Every year on Lantern Festival, hordes of people gathered in the vicinity of the Confucius Temple with gongs and drums making ear-piercing noises, the liveliness surpassed even the celebrations in Ming dynasty. The classic, Dream of the Red Chamber, describes the bustling view of lanterns. Every year, the Hongwu Emperor spent large amounts of money, material, and manpower in order to produce a substantial number of lanterns to draw people to the lantern fair.Īfter the Manchu people entered into China Proper and established Qing dynasty, they continued and developed the local tradition. Afterward, the duration of the festival was increased to ten nights, making it the longest lantern festival in Chinese history. In order to create an ambiance of prosperity, he actively supported the holding of Lantern Festival. In 1243, the thirteenth of the first month was also added to the festival, which increased the duration to six nights.įairs in Ming, Qing, and Republic of China era Īfter establishing the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor made Nanjing his capital. The tradition of writing " Lantern Riddles" on lanterns was also formed. The festivals were very fancy, and many professional lantern artisans set up shops on the banks of Qinhuai River.ĭuring Northern Song Dynasty, the number of nights for hanging lanterns increased to a total of five, adding the seventeenth and eighteenth of the first month. Curfew restrictions were relaxed on these days. This time saw an increase in the scale of the festival as well as the number of days from one day on the Lantern Festival to three days between fourteenth and sixteenth of the first month of the Lunar Calendar. By Tang Dynasty, lantern fairs on Lantern Festival became a regular practice. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of Liu Song, the development of paper technologies resulted in low prices of paper, which made it a replacement for many textiles and contributed to the development of colored lanterns.įrom the Sui on, hanging lanterns on Lantern Festival became a tradition. When Lantern Festival came, these people would hang up lanterns and decorations, mimicking the Palace. Many nobles and members of the gentry lived on the banks of Qinhuai River. Nanjing (then Jinling) was the capital during Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. Back then, embroidery techniques were passed into Eastern Wu from Shu Han, which stimulated the growth of the textile industry in the region and provided the basis for lantern manufacturing. When armies returned in triumph, government officials and civilians would gather to hang up lanterns around the city to welcome them home. During that time, the act of hanging lanterns was used in festivals and celebrations. The origin of the fairs can be traced back to Eastern Wu. The most recent lantern festival took place on February 17, 2011. On June 2, 2006, the fair was named as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of China by the government of People's Republic of China An old Nanjing saying, "If you don’t see the New Year lanterns at Confucius Temple, you have not celebrated the new year if you go to Confucius Temple but don’t buy a lantern, you haven’t celebrated the new year properly." demonstrates the popularity of this fair. On the day of Lantern Festival, the fair reaches its climax. There have been 25 fairs held up to date, and it is one of the most famous celebration of Lantern Festival in China. Modern usage refers to the large-scale fair held yearly at the Confucius Temple of Nanjing between Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. Qinhuai Lantern Fair, also known as Jinling Lantern Fair, Jinling Lantern Festival, and officially named Lantern Fair on Qinhuai River, is a popular folk custom celebration of the Lantern Festival in the Nanjing area.
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