Yuanxiao Festival
元宵节
Yuanxiao Festival is on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month. It is part of and the last day of the Spring Festival.In the old days，people began preparing for the Spring Festival about 20 days before. However the Yuanxi-ao Festival marks the end of the New Year celebrations. And after the Yuanxiao Festival，everything returns to normal.
元宵节的时间是农历的正月十五，这一天是春节的最后一天。在占代，人们提前大约二十天为春节作准备，而元宵节的到来标志着春节庆祝活动的结束。元宵节之后，一切生活又恢复正常。
The Yuanxiao Festival is also known as the Lantern Festival. Yuan literarily means“First" while“Xiao" refers to“night".Yuanxiao is the first time when peo-ple see the full moon in the New Year. It is traditionally a time for family reunion.The most prominent activity of the Yuanxiao Festival is the display of all types of beautiful lanterns. So the occasion is also called the Lantern Festival.
元宵节还称“灯节”。“元”代表第一，古人称“正月”为“元月”，“夜”也称“宵”，“元宵”就是指新的一年中第一个见到圆满的明月的晚上。人们往往在这一天阖家团圆。旧时的春节活动，通常从腊八开始到元宵节才算正式结束。元宵节最有代表性的活动就是观花灯，所以元宵节也称为灯节。
There are many beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival.But one thing for sure is it had something to do with religious worship.
关于元宵灯节的由来，有许多说法:
One legend tells that it was a time to worship Taiyi，the God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that the God of Heaven controlled the destiny of the human world. He had sixteen dragons at his back and calf. It was he who decided when to inflict drought，storms，famine or pestilence upon human beings. Begin-ning with Qin Shi Huang，the first emperor who united China，all subsequent em-perors ordered splendid ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty directed special attention to this event. In 104 BC，he proclaimed it one of the most important celebrations，and the ceremony would last throughout the night.
有人说元宵节的来历与祭祀“泰一神”有关。史载汉武帝时，汉室要祭祀一位叫“太乙”的神明，据说他的权力很大，人间的风雨、千旱、饥谨、瘟疫都由他掌管。据史料记载，汉武帝创建“太初历”(太初元年，即公元前104年)时，就已把元宵节列为重大纪念节日。
Another legend associated with the Lantern Festival is Taoism. Tian-guan was the Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the 15th day of the first lonar month. it is said that Tian-guan liked all types of entertainment. So his followers prepared various kinds of activities during which they prayed for good for-tune.
也有人说元宵节的来历与道教有关。到了唐朝，崇尚老庄，奉道教为国教，为祝贺道教的“上元赐福天官紫微大帝”在正月十五的诞辰而举行各种各样的祝节活动，至此，元宵节又添上了道教色彩。
The third story about the origin of the festival goes like this:Buddhism first entered China dur-ing the reign of the Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dy-nasty. That was in the first century.However it did not exert any great influence among the Chinese people. One day，Emperor Mingdi had a dream about a gold man in his palace. At the very moment when he was about to ask the mysterious figure who he was，the gold man suddenly rose to the sky and disappeared in the west. The next day Emperor Mingdi sent a scholar to India on a pilgrimage to locate Buddhist scriptures. After journeying thousands of miles，the scholar finally returned with the scriptures. Emperor Mingdi ordered that a temple be built to house a statue of Buddha‘and serve as a repository for the scriptures. Followers believed that the power of Buddha could dispel darkness. SoEmperor Mingdi ordered his subjects to display lighted lanterns during what was to become the Lantern Festival. The custom of lighting lanterns continued. However the lanterns would develop from simple ones to those of various color and shape.The scale of the celebration also increased greatly.
第三种说法是和佛教相关。东汉时期，明帝有一天突然梦见大殿里出现了一个不速之客，正要寻问此人身份时，那人却飘至空中消失于西方。翌日，明帝即派人前往印度朝圣求佛经。后来，明帝听说有正月十五日僧人观佛舍利，点灯敬佛的做法，就命令这一天夜晚在皇宫和寺庙里点灯敬佛，令士族庶民都挂灯。以后这种佛教礼仪节日逐渐形成民间盛大的节日。
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