Wang Rulan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Rulan, Female, Han, from Xianju, Zhejiang, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Lantern Art (Ⅶ-50). The tradition is documented in Xianju, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lantern Art in Xianju, Zhejiang: In Xianju locality, they are used both as gifts for presentation and as decoration for dwellings, and they occupy an important place in folk festival activities. Tradition has it that the boneless lantern began in the Tang dynasty, commonly called the "Tang lantern," and that the technique matured in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1996, the Xianju needled boneless lantern won the Gold Prize of Chinese Folk Art Works and the gold prize of the Fourth Macao International Art Expo. In 2000, Xianju County was named a "Home of Chinese Folk Art" by the Ministry of Culture.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, of Han ethnicity, born in August 1937 in Xianju County, Zhejiang Province. Since 1985 she has run an exhibition hall for needle-pricked frameless flower lanterns on the ancient street of Potan, passing on the craft of flower-lantern making. Inheriting the essence of traditional flower lanterns, she has devoted herself to the transmission, research and development of Xianju flower lanterns, improving and innovating their forms and decorative patterns and painting flowers, grasses, fish and insects in watercolor to strengthen their artistic appeal. From October 2004 to April 2006 she was engaged by the Songcheng Scenic Area in Hangzhou as a flower-lantern performing artist. Within the documented technical tradition of Lantern Art in Xianju, Zhejiang: The Xianju needled boneless lantern is named for its surface patterns, which are pierced with holes made by knife-chiseling and needle-pricking, and for its body, which has no ribs. It originated in Potan, Xianju County, Zhejiang Province, and later spread to the townships of Hengxi, Baita, Tianshi, Xiage, and Zhuxi. The Xianju needled boneless lantern integrates painting, embroidery, and architectural art; its forms are distinctive, its sense of space strong, its facade variations rich, and its structure fine and vivid — a masterpiece of traditional women's needlework. The patterns on the lantern surface are formed by light passing through the holes pierced by knife and needle, leaving shadows; its modeling method is also unique — not a single rib is used in the whole body, which is instead made by folding, joining, and gluing paper lantern panels of different sizes and shapes. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Patterns pierced with a needle": Its patterns are not painted but pricked with a fine needle, the candlelight showing through the holes as a picture. "Folding and gluing the boneless panels": No frame is used at all: paper panels of differing size and shape are folded and glued into the lantern body. "Baipu town and the villages of Xianju": It arose in Baipu and spread to Hengxi, Baita, Tianshi, Xiage and Zhuxi; there the lanterns serve as gifts and as house decoration. "Li Xiangman reviving the Tang lantern": Told by an octogenarian in 1983 of the old Tang lantern, Li began rescuing the craft in 1984 and brought back a technique lost for over fifty years.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

She is a representative bearer of Lantern Art (Xianju Flower Lanterns), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Her works have won awards many times in competitions and exhibitions across the country.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Wang Rulan · National Representative Bearer Archive