论文部分内容阅读
The Chinese people celebrate the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first month on the lunar calendar. This popular tradition traces back to the early years of the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). Today, Chinese red lanterns mainly express best wishes for happiness, luck, fortune, peace, health.
In the long history of China, lanterns were used not just for Lantern Festival alone. Nor were they used only for illuminating after sunset. Lanterns were used on various other occasions. A bride would need a red lantern to celebrate her happiness. A family would need a bamboo lantern for a funeral or a wake ceremony. In some areas, a house would hang a lantern bearing the family’s surname under the eave or in the sitting room. In the ancient times, a school-age child would bring a lantern to school on the first day of the new semester which started on the fifteenth day of the first month. The teacher would light the lantern, indicating the student would have a bright future. This custom became part of the tradition of the Lantern Festival when people walk around with a lantern.
Techniques and materials for making lanterns have evolved over two millennia. Folk artists have used regional materials to make lanterns. There are lanterns made of paper, bamboo, wicker, animal horn, wheat straw, silk, metal. Painting, calligraphy, embroidery, paper-cutting are seen making their way into the art of lantern making. □
In the long history of China, lanterns were used not just for Lantern Festival alone. Nor were they used only for illuminating after sunset. Lanterns were used on various other occasions. A bride would need a red lantern to celebrate her happiness. A family would need a bamboo lantern for a funeral or a wake ceremony. In some areas, a house would hang a lantern bearing the family’s surname under the eave or in the sitting room. In the ancient times, a school-age child would bring a lantern to school on the first day of the new semester which started on the fifteenth day of the first month. The teacher would light the lantern, indicating the student would have a bright future. This custom became part of the tradition of the Lantern Festival when people walk around with a lantern.
Techniques and materials for making lanterns have evolved over two millennia. Folk artists have used regional materials to make lanterns. There are lanterns made of paper, bamboo, wicker, animal horn, wheat straw, silk, metal. Painting, calligraphy, embroidery, paper-cutting are seen making their way into the art of lantern making. □