Lantern Festival in the Chinese paintings

A painting of the Lantern Festival by Zou Li. [Photo/artron.net]

The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, marking the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. During that day, ancient Chinese people go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles displayed on the lanterns. Nowadays the festival lanterns are not as popular as they once were in ancient times, but Chinese painters preserve these traditions in their paintings. Let's check them out.