Gwangju Lantern Festival sends lanterns.

In Gwangju area, in Huangchuan County, Guangshan County, Shangcheng County and Xinxian County of Henan Province (except for places like Jianhe and Guojiahe), it is a custom to send lanterns to one's grave on the 15th day of the first month. On this day, no matter how far away from home, people will try their best to get home, just to send a lamp in front of their graves to express their nostalgia and gratitude to their loved ones. There is a local saying that "the fifteenth day of the first month is like the New Year" and "the fire of thirty is the light of the fifteenth", that is, you can not return to the New Year, but you must return on the fifteenth day of the first month, which shows the grand ceremony of sending lights.

Lantern Festival is a unique Han folk custom in Gwangju. On this day every year, every family takes their children to visit relatives' graves before dark. First, remove the weeds and branches in front of and behind the grave, insert three or four bamboo sticks to form a lampshade, and insert candles in the middle to cover the lampshade. It's dark, light candles, then burn paper, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks. Most people who stay at home are elderly people and very young children with mobility difficulties, as well as women who take care of them.

According to the local legend in Gwangju, at the end of Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's mother begged to go to Gwangju Mountain in Gwangju. Sick and hungry, she died on the side of the road and was buried by the local people in Gwangju Tianci City. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he sent people to Guangshan to pay homage to his mother. But there were many graves on the mountain, and the people sent were not sure which grave belonged to the emperor's mother at the moment, so they sent Zhu Yuanzhang back. Zhu Yuanzhang was grateful to Guangshan people for their charity to his mother and asked people to light candles at the grave of the whole mountain. For a time, the mountains and plains were brightly lit and spectacular. Later, the people of Gwangju also learned from Zhu Yuanzhang's practice. Every year on the Lantern Festival, they send lanterns to the graves of their loved ones, which has continued to this day. Taking children up the mountain to send lights to their loved ones, educating children to respect their elders and cultivate family ties are all good educational methods. Some people are rich and have a good life, and the Lantern Festival has become extravagant and wasteful. The candles are getting bigger and bigger, and there are more and more firecrackers. Candles can be as thick as bowls, and firecrackers can put thousands of dollars. What's more, they even took wires up the mountain and lit colored lights in front of the grave, which never went out all night.