Flickering red lanterns, loud firecrackers and laughter when
people goof on word puzzles -- such was the scene when some Beijing
folk organizations crammed into an old hutong to relive long-gone
Lantern Festival traditions.
The Chinese Lantern Festival, or "Yuanxiao Festival", takes
place on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the first night of
the new year with a full moon. Celebrations often carry on from the
13th day to the 17th day of the lunar New Year.
Traditionally people would hold a five-day carnival nationwide
by hanging up red lanterns believed to bring good luck, guessing
word puzzles, performing lion and dragon dances and eating yuanxiao
-- a round-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice and a sweet
filling.
"It seems that the only celebration left these days is eating,"
said Gao Wei, secretary general of the Beijing Folk Art
Association, who attended the presentation of the traditional
rituals in a hutong restaurant that serves traditional Beijing
food.
"We want to remind the public of traditions which are fading
away among the forest of high-rise buildings," said Zhang Wei, the
organizer of the activity and founder of the Old Beijing website
which records old hutongs before the bulldozers move in as part of
Beijing's relentless modernization.
The 30-year-old man, dressed in a traditional long Chinese gown,
invited folk culture experts and lantern craftsmen to the
activity.
"Unlike today's tomato-shaped red lanterns, animals and
characters from ancient literature are often pictured on the
traditional lantern shades. The craftsmanship is so delicate that
the artist may paint a woman's hair seven times," said Chang
Renchun, 76, an expert on Chinese traditions.
Strips of red paper hang from the lanterns with word puzzles,
and anyone who answers correctly can win a prize, Chang said,
sitting in a beautiful old wooden chair under a sea of bobbing
lanterns.
"I am glad to learn so many traditional rituals," said Jia Yan,
a 24-year-old graduate student of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
who won three gifts from the organizers.
He rushed to the activity after discovering it on the
Old?òBeijing website, but none of his schoolmates joined him.
"It was a great fun. I used to think eating yuanxiao and letting
off fireworks were the only festive things we did," said Gao
Lanxin, a 12-year old girl in a traditional Chinese red coat.
She tried nail-touching, a game married women play in the hope
of having a male baby in the new year. In Chinese the word nail, or
"ding", is pronounced like the word 'male'.
But organizers do not underestimate the difficulty of preserving
these traditions in a fast developing society.
"We need to resort to modern marketing methods to promote the
old traditions," said Gao Wei. Publicizing their ceremony on the
internet attracted some netizens to the restaurant. A few
supermarkets are using word puzzles to attract customers and some
parks are earning money by holding lantern exhibitions.
"In the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), a lot of
old traditions are little more than memories for elderly
Beijingers," said Zhang Wei.
"We are trying hard to revive the traditions, but there is a
long way to go," Zhang said, looking around at the empty seats in
the restaurant.
Young dancers perform in a square to
celebrate the traditional Lantern Festival in
Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu ProvinceMarch 3, 2007. The lantern day, which falls on
Sunday, marks the end of the Lunar New Year
celebration.
A young woman plays an ancient musical
instrument at a performance to celebrate the traditional Lantern
Festival in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province March 3,
2007.
Chinese and foreign visitors flock to
enjoy a lantern show in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province
March 3, 2007.
A girl visits a lantern show in Nanjing,
east China's Jiangsu Province March 3, 2007.
Visitors enjoy the lantern show in
Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province March 3, 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2007)
