Kindergarten A Track Lesson Four Spring 2010 February 28th 2010

Legend of Lantern Festival Long time ago, there was a holy bird from Haven which got lost in human world and was accidently killed by a hunter. The Emperor of Heaven was very angry and wanted to set fire in human world on the fifteenth day of first lunar month as revenge. Daughter of the Emperor of Heaven was so kind that she can ’ t tolerate to see innocent people suffer. Therefore, she came to human world and told people this news. All human were stunned by that and didn ’ t know what to do. After a long silent, an old man had an idea. He told people to hang lanterns and shoot off firework on the fifteenth day of first lunar month. Then the Emperor of Heaven might think people were burned to death by fire.

People agreed with him and began to prepare. On that night, thePeople agreed with him and began to prepare. On that night, the Emperor of Heaven looked down from sky and found human world was full of red light and loud noise. Hence he assumed people were all killed by fire and people on the ground kept their life and property successfully. In order to commemorate victories, since that every year on this day, people hang lanterns and shoot off fireworks to celebrate.

Activities of Lantern Festival People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan ”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

Activities of Lantern Festival In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.