Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
Quanzhou festival lanterns originated in the Tang dynasty, flourished in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and have continued to the present day. In 1978, the artist Cai Binghan created the 'boneless needle-pricked lantern'.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Quanzhou festival lanterns are world-renowned for their unique paper-engraving and needle-pricking techniques and their skill of inlaying glass threads (liaosi). When making the traditional Quanzhou colored-ribbon (caizha) lantern, artists first bind bamboo strips with paper twists into the lantern's frame, then spray water on the cut paper or silk cloth and stretch it tight over the frame, paste on decorative borders, paint in designs, and hang silk tassels - and the caizha lantern is complete. The paper-engraved (kezhi) lantern technique appeared later; its originator was Li Yaobao (1892-1983), the Quanzhou master of paper engraving. All the patterns of the lantern are designed by the maker himself and then engraved on cardboard with a graver. The paper-engraved lantern uses no frame; it is assembled entirely from cardboard panels engraved with the patterns. Later, Li Yaobao inlaid glass threads into these openwork patterns, creating the exquisite paper-engraved glass-thread lantern. The patterns of this lantern are all densely pricked with steel needles on drawing paper; the light shines through the pinholes, appearing crystal-clear and dazzling. Once flourishing, the making of Quanzhou festival lanterns has now shrunk markedly in its area of distribution, and the number of practitioners has dropped sharply; lantern making has become a 'poor trade' whose sales are strongly tied to particular seasons. Under these circumstances, the production process has been simplified, skills have been lost, and urgent rescue and protection are needed.
Tying and stretching the coloured lantern
For a tied lantern the maker binds bamboo splints with paper twine, then stretches dampened paper or silk over the frame before adding borders, painting and tassels.
Li Yaobao and the cut-paper glass-silk lantern
The cut-paper lantern was created by Li Yaobao; its patterns are cut from card with no frame at all, and later he inset glass threads into the openwork.
Light through pierced holes
Cai Binghan created it in 1978: the pattern is pricked densely with a steel needle so that the light seeps through and the lantern glitters.
Li Zhuqin's Embroidered Ball and Two Dragons
Born in 1941, Li Zhuqin designed over a hundred cut-paper patterns and in 2004 edited her father's cut-paper anthology.
Cai Binghan's Swimming Fish lantern
Cai made the frameless lantern from 1978 and built his Swimming Fish lantern on the principle of air convection.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Their main area of distribution is the Licheng and Fengze districts of Quanzhou City, extending to the neighboring Jinjiang, Hui'an, Nan'an, and Yongchun counties. Quanzhou festival lanterns have a long history and distinctive local characteristics; they are representative of the festival lanterns of southern China.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The current principal inheritors of Quanzhou festival lanterns include Chen Minghua, Li Zhuqin, Wu Zuzan, Xu Qianshen, Chen Changtu, Chen Lixia, and others. Li Zhuqin (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in 1941, from Quanzhou, Fujian. Representative inheritor of Lanterns (Quanzhou Festival Lanterns), a first national-level intangible cultural heritage project, and master of arts and crafts of Fujian Province. In 1957, Li Zhuqin became an apprentice at an arts-and-crafts factory, studying paper engraving and the design and making of boneless paper-engraved glass-thread lanterns; after several years of hard work she basically mastered purely handmade lantern production and the paper-engraving technique. Over several decades in the craft, through long study and practice she has continually produced new works, designing more than a hundred paper-engraved patterns of widely differing images as well as glass-thread lanterns of beautiful form. Li Zhuqin's lantern craft is an art form combining inherited family technique with outside techniques, characterized by diversity and inclusiveness. In 2004 she collected and organized the large number of lantern drafts and physical works left by her father and edited and published the Selected Paper Engravings of Li Yaobao, making a contribution to the promotion of folk arts and crafts. Her representative works include Embroidered Ball, Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl, and Jade Hairpin Lantern. Cai Binghan (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Every year during the Lantern Festival, Quanzhou holds lantern exhibitions; the colorful lantern art is one of Quanzhou's most representative cultural arts. While studying at Fujian Normal University, Cai Binghan developed a strong interest in folk festival lanterns; in his later work he continually studied and taught himself lantern techniques. Since 1978, Cai Binghan pioneered the Boneless Lantern and entered it in Quanzhou Lantern Festival exhibitions year after year, adding a new variety to Quanzhou festival lanterns. He also used the principle of air convection to make the Swimming Fish Lantern; his other representative works include Stars Paying Homage to the Moon, A Supreme Sight of Spring Radiance, and Spring Dawn at the Wu Palace. Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1929, died in 2012, from Quanzhou, Fujian. Representative inheritor of Lanterns (Quanzhou Festival Lanterns), a first national-level intangible cultural heritage project.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Xiangman 01-0114
- Chen Weiyan 01-0115
- Li Zhuqin 01-0116
- Cai Binghan 01-0117
- Yang Zenggui 01-0118
- Zhang Jinpei 03-1260
- He Weifu 03-1261
- Chen Baihua 03-1262
- Deng Hui 03-1263
- Lin Hanbin 03-1264
- Yang Yurong 04-1793
- Ma Yuanliang 05-2631
- Wang Xiaowen 05-2632
- Wang Rulan 05-2633
- Hu Jinlong 05-2634
- Lin Shunkui 05-2635
- Xu Qianshen 05-2636
- Zhang Juntao 05-2637
- Zhang Shuqi 05-2638
- Liu Yaosheng 05-2639
- Li Banghua
- Chen Dizhen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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