Li Banghua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Li Banghua, Male, Han, from Zhaoyang, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Lantern Art (Ⅶ-50). The tradition is documented in Zhaoyang, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lantern Art in Zhaoyang, Beijing: Beijing decorative lanterns (Chaoyang District) take Beijing Xinruixiangtong Cultural Development Co., Ltd. as their protecting institution, and the craft is mainly continued through workshops and exhibition facilities in the eastern part of the city; together with Chongwen District, this is one of the two declaring regions of Beijing decorative lanterns, sharing the same lineage. The categories of Beijing decorative lanterns are distinguished by manner of use — hanging lanterns, standing lanterns, wall lanterns, and portable lanterns — and by materials — gauze lanterns, palace lanterns, trotting-horse lanterns, three-dimensional animal lanterns, metal lanterns, and liaosi lanterns. Forming a lantern requires multiple techniques — framework binding, pasting, knotting, embroidery, carving, papercutting, and calligraphy and painting — and a large decorative lantern is often produced through the coordinated division of labor of many people, with the frame, the lantern faces, and the ornaments completed separately before assembly. After the 1950s, with the disappearance of the Lantern Festival, only two varieties of Beijing decorative lanterns remained — palace lanterns (gongdeng) and red gauze lanterns (hongsha deng) — while the crafting techniques of all the other patterned lantern varieties had been lost.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Li Banghua is anchored in the documented technical standards of Lantern Art in Zhaoyang, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Lantern Art in Zhaoyang, Beijing: Decorative lanterns (dengcai), also known as 'festive lanterns' (huadeng), are a decorative traditional handicraft widely popular throughout China. Historically, hanging lanterns and displaying colored silks was the principal festival custom of the Lantern Festival, and a blaze of lights and colors was the most striking spectacle of Lantern Festival night. Beijing decorative lanterns have long been popular in the Beijing area. Classified by manner of use, they fall into several major categories — hanging lanterns, standing lanterns, wall lanterns, and portable lanterns; classified by materials of production, they include gauze lanterns, palace lanterns, trotting-horse lanterns, three-dimensional animal lanterns, metal lanterns, and liaosi (glass-thread) lanterns. The craft techniques of Beijing decorative lanterns are quite rich: framework binding in colorful materials, pasting and mounting, knotting, embroidery, carving, papercutting, and calligraphy and painting are all important technical means. Beijing's traditional lantern activities were held mainly at the Lantern Festival; later, lanterns and colored silks were also hung for auspicious occasions such as grand ceremonies, weddings, birthdays, and other festivities. Decorative lanterns have become a symbol of auspiciousness and celebration, embodying people's prayers for a better life and their longing for a happy future. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Hanging, pedestal, wall and hand lanterns": By use the lanterns are hanging, pedestal, wall and hand-held, each suited to a different part of the house or the festival night. "Tying, pasting, knotting, embroidery, carving": Frame tying, pasting, knotting, embroidery, carving, paper-cutting and painting calligraphy are all essential techniques of the craft. "Hardwood frames and auspicious inscriptions": Square or hexagonal hardwood frames are glazed and pasted with silk, painted or inscribed with auspicious words and finished with tassels. "What survived the loss of the lantern festival": After the lantern festival faded in the 1950s only palace and red gauze lanterns survived, the other types ceasing to be made.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Li Banghua was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Lantern Art, with Zhaoyang, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Lantern Art in Zhaoyang, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Zhaoyang, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Xinruixiangtong Culture Development Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Libanghua (Zhaoyang, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Libanghua · China ICH Official Archive