Lantern colors

The most common are red lanterns.

The colors of lanterns are red, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, black, etc. The most common ones are red lanterns.

Chinese lanterns, also collectively known as lantern colors, are an ancient traditional Han craft. Originating in the Western Han Dynasty, lanterns are hung around the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year to create a festive atmosphere, and they also have the symbol of reunion.

There are many kinds of lanterns, from the shape, there are mainly spherical, conical, rhombus, square and so on. From the type of points, there are mainly palace lanterns, screen lamps, chandeliers and so on. From the shape, there are mainly landscapes, birds and flowers, dragons and phoenixes, fishes and insects.

Red lanterns are traditional Chinese holiday items. Whenever there is a major festival or a good time to celebrate, red lanterns are hung up in many places across the country.

Cultural Concepts of Lanterns

Chinese lanterns synthesize: the art of painting, paper-cutting, papier-maché, and stinging and sewing, etc. Among the lanterns made in ancient China, the palatial lanterns and gauze lanterns are the most famous. Lanterns are closely linked to Chinese people's lives, and they are found in temples and living rooms everywhere.

Carefully projected, China's lamps are after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and paper lanterns are after the invention of paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Chinese lanterns are not only used for illumination, they are often a symbol, said Wu Dunhou, who used to make bridal lamps (i.e., palace lanterns) on behalf of the wedding festivities; gabion lamps to indicate that this is a funeral occasion; umbrella lamps (the word lamp), because the "lamp" and the "ding" phonetically the same, which means that the population is thriving.

So, in the past, every family had lamps hanging under the eaves and in the living room. The fact that there are still two large lanterns in front of the deity's ding-tao at today's welcoming ceremony is a continuation of this custom.

But I'm afraid that the most reverie and expectation of the lanterns is the lanterns of the Lantern Festival. The custom of viewing lanterns at the Lantern Festival originated in the early Han Dynasty, and in the Tang Dynasty, in order to celebrate the prosperity of the country and the well-being of the people, lanterns were tied up to symbolize the "colorful dragons and auspiciousness, and the wealth of the people and the country" through the flickering lights, and the lanterns have become very popular since then.

When Zhu Yuanzhang built the capital of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, he set up 10,000 lanterns on the Qinhuai River, and during the Yongle Dynasty, he erected a large lamp post at the Wumen Gate, and set up a lantern market outside the Huamen Gate, which made it possible to create the street of "Dengshikou" in Beiping.

After the Republic of China, although the lanterns are still around, they have become much more subdued. Fortunately, due to the China Fever, lanterns are gradually playing an important role in home decorations, but the materials used for the lanterns have changed from paper and bamboo to cloth, plastic, and iron wires, and the shapes and colors of the lanterns are very different from those of the traditional ones.

Besides illumination, lanterns have other meanings. When private schools (ancient schools) opened in the first month of the year, parents would prepare a lantern for their children, which would be lit by the teacher to symbolize a bright future for the students, known as the "opening of the lantern".

The custom of carrying lanterns during the Lantern Festival evolved from this. Because of the similarity in sound to the word "tintin," lanterns were also used to pray for the birth of a child. During the Japanese colonial era, patriotic politicians drew folk tales on the lanterns to teach their children and grandchildren about their own culture, and so the meaning of passing on the flame was passed on to the next generation.