The east wind blows thousands of trees into bloom at night. Even more, stars fall like rain. BMWs and carved cars fill the road with fragrance. The sound of phoenix flutes moves, jade pots turn with light, and fish and dragons dance all night long.
Moths are like golden threads in the snow and willows. Smiling words are filled with dark fragrance. People are looking for him thousands of times. Suddenly looking back, that person is there, in the dimly lit place.
Shangyuan Night is an annual carnival for the people of the Tang Dynasty. Although the Hungry Ghost Festival is also extremely lively, it is still far behind the Shangyuan Festival. The people have been looking forward to it for a whole year.
Shangyuan Festival is a night festival. It starts on the fourteenth night of the first lunar month and ends with three consecutive nights of carnival and ends on the sixteenth night of the first lunar month. Although the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the official day, in fact, the night of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month is the most lively.
Everyone has been looking forward to it for a whole year. On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, we can’t wait to go out. How can we wait until the next day?
Every family had dinner early. As soon as it got dark, the family locked the door. The father took his children on his shoulders and took his wife to go shopping to watch the lights.
Before the lanterns are lit, the streets are already crowded with people. There are many places to watch lanterns in Chang'an. In addition to Zhuque Street, there are lanterns on Chunming Street, Anhua Street, and Qixia Street, but the most famous ones are Zhuque Street and Dongshi.
, West Market Square, millions of people watching the lanterns basically come to these three places to watch the lanterns. It takes several hours just to walk through Zhuque Street.
Guo Song came to Xue Mansion at dusk. He did not go in, but waited at the door. Not long after, Xue Tao, who was dressed very beautifully, came out.
She wears a pomegranate red skirt, a thick jacket, a lambskin armor, her hair is combed into a single-ring bun with pearl flowers, and a jade hairpin is inserted sideways. Her skin is like cream, and her beautiful eyes are as bright as gems.
, his spirit was so high that Guo Song's eyes lit up.
Behind her were Xiaoyu Niang and Aqiu.
Guo Song was startled, why were there two young ladies with him?
Xiaoyu Niang covered her mouth and said with a smile: "I won't disturb you, let's go and play by ourselves!"
She pulled Aqiu, and the two ran away laughing.
Xue Tao spat at their backs, "Two damn girls, just now they said they would follow me, but now they changed their tune."
She smiled again and asked Guo Songdao: "Guo Lang, where are we going?"
Guo Song said with a smile: "To tell you the truth, this is my first time visiting the Lantern Festival. You can follow your arrangements."
Xue Tao said proudly: "Then you are not as good as me. I have been shopping countless times since I was a child. Let's go to Dongshi first!"
She took her lover's arm and they walked quickly towards Dongshi.
As soon as the two left, Xue Xun and Han poked their heads out of the door. Looking at their backs, Han smiled and said, "It's not bad! They just hold each other's arms. I can't stand it if they put their arms around each other."
Xue Xun shook his head and said: "Where are you thinking? Our children's tutors have been good since they were young. How could we do something inappropriate? I said, should we also go shopping?"
"You have never accompanied me on a lantern shopping trip in your life. My daughter does it every year. Today the sun is shining in the west. I will change my clothes and leave!" Han happily went back to change her clothes.
...........
The lanterns in the East and West Markets are mainly provided by merchants, and it is normal to take advantage of the opportunity to advertise on the lanterns. The thousands of lanterns on Zhuque Street are provided by the government, the wealthy and powerful dignitaries of all sizes in Chang'an City, and people stationed in Beijing from all over the country.
Provided by Zuoyuan, to a certain extent, lanterns have also become an arena for each household to compete in their skills. Various lanterns compete for beauty, and the decorations become increasingly luxurious, attracting a large number of people to visit.
When Xue Tao followed Guo Song to Dongshi, the two of them started holding hands. Dongshi is one of the three major lantern viewing places with huge crowds of people.
By this time, the sky was already slightly dark, and some smart merchants lit up the lanterns first, making it a popular place to attract tourists.
At this time, a huge lotus lantern was lit, with five small fish on it playing on the lotus pods. It was particularly bright and eye-catching, and countless people rushed towards the lotus lantern.
"Guo Lang, we won't squeeze in with them." Xue Tao frowned and tightened his lover's arm.
Guo Song nodded, "We're not going!"
Not all things are beautiful on Shangyuan Night, but there is also a dirty and dark side. All kinds of scoundrels are also particularly active on Shangyuan Night. They go to crowded places and take advantage of young women.
Even in the past few years, the Uighur soldiers acted wantonly and robbed civilian girls. There were also rich and wealthy playboys like Yuan Demon King who formed gangs on the night of the Yuan Dynasty and took pleasure in teasing civilian girls.
As for petty theft, there are so many thieves who prey on people, money and property. While admiring the lanterns, you should also be on guard against your belongings at all times.
"Tao'er, look at this lamp!"
Guo Song suddenly pointed to an unlit lamp next to him and said with a smile: "It's actually the lamp of Jubao Pavilion."
Xue Tao raised his head and saw clearly. It was a huge beauty flying in the sky. It looked a bit like Chang'e flying to the moon, but there was no moon. She was holding a large flower basket in her hand. Xue Tao clapped his hands and smiled and said: "This is the fairy's scattered flowers!"
"What should be scattered is not flowers, but gold and silver jewelry!" Guo Song said with a smile.
"Master Guo!" Shopkeeper Yang Da, who was standing next to the lantern, suddenly saw Guo Song and waved to him and shouted.
Guo Song pulled Xue Tao over and asked with a smile: "Shopkeeper Yang, when will the lights be lit?"
"Hey! Boss Zhang said that he must light the first main lamp, but we are waiting for him to come, which makes us anxious. How about Mr. Guo light it?"
Shopkeeper Yang knew that Guo Song was the big proprietor behind Jubao Pavilion, so he asked Mr. Guo to light the lamp, but proprietor Zhang didn't dare to say anything.
Guo Song said happily: "Okay! I'll have some."
Shopkeeper Yang was overjoyed and quickly asked the waiter to bring over the main lamp. Guo Song lit the fire stick, handed it to Xue Tao and said with a smile: "You have some!"
"OK!"
Xue Tao happily took the fire stick and lit a large candle. This large candle was as thick as the mouth of a bowl and three inches high. It was fixed on the base. It was bright and could burn all night.
The clerk quickly opened the lighting port behind the fairy lamp, carefully put the lamp in with a long pole hook, and hung it on a copper hook inside. The fairy lamp shone brightly in an instant, and the clerk tied the flower basket lantern and dozens of surrounding stones into bright jewels.
The small lanterns were lit up, and the fairy lanterns suddenly became dazzling and beautiful. People who went shopping for lanterns immediately came from all directions.
Guo Song quickly pulled Xue Tao and stood behind the lantern. For a moment, the fairy scattered flowers and was surrounded by water, and people were filled with admiration.
Shopkeeper Yang whispered to Guo Song and said with a smile: "This year, Boss Zhang thought that the Shangyuan Lantern Festival would not be held, so he was not prepared. This lantern is actually Chang'e Flying to the Moon from Meishou Wine Shop last year. We changed it a little and turned it into a fairy loose flower."
, it’s the same at the Meishou Wine Shop, the monkey offering treasures we used the year before last was changed to the monkey offering wine.”
Guo Song burst out laughing. This was a good idea, but he was afraid that some people with eyesight would recognize it. He asked again: "Is it just looking at the lights? Are there any activities?"
"Yes, there will be riddles and hoop throwing later. If you guess correctly or hit the mark, you will be rewarded with a small pearl, worth twenty cents."
Riddles have been popular since the Han Dynasty, but lantern riddles only appeared in the Song Dynasty. Nowadays, riddles at the Shangyuan Lantern Festival in the Tang Dynasty usually involve performing an action, or a person reading a riddle loudly, and everyone raising their hands to answer.
There is a reason why lantern riddles did not appear in the Tang Dynasty. Most ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty were illiterate. Even if you wrote lantern riddles on paper, they would not recognize them. However, in the Song Dynasty, reading was very popular and most people knew a few characters, so
Then the riddle appeared.
"Why did you light the lamp?" Zhang Lei finally squeezed in out of breath and said angrily.
"Senior brother, I ordered it!" Guo Song said calmly from the side.
Zhang Lei immediately changed his expression, forced out a smile, and said haha, "My brothers and sisters are here too. When did you come?"
Xue Tao saw that his expression changed very quickly, and couldn't help turning his head and covering his mouth to chuckle. Guo Song smiled and said: "We just came out of Xuanyangfang, and Dongshi is the first stop."
"Of course! I understand, do you still want to go to West Market?"
"I don't know! I don't know how long it has been since I finished shopping in Dongshi."
"Junior brother, you are really a hands-off shopkeeper. My legs are running thin when I run east and west. I have never had the chance to look at the lanterns in these years..."
Before he could finish speaking, Guo Song smiled and patted his shoulder and said, "Stop complaining. Those who can do more work!"
He pulled Xue Tao and left. After walking out, he turned back and shouted, "Thank you for your hard work, brother."
Zhang Lei had no choice but to roll his eyes and said angrily: "This stinky boy!"
........
At this time, it was completely dark, and thousands of lanterns in the East Market were lit up one after another. The entire East Market Square turned into a sea of light, filled with beautiful lanterns everywhere.
There were many heads, and many children sat on their father's shoulders, clapping their hands and laughing happily. Groups of girls held hands and slipped past people, while children came in groups, carrying various lanterns, like a gust of wind.
Galloping by.
"Guo Lang, let's buy a lantern too!" Xue Tao looked at the lanterns in the hands of the children, and suddenly his childlike innocence became bright.
Guo Song smiled and nodded, pointing to the front, "It's over there!"
They quickly came to a street stall against the wall. The stall sold lanterns. The lanterns were hung on the wall. They were either exquisite or simple and elegant, with various shapes. There were many people buying lanterns, and the vendors were very busy.
I was sweating profusely and couldn't care about them.
"Two of you, let's see which one you like. If you like it, call me!" the vendor greeted and went to collect money again.
Xue Tao stepped forward and took a closer look. She pointed at an exquisitely crafted lotus lantern and said with a smile, "I like this!"
Guo Song reached out and took down the lantern and said to the vendor: "Buy this lotus lantern!"
"That one is a little more expensive, costing two hundred cents!"
"Will one hundred and fifty coins be sold?" Guo Song asked.
"The minimum is 180 Wen. If you don't buy it, forget it."
Guo Song took out a silver coin that weighed two cents, handed it to the hawker and said, "This is more than two cents, so there's no need to change it."
The hawker took the silver coin and looked at it under the light. He was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, sir. I'll light the candle for you!"
The vendor skillfully lit the candle and handed the wooden pole to Xue Tao, "Girl, take it!"
"Thank you!"
Xue Tao took the lantern and said with a smile: "Let's go!"
At this moment, there was a commotion in the crowd in front, and people moved aside one after another. Only a dozen scoundrels came laughing and carrying lanterns.