Celebrating Community and Tradition: Part 7

by | Feb 25, 2021 | Beyond the Collections, Culture, Food, Guest Author

The End:

Lanterns Alit 

Contributor: Alison Fong is a junior Honors College student majoring in history, international and global studies with a concentration in peace, human rights, and security, and Asian studies and minoring in East Asian history and politics. Originally born in Singapore before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 2010, Alison is involved on campus as a member of the University of Arkansas Museum Student Advisory Council, an Honors College Ambassador, and a member of Sigma Iota Rho. After college, Alison desires to pursue a masters in global and Asian history and further her knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

 

Lantern Festival in Tainan 

Finally, it is the last day of celebration for Chinese New Year. After two weeks of festivities, good food, multiple ‘Lo Hei’ experiences, house visits, and cash-filled red packets, we have come to the conclusion of the celebration. The last day of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival (元宵节: yuánxiāo jié). It is one of two festivals in Chinese culture that features lanterns, the other being the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节: Zhōngqiū jié), which traditionally celebrates the end of the autumn harvest and has vastly different customs. 

There are several origin stories of the Lantern Festival. One of them mentions that the Lantern Festival originated during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) when Buddhism grew in popularity in China. An emperor discovered that Buddhist monks would worship Buddha by lighting lanterns and observing them, and he ordered for lanterns to be lit in every temple and in the imperial palace to pay his respects to Buddha. This Buddhist rite evolved into a cultural festival that flourished among the commonfolk and spread throughout China and Asia. 

Chinese riddles on red lanterns during the Lantern Festival in China 

Part of the festival’s customs is solving the riddles on the lanterns (猜灯谜: cāidēngmí). If you solved the riddles, you could check answers with the owner of the lantern. And if they are correct, they will receive a little gift! Such a tradition originated in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and quickly became popular amongst everyone. In the past, lanterns were simple in design, while only the imperial family and aristocrats were able to afford elaborately decorated lanterns. Nowadays, there are many ornate lanterns – some in the shape of the zodiac of the year. These lanterns represent a new beginning; the festival itself promotes the values of peace and forgiveness.  

Another tradition of the festival is to feast on 元宵 (yuánxiāo) or 汤圆 (tāngyuán), which are small round balls made with glutinous rice flour and filled with a variety of ingredients. Sometimes, they are made plain, and other times, they are made with sweet peanuts, black sesame, chocolate, rock candy, fruit preserves, red bean, or lotus bean paste – my favorite is the sweet peanut filling. Nowadays, they can come in a variety of pastel colors as well, which makes for a very colorful and fun bowl of tangyuan. They can be boiled or deep-fried, and there are two ways to serve them. If you are eating the savory kind of tangyuan, you should serve them in a clear soup broth. If you are eating sweet tangyuan, you should serve them in a ginger-infused syrup. My father’s side of the family is Cantonese, so we tend to eat our tangyuan in 糖水 (tong sui: literally “sugar water”).  

Tangyuan in ginger syrup broth 

There are many other activities to do during the Lantern Festival such as watching the many dance performances that take place during the day and then watching the burst of fireworks at the end of the night.  

And with that, this concludes our journey of learning about the various traditions and stories of Chinese New Year. Although I can only offer a small part of what is a very multifaceted cultural festival, I hope that I have brought more insight to a celebration that I love so dearly. So, for the last time, may you have a happy new year!  

祝你们新年快乐！ 

Some extra resources: 

  • Myths of the Lantern Festival: If you want to learn more about the various myths behind the Lantern Festival, check out this website.  
  • DIY Paper Lantern: If you want to make your own paper lantern, check out this super easy DIY activity. 
  • Tangyuan Recipe: If you are interested in making your own tangyuan, this recipe teaches you how to make tangyuan with the sweet ginger syrup. 
  • 1485 Lantern Festival: Check out this awesome painting from the Ming Dynasty that depicts the Lantern Festival in the Forbidden City 

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