Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
Huangyuan row lanterns are transmitted in Chengguan Town, Huangyuan County, Qinghai Province; their origin can be traced back to the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing dynasty, when merchants from inland China gathered in the county town of Huangyuan. Shops in the town made name signs to attract customers, with candles placed inside; once lit at night they shone brilliantly. This custom continued into the late Qing and early Republican period, and with the support of the local chamber of commerce and the Fire God Society, row-lantern display and hanging activities were held every year during the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. In 1958, most of the lantern frames were destroyed and the patterns were largely lost. In 1992, the cultural department of Huangyuan County organized artists to remake seventy row lanterns in time for display at the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of 1993. In 1997, a single street of row lanterns was re-formed in Huangyuan County.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Later the shops' name signs were made ever more refined and splendid, becoming standing sign lanterns with bases and varied shapes and patterns; the large row lanterns spanning the street were developed from these sign lanterns. The frame of a Huangyuan row lantern is made of fine timber, with finely carved edges; its shape may be rectangular, saddle-shaped, fan-shaped, and the like, generally about 2 meters long, 0.6 meters high, and 0.4 meters thick. The front and back are divided into three to six panels, each painted with a design - historical figures, allusions, landscapes, flowers and birds, and so on, chosen by the shop - with the images related to one another; the interior is still lit by candles. After nightfall, rows of lanterns in the streets of Huangyuan town shine together, brilliant and colorful. The current principal inheritors of the making of Huangyuan row lanterns include Zhang Shenglu, Yang Zenggui, and Zhang Ting'en.
From shop signboards to lantern screens
The screens grew out of Qing shop signboards lit by inserted candles, which became pedestal lamps and finally large screens spanning the street.
Carved frames in three to six panels
Frames are carved from fine wood in oblong, saddle and fan shapes, about 2 m long, 0.6 m high and 0.4 m thick, with three to six painted panels a side.
Historical figures, tales, landscapes and flowers
Each shop chose its own subjects, mostly historical figures, allusions, landscapes and birds-and-flowers; at night the street of lanterns glows in rows.
Yang Zenggui's joinery background
Born in 1944, Yang learned joinery, wood carving and instrument making from his uncle and later brought light, sound and electric effects to the screens.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Huangyuan row lanterns are transmitted in the area of Chengguan Town, Huangyuan County, Qinghai Province. In former times their display was funded and organized by the local chamber of commerce and the Fire God Society, with lanterns hung in rows along the streets every year during the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After 1958 most of the lantern frames were destroyed; in 1992 the county cultural department organized artists to remake seventy row lanterns in time for the 1993 Lantern Festival display, and in 1997 the locality re-formed a 'street of row lanterns'. Since then Chengguan Town has restored its festive landscape of row lanterns lining the streets.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Because of the interruption of more than thirty years, many traditional row-lantern making techniques have already been lost, and there are no successors; this distinctive folk craft is currently in an endangered state and needs rescue and support. Yang Zenggui (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1944, from Xining, Qinghai. From childhood Yang Zenggui learned carpentry from his uncle Li Zengrui; he excelled at making furniture of all kinds, woodcarving, and making musical instruments, which laid a solid foundation for his row-lantern craft. In recent years Yang Zenggui has gradually developed his own distinctive experience and methods in the design, carving, and making of row lanterns; building on the original production techniques, he boldly reformed and innovated, adopting modern techniques of light, electricity, and sound, and the pictorial content now covers everything, making the row lanterns more vivid and beautiful. Representative inheritor of Lanterns (Huangyuan Row 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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