Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
Although the lantern itself was repeatedly remade, its ribbons were still objects from the Song dynasty, always treasured by the Zhao family; they were destroyed in the 1960s.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Thousand-Angle Lantern is a treasure of the folk craft of Dongguan, Guangdong, originally the exclusive possession of the Zhao family of Dongguan. The Dongguan Zhaos are descendants of the Song imperial family; legend has it that the Zhao family began making the Thousand-Angle Lantern in the early Yuan dynasty, with twenty-four decorative ribbons attached. The Thousand-Angle Lantern is made once every ten years; before the founding of the People's Republic of China it was exhibited at the Pufan Ancestral Hall (the Zhao family ancestral temple in Jieyuan Lane). After an interruption of forty years, the making of the Thousand-Angle Lantern has revived; the current principal inheritor, with the support of the Guancheng District government, spent eight months completing a Thousand-Angle Lantern, but as he is now advanced in years and lacks successors, there is an urgent need to pass on the making technique.
The twenty-four Song-dynasty lamp bands
Named for its twenty-four decorative bands, kept by the Zhao family and said to be Song relics destroyed in the 1960s.
From oil lamps to electric bulbs
Zhang Jinpei replaced the old wick-burning oil cups of its thousand small lamps first with kerosene lamps, then with electric bulbs.
A giant lantern taught mouth to ear
Uniting paper craft, painting and palace-lantern work, it has no drawings or models and is passed on only by word of mouth.
Zhang Shuqi teaching in schools
Born in 1946, Zhang Shuqi trains his two sons, runs school programmes and workshops, and has refined parts of the craft.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Thousand-Angle Lantern has always been the exclusive possession of the Zhao family of Guancheng, Dongguan. The Zhaos lived in Jieyuan Lane, Guancheng, and their ancestral hall, the Pufan Ancestral Hall, long displayed this lantern. The lantern is made once every ten years, with twenty-four decorative ribbons; its making and exhibition were both presided over by the family. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the making of the Thousand-Angle Lantern was interrupted for more than forty years; today it has been remade with the support of the Guancheng District government, and its making and teaching activities are concentrated in the Guancheng area.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhang Jinpei (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): The Thousand-Angle Lantern is a giant colored lantern handed down in the family of descendants of the Zhao-Song imperial family who settled in Dongguan. Its making technique has no drawings or surviving models; it has been passed down from generation to generation only through oral instruction and tacit understanding. On the basis of a thorough knowledge of the traditional making method, he improved the materials used for the thousand small lamps - from ancient oil-wick-burning lamps to kerosene lamps, and then to electric bulbs. His work integrates paper-molding, painting, and palace-lantern craft in one. Also known as Zhang Fo. Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1920, died in May 2009, from Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. Representative inheritor of Lanterns (Dongguan Thousand-Angle Lantern), a third national-level intangible cultural heritage project. His works have been exhibited many times and won such awards as the gold prize of the China Folk Literature and Art Mountain Flower Award, jointly held by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Folk Literature and Art Association. Zhang Shuqi (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1946, from Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. He has fully mastered the production process and related techniques of the Dongguan Thousand-Angle Lantern and, through study, has improved some of the procedures. To transmit a technique on the verge of being lost, he has actively devoted himself to the transmission and dissemination of the Thousand-Angle Lantern; besides teaching his two sons, he has carried out activities bringing the Thousand-Angle Lantern into schools and has repeatedly held Dongguan Thousand-Angle Lantern production training courses, influencing a group of enthusiasts. Representative inheritor of Lanterns (Dongguan Thousand-Angle Lantern), a fifth national-level intangible cultural heritage project. The Thousand-Angle Lanterns he has made have participated in lantern festivals in various places and won prizes many times.
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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