Lantern Festival or Chinese Valentine?
February 11th, 2017
Illustation Artist: Janice Liu
Lantern Festival marks the end of the 15 day long Lunar New Year festival. Do you know why Lantern Festival is also called Chinese Valentine? What is the origin of the festival?
Origin of the Festival
Lantern Festival has been celebrated in China for over 2000 years, it is believed that the tradition of it originated from the Ming Dynasty.
The Emperor of Ming Dynasty was a Buddhist and because of that, he regularly followed the temples to light up lanterns on the 15th day of the first lunar month to pay respect to the Buddhist God. As time went by, citizens outside of the Forbidden City saw and followed the practice to light up lanterns-it eventually turned into large exhibitions of lanterns and people called it Lantern Festival.
From Lantern Festival to Chinese Valentine
In Chinese proverbs, there is a saying that goes “women cannot make three steps out of their boudoirs”. That is because in ancient times, women from the higher social class have to bind their foots to meet the beauty standards of those times. Tracing back to the time earlier than Ming Dynasty, women in particularly those from wealthy background were not allowed and unable to wander outside of their homes except on the 15th day of the first lunar month- the day when they can be accompanied by friends and families to visit the lantern market. On the night of Lantern Festival, daughters and sons of different families could then meet and socialize with the people that they were interested at.
In Tang Dynasty, there was a national curfew to prevent people from staying out late, this regulation however did not apply on the 3-day Lantern Festival. Yet Lantern Festival only became popular in Ming Dynasty, when the emperor himself propagated the idea of putting up lanterns. Although the Manchu people invaded the Forbidden City later on, the tradition to celebrate Lantern Festival remained until today.
As for Chinese Valentine, it is a modern term to commercialize the Lantern Festival.
Lantern Festival has always been associated with romance, and the term Chinese Valentine has been implemented not too long ago to encourage the purchases of related consumer goods. There are different stories on whether Chinese Valentine should be derived from Lantern Festival or Double Seventh Festival about the Weaver Princess and Cowherd Boy . Many says it should be on the same day as Lantern Festival as it emphasizes showing affection to your loved ones, rather than the message of reuniting with your loved ones on Double Seventh Festival.
Click here to view more about world celebrations of the modern Valentines’ Day!
ABOUT THIS PAGE
Psiphon Today is brought to you by Psiphon Inc. Please visit our Privacy Policy, and find out how you can contact us.