Lantern Festival Extension (Guxumen Lantern Festival) The Lantern Festival is held on the 15th day of the first lunar month. On the night of the Lantern Festival, there is a custom of hanging lanterns, so it is also called the "Lantern Festival". "Wuzhong's customs are particularly competitive during the Lantern Festival". Suzhou's Lantern Festival was well-known throughout the country in the Song Dynasty. Fan Chengda's poem "Lantern Market" says: "Wutai, a prosperous place in ancient and modern times, prefers the Lantern Festival shadow lantern show; before spring and after the twelfth lunar month, the weather is fine, and the streets are already set up for the Lantern Festival." The scale of Suzhou Lantern Festival was unprecedented in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. According to "Qing Jialu", "Before and after the Lantern Festival, all the streets within the Changmen Gate are lit with lanterns, and the sun is not visible." Suzhou's "Guxumen Lantern Festival" is a typical representative of Suzhou's traditional lantern festivals, including lantern making, lantern riddles, fireworks, dragon dances and other rich and colorful cultural content. The popularity of the Lantern Festival promoted the development of Suzhou's lantern industry, which was well-known in the Song Dynasty. Fan Chengda once wrote poems such as "Shangyuan Ji Wuzhong Festival Objects" to praise the beauty of Suzhou lanterns. Song Zhou Mi also said in "Wulin Jiushi Yuan Xi": When the lanterns were hung in the Forbidden City, "Suzhou lanterns were the best, with the largest circle pieces three or four feet in diameter, all made of five-color colored glaze, with landscapes, figures, flowers, bamboos, feathers, and all kinds of wonderful things that looked like colored surfaces." During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of the lantern shops were concentrated in the Changmen area. According to statistics from the Lantern Industry Office in 1925, there were 117 lantern shops of all sizes in the city. The production of Suzhou lanterns is complicated. There are lanterns, hanging lanterns and pendulum lanterns; the materials include boneless lanterns, bead lanterns, silk lanterns, fence lanterns and gauze lanterns; the shapes include pavilions, birds and beasts, and fruits. The body of the lantern combines paper cutting, painting, and multiple crafts such as tassels. The beauty of Suzhou lanterns lies in their beautiful shapes, gorgeous lighting, bright colors, continuous innovation and surprising patterns. The customs associated with Suzhou Lantern Festival include guessing lantern riddles, setting off fireworks, dancing dragon lanterns, gongs and drums, eating Lantern Festival dumplings and "walking on three bridges". Lantern riddle activities were very common in the Song Dynasty. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, lantern riddles became an important part of Suzhou Lantern Festival. Setting off fireworks is also a traditional program of Suzhou Lantern Festival. Dragon lantern dance is also called dragon dance. Suzhou's traditional dragon lanterns are divided into 7, 9, 11 and 13 sections, with huge mouths and big eyes, both in form and spirit. When dancing, the head turns with the beads, and the body rotates with the momentum, which is heart-stirring. On the Lantern Festival, similar performances include lion dance, land boat, waist drum and flower basket. On the night of the Lantern Festival, "every household beats the words with gongs, drums and cymbals, which is called the Lantern Festival". Suzhou people have the food custom of "eating dumplings on the lanterns and eating noodles on the lanterns". Eating dumplings expresses the beautiful wish for family harmony and reunion. On the night of the Lantern Festival, there is also the custom of walking on three bridges to eliminate all diseases. The Suzhou Lantern Festival, represented by the ancient Xumen, has been passed down from ancient times to the present, and its authenticity has been well preserved. Suzhou has a developed lantern industry, and many talented people in calligraphy, painting, and riddles have emerged. Folk artists have their own unique skills, and the famous glutinous rice balls are well-known. The Xumen Lantern Festival has become a platform for displaying these folk cultures, giving it a higher historical and cultural value; it also has research value for the history of Suzhou arts and crafts, the history of riddles, etc.