Lantern Festival Bamboo Branch Poems: On the 14th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival is celebrated, with Yangko dancing dragons and lions. The drum pavilion plays music in front, and every family welcomes the God of Wealth. The 15th day of Beppu and the 14th day of Taizhou are really unique. Every family drinks fermented soup in front of the door, and there is more than enough suffering ahead. Bean sprouts and side dishes are everywhere in the courtyard, and the sound of knives in thousands of households is heard slowly. Five flavors are cooked in a golden tripod, and only shrimps and clams are needed, not fish. Flower tube moon cannons are sandwiched with meteors, and gongs and drums are loud and mixed with guests. One stick of incense and two candles, everyone welcomes the God of Wealth with their foreheads. Legend of the Lantern Festival on the 14th day of the first lunar month: The story of the filial son changing the festival: Qin Minglei, the top scholar in Linhai in the Ming Dynasty, moved the Lantern Festival forward by one day because his aunt who raised him up had to abstain from meat and eat vegetarian food on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month. There is also Fang Guozhen, the leader of the peasant uprising army in Taizhou at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, who changed the festival because his mother, who was a Buddhist, had to abstain from meat and eat vegetarian food on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The story of war: According to legend, Qi Jiguang was afraid that Japanese pirates would attack the city during the festival, so he ordered the festival to be celebrated one day earlier. City building theory: Taizhou Waishu (Qi Xuebiao, Qing Dynasty) records: During the Lantern Festival, "Meat, vegetables, flour, shepherd's purse and bamboo shoots are mixed into a soup. The more the soup, the more expensive it is. This is called eating glutinous rice soup. According to legend, when the Tang Dynasty built the city, the weather was cold so the army went to the city, and this became a tradition." Lantern Festival customs in Linhai: eating glutinous rice soup, asking for glutinous rice soup, watching lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, welcoming the God of Wealth, lighting the lanterns, beating the gods, inviting the gods, and walking a hundred steps. Intangible Cultural Heritage Tips: The 15th day of the Lantern Festival and the 14th day of the festival are unique festival customs in Taizhou. In June 2008, it was listed in the Taizhou Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage List. At present, the urban area of Linhai still has the custom of watching lanterns, and all towns and villages in the city have the custom of eating glutinous rice soup and lighting the lanterns. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)