the feast of lanterns
Preserved but no longer current.
A popular Chinese festival, celebrated at the first full moon of each year. Tradition says that the daughter of a famous mandarin one evening fell into a lake. The father and his neighbours went with lanterns to look for her, and happily she was rescued. In commemoration thereof a festival was ordained, and it grew in tune to be the celebrated "feast of lanterns.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the feast of lanterns” mean?
A popular Chinese festival, celebrated at the first full moon of each year. Tradition says that the daughter of a famous mandarin one evening fell into a lake. The father and his neighbours went with lanterns to look for her, and happily she was rescued. In commemoration thereof a festival was ordained, and it grew in tune to be the celebrated "feast of lanterns.
Is “the feast of lanterns” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.