Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
Foshan colored lanterns, commonly known as “dengse” (lantern colors), are a product of the combination of Foshan folk art with local customs; because local folk activities are lively, dengse lanterns have long been made for the Lantern Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Qiuse (autumn colors) fairs.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Foshan lies in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta in southeastern Guangdong. The climate here is warm, the produce abundant, folk activities exceptionally lively, and folk crafts rich and colorful. Foshan colored lanterns, commonly known as “dengse” (lantern colors), are a handicraft formed by the combination of Foshan folk art with local customs. They come in a rich variety of categories with a wide range of themes, mainly depicting joyous harvests, auspicious blessings of good fortune, and stories of theatrical figures. They include grand leading lanterns, grouped lanterns of figure stories, colored dragon lanterns, Lantern Festival flower lanterns, Mid-Autumn lanterns, special craft lanterns for the Qiuse festival, and colored lanterns of every shape and size. The making of Foshan colored lanterns comprises four major process steps: design, frame tying, lining mounting, and assembly. The lanterns are made with select materials and exquisite craftsmanship; their forms are vivid, their colors brilliant, their scenes cheerful and lively, and their shapes endlessly varied. Finished lanterns are decorated with Foshan’s unique copper-backed paper-cuttings, giving an impression of resplendent magnificence. Foshan is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. In promoting cultural exchange between China and foreign countries and in strengthening the bonds of fellowship among Chinese at home and abroad and across the Taiwan Strait, Foshan colored lanterns have played an important bridging role. At present, under the influence of the market economy, the production and sale of Foshan colored lanterns, which require high input costs and long working hours, are highly unstable. Only one master craftsman with comprehensive technical skills remains, and he is already over eighty years old.
Archival Record of Working Procedures
The making of Foshan colored lanterns comprises four major process steps: design, frame tying, lining mounting, and assembly. The lanterns are made with select materials and exquisite craftsmanship; their forms are vivid, their colors brilliant, their scenes cheerful and lively, and their shapes endlessly varied. Finished lanterns are decorated with Foshan’s unique copper-backed paper-cuttings, giving an impression of resplendent magnificence.
Head-board lanterns and coloured dragon lanterns
The types include head-board lanterns, figure-story groups, coloured dragon lanterns and festival lanterns for the Lantern and Mid-Autumn festivals.
Copper-lined paper-cut decoration
Made in four stages and trimmed with Foshan's distinctive copper-lined paper-cuts, the lanterns have a sumptuous gilded look.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Foshan colored lanterns are one of the main schools of traditional Chinese lantern art and a representative work of Lingnan folk art. Foshan colored lantern displays are among the folk cultural activities most familiar to and beloved by the local people, and also an effective means of building a harmonious society.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It merges the cultures of northern and southern China into one, providing an important reference for research on folk art, Lingnan culture, and related fields. Foshan colored lanterns lack successors and their prospects are worrying; there is an urgent need to strengthen protection. Deng Hui (official archive record of the associated inheritor): He has been engaged in colored lantern production for more than sixty years, with rich experience, comprehensive technical skills, and superb artistry. He excels in making figure-story lanterns, colored dragon lanterns, and painted lantern screens; his works are conceived with originality and executed with delicate skill. The figure lanterns he makes have vivid forms, true-to-life images, and smooth lines, giving a sense of being lifelike. His colored dragon lanterns range from less than a foot in size to a hundred meters in length; they can be viewed and danced, nimble and lifelike. His painted lantern screens, meanwhile, combine the dual appreciative value of lantern art and mural painting. The traditional grand leading lanterns he made were once selected for the National Exhibition of Works of Arts and Crafts, and a 98-meter giant colored dragon lantern was collected by the Melbourne Museum in Australia. He has actively passed on the skills of Foshan colored lanterns, training a group of young craftsmen and production technicians. Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1923 in Foshan City, Guangdong Province; died in September 2010. Representative inheritor of Colored Lanterns (Foshan Colored Lanterns), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the third batch. Yang Yurong (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1945 in Wenchang City, Hainan Province. Senior arts-and-crafts designer and Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. In 1962 she entered the Foshan Folk Art Research Society as an apprentice, studying colored lantern production under the guidance of Wu Qiu, Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts, and Deng Hui, a representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Colored Lanterns. In 1992 she began designing and producing colored lantern products. After becoming deputy director of the Foshan Folk Art Research Society, she was mainly responsible for organizing and planning domestic and international exhibitions and performances of Foshan colored lanterns, while also taking part in lantern design and production. Her main works include “Kylin Presenting Auspicious Omens,” “Radiant Flowers and a Full Moon,” “Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl,” “Auspicious Ao Fish,” “Scenic Beauty of the Famous City,” “Flying Dragon Soaring High,” “Carp Leaping over Hong Kong,” and “Millennium Dragon Dancing over the Pearl River.” After retiring, she was engaged by the Foshan Boyi Lighting Crafts Factory to continue colored lantern production and design work, and took on a number of apprentices. Representative inheritor of Colored Lanterns (Foshan Colored Lanterns), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fourth batch.
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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