Chinese Lanterns 

Paper lanterns, originating from the Eastern Han Dynasty, were mainly used as lamps in ancient China. A variety of crafts were used in their making such as Chinese paintings, paper-cutting, pricking (针刺), seaming (缝) and also many materials, such as bamboo, wood, wheat straw, and metal.

 Originally, monks used lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in their worship of the Buddha. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Zhuang was a Buddhist and he ordered the inhabitants of the imperial palace and citizens to light lanterns to worship the Buddha just as the monks did. Later, this custom gradually became a grand festival among common people. During the Tang Dynasty, people made lanterns to celebrate their peaceful life while the splendid illuminations (灯彩) symbolized and celebrated the prosperous, strong and powerful country. From then on, lighting lanterns became popular in the country.

In ancient times, Palace Lantern was mainly used in palaces. It is famous for the delicate craftsmanship, graceful and dignified pictures as well as the courtly features. Fine wood was used to make the frames covered in silk or glass when making palace lanterns. Different kinds of patterns were drawn on the covers, and the most popular patterns are dragon and phoenix. These lanterns were not only used as lamps but also as decorations in palaces. Their shapes were diverse, such as octagonal(八角形), hexagonal(六角形) and even diametric.

Gauze Lantern uses gauze (薄纱) as its cover. Bamboo was used to make frames. Among these lanterns, red ones are recognized as the most impressive throughout the world. In Chinese culture, the red lantern is the symbol of booming life and prosperous business, so they are always hung on important festivals such as Lantern Festival, Spring Festival and National Day in parks or along main streets. In some famous China towns abroad, you can see red lanterns all year round. They have become a symbol of Chinese culture worldwide.

Shadow-picture Lantern① appeared in China about 1,000 years ago, which was usually used for entertainment. The shape is much like that of the palace lanterns and there were two layers of covers. Paper-cuts are pasted or pictures are drawn on the inner cover. When lit, the heat causes a paper wheel inside the lantern to rotate (旋转) so that moving pictures appear on the outer cover.

There were other kinds such as lanterns with Chinese characters or auspicious (吉祥的) words on them. Those with characters were always used in officials’ houses because the characters were often the surnames of the officials’ families. The lucky lanterns would bear the name of a deity or have a picture of a deity on them.

Now more types of lanterns appear in festivals apart from the traditional ones. More modern technology is used in making lanterns, so people can see lanterns with music, colorful bulbs inside and so on. The shapes of the modern lanterns have changed a lot too, such as shapes of cartoon characters, Chinese zodiac animals (十二生肖), and images from computer games.

For common people, lanterns are hung up from the eve of Spring Festival (last day of the lunar year) until the Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the first lunar month). The Lantern show is an attractive activity on the day of the Lantern Festival in many cities. On the lantern show, many people love the “lantern riddles” (灯谜) most. Anyone who guessed the answer to the riddles on the lanterns will be awarded a small gift. The interesting riddles make the colorful lantern shows more interesting.

Abridged and revised from

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/lantern/

Notes:

① Shadow-picture Lantern：走马灯，古称蟠螭灯(秦汉)、仙音烛和转鹭灯(唐)、马骑灯(宋)，灯内点上蜡烛，烛产生的热力造成气流，令轮轴转动。轮轴上有剪纸，烛光将剪纸的影投射在屏上，图象便不断走动。因多在灯各个面上绘制古代武将骑马的图画，而灯转动时看起来好像几个人你追我赶一样，故名走马灯。