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Lantern Festival
The first full moon of the new year, with lanterns, riddles and sweet dumplings that stand for reunion.
About Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month ends the New Year season. Streets and temples fill with lanterns, and in many towns people write riddles on slips attached to them for passers-by to guess, a game that began as a way to show scholarship. Round glutinous dumplings (tangyuan or yuanxiao) are eaten, their roundness standing for family wholeness. Taoist tradition connects the day to the Heavenly Official who bestows blessings, so lantern-lighting also carries a wish for good fortune in the year ahead. In Taiwan, some temples hold ceremonies for the lanterns, and in Hong Kong and Singapore the day is a public display rather than a rite.
Also part of it, and being written: Lantern Festival (The festival, its lanterns and riddles.), Tangyuan (The round dumplings of reunion.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Lantern Festival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.