According to legend, there was a chewing ghost in the palace on New Year's Day in the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. There was a wise man beside him named Dongfang Shuo. ①Dongfang Shuo is kind-hearted and often rescues people from danger and is respected by people.
One year in the twelfth lunar month, the plum blossoms in the Imperial Garden were in full bloom and the fragrance overflowed. Dongfang Shuo came with Yaxing to appreciate the plum blossoms. When he just stepped into the Imperial Garden, he saw a palace maid in the southeast corner who was about to commit suicide by throwing herself into a well. He hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade her and asked: : "Girl, what's your name and why are you here to commit suicide!"
When the maid turned around and saw that it was Dongfang Shuo, she knelt down and cried: "Master Dongfang, my name is Yuanxiao. She is a maid in the harem. She has been in the palace for many years and has never been reunited with her relatives. Seeing that the New Year is coming to an end, I still can't see my relatives. Worrying for many days is worse than ending this remaining life."
After hearing this, Dongfang Shuo felt pity in his heart and thought: There are hundreds of maids in the harem who cannot be reunited with their families for many years. Who doesn't have the love of parents? Thinking of this, he comforted Yuan Xiao that there was a chewing ghost in the palace on New Year's Day in the Ming Dynasty , and promised to find ways to help her reunite with her family.
After Dongfang Shuo returned home, he thought hard and racked his brains, and finally came up with an ingenious solution.
So he traveled thousands of miles to find Yuanxiao's home and made careful arrangements with Yuanxiao's parents.
Dongfang Shuo returned to the capital and set up a stall on Chang'an Street to sell divination. People all knew that Dongfang Shuo was knowledgeable and came to ask him for divination. But the hexagrams that people got had the same seven words written on them – "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the body will be burned by fire." After reading it, everyone was frightened and hurriedly asked Dongfang Shuo how to solve the problem? Dongfang Shuo pondered for a while and said to everyone: "At the evening of the 13th day of the first lunar month, the God of Fire will send the fairy girl in red to visit the earth. If all the elders in the city kneel down to pray, maybe the disaster can be avoided."
On the evening of the 13th day of the first lunar month, a "fairy girl in red" riding a donkey came and said that the Jade Emperor wanted to watch the fire in the sky, and she was sent to set the fire. After hearing this, the elders in Chang'an City knelt down and begged the "Fairy Girl in Red". Seeing everyone's pious attitude, the Fairy Girl dropped a piece of paper and rode away on a donkey.
The people picked up the note and saw that it read: "Chang'an is in catastrophe, and the emperor's palace is burned by fire; the fire is extinguished at the age of sixteen, and the flames are red for midnight snacks."
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty learned about it, he quickly invited Dongfang Shuo to come to discuss the matter. Dongfang Shuo said: "The God of Fire loves to eat glutinous rice balls, so he can order people to make high-quality glutinous rice balls and offer them to the God of Fire on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to ask for forgiveness. He also ordered every household in Chang'an City to hang up lights and set off fireworks on the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to deceive the Jade Emperor. eyes."
After hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Yuanxiao, an expert in making glutinous rice balls in the palace, to make more glutinous rice balls as soon as possible. He also ordered the officials and people in the capital to make lanterns.
On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, everything was ready. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the palace maid to carry a Lantern Festival lantern to clear the way, and ordered Dongfang Shuo to hold glutinous rice balls in his hands to worship the God of Fire. Under Dongfang Shuo's instructions, Yuanxiao's parents hurried forward and called "Yuanxiao". Yuanxiao's family was finally reunited under Dongfang Shuo's ingenious plan.
Afterwards, the emperor thought that the skillful dumplings, hanging lanterns and fireworks made by Yuanxiao eliminated the disaster, so he decreed that the dumplings should be changed to "Yuanxiao", and the Lantern Festival would be eaten every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month with lanterns and colorful decorations.
①Dongfang Shuo (154 BC-93 BC), a writer of the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he served as a Taizhong doctor.