Le’an Festival Lantern Fair
Le’an Festival Lantern Fair
Nominating Unit: City of Foshan
Le’an Festival Lantern Fair, with a history of over 200 years (which can date back to the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty), is a traditional folk custom on Lantern Festival at Le’an dyke in Luo village of Nanhai, during which people hang and enjoy lanterns. Nowadays, Le’an Festival Lantern Fair, centering on Le’an dyke, has a huge influence in such areas as Zhangcha, Nanzhuang, Guicheng, Yanbu, and Dali, etc.
Every lunar January 9th, Le’an dyke becomes rather exciting. People in the neighboring areas buy festival lanterns one after another, which makes Le’an dyke a land of lanterns. According to a local legend, during the reign of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, a man surnamed Mai and his wife had been sterile for eight years since they got married. On lunar January 9th one year, he accompanied his wife to enjoy the festival lanterns at Le’an dyke. Later, his wife got so tired that she sat down on a stone to have a rest. Unexpectedly, she got pregnant after she returned home. From then on, the local people called that stone‘Child-bearing stone’, which was said to be quite efficacious. Later, in every Lantern Fair, many couples go to sit there, which enlarges the influence of it.
On lunar January 10th, people light the lanterns. On the15th, they celebrate. The Lantern Fair doesn’t end until the Lantern Festival is over. The lanterns are mainly shaped like the lotus flower, orange, carp, and aniseed, among which the lotus flower lantern means “Fortune comes with blooming flowers and Kuan Yin (goddess of mercy) send a baby”, the orange lantern signifies “Everything goes well”, the carp lantern symbolizes “Fish jump very high (the child in the family will have a bright future)”, and the aniseed lantern stands for Mr. Brinker. Besides, people match the lanterns with different objects to express their wishes. Take the lotus flower lantern for example, if it’s matched with lotus root, it means an ideal couple as if made in heaven; if it goes with arrowhead, it signifies getting a son; if it’s matched with Lianpeng (a kind of lotus fruit), it symbolizes a bumper harvest; if it goes with a flower, it means winning the first place in the imperial examination; if it’s matched with a pheasant tail, it signifies grace, etc. At the Lantern Fair, the lion dance and dramas are performed. When enjoying the lanterns, people can appreciate all kinds of performing arts.(https://www.daowen.com)
The Le’an festival lanterns are in a great variety. They have not only preserved the advantages of the local folk lanterns, but also absorbed the essence of the lanterns in neighboring areas, which are of great aesthetic value. As a representative of the customs of festival lanterns in Lingnan area, the Fair has survived intact through many vicissitudes, not only reflecting people’s longing for a beautiful life, but also absorbing the folk consumption customs. It has a huge influence with over 10,000 participants. People out of home all come back to enjoy the lanterns and have a chat with their old folks, which is of great importance to connecting people and enhancing cohesion.
At present, most of the lanterns at the Le’an Festival Lantern Fair are made in the neighboring areas. The workmanship of the traditional Le’an festival lanterns is facing the danger of extinction unless measures are taken to rescue and protect it.
