In some towns situated along the upper and middle reaches of Yellow River, people celebrate a very special festival on July 15 of the lunar calendar, called the River Lantern Festival, when people send floating lanterns drifting down the river in the evening. It is the highlight of the festival, and draws a large gathering of people along the banks of the river. Let me remind you that the moon is always full on the 15th day of the lunar month, and the moon is fullest of the entire year during the 15th day of either July or August. While people everywhere in China celebrate the August Moon Festival (on August 15 of the lunar calendar), people here celebrate in addition the River Lantern Festival on July 15. It corresponds to roughly a day in late August of the solar calendar. By then the river will be running swift and full. Treacherous currents might have taken some lives in the past, and in remembrance to the deceased floating lanterns are sent drifting down the river to comfort their souls.



Pictures shown here were taken at one such celebrations in Hequ, Shanxi. Hequ is located by Yellow River at the corner of three provinces, namely, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. It is an important river crossing point. I once took a ferry from Hequ to Inner Mongolia, and admired at the beautiful scenery by the river. A picture of the river at Hequ during sunset is shown above, as the boatmen prepared the lanterns to be launched. Below, a crowd was gathering by the river to wait for the launching of the lanterns, while some kids tried to learn the trade of making lanterns from the master.




Sometimes, firework follows the floating of lanterns so as to delight the spectators. One small detail here: exactly 365 lanterns are to be launched at each festival, one for each day of the year, apparently. A well-intentioned superstitious thinking goes as follows: when a person dies of an accident, as in drowning, the person dies in violation of his/her predestined fate, and would be taken out of the cycle of reincarnation; these lanterns are there to guide the soul in the arduous journey through the nether world in order to return to the cycle of reincarnation. This is just one of many stories trying to explain the origin of the festival. People just do their best to help the deceased even though the chance for such action to work is minimal.

See more about Yellow River

About Yellow River

. Chinese New Year . Yellow River Index . Yellow River: Geographic and Historical Settings 2 . Yellow River: Geographic and Historical Settings . The Yellow River . Water Cellar . Yellow River¡¯s Upper Reaches . Chinese New Year 2 . Land utilization in the loess plateau . River Lantern Festival . Silhouette Puppet Show . Nadam Fair . Wedding Procession . Waist Drum Dance

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