SQJ Taipei

This went by our house last night… for about 45 minutes!

The Lantern Festival comes 2 weeks after Chinese New Year. It originated as a ceremony to usher in the increasing light and warmth of the season after the winter’s cold. It probably started during the Tang dynasty when the Emperor built 30 lantern towers to celebrate the first full moon of the new year. The lanterns took the forms of dragons, phoenixes, tigers and leopards… dangling and prancing in the air.

Later, smaller lanterns became popular and in many provinces, families lit up as many lanterns as there were family members… and if they desired more children, they would hang additional lanterns. The parades… and lion dances were also added at some point. Lantern Festival is a time for romance as well and it is considered very auspicious to meet one’s future spouse during this time of the year. In fact, our good friend and neighbor, Mei Hua, went to a dinner this past week where she was the guest of honor as a matchmaker.

The Lantern Festival is very popular in Taiwan and the local governments put on large celebrations with very impressive lanterns. I particularly like these lanterns with candles inside them which heats the air inside the lantern like a hot air balloon and the lanterns rise slowly into the air.

You can see some more pictures here and here.