Chinese Lantern Festival » About Chinese Lantern

FRP modeling crafts

Risa Harada — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:06:56 +0000

The fifth crafts of Chinese lantern crafts is FRP modeling crafts (玻璃钢工艺), it evolving from sculpture. Today FRP modeling crafts is usually used on Landscape Lantern in subsidiary decoration and making face of lantern character . This crafts depended on skill of sculpturer, in the two articles:

I’ve told about why we use FRP modeling crafts in Lantern Festival, because the flexibility of wire is not enough to express a complex cartoon character face.

Follow my pictures, you can understand the steps of FRP modeling crafts.

This is the four-face Buddha lantern complex, and we made this Buddha at Ontario Palace in Canada Chinese Lantern Festival. It’s one of the highlighting lantern complex of this Lantern Festival.

1. Preparing FRP materials

Preparing FRP materials

2. Polishing materials

Polishing materials

Polishing and modeling materials

3. Molding the materials

Molding the materials

4. Semi-manufactured head

Semi-manufactured head

5. Finished four-face Buddha lantern complex

Finished four-face Buddha lantern complex

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Agglutination crafts

Risa Harada — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:54:43 +0000

The forth crafts of Chinese lantern crafts is agglutination crafts (粘结工艺), it evolving from traditional Chinese lantern making crafts of paper hanger. Now, the agglutination crafts is usually used on special material lantern complexes in the Lantern Festival. This crafts depended on skill of a paper hanger, women were fitting for this job. Agglutination crafts can agglutinate many material such like table tennis balls, silkworm cocoon, CD, bottles and so on.

Follow my pictures, you can understand the steps of agglutination crafts.

This is the silkworm cocoon phoenix, and we made this phoenix at Ontario Palace in Canada Chinese Lantern Festival. It’s one of the highlighting lantern complex of this Lantern Festival.

1. Lantern designs

Lantern designs

2. Silkworm cocoon

Silkworm cocoon

3. Agglutination

Agglutination

4. Semi-finished lantern complex

Semi-finished lantern complex

5. Finished lantern complex

Finished lantern complex

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Binding crafts

Risa Harada — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:49:43 +0000

The third crafts of Chinese lantern crafts is binding crafts (捆扎工艺), it evolving from traditional Chinese lantern making crafts of carpenter. Now, the binding crafts is usually used on special material lantern complexes in the Lantern Festival. This crafts depended on skill of traditional Chinese lantern maker, you must employ many lantern maker for binding the special material, this is a very mammoth job.

Follow my pictures, you can understand the steps of binding crafts.

This is the hundred-metres porcelain dragon, and we made this dragon near the Ontario Palace river in Canada Chinese Lantern Festival. It’s the highlighting lantern complex of this Lantern Festival.

1. Blueprint

Blueprint

2. Binding the porcelains

Binding the porcelains

Binding the porcelains for other lantern complex

3. Assemble and install

Assemble and install

4. Finished the hundred-metres porcelain dragon

Finished the hundred-metres porcelain dragon

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Engraving on wood crafts

Risa Harada — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:08:27 +0000

The second crafts of Chinese lantern crafts is engraving on wood crafts (梳花工艺), it evolving from the wood carving crafts of carpenter. Now, the engraving on wood crafts is wildly used on lantern complex’s base or the decoration of lantern building. This crafts depended on skill of carpenter, you must employ a great carpenter for your Lantern Festival project.

Follow my pictures, you can understand the steps of engraving on wood crafts.

This is the Canadian TV Tower which is near Ontario Palace, and we made the Tower’s lantern in Canada Chinese Lantern Festival. The pattern on this TV Tower lantern is made by this crafts.

1. The design picture of Canada TV Tower lantern.

The design picture of Canada TV Tower lantern

2. Lofting the design picture on the ground

Lofting the design picture on the ground

3. Engraving pattern on wood

Engraving pattern on wood

4. Semi-manufactured pattern on wood

Semi-manufactured pattern on wood

5. The finished Canada TV Tower lantern complex

The finished Canada TV Tower lantern complex

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Iron wire modeling crafts

Risa Harada — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:29:15 +0000

The first crafts of Chinese lantern crafts is the iron wire modeling crafts (丝扎工艺造型), it evolving from the wood modeling crafts of Chinese lantern, in the modern time, the iron wire modeling crafts became the most wildly used crafts on the large-size and custom lantern complex making.

The result depends on the fitter level, there must prepared great fitters and great lantern art designing.

Follow my pictures, you can understand the steps of iron wire modeling crafts.

1.Peking Opera lantern design

Peking Opera lantern design

2. Lofting the lantern design

Lofting

3. Copy mode

Copy mode

4. Welding

Welding

5. Semi-manufactured lantern

Semi-manufactured lantern

6. Finished lantern

Finished lantern

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Chinese lantern culture in the period of Republic of China

Risa Harada — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:53:20 +0000

The lantern festival in Republic of China succeeded the traditional style and connotation of Qing Dynasty. However, due to the ceaseless wars, there was no large-scale lantern show from the capital to remote towns. Various folk activities and entertainment programs were kept in the whole country. The Chinese lantern culture never stopped but prevailed even at the time of foreign invasion, mishap and war chaos. It survived toughly and kept its own traditional style. In the period of Republic of China, lantern show was held at the inauguration ceremony of president Sun Yat-sen, celebration ceremony of the victory of beating Yuan Shikai, a warlord, victory ceremony of Northern Expedition, victory ceremony of Anti-Japanese Invasion and so on.

The navigation of Chinese Lantern and Lantern Festival

torch parade in Zigong at the win of Anti-Japanese Invasion War

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Chinese Lanterns in Qin Dynasty (221B.C. – 207B.C.)

Risa Harada — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:38:53 +0000

In Qin Dynasty Chinese lanterns got the conditions of being born. Qin Dynasty ended the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States. The Great Wall was built in this Dynasty. It’s a very important Dynasty in Chinese history. Compared with the bronze lamp of Warring States, achievement of Qin lamp may not be worse. However, the limited Qin lamps unearthed are simplicity and cannot display all the skills of lamp making in Qin Dynasty.

The lamp in Qin Dynasty

bronze lantern shaped in an ancient cooking vessel

bronze lantern shaped in an elephant

The navigation of Chinese Lantern and Lantern Festival

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Xiashi Lanterns

Risa Harada — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:52:03 +0000

Hailin Xiashi lantern famous for delicate needle sewing is called the work of Chinese lantern art. It originates in Tang Dynasty and gains popularity in Song Dynasty. With a long history, lantern reflects a lot art aspects, such as poem, calligraphy, painting, engrave, gold stone and sewing. It also has rich contents, including pavilion, tiny ancient pagoda, birds, animals, dragon lantern, colored boat, flower basket and so on. “Needling, turning, kinking, pricking, engraving, painting, pasting, mounting” are the main producing techniques. This lantern is a special art form, combining handcraft and painting, with high craft and art value. It’s offering to palace in Song Dynasty.

Xiashi Lanterns

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Celebrity enjoy lanterns

Risa Harada — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:22:34 +0000

Zigong has long history of holding lantern shows. Since 1964 when lantern show was restored, the new generation of lantern craftsmen have succeeded to carry forward the national culture to revitalize lantern art and brought in a wider perspective for the development of Zigong Lantern Festival. The scene of show grows larger, the lantern making technique becomes exquisite, individual lanterns develop group lanterns or lantern sets, static lamps evolve kinetic lanterns and lantern show layout is managed from plane to tridimension. The modern Zigong Lantern Festival decorated as fiery trees and silver flowers and as brilliant as the Milk Way has been turned into an unprecedented development stage.

The Lantern Festival exceed the limit of Sichuan Basin and display lantern show abroad, it reveals the powerful vitality of excellent traditional Chinese culture and builds up a new bridge for the old salt capital to approach the world.

It has become the principle of the constantly developed Zigong Lantern Festival “to utilize lantern show as media to make more friends and revitalize local economy; to take lantern show as the glory to inspire the local people to construct a better Zigong”. Since 1987, Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festivals that were held all through the ages in Zigong and the lantern shows held both home and abroad have insisted on the integration of lantern show and trade. Undoubtedly speaking, it played a positive role in acceleration of the economic development of Zigong.

Digest of Former president Comrade Jiang Zemin’s speech at the national conference of foreign publicity in 1990 – “In recent years, many cities have utilized the integration of culture and economy to make foreign publicity. The International Kite Festival in Weifang and the Dinosaur Lantern Festival in Zigong set up the successful examples.”

After the speech, the Lantern Festival more and more exhibited in different regions and countries, and more and more celebrities enjoyed lantern show in the Lantern Festival.

1988 Wanli view the Lantern Festival in Zigong

1988 Deng Xiaopin enjoy the Lantern Festival in Beijing Beihai park

1990 Singapore President Wee Kim Wee was at the Lantern Festival opening ceremony

1990 Zhu Rongji was in Zigong Lantern Festival

1992 Crown Princess of Thailand view the Lantern Festival

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 1994, view the Lantern Festival

Singapore President SR Nathan was at the 2005 Mid-Autumn Festival lantern lighting ceremony

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Custom and Culture of Lantern in the Song Dynasty

Risa Harada — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:41:10 +0000

In Song Dynasty (960—1279), Chinese people achieved a lot in the field of science and technology, such as inventions of powder, compass and printing technology. Yuan Dynasty (1271—1368) was a unified dynasty ruled by Mongolian people in Chinese history. Its capital was located in Dadu , today’s Beijing.

In Song and Yuan Dynasties, including Liao Country (916—1125) and Jin Country (1115—1234), lamp utensils were mostly made of pottery with unvarnished materials and styles.

Lantern festival, as a carrier of science and technology, had a great development in Song and Yuan Dynasties. ‘Plentiful craftsmen with all skills competed with each other and presented various art articles’. Gradually, lantern festival became an activity of engagement of common people.

The custom and culture of lanterns

In the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD) the custom and culture of lanterns became very important festival among the traditional festivals in China, its name is the Lantern Festival. The joyful atmosphere, the participation of all walks of social strata and the development of commercial economy greatly generated and demonstrated the wisdom and talent of the Chinese working people, representing the beautiful will of the people of all nationalities in China. Then came the custom and culture of Lantern Festival with a typical nation flavour and folk feature, which crowned with glory on the vast and bountiful land. According to the recordings in the ancient book titled Anecdote in Kaiyuan Tianbao, “by the day of the seventh of the first lunar month, people put on their doors innumerable bunches of straw made like dragons, on which hundreds and thousands of lamps and candles were placed. From the distance these lamps and lanterns were seen just like two dragons flying in the sky” . ” Ladies in the Han States During the Warring States Periods erected on the hills hundreds of lamp trees with eighty Chi, about thirty-nine meters high, which were lit on the night of Shang Yuan, the 15th of the first lunar month. These lamp trees were seen brightly lightening from hundreds of li away”.

The navigation of Chinese Lantern and Lantern Festival

The lanterns in Song Dynasty

3 Color Porcelain lamp in Song