Big Star wants to know what Bo Huang wants to know: Netizens tell me what styles of lanterns are available in the country and what are their origins?

Chinese lanterns are also collectively known as lantern colors. Originating more than 1,800 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty, around the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year, people hung up red lanterns to symbolize the meaning of reunion to create a festive atmosphere. Later on, lanterns became the symbol of Chinese celebrations. Through successive generations of lantern artists inheritance and development, the formation of colorful varieties and high level of craftsmanship. From the type of lanterns: palace lanterns, gauze lanterns, chandeliers and so on. From the shape of points, there are figures, landscapes, birds and flowers, dragons and phoenixes, fish and insects, etc., in addition to the horse lanterns for people to enjoy. Chinese lanterns combine the art of painting, paper-cutting, papier-maché, felting, etc., and are made from bamboo, wood, rattan, straw, animal horns, metal, damask and silk, etc., which are produced in various regions. Among the lanterns made in ancient China, palace lanterns and sarongs are the most famous.

Lanterns are closely linked to Chinese life, and they are found in temples and living rooms everywhere. Carefully projected, China has lamps after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and paper lanterns were probably invented 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 lanterns (i.e., palace lanterns) to represent the wedding festivities; gabion lanterns to signify that it is a funerary occasion; and umbrella lanterns (word lanterns), which have the same phonetic value of "lantern" and "ding" to imply that the people's families are thriving. Therefore, in the past, every family had a lantern hanging under the eaves of the house 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 welcome ceremony is a continuation of this custom.

But I'm afraid that the lanterns are what people think about and look forward to most at the Lantern Festival. The custom of viewing lanterns at the Lantern Festival originated at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, and during the reign of Tang Dynasty, in order to celebrate the prosperity of the country and the peace of the people, lanterns were tied up to symbolize the "colorful dragons signify auspiciousness and the people's wealth and the country's strength" through the flickering lights, and the lanterns have become widely popular since then. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the capital of Ming Dynasty, established Nanjing, he set up 10,000 water lanterns on the Qinhuai River; during the Yongle Dynasty, he erected a large lantern post at the Wumen Gate, and set up a "Lantern Market" outside the Huamen Gate, which made it possible for Beiping to still have a street called "Lantern Market". After the Republic of China, although the lanterns are still around, they have become much more bland. Fortunately, nowadays, due to the China Fever, lanterns are gradually playing an important role in home decorations, but nowadays, the materials of lanterns have changed from paper and bamboo to cloth, plastic and iron wires, and the shapes and colors of lanterns are very different from the traditional ones.

Traditionally, temples were predominantly yellow, and the size and color of the lanterns varied according to personal preference, without any symbolic meaning.

Besides illumination, lanterns have other meanings. In the first month of every year, private schools (ancient schools)

Quanzhou-style lanterns

Generally speaking, the main materials used to weave anti-state lanterns are the tough and flexible Gui Zhu (bamboo) and Ma Li (hemp hedge).

The production process is:

(a) the bamboo in the steam room heated for half an hour, and then take out, placed in the shade to dry, but must not be overly dry, and can not be placed in the sun under the strong light.

(ii) Use a bamboo planer to remove the rough skin of the cow's face.

(3) Cut the bamboo strips to the desired length; this depends on the size of the lantern.

(4) Weave the bamboo strips in a crisscross pattern to complete the frame.

(5) In the center of the frame, tie several rings of bamboo around the wall of the lantern.

(6) To paste (mount) the lantern, first mount the cotton gauze, and then paste two layers of single-layer paper used for lanterns. (If you don't have a sheet of paper, fine cotton paper will do.) Framing cotton gauze must first dilute the paste, evenly brushed on the surface of the skeleton, and then cut the gauze lightly attached to the lamp frame, and then use a brush dipped in paste to brush flat, here we need to pay attention to, brush the paste must be a clean brush can be, otherwise, the lamp surface will be a mess. At the same time, the laminating paper must be glued without seams before the real laminating is complete.

(7) Place the lanterns in a cool, ventilated place to dry.

(viii) Painting. The color painting is done with individual desired patterns, such as figures, eight immortals, birds and flowers, ladies and so on.

(ix) after painting, depending on the situation to decide whether to write words. After the text and pattern are completely dry, a layer of tung oil is put on, and then the tung oil is dried, and the lantern is finished.

Fuzhou-style lanterns-also known as umbrella lanterns

Guizhou bamboo: It is the most commonly grown type of bamboo in Taiwan. The texture is hard and flexible, making it suitable for fishing rods, brooms and other implements.

Gabions: Gui Bamboo is split into bamboo strips called "gabions". Holes are punched at the top and bottom of the gabions and threaded with wire.

Bamboo head: On the bamboo joints of the gui bamboo, grooves are carved out and fixed with thick iron wires to become the head and bottom of the bamboo lantern.

Methods:

1. Install the gabion with the wire threaded on the bamboo head pedestal.

2. A gabion is mounted on a grid of grooves, and finally the bamboo head is tied with wire to become a bamboo stand.

3. Holding it against the ground, the bamboo frame is slowly propped down until it becomes a cylinder.

4. Adjust the shape of the lantern, the curvature and the distance between the gimps by pressing and bending the gimps with your hands.

5. Tie a cotton thread around the top of the lantern to secure the gabions.

6. Lay white gauze on the gabions and fix them with paste.

7. Wait for the gauze to dry, then apply the pomelo glue.

8. When it dries in the shade, the tube-shaped umbrella lamp takes shape.

9. Then trace and color. Generally speaking, the characters are vermillion color, and the pictures are auspicious paintings such as the Eight Immortals and the Three Stars of Fortune and Longevity.

10.Finally, install the base on the bamboo head and trim it, and it's done.

Types of lanterns

Character lanterns: one side of the lantern is the family name, and the other side is the name of the official that the ancestor once served. For example, the surname "Xie" is Prince Shaobao, and the surname "Zheng" is Yanping Shao Wang.

Auspicious lamps: one side of the lamp is the name of the family name or god, and the other side is the eight immortals (Lv Dongbin, He Xianjun, etc.), the three stars of fortune, luck and longevity, and other auspicious motifs.

General: Like the character lamps and auspicious lamps, one side of the lamp is the name of the family name or god or auspicious words, and the other side is an auspicious pattern.

Official lamps: the words and pictures painted on the lamps are the same as those of the general lamps, but the bottom is black and the words are gold. The lanterns can only be hung when they are bestowed by the emperor

The lanterns are currently categorized into Quanzhou style and Fuzhou style according to their shapes. Among them, Quanzhou style is the representative of Chinese lanterns.