The origins of the Lantern Festival have many versions, and the customs of viewing lanterns and eating yuanxiao have been passed down for thousands of years.

The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month each year and is also known as the Shangyuan Festival or the Lantern Festival. It is an important traditional festival in our country. This day is the first full moon night of the lunar new year, and it also means that the Spring Festival celebrations are coming to an end. Around the themes of reunion and liveliness, people welcome the first full moon after the new spring.

As for the origin of the Lantern Festival, a widely circulated account is related to the Han Dynasty. It is said that Emperor Wen of Han designated the fifteenth day of the first lunar month as a festival to commemorate the pacification of the rebellion of the Lü clan; another account says that during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, sacrifices were offered to the Taiyi deity in the first lunar month, and the palace lit lamps all night, making the scene very grand.

Another widely circulated account is related to Buddhism. It is said that Emperor Ming of Eastern Han promoted Buddhism and ordered lamps to be lit in the palace and temples on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to pay respects to the Buddha, and the custom of viewing lanterns gradually spread among the people as a result. In Daoism there is also the theory of the Three Primes, which calls the fifteenth day of the first lunar month the Shangyuan Festival and regards it as a day when the Heavenly Official bestows blessings, and the practice of lighting lamps to pray for blessings also spread.

Through generations of inheritance, the customs of the Lantern Festival have become increasingly rich. Eating yuanxiao or tangyuan symbolizes reunion and completeness, while activities such as viewing decorative lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, dragon and lion dances, and walking on stilts are lively and festive. In many places there are also customs such as viewing the moon on Lantern Festival night and walking over bridges to pray for blessings, which express people's beautiful hopes for the new year.

For traditional agricultural society, after the Lantern Festival the festive atmosphere gradually fades, and various places successively enter the busy season of preparing for plowing and spring plowing. Therefore this festival also carries the wishes of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, praying for favorable weather, and a bumper harvest of all grains, reflecting the close connection between traditional folk customs and farming culture.