Made With Paper
Flying to US a few hours later. I hope I have gotten everything for the trip… The most important thing is my iPad because I can draw during the long journey!
Today is the 15th day of the 1st month in Lunar Calendar. Today is commonly celebrated by all Chinese people as Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵节) or more well known as Lantern Festival in English. This festival is also called Shang Yuan Jie (上元节). The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is Zhong Yuan Jie (中元节, or Hunger Ghost Festival in English) and the 15th day of the 10th lunar month is Xia Yuan Jie (下元节). Shang Yuan Jie or Yuan Xiao Jie is a major festival in China. And the activities of Chinese New Year will reach a high point on this day. Early on the morning of this day, there will be dragon dancing and lion dancing parades in the streets, and all the streets will be crowded with people. The happiest moment comes in the evening of this day. In the evening, families will go out together to enjoy the glorious full moon and appreciate colourful lanterns and also solve the lantern riddles. In some places of China, people even fly Kongming Lantern (孔明灯, as shown on the top right hand corner in my drawing) which their beautiful wishes are written. 元宵 (yuan xiao) is a traditional food made of glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls with sweet filling (e.g. Black sesame as shown in my drawing and peanuts or red beans) and is then cooked and served in boiling water. This food is usually eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, come to symbolise the family togetherness and reunion. This food is also known as Tang Yuan (汤圆). According to the legend, during the period of Yuan Shikai’s (袁世凯) rule from AD 1912 to 1916, he disliked the name Yuan Xiao (元宵) because it sounded identical to “remove Yuan” (袁消), and so he gave orders to change the name to Tang Yuan. This day officially marks the end of Chinese New Year celebration.
Made with Paper
Today is the 14th day of the 1st month in Lunar Calendar. To most parts of China, the fourteenth day of the Chinese New Year is all for the next day — Lantern Festival. On this day, the lantern fair is officially open for citizens to buy lanterns. Performances like dragon dancing and lion dancing for Lantern Festival begin to practice in the streets. There are also riddles written on some lanterns for people to guess, adding to happy atmosphere of the festival. The Lantern Riddles (灯谜, deng mi) is a very traditional word puzzle games in China. Adults and children all love solving the problem. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhong qui jie) which is sometimes also known as the “Lantern Festival” in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Made with Paper
Today is the 13rd day of the 1st month in Lunar Calendar. The preparation for Lantern Festival is still going on. In the southern part of China, this day is the day to appreciate lanterns. On this day, Chinese people in an endless stream will go to Town God’s Temple (城隍庙, cheng huang miao) to appreciate lanterns. And this is only the prologue of the lantern show of Lantern Festival. There are many different kinds of lanterns besides the traditional red round lantern. The lantern show will normally start from today and end around the 18th day of Chinese new year. A folk saying goes like: 13rd and 14th are for gods to enjoy lanterns, 15th and 16th are for ordinary people, whereas 17th and 18th are for the ghosts. (十三十四神看灯，十五十六人看灯，十七十八鬼看灯)
Made with Paper
