Ancient Chinese Lantern Festival
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Ancient Chinese
Lantern Festival
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This holiday is celebrated approximately 15 days after the start of the Chinese New Year. Chinese Lantern Festival is very old.
There are many wonderful stories about how the Lantern Festival first began. One story is that in ancient times, people would go in search of spirits with burning sticks. They thought the spirits could be seen during a full moon.
Another is about a lonely young girl, in Han times, who tricked an emperor into having a wonderful festival just so she could visit with her family! The emperor had such a good time, he decided to make this festival an annual event!
By T'ang times, many families simply set aside one evening, during the first full moon after the new year, to honor the moon. They would sit outside, and gaze up, in awe and delight.
Today, people wear white in honor of the moon, lanterns are hung in the malls and markets, and children carry paper lanterns to school, to light their way to a bright and happy future.
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