初一上学期元宵节英语作文实用20篇

my school is at haimen town. it is very big and beautiful. there are forty-three classes in it. when you come to our school, you can see the modern teaching building.

our teachers work and do practice in it. behind the building, there are two classroom buildings and a school library. in the library there are thousands and thousands of books. after class you can borrow the books you want and also you can read them in the reading room at any time.

beside our classroom, there is a big playground. at about 4:30 p.m. every day, many students play football, basketball and some of them play tennis. all the playground is alive.

our school is a model school in jiangsu. i like my school very much.

lantern festival is a china’s traditional festival. it is celebrated on the

fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year.

i,antern festival is one of the biggest holidays in china. several days

before lantern festival, people begin to make lanterns. lanterns are made in the

shape of different animals, vegetables, fruits and many, other things. while

making lanterns people usually write riddles on lanterns. on the eve of lantern

festival, all the lanterns are hung up.

on lantern festival people go outside to have a look at the lanterns and

guess the riddles on the lanterns. perhaps you call see some wonderful folk

performances,dragon dance and yangko. everything is very interesting and

everyone is very happy. our life is rich and varied.

元宵节是中国的一个传统节日。通常在阴历年的第一个月的第十五天庆祝。

元宵节是中国最大的节日之一。在元宵节到来的几天前，人们就开始做灯笼，有的被做成动物，有的被做成蔬菜，有的被做成水果，各种样式都有。做灯笼时，人们通常在上面写上谜语。在元宵节前夜，所有的灯笼都被挂起来。元宵节英语作文在元宵节这天，人们都出来看灯笼和猜灯谜，也许你还能看见一些精彩的民间表演龙舞和秧歌。每件事都很有趣，每个人都很高兴，我们的生活丰富多彩。

初一英语过去式作文一：Summer vacation

Last summer vacation ,I had a great time. Because I went to Beijing. Beijing was very beautiful, but there was an interesting thing,it made me very happy!

One day, I got a toy tiger from my mother.So,I wanted go to the zoo.When I came to the zoo,I saw a woman and her baby first, that woman took her baby to here also see the tiger. The tiger spent time on sleeping,the woman pointed the tiger and asked her baby:"Look,what#39;s that ?#39; The baby answered:"That#39;s a big cat." Haha,yeah,

when the tiger slept , it just like a big cat!

初一英语过去式作文二：Last weekends

last weekends I was so busy.

In the morning,I visited my grandparents and had lunch together.

We had#39;t seen each other for a long time.

so I really missed them.

In the afternoon,I went out with my friends.

we had basketball games in the park.

It was a really good time for me and I was very happy.

初一英语过去式作文三：My weekend

I had a busy weekend.On Saturday morning,I cleaned the room and washed the clothes.In the afternoon,I did my homework.It was a little difficult,On Saturday evening,I went to the movies.On Sunday

morning ,I went to the library to read a book about history.Then in the afternoon ,I went to the beach.

On Sunday night,I watched an interesting talk show.

What a busy but happy weekend I had!

初一英语过去式作文四：Thursday

Thursday, August 1st

Today I went to the Palace Museum. It was cool. Then I went to the Great Wall . It was fantastic. There were many people there. In the afternon, I visited Tian’an Men Square. There were many beautiful flowers .It was really great. I went to a Beijing Hutung. It was really fun.

I enjoyed myself very much.

初一英语过去式作文五：Last summer holiday

Last summer holiday,My family had gone to HongKong ,At the morning ,my father drive the car to Shenzhen,After the lunch,we take the car to HongKong,HongKong is a center of fanancial.There are many people in there,We just go shopping ,then ,we had a good dinner. The next day ,we gone to the Ocean Park,it was very intersting and wonderful.The good expression was the informce of the dophin,They could save people,also could show many things.They are very smart! I like HongKong very much !

初一英语过去式作文六：Weekend

Jenny had a busy weekend.Last Saturday morning, she did her homework and practiced speaking English at home . She watched TV and played tennis on Saturday afternoon. That night, she went to the movies. On Sunday morning , she cleaned her room and went to the beach. . On Sunday afternoon, she visited her friends and went shopping .She had a party last night. What a busy but happy weekend she had!

Ushered in the annual "Lantern Festival". To celebrate "yuanxiao" fireworks are popular all over the country, yuanxiao is not exceptional also this year, dad bought me a $one hundred worth of fireworks, this can be more one hundred yuan to buy fireworks, there are two value of 25 yuan "all over the sky star," there are two boxes of "fluorescence line", there is a row of "bee", also have three packs of "small rocket", and...

The night of the Lantern Festival, the streets here, flowing, crowded packed; Smoke in the sky, colorful. Look at everyone with fireworks, I also cant wait to come up with a "baby", lit it fuses, soon see fireworks fly into the air blast scattered pieces of colorful flowers, cheering people around "wow! How nice!" At this time I feel very proud.

Then, more and more people, the more excited I picked up the "small rocket", only to hear "sou" with a straight at the clouds take, 1 of "boom" is falling down.

All of a sudden, a light "kongmin light" slowly up to you and the people around you are continuously suspected with the lamp, seems to be the heart pray: "kongmin light to illuminate my future way!"

That night, people gradually dispersed in the streets, and I also with my father and mother went home.

一年一度的“元宵节”又迎来了。为了庆祝“元宵”全国各地的人都流行放烟花，今年的元宵也不例外，爸爸给我买了一百元的烟花，这一百元买到的烟花可多了，其中有两个价值25元的“满天星”，还有两盒“荧光线”，还有一排“小蜜蜂”，也有三包“小火箭”，还有……

元宵节的夜晚，街道上人来人往，川流不息，拥挤得水泄不通;天空中烟雾弥漫，五彩缤纷。看着大家放烟花，我也迫不及待地拿出一个“满天星”，点着它的引线，很快看到烟花飞向空中炸开了一朵朵五颜六色的花朵散开了，周围的人不断欢呼“哇!好漂亮哦!”此时我感到非常自豪。

紧接着，人越来越多了，我更加兴奋得拿起了“小火箭”，只听见“嗖”的一声直冲云捎，“嘣”的一声就坠落下来。

突然，一盏“孔明灯”缓缓地向上飘去，周围的人都目不转睛的疑似着那盏灯，似乎内心都在祈祷：“孔明灯给我照亮前程吧!”

夜深了，街道上的人群渐渐地散开了，我也随着爸爸，妈妈回家了。

在这新学期来临之际，新年的钟声渐渐消逝，我们也从过节的快乐中走出，投入到紧张的学习生活之中，因此制定这个学习计划。

首先，应该先纠正自己的学习态度。“态度决定一切!”心态是取得成功的一个非常关键的环节，拥有好的心态，就会拥有好的成绩!

在这学期里，要加强自己不擅长的科目，在语文上，除了把课文中的内容、知识掌握好以外，还应多读一些课外书，如名人名著等。还要再想些办法提高自己的阅读、写作能力，不能只想课内不管课外了。“好记性不如烂笔头。”记好每一次的笔记，认真对待每一次的习作练习，只有基础扎实了，才可以累计更多。数学，不能只明白课本上的习题应怎么做就够了，如果要学好它，就必须在课外再花一些时间来钻研和多做一些练习。上课仔细听讲，弄懂每一个问题，作业及时完成，追求质量和速度，回家做好预习、复习工作。早晚多听读外语，多积累一些单词，提高英语各方面的水平。从良好的基础上向着更高的目标出发。

最后，也是最关键的一点，就是要科学安排时间，没有合理的安排，再好的计划也会付之东流。所以，在新学期里，最要学会的就是要合理安排学习、娱乐、休息的时间，要把每一点一滴宝贵的时间都抓紧。

新学期，新打算，也为新的目标努力。

The Lantern Festival, this is a good day! A busy day! A memorable day! A heady days! A very happy day! Lets get together to talk about!

Talk about the custom of the Lantern Festival for first! What is it? Have to eat yuanxiao, lanterns, guess riddles, walking on stilts, the dragon... A lot of fun game. Among them, my favorite is guess riddles! You know why? Because guess lantern riddles not only interesting, but also can cultivate language ability? What about you? Like which one?

So, what the Lantern Festival is the poem? Ouyang xiu yuan skarn, cui liquid on Lantern Festival, li shangyins poetry, yue, xin qijis "sapphire. Yuan evening" and li bai... Free to appreciate enjoy so much together the ancients write down these good poem word!

? Do you also like me like this busy Lantern Festival?

元宵节，这是一个好日子!一个热闹的日子!一个令人难忘的日子!一个令人陶醉的日子!一个令人欢乐的日子!让我们一起来谈论谈论吧!

先来说说元宵节的习俗吧!有哪些呢?有吃元宵、送花灯、猜灯谜、踩高跷、耍龙灯……好多好多好玩的游戏呢。其中，我最喜欢的就是猜灯谜了!知道为什么吗?因为猜灯谜不仅有趣，还可以培养语言能力呢?你们呢?喜欢哪一个呢?

那么，元宵节有哪些诗句呢?欧阳修的元夕、崔液的上元夜、李商隐的诗曰、辛弃疾的《青玉案。元夕》还有李白的……有空一起去欣赏欣赏一下这么多古人写下的这些好诗好词吧!

怎么样?你们是不是也和我一样喜欢这个热闹的元宵节呀?

Hello, everyone. This is my English teacher. His name is Wang Nengmin. His English name is Frank. He is a very good English teacher. He speaks English very well. Hes full of humor, too. Hes over 30 years old. He has two small eyes and a small mouth. He is near sighted so he wears glasses. He likes playing computer games and swimming. He also loves reading. He usually reads newspapers after school. His lesson is very interesting. We always learn a lot of things in his lessons. We all like him very much, although he is very strict with us.

Lantern Festival is a Chinas traditional festival. It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year.

I,antern Festival is one of the biggest holidays in China. Several days before Lantern Festival, people begin to make lanterns. Lanterns are made in the shape of different animals, vegetables, fruits and many, other things. While making lanterns people usually write riddles on lanterns. On the eve of Lantern Festival, all the lanterns are hung up.

On Lantern Festival people go outside to have a look at the lanterns and guess the riddles on the lanterns. Perhaps you call see some wonderful folk performances,Dragon Dance and Yangko. Everything is very interesting and everyone is very happy. Our life is rich and varied.

元宵节是中国的传统节日。这是在第一个月的第十五天庆祝农历年。

我,元宵节是中国最大的节日之一。在元宵节的前几天,几个人开始做灯笼。灯笼是由不同形状的动物,蔬菜,水果和许多其他的事情。做灯笼时,人们通常在上面写上谜语。在元宵节前夜,所有的灯笼都被挂起来。

在元宵节人们外出看看灯笼和猜灯笼上的谜语。也许你叫看见一些精彩的民间表演,舞龙和秧歌。一切都很有趣,每个人都很高兴。我们的生活是丰富多样的。

The ancients of January, lunar called night for the fifteenth, so says the Lantern Festival. A year on the 15th day of the first month circle, but also a dollar complex night beginning, the earth de-aging rate-and night, people celebrate the New Years celebration, also continue. The Lantern Festival is also known as "or shang yuan festival".

According to Chinese folk tradition, in this day of the night, people brand bright lights million lamp, points up to show celebration. Go out to celebrate the, randeng put flame lantern riddle quiz and Himalayan, were yuanxiao, have a family reunion, celebration festival, feel happy.

The Lantern Festival is also called the Lantern Festival, yuanxiao randeng custom since the han dynasty, since ShangDeng activities to tang dynasty, more prosperous, the palace, street lights up everywhere, must build tall lamp wheel, lamp floor and lamp tree, a great poet of tang dynasty who at the time of this in 15 night view light "as described the Lantern Festival randeng pageantry" connect han yi starfall, depending on the floor. "like month suspended

More attention the Lantern Festival, the song dynasty ShangDeng activities more lively, ShangDeng activities must carry on the style of five days, light more rich and. The Ming dynasty ShangDeng 10 days to continuous, which is Chinas longest Lantern Festival. ShangDeng activities in qing dynasty, but even though only three days ShangDeng activities on a big scale, unprecedented, except randeng besides, still set the fireworks.

"Lantern riddle quiz" and that "dozen riddles", is the Lantern Festival is an event then increased in the song dynasty, appear. In southern song dynasty when the Lantern Festival, the capital city linan whenever the fans who made numerous puzzle. It started in the remnants of a bunch riddle written in brightly colored lights posted offer people guess. Because riddle can enlighten the wisdom and interesting, so spread by various social strata in the process of welcome.

No sooner had the summer vacation begun than I returned to my native town.

Of course I must make good use of it; otherwise I would incur the displeasure of

my parents.

In the morning I reviewed my lessons and read newspapers or magazines. In

the afternoon I played ball games with my friends or went fishing in the river.

At night (In the night) I watched television with my family (the members of my

family). hardly had the clock on the wall struck ten when I went to bed.

How to protect the environment has become one of thebiggest problems in the

world .

It’s our duty to protect our environment . No matterwhere we live , we

should do something to keep our neighborhood clean and tidy. We can collect

waste paper or other waste things for recycling. We shouldplant more trees and

we should prevent those factories from pouring waste waterinto rivers, lakes and

fields. Weshouldn’t leave rubbish everywhere and spit in public places . We

mustn’t pickthe flowers or step on the grass in public. If everyone tries his

best toprotect the environment , the world will become much more beautiful and

ourlife will be better and better .

In recent years our life is becoming better andbetter. But our environment

is becoming worse and worse. It’s very bad for ourlife. Now many people have

air-conditioners and cars, they produce (give off )waste gas. More and more

trees are being cut down. There are so much sand onthe earth (leaving only sand

) . We often see factories pour waste into riversor lakes. Water in the river is

quite dirty. We haven’t enough clean water todrink in cities. Now we are in

danger. It’s very necessary and important toprotect the environment well. I

think if everyone tries his best to protect theenvironment, the world will

become much more beautiful , and our life will bebetter and better .

the 15-day celebration of chinese new year

the first day of the lunar new year is the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth.many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.

on the second day, the chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. they are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

the third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.

the fifth day is called po woo. on that day people stay home to welcome the god of wealth. no one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.

on the sixth to the 10th day, the chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. they also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.

the seventh day of the new year is the day for farmers to display their produce. these farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. the seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.

on the eighth day the fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to tian gong, the god of heaven.

the ninth day is to make offerings to the jade emperor.

the 10th through the 12th are days that

[高中关于元宵节的英语作文

Looking forward to, look forward to, look forward to the stars, looking forward to the moon, the annual Lantern Festival, eventually came in the evening, the family after dinner, I took mother and fathers hand, clamouring for mom and dad took me out to see lanterns.

Came to the pedestrian street, here was the lantern ocean, looked up and there are lifelike monkey lamp, small and exquisite rabbit lamp, looks very fierce tiger lamp... It is vivid, very spectacular.

Suddenly, I dont know whats wrong, your feet do not seem to work, follow the crowd, we are living have to squeeze into the pipeline. On the second floor, we saw a group of people around together excitedly, as if in riddles, and riddles but my specialty skills, why not let me show my bad? I took mom dads hand and squeezed into the crowd, also immersed in the happiness of riddles.

Im taking it from the above a, title is: once a heart can be lasting. (guess a word) ha ha, guess the riddle is my specialty talents. I think "a" and "denier" may be a word, read it carefully, and saw the word "heart", think "heart" can be written as "忄" ah, so, the answer to this question I want to come out, this word is "constant" word, with perseverance can last. Sure enough that I expected, so the answer is "constant".

Time is the past, like is playing much, look at the time, god, at nine o clock, we reluctantly left, however, through our efforts, and won many prizes!

Looked up at the sky, the moon is so bright, it seems smile to us, and together we revel in the joy of the holiday.

盼啊，盼啊，盼星星，盼月亮，终于盼来了一年一度的元宵节，晚上，全家吃完晚饭，我便拉着爸爸妈妈的手，嚷着要爸爸妈妈带我出去看花灯。

来到步行街，这儿简直成了灯笼的海洋，抬头一看，有活灵活现的猴灯，小巧玲珑的兔灯，看起来无比凶猛的虎灯……简直是栩栩如生，无比壮观。

忽然，我不知怎么了，自己的脚似乎不听使唤，跟着人群，我们被活生生得挤进了步步高。上了二楼，我们看见一群人兴奋地围在一块儿，仿佛在猜谜语，猜谜语可是我的拿手绝活，为什么不让我显现我的厉害呢?我拉着妈妈爸爸的手，挤进了人群中，也沉浸在猜谜语的快乐中。

我从上面取下一支，题目是：一旦有心便能持久。(猜一个字)哈哈，猜字谜可更是我的拿手绝活。我想“一”和“旦”或许可以组成一个字，仔细阅读一番，看见“心”字的时候，想“心”可以写成“忄”啊，所以，这题的答案我便想出来了，这个字就是“恒”字，有了恒心便可以持久。果然不出我的所料，答案果然是“恒”字。

时间流水般的过去了，正玩儿的起劲的时候，看看时间，天呐，九点啦，我们依依不舍的离开了，不过，经过我们的努力，还是赢了不少奖品呢!

抬头看着天上，月亮好亮啊，它仿佛在向我们微笑，和我们一起陶醉在节日的欢乐中。

I will be at grade two of middle school this term, I have a new plan. I want to start running after school. I am not very tall, I want to do the exercise to grow tall. I plan to run two rounds of the runway on the playground every day, which will be eight hundred meters. I wish I can be taller this term. Running is good for health too, I like running.

我这个学期就要升初二了，我有一个新计划。我想开始放学后跑步。我不是很高，我想通过锻炼来让自己长高。我计划每天在操场的跑道上跑两天，那就是800米。我希望这学期我能长更高。跑步也有益健康，我喜欢跑步。

元宵节初一英语作文1

The 15th day of the 1st lunar month is the Chinese Lantern Festival because the first lunar month is called yuan-month and in the ancient times people called night Xiao. The 15th day is the first night to see a full moon. So the day is also called Yuan Xiao Festival in China.

According to the Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) and get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere .

元宵节初一英语作文2

This year, the Lantern Festival, after dinner, we went to watch the lantern and fireworks.

Just after seven, we came to the new city watching lanterns, huge crowds of people here, lantern variety, novel design, various shapes, municipal government before the entire street Christmas, dazzling, attracted tens of thousands of people come to watch; have people doing business early to set up stalls, some car came from the countryside for miles also, the little boy rode on his fathers neck, holding Tomatoes on sticks while eating. Eight oclock, the sky in the municipal building next to a blossoming fireworks display, wow! What a beautiful night sky! I saw the deep blue sky full of colorful fireworks, fireworks open as a ball, like snowflakes, like a ribbon with the meteor, the dark sky shine like day, the Lantern Festival night become very beautiful, I was fascinated by the.

A colorful fireworks in the sky, fireworks explode after a blossoming flowers falling down, and even some flowers with a shiny things, like a colorful meteor; some fireworks exploded after the double decker, went on to become the animal shape; some later began to explode like a meteor shower. Brush down; and as a gold color, the sky became the city of The brightness dazzles the eyes. are boiling...... The colorful lanterns were hung high in the air and sparkled. The beautiful lantern has added a beautiful color to it. How beautiful the night of the Lantern Festival is!

元宵节初一英语作文3

The Lantern Festival which occurs on the 15-th day of the First Month of the Chinese Year marks the end of the New Years Holidays.

Lanterns are everywhere. A most interesting tradition is the posting of riddles called Lantern Riddles. Riddles are written on pieces of paper and posted on lanterns or wall. Any one solving the riddle is awarded a prize. And the food for lantern festival is Tang Yuan i have made some Tang Yuan in a ginger soup my wife got a serious cold so i cooked a pot of ginger soup for her. I look forward to the next spring festival.

The annual Lantern Festival, the mother would give I buy a rabbit lamp, but when I was big Lantern Festival is let me unforgettable.

"Month as do hope tonight..." The fifteenth day of the moon is big and round, like a tracts. All of us kids in xinfeng "slipped" in the park together with his beloved lamp.

Xinfeng park is lively, everywhere decorated. One of the strange little lanterns and a lantern riddle. Some people look at the lights, some people in the guess riddles...

Our lamp have different characteristics, has attracted many tourists. Is red, red peach I pull the lamp, as long as gently pull it will slowly opened, suddenly "fly" from the inside out a walking on the Monkey King, clap for visitors watched constantly. Small yu sun wukong will wield it great. Xiao lis Long Denghui running around, eyes will shine! The day is the most lovely rabbit lamp, is also has an open lotus flower lamp.

Pull a lamp in a cheerful voice. We are a forward run side by side, in a short while chasing each other, with one for a while.

All the lights, the most is the rabbit lamp, because its kind, lovely, brought peace and happiness for our holiday.

There are many traditional festival, our Chinese nation with ethnic characteristics, I like a Chinese festival.

每年的元宵节，妈妈都会给我买兔子灯，但是在我大班那年的元宵节却让我难以忘怀。

“今夜月明人尽望……”正月十五的月亮又大又圆，像玉盘似的。我们全体小朋友一起在丰镇公园里“溜”着心爱的灯。

丰镇公园里可真热闹，到处张灯结彩。一个个奇形怪状的小灯笼上还有一个个灯谜。有的人在看灯，有的人在猜灯谜……

我们的灯各有特点，吸引了很多游客。我拉的是红红的桃子灯，只要轻轻一拉它就会慢慢地打开，忽然从里面“飞”出一个腾云驾雾的孙悟空，游人看了不停地拍手叫好。小宇的孙悟空灯会挥动它的金箍棒。小李的龙灯会跑来跑去，眼睛还会发亮呢!小天拉的是最可爱的兔子灯，小乐也有一个会打开的莲花灯。

兴高采烈地拉着灯。我们一会儿并排向前跑，一会儿互相追逐，一会儿你追我赶。

所有的灯中，最多的是兔子灯，因为它善良、可爱，给我们的节日带来了幸福平安。

我们中华名族有许多传统的节日，具有名族特色，我喜欢过中国节。

How time flies!The first half semester is over。Looking back,I have achieved much over the term.I have learned how to play football.I have made many good new friends in school.But my biggest gain is that I have improved my English a lot.I can get an A in the English exam now.Whats more,I can speak with others in English fluently.That makes me very happy.

But I still have some difficulties.The greatest one at present is that I am still poor at maths,I never get an A for it,though I have studied it very hard.That makes me very sad.Hower,I wont give up.Ill keep working hard.I believe that I can improve my maths soon.

As it’s known to all, China is popular for its emperor of bicycles. This is

because our country is still a developing country and few people can afford

private cars. The demand for a means of transport is met by making millions of

bicycles available.

Riding a bicycle has a lot of advantages over driving a car. First, it is a

physical exercise to ride a bicycle. In contrast, sitting in the car, one tends

to gain weight. Besides, it is much more economical to ride a bike than drive a

car. On the one hand, the only fee a bike-rider has to pay is the annual tax.

However, the annual fees for a car are costly. On the other hand, a bike neednt

be equipped with a parking lot, but a car must. Most important of all, it is

beneficial to the environment to ride a bicycle because the bike doesnt consume

petrol; it is a pollution-free transport. In contrast, the exhaust released by

the car is harmful to the environment.

Since China is a developing country with a large population, bicycles will

still be the most popular means of transport in China for quite a long time.

Most people will still ride bicycles to go to work or to school. The emperor

country of bicycles will remain for at least dozens of years.

Its important for us to be healthy all our life. We cant study or work well without healthy body.

Therere many ways to keep healthy. First of all, we should keep taking exercises every day. We can walk to school instead of taking a bus. After school, we can spend an hour playing ball games. If we live in a high-rise, we can walk upstairs or downstairs. Second, we should have a balanced diet. Finally, we must remember: "Early to bed, early to rise is the way to keep healthy, wealthy and wise."

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival.

But one thing for sure is that it had something to do with celebrating and

cultivating positive relationship between people, families, nature and the

higher beings they believed were responsible for bringing/returning the light

each year.

One legend tells us 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 beck and call and he decided

when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence upon human beings.

Beginning with Qinshihuang, the first emperor to unite the country, all the

emperors 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 as one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would

last throughout the night. They clean it all up in the morning.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism. Tianguan is the

Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the 15th day of

the first lunar month. It is said that Tianguan likes all types of

entertainment, so followers prepare various kinds of activities during which

they pray for good fortune.

Yet another common legend dealing with the origins of the Lantern Festival

speaks of a beautiful bird that flew down to earth from heaven, which was hunted

and killed by some villagers. This angered the Jade Emperor in Heaven because

the bird was his favorite one. Therefore, he planned a storm of fire to destroy

the village on the 15th lunar day. The Jade Emperors daughter heard of this

plan, and warned the villagers of her father’s plan to destroy their village.

The village was in turmoil because nobody knew how should they escape their

imminent destruction.

However, a wise man from another village suggested that every family should

hang red lanterns around their houses, set up bonfires on the streets, and

explode firecrackers on the 14th, 15th, and 16th lunar days. This would give the

village the appearance of being on fire to the Jade Emperor. On the 15th lunar

day, troops sent down from heaven whose mission was to destroy the village saw

that the village was already ablaze, and returned to heaven to report to the

Jade Emperor. Satisfied, the Jade Emperor decided not to burn down the village.

From that day on, people celebrate the anniversary on the 15th lunar day every

year by carrying red lanterns on the streets and exploding firecrackers and

fireworks.

There are many stories on how this festival was created. One other story is

about a maid. In the Han Dynasty, Mr. Eastern was a favorite advisor of the

emperor. One winter day, he went to the garden and heard a little girl crying

and getting ready to jump into a well to commit suicide. Mr. Eastern stopped her

and asked why. She said she was a maid in the emperors palace and her name was

Yuan-Xiao.

She never had the chance to meet her family after she started worked at the

palace. She missed them so much every 12th lunar month. If she couldnt have the

chance to show her filial piety in this life, she would rather die. Mr. Eastern

promised her to find a way so she could reunion with her family. Mr. Eastern

left the palace and set up a fortune-telling stall on the street and disguised

himself as a fortuneteller. Because of his reputation, many people asked for

their fortunes.

But every one got the same prediction - a severe fire accident on the 15th

lunar day. The rumor spread quickly. Everyone was worried about the future and

asked Mr. Eastern for help. Mr. Eastern said, "On the 13th lunar day, the God of

Fire will send a fairy lady in red to burn down the city. If you see a lady in

red wearing green pants riding a black horse on that day, you should ask for her

mercy." On that day, Yuan-Xiao pretended to be the red fairy lady. When people

asked for her help, she said, "Im the messenger of the God of Fire and came to

check on the city and Im going to set up fire on 15th. This is an order from

Jade Emperor. He will watch from the heavens.

I will give you a copy of the imperial decree from the God of Fire. You

should go to ask your emperor to find a way out." After she left, people went to

the palace to show the emperor the decree which reads "The capital city is in

trouble. Fire burns on the palace, and fire from Heaven burns all night long on

the 15th." The emperor of Han Dynasty was very shocked. He called and asked Mr.

Eastern for advice. After pondering for a while, Mr. Eastern said, "I heard that

the God of Fire likes to eat Tang-Yuan (Sweet dumpling). Does Yuan-Xiao often

cook Tang-Yuan for you? On the 15th lunar day, let Yuan-Xiao make Tang-Yuan.

Your Majesty will take charge of the worshipping ceremony and you will give

an order to every house to prepare Tang-Yuan to worship the God of Fire at the

same time. Also, deliver another order to ask every house in the city to hang

red lantern and explode fire crackers. Lastly, everyone in the palace and people

outside the city should carry their lanterns on the street to watch the lantern

decoration and fireworks. If everything goes this way, the Jade Emperor would be

deceived.

Then everyone can avoid the fire accident." The emperor happily followed

the plan. Lanterns were everywhere in the capital city on the night of the 15th

lunar day. People were walking on the street. Fire crackers kept making lots of

noise. It looked like the entire city was on fire. Yuan-Xiaos parents went into

the palace to watch the lantern decorations, and Yuan-Xiao made a big lantern

and wrote her name on the lantern. They happily reunited together after her

parents called her name. Everybody was safe during the night. The emperor of Han

Dynasty had a new order that people should do the same thing every year. Since

Yuan-Xiao cooked the best Tan-Yuan, people called the day Yuan-Xiao

Festival.

Young people were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love.

Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing couples. The brightest lanterns

were symbolic of good luck and hope. As time has passed, the festival no longer

has such implications.

Those who do not carry lanterns often enjoy watching informal lantern

parades. In addition to eating tangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional

Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), another popular activity at this festival is

guessing lantern riddles (which became part of the festival during the Tang

Dynasty), which often contain messages of good fortune, family reunion, abundant

harvest, prosperity and love.