Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, families celebrate the Lantern Festival by eating sweet dumplings, admiring lanterns, and solving lantern riddles. However, there seems to be some confusion about the alternative names for the Lantern Festival: is it called the Upper Lantern Festival or the Lower Lantern Festival? Today, let's reveal the mystery together.

Firstly, it's important to understand that the Lantern Festival indeed has two alternative names: the Upper Lantern Festival and the Lower Lantern Festival. The emergence of these alternative names is related to the ancient Chinese calendar. In ancient times, a year was divided into three periods: the Upper Yuan, the Middle Yuan, and the Lower Yuan. Each period was further divided into three solar terms, totaling nine solar terms. Since the Lantern Festival falls on the first solar term of the Upper Yuan period, it is known as the Upper Lantern Festival. Similarly, the first solar term of the Lower Yuan period is also called the Lower Lantern Festival.

Now, why do we usually refer to the Lantern Festival as the Upper Lantern Festival today? This is mainly due to historical reasons. In ancient times, the Lantern Festival was an important sacrificial activity where people would worship gods, spirits, and ancestors, praying for a bountiful harvest and favorable weather. However, after the Tang Dynasty, the Lantern Festival gradually evolved into a grand folk festival with various celebration activities emerging. During this process, the name "Upper Lantern Festival" gradually became accepted and became the main alternative name for the Lantern Festival.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the Lower Lantern Festival is unimportant. In fact, it is also a traditional festival with a long history, and it still retains rich folkloric activities in some regions. For example, in Fujian and other places, people hold sacrificial activities on the day of the Lower Lantern Festival to pray for peace and good fortune. In Taiwan and other places, the Lower Lantern Festival is known as "Tian Gong Sheng," and people hold sacrificial activities to thank the gods for their blessings to mankind.

In conclusion, the Lantern Festival has both the alternative names of the Upper Lantern Festival and the Lower Lantern Festival. Although we now commonly refer to the Lantern Festival as the Upper Lantern Festival, this does not mean that the status of the Lower Lantern Festival is overlooked. On the contrary, both the Upper Lantern Festival and the Lower Lantern Festival are important components of traditional Chinese culture, carrying people's aspirations for a better life and reverence for their ancestors. Let's celebrate the Lantern Festival while also inheriting and promoting these excellent traditional cultures.

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