Origin of Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Chinese traditional festival, Lantern Festival, also known as the "Shangyuan Festival", the activities for this holiday are rich and colorful, people eat yuanxiao, watch lanterns, guess riddles, play dragon lanterns, lion dance, walk on stilts and other customs. The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, from the Chinese folk uses lights to pray for the ancient custom, the pray is on the 14th night of the first month, generally "test light", the 15th night for the "formal light", folk points lamp, also known as "send lamp", used to pray for God.  During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Lantern Festival was often regarded as the end of the Chinese New Year. 

The Lantern Festival is also a romantic festival in the traditional Chinese festival, the Lantern Festival in the feudal traditional society, for unmarried men and women to get to know each other provides an opportunity, the traditional society of young girls are not allowed to go out freely, but the festival can be together to play, the Lantern Festival is a chance to make friends. Unmarried men and women can also find a partner for themselves by watching the lanterns. During the Lantern Festival, it is also a time for young men and women to meet their lovers. So the Lantern Festival can be said to be the authentic Chinese Valentine's Day.