There are a lot of folktales about the Lantern Festival, and the most believable one is that it originated from the custom of illuminating silkworm by peasants in the past. Illuminating silkworm fields meant that on the night of the festival, peasants, hoping for a bumper harvest, would insert a long bamboo pipe with a lantern on it into the field and predict whether next year would bring drought or flood by observing the flames of light.
As the time went by, people made their colorful lanterns more delicate, and competed with each other in the beauty and attraction of their lanterns. Thus “illuminating the silkworm fields” lost its original meaning and developed into a festive activity involving the display of the colorful lanterns.
Legend had it that the Lantern Festival is also related to the worship of fire by the ancient people. In the Han Dynasty (206BC-220 AD), people drove away insects and wild animals in the fields by holding torches in their hands. This gradually evolved into the Torch Festival. This custom is still kept among ethnic groups in southwest China today.
During the Torch Festival, people carry out their worship of fire with singing and dancing to amuse the gods. By driving away insects and animals, they hope to eliminate pests in the fields and get a bumper harvest next year.