The Lantern Festival is an ancient Han festival and folk activity. Originated in the Han Dynasty. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the first full moon night of the year, and it is also the night of the rejuvenation of the earth, which is celebrated by people and the continuation of the celebration of the new year. The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival" and the Lantern Festival, the custom of lighting the lantern festival originated in the Han Dynasty, the whole country celebrates, and the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty are similar, the Han, Tang and Song dynasties have a day off for three days and five days respectively.

During the period of Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, the scale of the lamp market in Chang'an is very large, 50,000 lamps are burned, there are many kinds of lanterns, the emperor ordered people to make a huge lamp tower, 20 rooms are wide, 150 feet high, the golden light is bright, it is extremely spectacular. Every Lantern Festival, on the Royal Street of Kaifeng, 10,000 colored lanterns form a mountain of lights, fireworks and lanterns, gold and blue shoot each other, and the splendid scenery is intertwined. Kyoto girls sing and dance, and thousands of people watch. Visitors gather under the two corridors of Kaifeng on the royal street, the thaumaturgical ability takes turns to play, the singing and dancing are all the best, the scales are tangential, and the music is noisy for more than ten miles. "In the streets and alleys, the lights and candles of the tea shops are burning, the gongs and drums are sounding, the firecrackers are ringing, and the lights are endless.

In the Song Dynasty, it was even more innovative, and the grand occasion was unprecedented.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was time for breakfast, and the waiter reported the recipe loudly: "Please Your Majesty enjoy the floating yuanzi, and the businessman also calls it 'ingot'." The palace Lantern Festival, also known as "tangyuan", has become more and more exquisite, with sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow cinnamon, walnut kernels, nuts, jujube paste, osmanthus sugar, hawthorn sugar, assortment, bean paste, sesame, peanuts and so on as filling. As far as dough is concerned, there are Jiangmi noodles, yellow rice noodles and bud noodles. The filling is sweet and salty meat and vegetarian, the salty one has lard and meat filling, and the vegetarian one has mustard, garlic, leek, and ginger composed of five Xin Lantern Festival, which has the meaning of industrious, long-term and upward. ”

Then the waiter pointed to the various rice balls and introduced: "This is boiled soup, this is fried, and this is steamed, which means reunion and happiness." It symbolizes the heat and fire of the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty, and the reunion is reunited. "Under the leadership of Concubine Wen, all the beauties thanked the food supervisor.

After breakfast, Concubine Wen happily said to Emperor Xu: "Brother Xu, there is such a saying among the people that someone is so good that he can't find a lantern. ”

Emperor Xu was very curious, and hurriedly asked, "Is that such a person?" ”

"Yes, it always has been!" Concubine Wen praised gently.

The moon opens the city, and people make appointments under the lights.

After dinner, Emperor Xu said happily to all the beauties: "In the past dynasties, the Son of Heaven and the people are happy, and I think that the government and the opposition are reunited. I remember a small poem that read: 'Play Shun music, enter the Yao Cup, and spread the propaganda car to the heavenly street.' The king rejoiced with the people, and came from all sides. It is the scene of the emperor of my dynasty enjoying the Lantern Festival with the people in Xuande Gate. ”

The beauties listened to the powdered face with spring, as if they had been bathed in the morning glow of spring in March.

Emperor Xu took a small chariot, a small stop (pronounced the same as "Bi") in the Xuande Gate, and the concubines sat in a sedan chair to follow closely behind and watch the lanterns; Subsequently, drive to the Xuande Building, a large terrace has already been set up downstairs, all kinds of artists perform sumo, juju, hundred opera and other programs on the terrace, the imperial concubines sit upstairs to enjoy the performance, the sound of the palace concubines laughing, drifting far away; The people all watched under the terrace, and the citizens who went to Xuande Gate first exchanged their heads and ears, "We are so lucky that we can see the majesty of the Son of Heaven up close and absorb a little dragon energy." ”。

The sixth sister looked at these female sumo wrestlers, one of them was very fat and strong, and her temperament was extremely strong, and she sighed: "The image of a woman is like this, who else loves it?" ”

The other beauties thought of their slender waist and beautiful face like tender branches in spring, and they all felt the same way, and echoed: "Yes, which man can stand it?" ”

Concubine Wen didn't think about it, and blurted out: "The dragon is looking for the dragon, the phoenix is looking for the phoenix, the female sumo wrestler, and the male sumo wrestler hurts." ”

Hahaha, the imperial concubines laughed knowingly.

At this time, the hawkers selling the "market food plate rack" waited outside the door, waiting for the concubines who admired the lanterns to announce, and the personal maids of all the beauties went downstairs to buy snacks and snacks, and they were very generous, and they were bought back at several times the price, which can be described as a lot of money, making the small merchants and vendors smile into golden lotuses. These lucky hawkers made a fortune overnight, and they can be described as "rich overnight".

Concubine Wen asked the second sister beside her how many days this activity would last, and replied that it would take five days. After more than an hour, Ling'er reminded: "Brother Emperor, Sister Wen, all sisters, for the sake of the health of the dragon and phoenix and the safety of the emperor, it's time to go back to the palace to rest." So, the imperial concubine and her entourage returned happy.

Emperor Xu remembered that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, he was very happy to spend the festival with his beloved, and decided to come again without knowing what night it was.

Before going to bed, Concubine Wen asked Emperor Xu to tell a legend about the Lantern Festival, and Emperor Xu did not refuse, because he had read "Historical Records" in his early years.

"Ai Concubine, this legend is related to the custom of eating Lantern Festival."

According to legend, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a favorite minister named Dongfang Shuo, who was kind and funny. One winter, after a few days of heavy snowfall, Dongfang Shuo went to the Imperial Garden to fold plum blossoms for Emperor Wu. As soon as I entered the garden gate, I found that a palace maid was about to throw herself into the well with tears streaming down her face. Dongfang Shuo hurriedly stepped forward to rescue her and asked her why she wanted to commit suicide. It turned out that this palace maid's name was Lantern Xiao, and she also had two parents and a younger sister at home. Since she entered the palace, she has never had the opportunity to meet her family. Every year when the spring comes, I miss my family more than usual. I feel that if I can't be filial in front of my parents, it's better to die. Dongfang Shuo listened to her plight and felt deep sympathy, so he promised her that he would try to reunite her with her family.

One day, Dongfang Shuo went out of the palace and set up a divination stall on Chang'an Street. Many people were vying to ask him for divination. Unexpectedly, what everyone wants is the sign of "burning on the sixteenth day of the first month". For a while, there was a great panic in Chang'an. People are asking for a solution to the disaster. Dongfang Shuo said: "On the evening of the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the Fire God King will send a red-clothed goddess to visit the earth, she is the messenger who was ordered to burn Chang'an, I will give you the transcribed verses, so that you can think of a way today." After saying that, he threw down a red post and walked away. The common people picked up the red post and hurried to the palace to report to the emperor.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took it and took a look, only to see that it read: "Chang'an is robbing, burning the emperor, fifteen days of fire, burning red supper", he was shocked, and hurriedly invited the resourceful Dongfang Shuo. Dongfang Shuo thought about it for a while, and said: "I heard that Huoshenjun likes to eat rice balls the most, doesn't the Lantern Festival in the palace often make rice balls for you?" Fifteen nights, you can make rice balls for the Lantern Festival. Long live the incense offerings, and order every family in Kyoto to make rice balls, and worship the god of fire together. Then he instructed his subjects to hang lamps on the fifteenth night, light firecrackers and set off fireworks all over the city, as if the city was on fire, so that the Jade Emperor could be concealed. In addition, the people outside the city were informed to go into the city on the night of the 15th to watch the lanterns, and mingle with the crowd to eliminate disasters and solve problems." After hearing this, Emperor Wu was very happy, and he sent a decree to do what Dongfang Shuo did.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Chang'an City is lit up with lights, and visitors are bustling with people, and it is very lively. The parents of the palace maid Lantern Festival also took their sister into the city to watch the lanterns. When they saw the big palace lantern with the word "Lantern Festival" written on it, they shouted in surprise: "Lantern Festival!" Lantern Festival! Lantern Xiao heard the shouts and finally reunited with her relatives at home.

After such a lively night, Chang'an City was really safe. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed, so he ordered that every fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the future make dumplings for the god of fire, and on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the whole city will still hang lamps and set off fireworks. Because the rice balls made during the Lantern Festival are the best, people call the rice balls the Lantern Festival, and this day is called the Lantern Festival. ”

"What a wonderful story that warms people's hearts, and what a talented Dongfang Shuo. The people of our dynasty should cherish this hard-won reunion festival even more. Concubine Wen couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Emperor Xu stroked Concubine Wen's slightly bulging lower abdomen, smiled, stared at her tenderly, and said gently: "The full moon is reunited, this situation can be asked." ”