chinese lantern lamp artistic

This kind of activity is in fact deeply influenced by Buddhism. According to “Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty,” India holds a grand lantern lighting activity on December 30. “The Sutra of Padmasambhava’s Face” says that after Sakyamuni’s nirvana, the masses can offer him with bright lanterns. “Lighting lanterns step by step for twelve miles around the city.” And December 30 in India happens to be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, at the request of Indian monks, thousands of lanterns were lit at Yanxi Gate and lasted for three days. But this kind of activity was also influenced by Taoist thought at the same time. When praying for the sick in the Five Pecks of Rice Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the sick person’s willingness to confess and name were written on paper in three copies. One copy was sent to heaven, one was buried in the ground, and one was sunk in the water, known as the “Three Officials’ Handwritten Document.” After the Northern Wei Dynasty, the theory of the Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water was related to the Three Primordial Days. By the Tang Dynasty, the Three Primordial Days were officially integrated with the Three Officials, that is, the Heavenly Official bestows blessings on the Shangyuan Festival, the Earthly Official pardons sins on the Zhongyuan Festival, and the Water Official relieves disasters on the Xiayuan Festival. These three festivals were in fact a whole in ancient times, and they were all related to lights. For the Zhongyuan Festival, river lanterns were released. For the Xiayuan Festival, the official also lit lanterns for three days. Undoubtedly, the Shangyuan Festival is the liveliest one among the three. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Shangyuan Festival officially became an official festival to show sharing happiness with the people. Different from the usual curfew, the official allowed the people to pour out of the city and go on night outings to view lanterns.

The lantern viewing in the Tang Dynasty still had the characteristics of the early court torches. High officials and nobles liked to set up mountain lanterns as a manifestation of wealth and strength. For example, during the Tianbao period, Lady Han lit a hundred-branched lantern tree on the Shangyuan Festival and placed it on the mountain. Within a hundred miles, it illuminated the entire night sky. Where there is a market, there is creation. All kinds of lanterns also emerged in this situation. “Miscellaneous Records of Emperor Minghuang” said that there were skillful craftsmen in the capital on the Lantern Festival night who created a twelve-room lantern tower, 150 feet high. The lanterns mentioned in “Miscellaneous Notes of Cloud Immortals” written in the Five Dynasties were already in various shapes. “Egret turning flower, yellow dragon spitting water, golden ducks, silver swallows, floating light caves, and star-studded pavilions are all lanterns.” In fact, such large-scale lantern art was probably similar to the main attraction in a whole lighting show during the Lantern Festival. For example, the Aoshan lanterns that appeared in the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were similar to lantern mountains and were very tall. Hence, there is a saying that “an Aoshan lantern is worth a thousand pieces of gold.” “Clear Lessons of Chaocai Pavilion” in the Ming Dynasty mentioned the Aoshan lantern placed on the lake on the Lantern Festival night. “Brilliant pearls and jewels, pear blossom fireworks.” Women carried all kinds of lanterns and went out in groups to view lanterns. Looking from afar, it was like a ten-mile long rainbow. The lights stretched continuously, which was very spectacular. The Lantern Festival in the Tang Dynasty lasted for three days, from the 14th to the 16th day of the first lunar month. In the Song Dynasty, it was extended to five nights. In the Ming Dynasty, it was increased to seven nights, greatly promoting the development of all kinds of lanterns.

In general, there are many varieties of Chinese lantern art, but they can be mainly classified into the following categories:

First is the woven lantern, mainly made of bamboo weaving. That is, materials such as bamboo silk are woven into a spherical shape with a net pattern, and then materials such as paper and gauze are pasted on the outside. This kind of lantern should be considered a more common style in tradition. Now it mainly appears in Dongyang, Zhejiang, Shantou and Chaozhou in Guangdong, etc. There are also hand-woven lanterns made of split reeds in Shandong and wire lanterns in Yu County.

Another kind is the umbrella-shaped lantern, which mainly refers to the vertical bone lamp frame. The shape is mostly round or oval, like a melon. This kind of lantern is often hung above portals and temples and is now commonly seen in southern Fujian and Taiwan regions.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, there also appeared a kind of rolling lantern used during festivals. The rolling lantern is like a big ball with a candle lit in the middle. However, it can keep the flame balanced and roll without going out. Fan Dacheng of the Southern Song Dynasty described this kind of rolling lantern as “Throwing candles into the air steadily, pushing the ball and rolling it lightly. The reflected light makes fish faintly visible. The turning shadows make riders move freely.” In paintings reflecting the Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty such as “Lantern Festival Decorations in the Shangyuan Festival” and “Emperor Xianzong’s Enjoyment of the Lantern Festival,” rolling lanterns have appeared. Today, we can still see rolling lanterns in Binzhou, Fengxian, etc.