The value of lanterns in traditional culture

Lantern lantern art embodies the talent and ingenuity of the Chinese nation, which integrates abstract composition, anthropomorphic sculpture, plane painting and calligraphy, composite decorations and light and motion mechanism in one, is a comprehensive space art with strong national characteristics. This paper analyzes this unique kind of traditional Chinese culture and art, outlines the development history, types, and production methods of lantern art, and combines cultural and folklore connotations to explain the role of lantern art in folk life: it is not just a festive decoration and an aesthetic object, but also a wide range of existence and unlimited life care.

The fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the first full-moon night of the new year, and in ancient times, the night was called the night, so it is called the "Lantern Festival". Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, lanterns have been set up on this day to worship the god Taiyi (①). According to the Book of Wen Le, this activity is also known as "on the Yuan Lantern", according to legend, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the fifteenth day of the first month of the court and the temple "lighted lamps to show Buddha". Since then, the Lantern Festival has been popularized by lamps, so it is also known as the "Festival of Lights". In the Han Dynasty, the worship of Taichi God, Buddha rituals using exquisite lamps, as well as the custom of not banning the night on the 15th day of the first month of the first lunar month has been preserved as a custom of the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival in the Lantern Festival hanging colored lanterns from the palace gradually spread to the people, and at the same time appeared to enjoy the lanterns and a series of other folk activities. Lantern watching, in the north and south dynasty period has become a trend. Around the Sui Dynasty, folk carnival activities also joined in. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, every year on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Emperor's Palace outside the main gate of the eight-mile-long range of theater, big lights, songs and dances from all over the country acrobatics gathered here. To the Tang Dynasty, "the rule of Zhenguan", "Kaiyuan Sheng Shi" so that the social productive forces developed, economic affluence, the Lantern Festival on a more grand scale, and began to gradually detach from the form of religious activities, become a folk celebration. Since then, the 15th of the first month the custom of lanterns has been basically formed, every Lantern Festival all over the country have the custom of watching the lights of the amusement, Song and Ming Dynasties is particularly prosperous. Lanterns on the Lantern Festival on a wide variety of lanterns, the shape of the ever-changing, the production technology has its own characteristics. According to the modeling points, there is a simulation of the shape of the lamp (such as fish lamps, tiger lamps, lotus lamps, pagoda lamps, vase lamps, word lamps, the Eight Immortals lamps) and geometric lamps (such as round gauze lamps, quadrangle lamps, pentagonal lamps); according to the combination of the way points, there is a single body lamps, mother and child lamps and collection of lamps (such as lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps and hoards of mountain, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps and hoards of pearls); according to the process of the material points, there are cloth and silk lamps, paper lamps, glazed lamps, silk lamps, jade grille lamps, bead lamps, sheep's horns lamps, horn lamps, wheat silk lamps, bamboo lamps, etc., to name a few. Such a scale is not overnight, from the Han Dynasty, all kinds of lamps and lanterns production for the future development of the art of lanterns and lay the foundation of modeling and technology. Lamps and lanterns of the Han Dynasty is an ancient early lamps and lanterns art flourishing era, archaeological excavations of the Han Dynasty lamps and lanterns are very rich, such as rows of lamps, tripod-shaped lamps, lamps and animal-shaped lamps, lamps and lanterns used in the materials have copper, iron, pottery, jade, stone and other kinds of. Although the face of the lanterns of the Han Dynasty Lantern Festival is rarely documented, but the excavation of lamps can be inferred from the richness and splendor of the lanterns at that time. Lantern Festival lantern watching activities in the Tang and Song dynasties set off the first climax. The Chaoyu Kyunjie" has recorded that the Tang Dynasty Lantern Festival capital "for the lantern wheel twenty feet high, dressed in brocade, decorated with gold and silver, burning 50,000 lamps, clustered like a flower tree" ②, it can be seen that at this time there has been a large lamp tree, lamps, lamps and mountains and flourished for a period of time. To the Song Dynasty, the formation of a certain lantern production centers, and there are typical varieties of lanterns. From the Tang to the Song Dynasty, the types of lanterns recorded not only horse lanterns, lanterns, glazed lanterns, white jade lamps, carp lamps, bead lamps, lamps, lamps, sheepskin lamps, such as the structure of the delicate, decorative small Palace Lanterns and a variety of vivid image of the color of the proposed form of zhangzha lamps, as well as lamps and colors stacked and suspended into the lamps and lanterns, lamps and lanterns, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps and other large-scale lamps and lanterns. In the Song Dynasty, there is a special lamp market for the Lantern Festival carnival. The Song Dynasty Lantern Festival was even more spectacular than the Tang Dynasty, with the addition of folk activities. Rulers to show off its benevolent rule, give the palace lights to the folk, this encouragement makes the Lantern Festival Lantern activities more lively. Ming Dynasty Lantern Festival is more lively, is the peak of the development of ancient Chinese lantern art. Prosperous industry and commerce, so that the Ming Dynasty society, especially the formation of the city "extravagant to the luxury" of the times, and the influence is increasingly widespread. The Song Dynasty started the art of "refinement" tendency is more powerful and distinctive. From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the form of technology has always been to the luxury of elegance, competition, colorful, extremely sophisticated and gorgeous. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Lantern Festival has realized a deeper meaning of value transformation, from the actual meaning of getting rid of the beliefs of the attachment, transferred to the aesthetic entertainment as the main theme of the field of amusement. In the Ming Dynasty, the Lantern Festival lasted for ten days, and the art of lanterns was more fully developed, and the types of lanterns were more diversified. Only a lantern, there will be a golden lotus lamp, jade building lamp, lotus lamp, hibiscus lamp, embroidered ball lamp, snowflake lamp, showman lamp, daughter-in-law lamp, monk lamp, pass judge lamp, teacher's wife lamp, Liu Hai lamp, camel lamp, green lion lamp, ape and monkey lamps, white elephant lamps, catfish lamps, crab lamps, sheepskin lamps and swept the colorful lamps and so on dozens of kinds. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the specialized production places of lanterns were in the clouds, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Xin'an, Kaifeng and Hangzhou have been famous since the Song Dynasty, and at this time, there were also Foshan, Chaozhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Xiamen, Haining, Yangzhou, Danyang, Taizhou, Nanjing, Qingzhou, Chengdu, Beijing, Taikoo, etc., famous for their production of lanterns. Famous craftsmen also appeared one after another. In the Ming Dynasty, there were Pan Feng, Wang Xuan, Zhao Calyx, Wang Xinjian, Zhao Hu, Zhao Zhan Yun, Gu Houshan, Zhang Jiouye and Bao Zhuangxing, while in the Qing Dynasty, there were Niu Yuanqing, Xu Tingkun, Shen Yuchen, Xu Zhixiang and Shen Zai'an. In addition to highly skilled craftsmen, a number of lantern collectors appeared, which can be seen in the Ming and Qing dynasties lantern art flourished. It is also worth mentioning that in the northern region of China, there is a kind of ice lantern, which is a special ornamental lamp influenced by climatic conditions. Before and after the first month of the 15th, is the lowest temperature in the north, when the ice for the lights, can last for dozens of days without melting, the use of ice crystal clear characteristics, supplemented by light candles, resulting in both natural and simple and colorful effect, become a unique landscape of northern lantern art. Ice lanterns originally belonged to the Northeast region, with the Qing people into the customs and become a custom of the Central Lantern Festival, its production in the Qing Dynasty has matured. Now due to the universal application of electric light, this ice lantern art has a broader development prospects, categories are becoming more and more, the scale is becoming more and more grand, become the most influential northern Lantern Festival viewing scene. Lantern modeling basic more than four, five, six for the decent fixed number and the base to symbolize the four times, five parties, the number of six, the decoration is more elaborate, more symbolic meaning. The combination of theme content and modeling decoration of lanterns reflects the traditional Chinese auspicious culture. In addition to the richness of modeling and decoration, the location of each lantern venue is also a kind of art. In the macro layout, lantern art into the Chinese painting and ancient architectural aesthetic theory, Chinese painting theory of landscape painting theory "can look", "feasible", "can swim", "can live" of all kinds, the layout of the lanterns is the art of spatial awareness into the process of time, the use of space, blocking, undulation, change, so that people appreciate the space, time, order, rhythm, color harmony of the beauty of the environment, and with the surrounding environment as a whole, enhancing the artistic expression.