Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival
~Blog Post #2~
April 12, 2015
By Bella Porter

The Lantern Festival is a Chinese tradition that is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year. It marks the last day of the New Year celebration. This festival has been apart of the New Year festivities since the Han Dynasty. At night kids go out and solve riddles on the lanterns that are sometimes made in the shape of an animal. The letting go of the lanterns represents letting go of the past and welcoming a new year and fresh start. The Lantern Festival is just one of the many rituals they have over the celebration of the new year. During the Chinese New Year the streets are decorated. Red lanterns are hung in the street, red couplets are pasted on doors, and buildings are decorated with red New Year pictures depicting images of prosperity. Also gifts of money in a red envelope are given to children and senior citizens during the New Year. As you can tell Red is a very symbolic color of the Chinese New Year. Fish is a very important food to be eaten during the New Year because it is believed that it is to bring surplus and luck in the year to come. With all the festivities during the fifteen day New Year the Lantern Festival is a great way to end all of the celebration. This special event is very sacred and important to the Chinese culture and they hope to carry it on forever. 

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/special-report/chinese-new-year/

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year