In Zubangtun and Guolao Street, Yijiang Village, Tongde Township, Jingxi County, there is an ancient traditional custom, that is, on the 16th day of the first lunar month every year (Guolao Street is on the 12th day of the first lunar month), every household will carefully make two or three lanterns of different styles. Why do we have to play with lanterns? There is a vivid myth and legend. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a family surnamed Li who gave birth to a fat son named Li Er. Because he was born with white hair, people called him Laozi. Later, he became an immortal, and the Jade Emperor named him Taishang Laojun. His disciples worship him as the Lord of Morality. One day, Taishang Laojun visited Lingxiao Palace, and the Jade Emperor specially summoned the immortals from the three realms to hold a treasure competition to welcome Taishang Laojun. All the immortals presented strange and bizarre gems, and the Jade Emperor ordered Rongguang Tianwang to collect them. After the gods and immortals paid homage to the Jade Emperor, the Jade Emperor gave them a banquet. When everyone raised their glasses to bless the Jade Emperor and Taishang Laojun, Rongguang Tianwang suddenly ordered the Dapeng bird to spread its wings and cover the Lingxiao Palace, and the banquet was completely dark. The Jade Emperor shouted, "Sun, Moon and Star Lord, what's going on?" At this time, Rongguang Tianwang ordered the golden tortoise and jade rabbit to scatter the precious pearls and jade cups that had been gathered together to the sky and the ground. In an instant, the clouds and golden light shone, turning the heaven and the earth into a magnificent and beautiful world. All the gods and immortals cheered in unison. Taishang Laojun clapped his hands and cheered. The Jade Emperor also laughed. He raised his glass to persuade them to drink, and at the same time, he awarded Rongguang Tianwang a jar of imperial wine. After Rongguang Tianwang drank a few glasses of wine, he became complacent and forgot his own limitations. He was originally a servant boy beside the Jade Emperor, nicknamed Rong'er. Because of his eloquence, flattery, and opportunism, he won the favor of the Jade Emperor. Once when the Jade Emperor was drunk, he named him the King of Glory. Later, the Jade Emperor knew that he had spoken out of turn, but due to his dignity, he could not take back his order. King of Glory was drunk and his ambitions were aroused. He glanced at Taishang Laojun who was sitting at the same table with the Jade Emperor, and was very unconvinced. Before, he had never seen Taishang Laojun, but only heard people talk about him, and he was somewhat in awe of him. Now, seeing this skinny old man with white hair and long beard in person, he was not impressive and nothing special. He wanted to let Taishang Laojun know that there were many people in the heavenly palace who had more profound magic power than him. Thinking of this, King Rongguang came before Taishang Laojun with a smile on his face, and said respectfully: "Taishang Laojun, today is the treasure competition, and the immortal friends from the three realms have shown their magical powers. I wonder what treasure you have? Please show it to me and all the immortal friends so that we can open our eyes." Taishang Laojun was happy, but he did not expect King Rongguang's intention, and replied: "I have just arrived in the Heavenly Palace, and I don't have any precious pearls. Please forgive me, King Rongguang and all the immortal friends." The gods all nodded to show their understanding. However, King Rongguang said further: "It is not difficult for Laojun to have no pearl, but if he does not have any treasure at all, how can he convince the people in the future?" Guanyin Bodhisattva, who was sitting next to Taishang Laojun, saw that King Rongguang was trying to make trouble, and scolded him: "How dare you! Taishang Laojun has always been concerned with cultivating Taoism and preaching the true scriptures. He is not like you, who only relies on a few treasures to show off your power. Why don't you get out of here quickly!" King Rongguang thought he had succeeded at this time, and was not willing to listen. He said: "Since Laojun is so advanced in Taoism, I would like to ask for your advice." After that, he took out a jade hairpin and deliberately shook it in front of Taishang Laojun, saying: "If you can break this treasure, we will obey you. Otherwise, please give up the throne of Taishang Laojun and let others sit." When the fairies in the hall saw that King Rongguang said such outrageous words, they were so shocked that they all curled their tongues. Guanyin Bodhisattva chanted: "Amitabha, sin, sin." The Jade Emperor also felt that Rongguang Tianwang was unreasonable and too arrogant. He thought: Let Laojun punish this kid, so that he won't rebel in the future. He shouted: "Rong'er, don't be unreasonable!" Taishang Laojun saw the truth, smiled faintly, nodded to the Jade Emperor, and said: "It's okay, it's okay." He pointed at the jade hairpin in Rongguang Tianwang's hand and said: "This is something left by the maid of the Queen Mother. You got it by abducting. Don't I understand? Humph!" He stroked the long beard hanging in front of his chest, gently twisted it with two fingers, and twisted off a gray beard, saying: "If the king can use the hairpin to break this beard, I will immediately report to the Jade Emperor and give the position of Taishang Laojun to the king." Rongguang Tianwang didn't take this little trick seriously and said: "Okay!" Waving the hairpin, he was about to fight. "Wait!" said the Jade Emperor. "Since both sides have a stake in the bet, Laojun should give up his throne if he loses, and Rong'er should give up his throne if he loses." Rongguang Tianwang thought he had won the bet, and he bowed happily, "I obey the Jade Emperor's order." He threw the golden hairpin and released a blazing flame, intending to burn the white beard and the long beard on Laojun's chin. The Jade Emperor and the immortals watched with interest. But they saw the white beard entangled with the flames, then jumped to the top of the flames and danced. Taishang Laojun chanted a spell and directed the beard. The white beard was sometimes soft and sometimes strong, like a steel whip, waving the flames. After a while, there was a sudden "pop" sound, like a firecracker, and the beard burst into a ball of white light. In an instant, the flames disappeared, the golden hairpin broke, and the fragments were scattered all over the floor. But the white beard was safe and sound, and it fell lightly and lay horizontally on a row of pen holders on the jade table in the hall. "Good! Good!" The immortals cheered. The Jade Emperor announced: "Rong'er, from now on, you will no longer be the Glory Heavenly King." Rong'er was furious and desperately grabbed the sword of the Heavenly Palace guard and chopped and chopped the white beard on the pen holder. With a " " sound, the steel sword broke, but the beard was still intact. Rong'er went crazy and threw away the broken sword, grabbed the beard in his hand, and tore, broke, and bit it. However, what he didn't expect was that the beard became longer and longer, turning into a strong rope, like a long snake, tying him up layer by layer. With a "thump", Rong'er fell to the ground, and the rope became tighter and tighter as he moved, and he couldn't move. He shouted: "Your Majesty, save me!" The Jade Emperor said: "You have done it yourself, let Taishang Laojun deal with it." Seeing this, Laojun raised his hand and the beard returned to his hand. He glued the beard to his chin, and it was as good as new. Rong'er lost his throne as the Heavenly King and took his anger out on Taishang Laojun. He got up and used his last magic weapon: he turned a string of pearls into thousands of sharp arrows and shot them at Taishang Laojun. Laojun was not in a hurry. He opened his mouth and spewed out Samadhi True Fire, turning the sharp sword into dust. The Jade Emperor was furious: "Rong'er committed a crime of violence and wounding people. His crime is unforgivable. He will be expelled from the immortal class and demoted to the human world as an insect." Insects are divided into two categories: beneficial insects and harmful insects. If Rong'er repented, he could become a beneficial insect, such as bees and dragonflies, to eliminate harmful insects for the people, accumulate merit, and become a human being after achieving the right result, and then ascend to the immortal class. But he insisted on his own way and turned into a plague insect, locust, and spider, harming the crops in Zubiao and Guolao, and harming the people. Taishang Laojun saw Rong'er with his wisdom and knew that Rong'er was causing trouble in the lower world. He changed into a fortune teller and came to the human world. On this day, Liang Zhide, the patriarch of Zubang Street, was sitting at the head of the village. A fortune teller walked towards him with an immortal style and extraordinary demeanor. Liang Zhide stood up and said respectfully, "Sir, you have come from afar. Please come to my humble home for a chat. I have something to ask you." The fortune teller said, "Sorry to bother you." The two men walked into the living room of the Liang family. There were guests at the Liang family, and the neighbors came to sit and talk with them. After they sat down and offered cigarettes, the host and guest exchanged greetings for a while and then got down to business. Liang Zhide said: "Since this year, there have been many pests in our village. Silkworms eat crops, and the grain harvest is poor. At the same time, people and animals are not at peace, and there are many diseases and disasters. The population has decreased. I don't know why. Please teach me." The fortune teller said: "This is the work of evil spirits. This evil spirit is afraid of light and fire. The first month is the month when its resistance is weakest. You can make lanterns, or hang them or parade them in the streets. Flowers represent children. Children have strong yang energy, and evil spirits are afraid and flee far away, which can ensure the health of people and animals and the prosperity of the population. After transplanting rice every year, every household should raise ducks and put them in the rice fields to eat insects, which can ensure a good harvest." Liang Zhide took out two taels of silver as a reward, but the fortune teller refused it, said goodbye and went out, turned into a breeze, and disappeared into thin air. Everyone realized that it was a god who came down to earth to guide them, and they all bowed down to thank him. On that day, Liang Zhide discussed with everyone and decided to have lanterns on the 16th day of the first lunar month. From then on, this custom has been passed down. Every year during the Lantern Festival, every household makes preparations. The whole street worked together to make a large drum-shaped lantern, about 2.5 meters high and 1.5 meters in diameter, octagonal and square, slightly larger at the two ends with flowers hanging, slightly smaller in the middle, decorated with dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds, beautiful and generous. Eight people carried this large lantern and placed it on the commanding height of the street so that every family on the street could see it. A red candle was inserted in the large lantern. After it was lit, the dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds on the entire lantern were clearly visible. At the same time, each household showed their magical powers and carefully made two or three lanterns of different styles. There were many varieties, and each lantern could not be the same. Even if they were similar, they had their own merits. Each household made more delicate and beautiful lanterns than the other. The villagers were like artists competing for their own proud works of art. There are numerous lanterns: horse-drawn lanterns, dragon-playing lanterns, tiger-out-of-the-forest lanterns, leopard-jumping lanterns, phoenix-spreading-wings lanterns, peacock-spreading-screen lanterns, Chang'e-flying-to-the-moon lanterns, and Eight Immortals-crossing-the-sea lanterns. Each lantern is hung with a variety of brightly colored flowers, which are dazzling. On the 16th, small lanterns and small flower lanterns are hung on the doors of every household, and every household is shining. The whole street forms a sea of lights, which is magnificent and beautiful. When the lanterns on the whole street are ready, invitations are sent to the surrounding townships, towns, and counties to invite dragon dances, lion dances, tea-picking, and young men and women folk song teams to come and join in the fun. The invited dragon dances, lion dances, tea-picking and other art teams are given generous red envelopes and treated as VIPs. Because of the thoughtful care and complete etiquette, there are many people coming. On the day of the Lantern Festival, every household prepares a banquet and invites brothers, sisters, relatives and friends to their homes as guests. The more friends, the more glorious it is. Guests from all parties came on schedule, and the elderly and children arrived in advance. At the time of lighting the lanterns on the 16th night of the first lunar month, the parade to pay New Year's greetings began. Six or eight young and strong men led the way with large lanterns, and one person from each household followed closely with a small lantern. Behind them were dragon and lion dance teams, tea picking teams, cockfighting teams, red deer teams, swan teams, etc., with loud gongs and drums, and they took turns to visit the doors of every household in the street, dancing and paying New Year's greetings until midnight. After the lantern parade ended, dragon dances, lion dances, tea picking operas, etc., each selected a large performance for the audience to enjoy. Young men and women sang folk songs and threw embroidered balls all night long, which was very lively and ended after dawn.