Lantern Art
01 · Historical Records
Luoyang City in Henan Province is a famous ancient capital of China. The flower lantern art that circulated here originated earliest in the imperial court and later gradually spread among the people, forming the graceful and elegant art of palace lanterns.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The blending of court culture and folk culture has given Luoyang palace lanterns their broad scope, making their types and styles richer than those of ordinary flower lanterns: besides palace lanterns in the strict sense, gauze lanterns and other lanterns expressing different folk needs are all incorporated into the system of Luoyang palace lanterns. The round gauze lantern, as the old-style palace lantern, is the flagship product of Luoyang palace lanterns. It uses green bamboo produced in Luoning County to make its splint frame, is covered on the outside with gauze or silk, and is decorated with characters or patterns. This type of lantern can long retain its original form without going out of shape; its frame can be opened and closed, making it suitable for collection. Making Luoyang palace lanterns generally requires more than seventy process steps, and the craftsmanship is very refined. The frames of palace lanterns are divided into three types—bamboo splint, lead wire, and iron wire—according to the size of the lantern body. After the frame is tied, the surface is pasted with xuan paper or silk gauze, and techniques such as applied color, gilding, painted color, knotted decoration, embroidery, printing, paper-cutting, and carving are then applied according to the form. In former times the process steps were assigned to craftsmen of various kinds—material selection, lantern making, pasting and mounting, painting and decoration, and assembly—and a single palace lantern often passed through several hands before it was finished, hence the saying “one frame of lantern bones, seven-tenths of the work.”
Archival Record of Working Procedures
Making Luoyang palace lanterns generally requires more than seventy process steps, and the craftsmanship is very refined.
The round gauze lantern
The round gauze lantern, framed with green bamboo from Luoning county and pasted with gauze, keeps its shape and can be folded flat.
More than seventy steps
More than seventy steps are needed, from splitting bamboo and building the collapsible frame to pasting gauze, inscribing and oiling.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The production, sale, and apprenticeship of Luoyang palace lanterns have long been concentrated within the city of Luoyang. Craftsmen divided the work by lantern type, and a number of palace lantern families—Du, Li, Wang, and others—emerged, each with its own forms and techniques of pasting lanterns. At present most of these families have declined; only the Wang family still has descendants, and the Luoyang Cultural Center undertakes the organizational work of protecting the project and transmitting its skills.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the past Luoyang had many lantern makers, and a number of palace lantern families—Du, Li, Wang, and others—emerged; most have now declined, with only the Wang family still having descendants. If protective measures are not taken in time, Luoyang palace lanterns—this flower of folk art rich in historical and cultural connotations—will hardly be able to avoid the fate of rapid withering. Because it spread from the imperial court to the people, the range of Luoyang palace lanterns is broader than that of ordinary flower lanterns: besides palace lanterns in the strict sense, gauze lanterns and lanterns satisfying different folk needs are all incorporated into its system, so the same craftsman often made both palace lanterns and gauze lanterns. A lantern’s form can long retain its original appearance without going out of shape, and its frame can open and close, making it easy to collect and carry; this is also an important reason for its long circulation in the ancient capital of Luoyang. And precisely because the work is complex and the profit thin, after the older generation of lantern craftsmen passed away one after another, few people can now master the full set of more than seventy process steps.
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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