Lantern Festival · FFET10345
Eating yuanxiao at the Lantern Festival
On the night of the fifteenth of the first month people eat glutinous-rice balls, rolled and called yuanxiao in the north and wrapped and called tangyuan in the south, for the full moon.
The full moon of the first month: a night of lanterns that closes the New Year season
The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. Yuanxiao and tangyuan are its signature foods, their round shape standing for the full moon. The north rolls fillings in glutinous-rice flour while the south wraps them in dough. Yuanxiao was the main item sold at Beijing's lantern markets (Yanjing suishiji, postscript dated 1900). The Mengliang lu, scroll 1, covers Southern Song festival lanterns and shows but names no festival food.
What
On the night of the Lantern Festival people eat balls of glutinous rice, called yuanxiao in the north and tangyuan in the south. The food itself has its own entry; this entry is about the custom of eating it at the festival.1,2
When
It falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Yuanxiao was the main item sold at Beijing's lantern markets (Yanjing suishiji, postscript dated 1900). The Mengliang lu, scroll 1, covers Southern Song festival lanterns and shows but names no food; available accounts of when yuanxiao and tangyuan began are second-hand and are not used here.1,3,6
Where
It is kept across China. The north has rolled yuanxiao, while Sichuan, Fujian, Ningbo and the Shanghai suburbs have differing tangyuan styles; the available tangyuan reference has limited sourcing.1,4
How
Yuanxiao: the fillings are rolled in a bamboo tray with glutinous-rice flour and water until round. Tangyuan: dough is wrapped around the filling by hand. Both are boiled.1,2,4
Why
The round shape traditionally stands for the full moon and family reunion.1
Impact and influence
Lantern Festival customs are a national intangible cultural heritage item (item X-71, 2nd batch, 2008). The available introduction covers its Quanzhou sub-item (Lantern Festival customs); the listing covers festival customs, not the food itself. Yuanxiao was the main item sold at Qing Beijing's lantern markets (Yanjing suishiji).3,5
No tale about this food has been found.