佛祖統紀 33.15

33.15

放燈　佛教初來與道士角試。燒經放光而卷帙無損。時當正月十五日。明帝乃令每於此日燒燈以表佛法大明。自是歷朝每當上元必放燈。本朝太平興國六年。勅下元亦放燈三夜。為軍民祈福（僧史略）。

Releasing Lanterns: When Buddhism first arrived, it engaged in a contest with Daoists. The Buddhist scriptures were burned and emitted light without their scrolls suffering any damage. The time corresponded to the fifteenth day of the first month. Emperor Ming thereupon ordered that lamps be burned on this day every year to represent the great brightness of the Buddhadharma. From then on, through successive dynasties, lanterns were inevitably released at each Shangyuan festival. In the sixth year of the Taiping Xingguo era of our dynasty, an edict ordered that lanterns also be released for three nights at the Xiayuan festival to pray for blessings on behalf of the army and the common people (from the *Abridged History of the Saṃgha*).