Folklore experts elaborate on the origin of ＂Yuanxiao＂

　　On February 9, the Lantern Festival in Dongguan Street, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province was crowded with tourists. On that day, it was the Lunar Lantern Festival, and thousands of lanterns were hung in the market of Dongguan Street in Yangzhou, allowing citizens and tourists to enjoy the festive atmosphere of the Lantern Festival. China News Agency issued Zhang Bingtao photo

　　"Selling glutinous rice balls, selling glutinous rice balls, second brother’s glutinous rice balls are round and round …" The 9th is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, and it’s time to eat Yuanxiao again. On the fifteenth day of the first month, why do you want to eat Yuanxiao?

　　Zhao Zhi Heng, an expert in Tianjin folklore, said that Yuanxiao is a holiday food, just like the rice cakes in the Spring Festival and the zongzi in the Dragon Boat Festival. Eating Yuanxiao symbolizes family reunion like a full moon, and places people’s good wishes for future life. Yuanxiao is made of glutinous rice, either solid or stuffed.

　　Folklore experts said that regardless of the north and the south, the 15th day of the first month is the day for family reunion to eat Yuanxiao. The food name "Yuanxiao" is said to have appeared in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty because people used to eat it on the night of the Lantern Festival. Shangyuan Night is the first full moon night in the New Year. "A full moon begins with a circle", and a full moon shines in the sky. People gather to eat Yuanxiao, which is shaped like a full moon, and has a very subtle correspondence with natural phenomena. "The moon and the stars are burning in the sky, and there are two yuanxiao on earth", which expresses the happy mood of people’s family reunion.

　　The moon on the Lantern Festival this year is unpredictable. Wang Sichao, a researcher at Purple Mountain Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that while the public is enjoying the full moon, a penumbral eclipse is also happening.

　　Wang Sichao introduced that the penumbral eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon that the moon enters the penumbra (a relatively bright part of the shadow) of the earth. At this time, the earth blocks part of the light from the sun to the moon, and the moon looks darker than usual. If you use a telescope to observe the moon, the feeling of darkening will be more obvious. Although the penumbral eclipse is not so spectacular and shocking, it is the best time to enjoy the full moon.

　　This penumbral eclipse started at 20: 37 Beijing time on the 9th and ended at 0: 40 on the 10th, and the whole process can be enjoyed throughout China. Among them, the eclipse, that is, the maximum penumbra eclipse, is around 22: 38, when it is the most appropriate time to observe the slightly dim moon. (Author: Zhou Runjian, Cai Yugao)

Editor: Liu Li