A dragon dance team performing amid fireworks at Taijiang, Guizhou Province Photo: TUCHONG

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The Lantern Festival, held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, is one of China’s most treasured traditional celebrations. Deeply rooted in Chinese folk culture, this festival is observed with great enthusiasm across the country. Diverse ethnic groups celebrate with vibrant customs and rituals, each bringing its unique traditions to the occasion. Despite the differences in how the festival is marked, a shared theme runs through all celebrations: a heartfelt pursuit of joy, harmony, and togetherness.

Butter Sculpture Festival

Butter sculpture carving is a distinctive art form within Tibetan Buddhist culture, using yak butter mixed with mineral pigments to create intricate works. Each year, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, temples of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism host the Butter Sculpture Festival, showcasing these delicate creations. According to one account, the festival traces its origins to 1409 when Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, established it during the Great Prayer Festival in honor of Shakyamuni Buddha. Tsongkhapa offered yak butter carvings and lamps as offerings to the Buddha’s statue in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple, setting the foundation for this enduring tradition.

A central activity of the festival involves devotees meticulously crafting figures such as flowers, Buddha statues, and animals from yak butter. These creations, known as Suyou Hua (literally “yak butter flowers”), are displayed both inside and outside monasteries as symbols of devotion and reverence.

The roots of yak butter artistry can be traced back to the Bon religion, where small butter decorations adorned food offerings. In traditional Buddhist practice, flowers are among the primary offerings made to the Buddha and bodhisattvas. However, the harsh climate and scarcity of fresh flowers on the plateau regions led to the use of butter sculptures as floral offerings, giving rise to this unique and enduring artistic tradition.

Kumbum Monastery, located in northwest China’s Qinghai Province and renowned as the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, hosts the grandest Butter Sculpture Festival annually. The festival features not only awe-inspiring butter sculpture displays but also thousands of butter lamps lit by monks in the monastery, accompanied by a series of Buddhist rituals and prayers for world peace and the well-being of all beings.

The monastery is home to two “Hua Yuan” (“Flower Schools”) dedicated to the art of butter sculpture. Monks from these schools engage in friendly competition while working together to preserve and advance this traditional craftsmanship. Each school is composed of around twenty monk artisans, with techniques passed down orally and through hands-on instruction from the “Zhang Chi,” the general leaders, to their apprentices. The crafting of butter sculptures begins on the 25th day of the tenth lunar month and continues until the 15th day of the first lunar month in the following year.

Once the themes and designs are finalized, the monks begin by constructing the frames for their sculptures using iron wire, ropes, and needlegrass. They then mix crushed old butter sculptures with wheat ash to create a black paste, which is applied to the frame to form the basic structure of the sculpture. Recycling old sculptures is an efficient way to save valuable yak butter. After shaping the base, the monks add colorful butter, which is made by blending white butter with various mineral pigments. Coloring butter sculptures is a challenging process, as butter melts in warm conditions. For this reason, the sculptures are created during the coldest months of the year. Each artisan works with two bowls of water: one filled with icy water and the other with hot water mixed with pea powder. To minimize melting, they soak their hands in the icy water, and when their hands become coated with too much butter, they wash them in the hot water. Despite the extreme cold of the plateau in winter, heating is not allowed in the workshop. The monks begin their work in sub-zero temperatures, sculpting with great care and devotion. 

The completed sculptures are carefully arranged in sequence, depicting buildings, plants, animals, and the Buddha, telling a story much like a comic strip. The final step is a ritual known as kaiguang (literally “opening the light”). On the morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Zhang Chi performs the solemn act of placing eyeballs into the Buddha sculpture, which is made of butter—this is called kaiyan (opening the eyes). Afterward, he sprinkles the butter sculptures with holy water and barley, believed to bestow upon them the souls of flowers.

‘Bangbang Fair’

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Naxi people celebrate the “Bangbang Fair” in the old town of Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Yunnan Province, southwest China. The Naxi, an ethnic group indigenous to Yunnan, primarily reside in Lijiang. They have their own language, which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.

The Bangbang Fair originated as a temple fair but evolved over time due to historical shifts. During the Qing Dynasty, the imperial government replaced local indigenous leaders—who traditionally held authority over land and people—with appointed officials. As a result, the fair moved to the old town of Lijiang, gradually transforming into a bustling bazaar. Today, it is known for the trade of flowers, fruit tree seedlings, bonsai, and agricultural tools crafted from wood and bamboo.

One theory about the fair’s origins ties it to local resistance against administrative reforms. According to legend, in ancient times, the Naxi people opposed the rulers’ attempts to restructure local governance. They protested by wielding “bangbang” (wooden sticks), symbolizing their defiance. This act of resistance is said to have inspired the name Bangbang Fair.

After the festival, as the spring plowing season approaches, the Bangbang Fair becomes a major market for acquiring farming tools in preparation for the coming season. On this day, farmers gather early in the morning in the old town of Lijiang, filling the streets with bamboo, wooden and iron tools, as well as a variety of fruit tree saplings and flowers.

Dragon dance and fireworks

The Miao ethnic group has a traditional dragon dance and fireworks display during the Lantern Festival, known as “Dragon Dance and Fireworks.” This custom involves the locals using homemade gunpowder and bamboo to create “firework tubes,” which are aimed at the dancing dragon, creating a dazzling spectacle. The dragon dance itself originates from Han Chinese culture, specifically from the ancient worship of the dragon. In the 18th century, as the Qing Dynasty strengthened its control over Miao regions, many Han people migrated there, bringing their cultural traditions, including the dragon dance. Over time, the dance became popular among the Miao, who have been performing it locally for nearly 400 years.

In Taijiang County, Guizhou, known as the “Miao’s First County,” the local Miao people adapted the Han dragon dance and made it their own distinct cultural event. Starting on the fifth day of the first lunar month, villagers begin crafting a dragon from bamboo strips, ropes, cloth, and paper. Once completed, a formal “welcoming ceremony” is held for the dragon, during which offerings are made at a water site and a blessing chant is sung. Tree leaves are dipped in water and sprinkled over the dragon’s head, body, and tail, a ritual called “painting the eyes and scales.” This practice is meant to pray for abundant water and favorable weather in the coming year. In the three days leading up to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, craftsmen prepare firework tubes by mixing mirabilite, sulfur, charcoal, iron sand, and alcohol. These tubes are filled with fireworks that can shoot flames up to 3-5 meters high. 

On the fifteenth day, dragon dance teams from surrounding villages gather in Taijiang for the grand performances. Firework holders light their tubes, sending fire toward the dragon’s head and body, lighting up the night sky. This custom is known as “the craziest Dragon Dance in the world” and “Game of the Brave.” The dancers, with bare torsos, perform fearlessly despite the sparks that might burn them, while the firework holders, also brave, continually chase the fire dragon. The spectators, too, show courage, closely following the spectacle, which often lasts from dusk until dawn. On the sixteenth and seventeenth days, the villagers carry the dragon to the river to conduct a ritual, after which the dragon is set alight in a practice known as “dragon burning.” The money raised from the custom of the dragon paying visits to local households is then used to purchase pork for a communal feast, referred to locally as “eating dragon meat.” This feast marks the conclusion of the Dragon Dance and Fireworks celebration.

The Dragon Dance and Fireworks tradition represents a fusion of Miao and Han cultures. This blending of cultures not only highlights the exchange and interaction between different ethnic groups but also promotes a sense of identity and unity among the diverse ethnic communities of China.

Edited by REN GUANHONG