Here’s everything you need to know about Chinese Lantern Festival

Google Doodle is celebrating this year’s Chinese Lantern Festival begins on Sunday, February 5.

The Lantern Festival, which is also known as Yuan Xiao Jie or the Shang Yuan Festival, dates back 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty. It is celebrated in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, as well as many other countries around the world.

Google Doodle marks the festival with a special lantern-themed illustration in countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and more.

Let’s look at the significance of aforementioned celebration in the Chinese calendar as festivities get underway this Sunday.

People perform dragon dance in Qianyuan Town of Deqing County in Huzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Feb. 4, 2023. The Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Feb. 5 this year. Various folk cultural activities were held across the country to welcome the upcoming festival. (Photo by Xie Shangguo/Xinhua)

What’s the Chinese Lantern Festival?

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Chinese Lantern Festival is observed. This always takes place two weeks following Lunar New Year, from February 4 to March 6. The festival fell on February 15 of last year. The event will be held on February 24 in the following year.

Typical festive activities include enjoying lanterns, lantern riddles, lion and dragon dances, as well as eating delicious food such as tangyuan (steamed or boiled rice balls in soup).

Folk artists perform dragon dance in Chenggu County of Hanzhong City, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Feb. 4, 2023. The Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Feb. 5 this year. Various folk cultural activities were held across the country to welcome the upcoming festival. (Photo by Liu Xiaodong/Xinhua)

There are several legends surrounding the celebration’s beginnings. The Jade Emperor’s is, nonetheless, one of the most well-known. A farmer mistakenly hunted the emperor’s treasured crane, according to legend. The monarch wants to destroy the nearby community as vengeance. However, the villager’s daughter forewarned them of this strategy and counseled them to give the impression that the village had already burned down. To create the appearance that their homes were on fire, they placed red lanterns in front of them and let them fly into the sky. The emperor decided against attacking since he thought the community had already been completely destroyed.

Yuan Xiao Jie marks the beginning of Spring

The Lantern Festival is called Yuan Xiao Jie in Mandarin Chinese as Yuan means ‘beginning’ and Xiao means ‘night’. This is as the holiday is celebrated on the first full moon of the year. It signifies the end of the long winter and the welcoming of spring.

In opposition to the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese calendar is Lunisolar, meaning that it uses both the sun and moon to dictate the time of year. Hence why it is referred to as Lunar New Year.