Bianjing Lantern

Lantern plays an irreplaceable role in the long history of China. It's a protagonist to emphasize the festival atmosphere.

The widespread custom of making lanterns in Lantern Festival continues today.

Zhang Junli,seventh-generation maker of Bianjing Lantern Zhang:

"The Chinese colored lantern' s roots are in Central Plain, and Central Plain colored lanterns come from Kaifeng of the Song Dynasty (960-1127). The custom of making lanterns started in the Northern Song Dynasty. Kaifeng, at that time called Bianjing, was the capital of the Song Dynasty. The colored lantern in my family continues today.

The initial materials are rice paper, bamboo, pigment and simple colors.

This is called a lotus lantern. The frame is made of iron wires and bamboo. The rice paper is folded into the shape of lotus, then colored, and finally pasted together. In the past, people made them without iron wires. Now we use more modern materials.

This one is a needled lantern. We use needles to poke holes to create a pattern. The initial needled lantern had only one color without any patterns on the surface. My father drew several patterns in order to make it attractive.

This is one kind of needled unframed lantern called a Jili lantern, which means good luck. It requires the same materials and skills as unframed lanterns. It becomes crystal clear when lit inside.

This unframed lantern is made up of 60 pieces of trapezoidal cardboards, and it takes us one week to finish it. First, these papers are pasted into pentagon-shaped frame, and 12 of them are used to compose a sphere. There isn’t any [bamboo] frame inside it but only [cardboard] pentagon frames. The lantern is very perfect and beautiful, which reflects the wisdom of Chinese elders.

Making lanterns is such an interest to me and the artistry is all-inclusive. I learned to make it when I was very young, and I am the seventh-generation descendant of Bianjing Lantern Zhang craft. I learned the skills from my father, and will pass them down ."