Introduction to Yinglong Lantern

The Dragon Lantern Festival is one of the most grand folk cultural activities of the Han nationality in the first month of the year. Legend has it that dragons can move clouds and bring rain, ward off disasters and bring blessings, symbolizing auspiciousness. Therefore, dragon dancing to pray for peace and a good harvest has become a custom among the Han people across the country. People welcome lanterns to ward off evil spirits and plagues, and to ward off disasters and pray for blessings. They usually light up the lanterns on the eighth day of the first lunar month and disperse them after the Lantern Festival. "Deng" in Dongyang dialect has the same pronunciation as "Ding". In the old days, when welcoming lanterns, each household was required to bring a bench and a lantern. The benches in each house were connected, the lanterns were pressed, and a dragon head and a tail were added. It becomes a long bench dragon, specifically named "Bridge Lantern". There are usually hundreds of bridge lanterns, sometimes more than a thousand bridges, stretching for four or five miles, which is a spectacular sight. The longer the dragon lantern, the more prosperous the village is, and the more neighboring villagers will come to watch.