Quick Answer: How Are Chinese Lanterns Made?
Chinese decorative lanterns (灯彩, dēngcǎi) can be made by shaping a framework and stretching a translucent covering over it. In other designs, joined paper or card panels hold the shape themselves. The covering can give the lantern an even glow or reveal the pattern through small openings.[1][2][3][4]
- Frame: Bamboo strips or wire can hold a shape.
- Covering: Paper, silk or other fabric can spread the light.
- Pattern: Cut openings and pinholes can become bright details.
Start with the structure, then see what changes when the lantern is lit.
An unlit lantern shows its outline, seams and decorations. Once it glows, a second design can appear in the paper or fabric. Regional makers use different ways to build the shape and to control what the light makes visible.
Frames, Skins and the Way Light Travels
On one documented Quanzhou type, thin bamboo strips form the ribs and are tied into a frame. Paper or silk is stretched and pasted over it. The frame sets the profile. The skin stretched across the gaps gives the maker a surface to paint or decorate. Trim and tassels can be added after the skin is in place.[1]
A translucent covering lets light reach the eye across a broad area. A cut opening or a cluster of pinholes can make a smaller, brighter detail. These choices matter even when two lanterns have a similar silhouette. The narrow strips used in Chinese bamboo weaving offer a related example of how narrow pieces of bamboo can be organized to hold a shape.[1][4]
Light also changes how seams and ribs appear. A rib can cast a darker line behind a glowing skin. On an animal or figure, adjacent sections can use different coverings to mark changes of color or outline. Lantern makers can use those divisions as part of the design.[1][4]
How Quanzhou Makers Work Without a Separate Frame
Quanzhou, in Fujian, has more than one way to make a lantern. In one cut-paper construction, decorated card panels join into a shell that can support itself. A variation inserts fine glass filaments into the cutouts. A paper-cutting design can therefore be part of the structure as well as part of the decoration.[1][2]
A needle-pierced boneless lantern (针刺无骨灯, zhēncì wúgǔ dēng) uses a different effect. The maker pierces tiny holes in the paper to form a design. When the lantern is lit, points of light trace the motif. “Boneless” describes the absence of a separate rib frame in this construction. The paper pieces and their joins still have to support the shape.[1][2]
The national craft record attributes the Quanzhou needle-pierced design to Cai Binghan in 1978. That date applies to the documented design. Bamboo-framed and pierced-paper examples are both part of the wider local practice.[1]
Foshan Decorative Lanterns and Zigong Displays
The national listing for Foshan in Guangdong describes a sequence of designing, making a frame, fitting the covering and assembling the lantern. It singles out local cut-paper decoration backed with copper. The reflective decoration can stand out even when the lantern is unlit. The craft covers several forms, including figures and dragon lanterns.[3]
In Zigong, Sichuan, the China Lantern Museum documents large and medium pieces with a steel support carrying a shaped wire framework. The lighting sits inside the form and a fitted covering goes over it. The museum also describes fiberglass forms used for some figures, animals and scenery. Such forms can become part of a larger illuminated scene.[4][5]
For both traditions, the size and use of a piece help explain how it was made. A hand-carried lantern needs a different structure from a festival installation. The guide to Chinese lanterns covers the wider range of forms and occasions.
What to Look For at a Lantern Display
At a display, compare an illuminated lantern with any unlit examples or workshop models. Look for ribs or panel joins, then see whether the pattern comes from surface color, cutouts or points of light. On a large lantern group, check whether a single shape is actually made from separate units.[1][3][4]
A lantern’s construction and its use can have separate heritage records. The Quanzhou listing for making lanterns describes skills and materials. Its festival record documents customs such as hanging, gifting and viewing them. A celebration can also include lantern riddles or local activities associated with occasions such as the 中秋節. The Chinese intangible cultural heritage inventory includes craft and customary practices under different categories.[1][3][6]
FAQs About Chinese Lantern Making
Do all Chinese lanterns have bamboo frames?
Bamboo is used in some framed lanterns. Other examples use shaped wire, and some cut or pierced designs use a self-supporting shell.
Are all traditional lantern coverings made of paper?
Paper is common. Silk and other fabrics can also cover the structure. The material changes how light passes through the surface.
What does a boneless lantern mean?
In a Quanzhou example, the paper shell holds its own shape without a separate frame. A pierced design glows through tiny holes.
Is lantern making the same as a lantern festival?
Making a lantern involves materials, construction and decoration. A festival includes public or household customs around displaying and viewing lanterns.
資料來源
[1] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Lantern Art: Quanzhou Festive Lanterns
[2] Fujian Provincial People’s Government. National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Quanzhou Festive Lanterns
[3] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Lantern Art: Foshan Festive Lanterns
[4] China Lantern Museum. Zigong Lantern Craft: Applying the Covering
[5] China Lantern Museum. Zigong Lantern Craft: Fiberglass Forms
[6] Fujian Provincial People’s Government. National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Lantern Festival in Quanzhou