An Essay on the General History of Yeondeunghoe

Yeondeunghoe(燃燈會) is the Buddhist festival and Korean intangible heritage.Yeondeunghoe(the Lantern Festival) has handed down from the era of Silla to present day.People turn on the lamps to praise the charity of Buddha that he lightened the darkness of the people and to swear to become a Buddha.And people attempt to accumulate the pious acts by sight-seeing the lamps and lanterns hanged from the trees or poles.Buddhist Yeondeunghoe was produced in India.But in China Yeondeunghoe was combined with the heavenly god ritual of Taoism which was held at the 15th of January by the lunar calendar.Later Yeondeunghoe was held at the 15th of February(the celebration of Buddhas deathday) and now it is held on the 4th of April(the celebration of Buddhas birthday).Formerly Yeondeunghoe consists of three element; offering a lamp to Buddha, a party of ruler and ruled, sighting-seeing the various lanterns.But since 20th century the lantern parade has formed the nucleus of Yeondeunghoe.