The Qinhuai Lantern Festival, also known as the Jinling Lantern Festival or the Confucius Temple Lantern Festival, is a folk cultural event that takes place in the Nanjing region. It is mainly held from the Chinese New Year to the Lantern Festival, lasting for over 50 days each year.

The Qinhuai Lantern Festival is one of the first national-level intangible cultural heritages in China. It is renowned as the "Number One Lantern Festival in the World" and "Qinhuai Lanterns Outshine All Others." This festival is the only large-scale comprehensive lantern event in China that combines lantern exhibitions, lantern festivals, and lantern markets. It also holds the record for being the longest-lasting, most widely attended, and largest-scale folk lantern festival in China.

The Dazzling Lantern Extravaganza in Jinling

The Qinhuai Lantern Festival, as an important folk cultural tradition in the Nanjing region, is also a form of traditional folk activities.

During the lantern festival, the city is brilliantly lit up, and people break the routine of "every family stays at home." They come together in this rich and fertile land of nature and culture to fully enjoy the lanterns, play with them, and revel in the festivities. People pray for prosperity, good health, happy love lives, and a thriving family, expressing their joy and hopeful wishes through various folk cultural activities. The lantern displays create a unique cultural landscape within Nanjing's traditional customs.

"Old Nanjing" has a saying: "Not visiting the Confucius Temple to see the lanterns during the New Year is equivalent to not celebrating the New Year; and not buying a lantern at the Confucius Temple is like not having a good year."

Preserving Millennia of Cultural Treasure

Local and foreign cultures and arts are interwoven throughout the Lantern Festival, adding to its artistic significance. The annual Qinhuai Lantern Festival attracts numerous visitors from both home and abroad, who not only enjoy the festival and experience Jinling's folk culture but also contribute to the economic development of the region.

The Qinhuai Lantern Festival is the most influential and representative event of its kind in China, possessing the dual attributes of a "human masterpiece" and "excellent practice." It holds great historical significance, cultural value, economic importance, and societal impact. It will continue to thrive and be passed down through the generations.

The Primary Values of the Qinhuai Lantern Festival

Nanjing, as a historic and cultural city, has always been a social and cultural space where the people of Nanjing have continued and inherited the Qinhuai Lantern Festival, an important folk activity, throughout the ages. It holds significant cultural value:

1. Cultural Significance: The Qinhuai Lantern Festival is an integral part of the local Qinhuai culture, which, to a large extent, represents the culture of Nanjing itself.
2. Artistic Value: The artistry of the lanterns and the cultural context of the festival reflect the essence of lantern art and cultural expression.
3. Social Value: With a long history, the Qinhuai Lantern Festival has persisted over time. Since the 1980s alone, it has been held for 30 consecutive years, becoming a distinctive cultural symbol of Nanjing.
4. Economic Value: Every year, the Qinhuai Lantern Festival attracts numerous domestic and international visitors, contributing to the development of tourism, culture, and the local economy in the Qinhuai and Nanjing regions.