Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
Frames and pasting of gauze and palace lanterns
The red gauze lantern is bamboo-framed and pasted with red gauze, while the palace lantern has a hardwood frame glazed and painted.
Heat-driven revolving lantern
The rising heat of the candle turns a vane, so the silhouettes on the shade revolve in endless succession.
Gauze, palace and revolving lanterns
By material it includes gauze, palace, revolving, animal, metal and glass-thread lanterns; by use, hanging, pedestal, wall and hand lanterns.
The Red Lantern Factory's surviving types
Its safeguarding unit is the Beijing Art Red Lantern Factory, where red gauze and palace lanterns remain the main types made.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Beijing decorative lanterns (Chongwen District) take Beijing Meishu Hongdeng Factory Co., Ltd. as their protecting institution, with red gauze lanterns and palace lanterns being the two main varieties continued by the factory. Classified by manner of use, Beijing decorative lanterns are divided into several major categories — hanging lanterns, standing lanterns, wall lanterns, and portable lanterns; classified by materials, they include gauze lanterns, palace lanterns, trotting-horse lanterns, three-dimensional animal lanterns, metal lanterns, and liaosi lanterns. Palace lanterns mostly use hardwood frames, with glass inlaid and silk gauze pasted on four or six sides; the lantern faces are painted with landscapes, flowers, and birds or inscribed with auspicious phrases, and tassels and silk cords hang down below. Red gauze lanterns are supported by split-bamboo frames covered on the outside with red gauze; no colored painting is applied to the whole body. They are mostly hung in strings in front of shops and over gatehouses, conveying the atmosphere of prosperity and liveliness.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Against this historical and cultural background, the decorative lantern art, which synthesizes 'light' and 'color,' has acquired a unique aesthetic value. Faced with a series of difficulties — the decline of the Lantern Festival, the gradual disappearance of decorative lanterns, the erosion of Chinese traditional festival culture by foreign festival customs, and the impact of modern technology on traditional handicrafts — Beijing decorative lanterns are struggling to advance and lack successors, and are in urgent need of rescue and protection. Beijing decorative lanterns have long depended on the Lantern Festival for their survival. Hanging lanterns and colored silks is both a festival custom and an indispensable adornment for auspicious events such as grand ceremonies, weddings, and birthdays. Artisans must simultaneously master 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. After the Lantern Festival disappeared in the 1950s, only palace lanterns and red gauze lanterns survived among Beijing's decorative lanterns, while the crafting techniques of all the other patterned lantern varieties were lost, which makes the surviving crafts all the more precious.
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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