Is there a difference between the expressions 元宵节 and 灯节, or are they exactly the same?
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s.e.g. bkrs:元宵节 Lantern Festival (15th of the first lunar month) 灯节 Lantern Festival (15th of first lunar month)– user6065Feb 11, 2017 at 11:02
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@user6065 Is 元宵节 more common? Because some native speakers seem to not even know what 灯节 is and they corrected me to 元宵节– Constantin GroßFeb 11, 2017 at 11:22
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1I was from Hong Kong, I only know there is a festival called 元宵节 or 彩灯节. Never heard people calling it just 灯节– Tang Ho ♦Feb 11, 2017 at 12:07
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灯节：（元宵节别名）baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%81%AF%E8%8A%82/13783181 元宵节别名：灯盏、点灯盏– user6065Feb 11, 2017 at 16:42
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5 Answers
亦稱為上元節、小正月、元夕、小年或春燈節。
時間是每年的農曆正月十五。
佛教有在正月十五點燈供佛的習俗。
而道教中，上元節乃天官華誕，故燃燈以慶。
元：上元 (農曆正月十五，the 15th of the 1st lunar month)
宵：夜晚 (night, evening)
元宵：the evening of the 15th of the 1st lunar month
Lantern: 燈
Festival: 節
Lantern Festival: 燈節
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.
每年農曆的正月十五日，春節剛過，迎來的就是中國的傳統節日--元宵節。元宵節主要的活動就是看燈。東漢明帝時期，明帝提倡佛教，聽說佛教有正月十五日僧人觀佛舍利，點燈敬佛的做法，就命令這一天夜晚在皇宮和寺廟裡點燈敬佛，令士族庶民都掛燈。以後這種佛教禮儀節日逐漸形成民間盛大的節日。該節經歷了由宮廷到民間，由中原到全國的發展過程。
Complementary to @hinen answer.
Lantern festival 灯节 , is actually geographical cultural specific.
For ethnic "Han" and to the confusion of other cultural, Lantern festival may refer any of these day in agri-lunar(农历）Calendar
- 农历正月十五 元宵节 (1st month, day 15)
- 农历七月七日 七巧节 (7th month, day 7 )
- 农历八月十五 中秋节 (8th month, day 15)
灯节is an informal term of 元宵节。
元宵 doesn't means 'lantern'. It means 'the night of the 15th day of January', because January(一月) is also called 元月 in ancient Chinese.
宵 means 'night'.
In old tradition, people see lantern shows outside at this day. Thus it is also called 灯节（lantern festival）。
“灯节”就是元宵节的非正式的非官方的民间叫法。就是正月十五这天。
元宵节和灯节其实是一样的，两种称呼而已。这一天人们通常会猜灯谜、赏花灯。
