The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival and Lantern Festival, is one of the important festivals in Chinese traditional customs and the "finale" of the Chinese New Year. There is a saying that "the 15th day of the first lunar month is the day to celebrate the Lantern Festival". How do you celebrate it? You can find out in ancient Chinese paintings depicting the theme of the Lantern Festival. For example, the 6-meter-long scroll of the Ming Dynasty folk painting "Emperor Xianzong's Lantern Festival Pleasures" in the National Museum of China freezes the grand scene of the Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty court into eternity; the first page of the Qing Dynasty "Emperor Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasures" in the Palace Museum uses a fusion of Chinese and Western perspectives to depict the joyous scene of "watching lanterns in the first month of the year".
As early as the Song Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was celebrated on a grand scale. The most famous work depicting this festival is the Ming Dynasty's "Emperor Xianzong's Lantern Festival Pleasures" which is housed in the National Museum.
Ming Dynasty: "Emperor Xianzong Enjoying Lantern Festival"
Unfolding this more than 6-meter-long "Emperor Xianzong's Lantern Festival Pleasures" is like pushing open a vermilion palace door. The picture is divided into three sections by the red walls of the courtyard, with three magnificent scenes, freezing the grand scene of the Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty court into eternity.
This huge scroll depicts the various scenes of Zhu Jianshen celebrating the Lantern Festival in the palace on the 15th day of the first lunar month. In the picture, various performances from morning to night are all performed with Emperor Xianzong present, including grand performances, acrobatics, magic, fireworks and lantern fairs. In the painting, there is also a street market set up in the palace, imitating folk customs of setting off firecrackers, playing with lanterns, and watching spectacles.
Ming Dynasty: "Emperor Xianzong Enjoying Lantern Festival" (partial)
In the first scene, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty sits under a yellow tent with a smile on his face. He wears a narrow-brimmed hat and a yisa (a popular style of daily clothing for men in the Ming Dynasty) and is watching palace maids and children setting off firecrackers and colorful fireworks.
The palace maids hold firecrackers as if they are holding sparks, and the children cover their ears or jump for joy. Through the screen, you can seem to hear the crisp sound of firecrackers. Moving to the middle of the scroll, people are either gathering in front of the peddler's cart to select their favorite items, or playing around with various lanterns. In the final chapter, the "Aoshan" sea of lights and the various performances complement each other.
Of course, you have to enjoy lanterns during the Lantern Festival. The lanterns in the Ming Dynasty were strange and cute, and they were more creative than those of modern people.
Official Lantern, Toad Lantern
Crane lanterns, horse-shaped lanterns
Official lanterns, toad lanterns, crane lanterns, and horse-shaped lanterns are not only bold and novel in design, but also auspicious in meaning. The elephant-shaped lantern is exquisitely crafted, implying peace and prosperity; the toad lantern has a bulging belly like the moon, symbolizing success. The horse-shaped lantern implies immediate success, and the fish-shaped lantern implies fish every year... Everywhere the lantern shadows sway, there is ingenuity.
The painting also features the "Aoshan" Lantern Festival.
The painting also features the "Aoshan" Lantern Festival, which is a lantern scene specially built for the Lantern Festival. It is the real leader in the lantern world, with thousands of colored lanterns stacked into a mountain shape, more than ten layers high, shaped like an Ao (a legendary giant turtle in the sea), with red, yellow, blue, white, green, purple, cyan, etc., tied in series in various colors in the middle, making it sparkle.
Just as described in the poem: Two phoenixes descend from the clouds, supporting the chariot; six turtles come from the sea. Ten thousand bright lanterns stack up to form the fairyland of Penglai; colorful tassels dangle down to the starry sky. Ordinary bamboo gauze, under the fingertips of skilled craftsmen, condenses the charm of all things and turns into a delicate lamp in the palm of the hand.
Not only was the Aoshan Lantern Festival very lively, but inside and outside the red walls, there was a sense of life. Palace servants and children held firecrackers, which exploded into pieces of red. The peddlers' carts were filled with toys of all colors, attracting people to spend their money. Jugglers showed off their skills, such as hooping, magic, and handstands... It was very lively.
A treasure-presenting team composed of foreign envoys
The treasure-giving teams composed of foreign envoys, leading auspicious animals and carrying corals, as well as the parade of bands and opera performances, are dazzling. The word "noisy" in the Lantern Festival is clearly arranged in this ancient painting.
"Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure" - Viewing Lanterns in the First Month of the Year
The scroll of "Yongzheng's Pleasures in the Twelve Months" in the Qing Dynasty is a group of works depicting the daily life of Emperor Yongzheng, arranged in the order of 12 months of spring, summer, autumn and winter, namely "Watching Lanterns in the First Month", "Outing in the Second Month", "Appreciating Peach Blossoms in the Third Month", "Flowing Wine in the Fourth Month", "Racing Boats in the Fifth Month", "Enjoying the Coolness in the Sixth Month", "Begging for Skills in the Seventh Month", "Appreciating the Moon in the Eighth Month", "Appreciating Chrysanthemums in the Ninth Month", "Portraits in the Tenth Month", "Meditating in the Eleventh Month" and "Appreciating Snow in the Twelfth Month". Judging from the depicted scenery, the object of the depiction should be the Old Summer Palace. The painting is mainly composed of landscapes and pavilions, and the architecture is delicately depicted. There are both Chinese garden buildings and Western pavilions and towers, and some are a combination of Chinese and Western styles. The landscape of the painting may be created by the painter combining the architecture of the Old Summer Palace with his own imagination.
Among them, "Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure Album, Page One" depicts the scene of watching lanterns in the first month of the year. This painting adopts the perspective method that combines Chinese and Western styles. A body of water divides the picture into the near view and the far view. The characters in the painting are in various poses, and there are many kinds of lanterns, which are filled with a festive atmosphere of joy and peace.
Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure (partial)
During the Lantern Festival, the Qing Dynasty court would install thousands of gorgeous lanterns in the Forbidden City and the Old Summer Palace. They were of various shapes, colorful, and auspicious meanings.
Ball lamps are the most frequently used, and can be seen everywhere outside doors, under eaves, and in corridors. The ball lamps hanging in the Wufu Hall in the painting are exquisite and gorgeous, with blessings such as "Ten Thousand Years of Good Fortune", "Three Blessings for Huafeng", and "Nine Blessings from Heaven" written on them, creating a warm and joyful atmosphere.
Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure (partial)
Sky lanterns were important ceremonial lanterns used by the Qing Dynasty court during the Spring Festival. They burned all night long. The sky lanterns in the picture are made of round wood columns, with gold-plated columns and carved with cloud and dragon patterns. There is a dragon-shaped crossbeam near the top. A lantern on Longkou Street with a five-colored pavilion on the top is very gorgeous. Compared with the palace lanterns, most folk lanterns are anthropomorphic lanterns, which are lively and creative.
Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure (partial)
People usually celebrate festivals with fireworks and firecrackers. The painting also depicts adults and children setting off fireworks, with the firework prints reflecting the red plum blossoms on the treetops; some children light firecrackers, while others cover their ears in fear, which is very vivid and playful.
Yongzheng's Twelve Months of Pleasure (partial)
Watching singing and dancing performances is also a must-see during the New Year. In the picture, on the carpeted stage, two actors dressed as monks and a child are entertaining the audience with their exaggerated appearance and lively performance. The broom on the child is meant to sweep away evil spirits and disasters.
The lively and joyous Lantern Festival rekindles the atmosphere of the Spring Festival and turns it into a grand celebration for all the people to enjoy. Festival customs carry people's yearning for a better life and are passed down from generation to generation.
(This article is compiled from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Palace Museum's WeChat official account, the Palace Museum's official website, etc., and is produced by the National Cultural Heritage Administration News Center, China Central Radio and Television Station News New Media Center, Xinhua News Center, the Palace Museum's Social Education Department, etc.)