Chinese Lanterns History, Types and Production

Brief Introduction

Portable Lanterns

Chinese lanterns, also collectively known as lanterns, are an ancient Han traditional handicraft. It originated in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Every year around the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people hang red lanterns that symbolize reunion to create a festive atmosphere.
 

Later, the lantern became a symbol of a Chinese celebration. Through the inheritance and development of lanterns artists of the past dynasties, a rich variety and superb craft level have been formed. There are palace lanterns, gauze lanterns, chandeliers, and so on. In terms of appearance, there are characters, landscapes, flowers and birds, dragons and phoenixes, fish and insects, etc.

History of Chinese Lanterns

Chinese Lanterns

Lanterns are a kind of ancient lamps. As early as the Tang Dynasty, the reasons for using lanterns were recorded. The existence of lamps in China was after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the existence of paper lanterns may have occurred after the invention of paper in the Western Han Dynasty. The custom of viewing lanterns on the Lantern Festival originated in the early years of the Han Dynasty. However, it is also rumored that Emperor Ming of Tang hung many lanterns in Shangyang Palace during the Lantern Festival to celebrate the country’s peace and people’s good life. " The people are happy. The country is strong." Hanging lanterns is still popular today.
 

There are many theories about the origin of lanterns. The most popular one is that the custom of lanterns on the Lantern Festival began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Ming Emperor Liuzhuang of the Eastern Han Dynasty advocated Buddhism. It is said that on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year, Buddhist monks had customs of watching Buddha relics and lighting lanterns. According to the Buddha's practice, Emperor Ming ordered lamps to be lighted in palaces and temples to worship the Buddha that night, so that the nobles and common people would hang lamps. Later, this Buddhist etiquette festival gradually formed a grand folk festival. The festival has experienced a development process from the royal families to the folk, from the Central Plains to the whole country. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, to celebrate the prosperity of the country, people tied up the lanterns and used the flickering lights which look like a colorful dragon to symbolize good fortune and prosperity.
 

Lanterns

Regarding the origin of lanterns, there is an interesting saying among folks. A long time ago, there were many ferocious birds and beasts, which hurt people and livestock everywhere. So people organized together to fight them. A divine bird landed in the world because it got lost, but was shot to death by an unwitting hunter. When the emperor of heaven knew it, he was very angry, and sent an order to let the heavenly soldiers set fire to the earth on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. He then burned all the human and animal property on the earth. The emperor's daughter was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the people suffering innocently. So she sneaked into the world and told the people the news. A wise man came up with a method. He asked everyone to light up lights, light firecrackers, and set off fireworks on the 15th, 16th, and 17th day of the first lunar month. In this way, the emperor would think that the heavenly soldiers had already set fire. On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Emperor of Heaven looked down and found that the world red, and the sound rang into the sky. He thought it was the flames of the fire. In order to commemorate this success, every household will hang lanterns to commemorate this day every 15th day of the first lunar month.
 

Nowadays, China’s iconic lantern is a symbol of Chinese culture worldwide and has a long history. Although the lanterns nowadays are carefully made, from flying beauties to zodiac animals, their original purpose was just to be a light source. The ancient Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) used bamboo, wood or wheat straw frames to surround the candles, and spread silk or paper on the candles so that the flame would not be blown out by the wind. Usually, the lampshade is decorated with a few words and advertised on the way to a store or a street.

Clarification of Chinese Lanterns

According to the types of lanterns, there are palace lanterns, gauze lanterns, chandeliers, and so on.
 

According to the shape of the lantern: there are characters, landscapes, flowers and birds, dragons and phoenixes, fish and insects, and so on.
 

In addition, there are revolving lanterns for people to enjoy. The lantern in our country integrates the art of painting, paper-cutting, paper binding, and piercing. Among the lanterns made in ancient China, palace lanterns and silk lanterns are the most.

The Way to Make Chinese Lanterns

• Make the Skeleton

The simpler shape of the paper lantern is a cube or a cylinder. It is best to use bendable bamboo branches or bamboo skins to form a frame and tie them tightly with thin wires. If it is not easy to find, thin strips of cardboard are also fine. Although the firmness and flexibility will be lacking, it is also a good decoration for indoors.
 

• Make the Lantern Body

  

  Palace Lanterns

Buy some white and red plain rice paper or sprinkled gold rice paper, and cut them to fit the length and width of the lantern skeleton, and then you can design your own patterns. Calligraphy, painting, and paper-cutting can all be displayed on a small lantern. After the paste is finished, you can also use a narrow strip of imitation paper to border up and down, which looks more elegant, much like an ancient palace lantern. If you are not good at calligraphy and painting, there is a simple way for reference. Use a piece of thin paper to trace the words you want on the copybook. And then overlap this thin paper with the deep red rice paper. And use a single-edged blade to dig out the writing. Remove the thin paper, and the hollow handwriting will appear on the red rice paper. The lamp body is made of white rice paper. The red rice paper is pasted inside. The candlelight or light is reflected from the hollow. The effect is quite good.
 

• Make the Light Source

If you put it indoors, you only need to light an ordinary candle in the lantern; if you want to carry it out, it is best to make a simple circuit with a light bulb and battery.

The Meaning and Status of Chinese Lanterns

Gauze Lanterns

Chinese lanterns are a combination of the art of painting, paper cutting, paper binding and sewing. Among the lanterns made in ancient China, palace lanterns and gauze lanterns are the most famous. Lanterns are connected with Chinese people's life. There are lanterns everywhere in temples, streets and people’s houses. China had the lantern after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the paper lantern was invented in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Chinese lanterns are not only used for lighting, but also as a symbol of people’s hope of new life. Bamboo strip lanterns were used to indicate funeral occasions; umbrella lanterns (surnamed lanterns), because "Deng" and "Ding" have the similar pronunciation, mean a prosperous population. Therefore, in the past, every family had a family name lamp, which was hung under the eaves and in the living room.
 

Besides lighting, lanterns have other functions. Every year, when the private school (ancient school) opens in January, parents prepare a lantern for their children, which is lighted by the teacher to symbolize the bright future of the students, which is called "turn on the light". Later, it evolved into the custom of carrying lanterns on the Lantern Festival. Because the pronunciation is similar to "Tianding", lanterns are also used to pray for children. In the era of the Japanese occupation, patriots drew folk stories on lanterns to teach their descendants to understand their own culture, so it was of great significance to pass on the torch from generation to generation.

Exquisite Lanterns

authorName23242: Yaqi Xiong

Date: 07/12/2020

Email: info@chinatourstar.com

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