Lantern Festival
An illustration of Lantern Festival created for the February month for Little Door Collective 2017 Calendar of World Festivals.
The Lantern Festival dates back to as early as the Western Han Dynasty (205BC- AD25). Buddhist monks lit lanterns in the temples on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to mark the beginning of a new year. This custom gradually grew into a grand festival. The festival is full of fun with lanterns in all different shapes and riddles on the lanterns for children to solve. In ancient China, young women were not allowed out of the house. However this special night was an exception. This provided the only opportunity for young men and women to meet and its therefore commonly known as the Chinese Valentine's Day.
The Lantern Festival dates back to as early as the Western Han Dynasty (205BC- AD25). Buddhist monks lit lanterns in the temples on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to mark the beginning of a new year. This custom gradually grew into a grand festival. The festival is full of fun with lanterns in all different shapes and riddles on the lanterns for children to solve. In ancient China, young women were not allowed out of the house. However this special night was an exception. This provided the only opportunity for young men and women to meet and its therefore commonly known as the Chinese Valentine's Day.
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