Shengfang Lantern Festival
A thousand lanterns shine so bright, Shengfang glows the most tonight!
🏮The Lantern Festival Legend
How the Water Town Began
In Shengfang Town, people live by the water. On the Ghost Festival, fishermen light little lotus lanterns and let them float on the river. Boats with lanterns line up, and the glowing flowers drift across the water, making the river shine like a starry sky.
The Magic Ice Lantern Story
Fishermen took big pieces of ice from the reeds and carved them into shining lanterns shaped like gods. The lanterns looked like magic ice statues, glowing in the winter night.
The Big Lantern Party
On the Lantern Festival, people built a tall lantern tower and hung hundreds of glowing lanterns. At night, everyone came to watch the lights and hear songs. In Shengfang, there were thousands of lanterns—shaped like animals, flowers, people, houses, and even gods—making the town shine like a magical garden of lights.
The Emperor’s Special Words
Long ago, Emperor Qianlong saw the lanterns in Shengfang. He liked them so much that he wrote a special blessing: the lotus lights by the river will shine and be loved forever.
Ice melts away,
Good luck stays to play!
📚Resources:
National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China
Yanxia Cultural Resource Database
Baidu Baike
China Heritage Museum of Non-Traditional Cultural Heritage