The best traditional Beijing palace lanterns require rosewood as the skeleton and traditional-patterned thin silk or glass as the covering. It is made by thin wood as the skeleton and then covered with cloth and glass. The color and shape of lantern also turn to be different and varied.Īs the name suggests, palace lantern was hung in the royal palaces at the very beginning. However, the material of lanterns change from paper, bamboo to cloth, plastic and iron thread. With the “China craze” in many counties, Chinese lanterns are chosen as the house decorations by many foreigners who are fascinated with Chinese culture. As to today, the lantern has become a symbol of traditional Chinese culture, playing an important role in celebrations and ceremonies, and remain popular. Originally, Chinese people hung lanterns in front of their doors to drive away evil spirits. Also in Ming Dynasty, but during the reign of Emperor Yongle, after the government moved to Beijing, lamp posts were placed on the Meridian Gate (Wu men), and a lantern fair was set up out of Hua Gate. When Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), made Nanjing the capital city, he asked his men to put hundreds of thousands of water lanterns on the Qinhuai River. According to legend, Emperor Tang Minghuang used to ask the palace maids to hang lanterns to decorate the royal Shangyang Palace so as to celebrate Lantern Festival and prayed for "a stable society and a wealthy and strong country". Lantern, naturally, was one of the absolutely necessarily decorative and functional components of the festival. Later in the East Han Dynasty (25 AD - 220 AD), Chinese paper lantern was invented.Ĭhinese Lantern Festival also originated from Han Dynasty, with the purpose of making an opportunity for family reunion and marking the end of Lunar Chinese New Year. Yet it was initially crafted as early as the West Han Dynasty (202BC~8AD). Chinese Lantern, an important sort of ancient lamps, was recorded to be widely used and reach its peak in the eighth century during the middle Tang dynasty.
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