Today is Yuan Siao Jie which is another name for the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. In Hokkien, it is known as Chap Goh Meh. It is also popularly known as Lantern Festival in China.
There are actually a few stories why this day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival. One of the story goes like this ... A beautiful heavenly bird flew down a village and was killed. The Jade Emperor was very anger and wanted to burn down the entire village on the 15th lunar day. A clever man from the village advised every family to hang candle lanterns around the house, carry lanterns on the street, burn fire outside their houses and to burn firecrackers on that night. The Heavenly soldiers saw the village on fire from the heaven, and returned to their posts in heaven. The village survived and the festival lives on until today.
In China, rice dumplings tangyuan ( 汤圆) is eaten on this day. I think some families also eat it here in Malaysia as well. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home.
This fifteenth day marks the end of the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. Then it is time for us people to start actualising all that was wished for or if that does not bear fruit, then to start the whole ritual again the following year. Well, that is life!
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/ChineseNewYear/ChineseNewYear.htm
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