festival.
In addition to the increase of entertainment, people in the Song Dynasty invented a seasonal food to better celebrate the Lantern Festival. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", and later it was gradually renamed as "Yuanxiao" with the development trend of time. As a result, the custom of eating Yuanxiao on the Lantern Festival came out and has been preserved to this day. In addition to the usual custom of eating Yuanxiao and enjoying lanterns in solve riddles on the lanterns, there are also some major customs in some areas, such as pasting in Hebei and walking on stilts in Hubei.