The Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao Jie) ends the 15 day celebration of Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, and is celebrated the night of the first full moon of the lunar New Year. Lantern riddles are riddles that were written on the lanterns that are displayed during the festival. The riddles may also have been pasted onto walls for public entertainment, or simply written for private amusement. The first mention of of the custom of pasting riddles onto the Lantern Festival lanterns occurs in Zhou Wu's memoirs of life in the Southern Song capital of Hangzhou. Some people would cut out poems and verses and paste them onto silk lanterns; these would satirize or ridicule topical events, with grotesque or humorous pictures of people, and hidden meanings and obscure words, as well as jokes current in the old capital, all intended to poke fun at the passers-by. Historically, the subjects of the riddles were traditional songs, poems, stories or historical events. People very much enjoy the challenge of solving these riddles, and lantern riddle parties are sometimes held at temples on the night of the Lantern Festival. These contests show that the lanterns not only provide aesthetic pleasure, but also serve to celebrate and express Chinese history and culture.

Here are a few riddles for you to solve. Hint: The riddles are a cross between a Whatzit? and a rebus.