Taiwan Today

Lin Yu-chu is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the traditional lantern making craft.

For many in Taiwan, the sight of a paper lantern evokes fond childhood memories of carrying delicately crafted candlelit beacons through one’s neighborhood. Displayed during temple events and holidays like Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival, the lights are an important part of the country’s cultural traditions. Today, however, it is increasingly difficult to find handmade lanterns as fewer and fewer people study the techniques.

Enter Lin Yu-chu (林玉珠‬), who has dedicated herself to preserving the art at home and abroad for decades. Over the years she has been busily creating, teaching and showing her work, receiving invitations to display her pieces and deliver demonstrations and workshops in countries around the globe including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the U.S. “I especially enjoy passing on my methods because it brings me such joy to see young and old alike learning to build lanterns from scratch,” she said. “It’s also great to witness the increasing number of teachers in elementary, middle and high schools interested in attending our training programs so they can instruct students in turn.”

As part of endeavors to increase interest in the time-honored tradition, Lin also established New Taipei City-based Chinese Artistic Lantern Association in 1999, recruiting like-minded artisans to provide hands-on courses to the Taiwan public. Nearly a decade later, she set up World Taiwanese Lantern Association (WTLA) in Taipei City to further promote lantern making among international audiences.

Her efforts are paying dividends, with lanterns included for the first time in the traditional craft category of cultural assets designated by New Taipei City Government in 2014. In recognition of her exceptional skills and long-standing efforts, local officials also named Lin a cultural heritage preserver the same year. According to the artisan, lanterns are symbols of good fortune, happiness and a bright future. Though they were often utilitarian in the past, they are now made primarily for decorative purposes, she said, adding that she hopes the warm ambiance lanterns create can help them regain their former prominence.

For Lin, lantern making provides an intriguing challenge. “The final pieces come in a variety of shapes, sizes and methods of construction. To produce an intricate lantern requires a skill set encompassing carpentry, electrical wiring, painting, metalworking and welding,” she said. “Other details such as assembly and transport must also be considered to ensure successful presentation.”

Innovative Spirit

Desiring to push her skills to the limit in the pursuit of awing audiences, the veteran artist is a regular participant in competitions and exhibitions, with Taiwan Lantern Festival one of the biggest events on her calendar. WTLA Chairman Fit Lee (李冠毅) attributes the annual display’s growing popularity among domestic and international visitors to eye-catching works crafted by experienced artisans like Lin. First staged in Taipei in 1990 by the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the festival highlights the country’s custom of celebrating the first full moon of the lunar calendar.

Having seen countless lighting installations, Lee is particularly impressed by Lin’s technical expertise. The artist endeavors to keep up to date with the latest technologies and techniques, incorporating improvements such as light-emitting diodes (LED) into her work. “LED lighting is not only energy efficient but also much cooler than incandescent bulbs, reducing the risk of combustion or burnt fingers. That’s an important advantage for lantern displays in public places,” she said. “Plus, they are available in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes of varying brightness, multiplying the ways light can be used in an artwork.”

As part of her R&D efforts, Lin visits the optoelectronics exposition held annually in Taipei to learn about the latest lighting solutions and evaluate the feasibility of applying them in her creations. Other experiments involve incorporating different types of fabrics like cotton, silk and velvet, as well as decorative elements like beads, paillettes and ribbons.

Lin’s largest contribution to the craft by far, however, is her replacement of the traditional bamboo structure with paper-wrapped wire, which can easily be bent into different shapes. When she unveiled her innovation in 1979, it was hailed as a huge breakthrough in lantern making. She also took the initiative to publish two handbooks, “The Creative Lanterns DIY” and “The Beauty of Folk Art on Creative Lanterns,” in the 1990s to make up for the lack of reference materials on the art form.

“Many traditional crafts are at risk of dying out. Lin’s simplified construction methods and manuals have boosted the prevalence of handmade lanterns,” Lee said. Like Lin, the chairman has high hopes for the resurgence of lanterns in homes and commercial locations, and his organization is working closely with artisans to promote the use of lanterns in everyday life.

Artistic Excellence

Wang Shinn-huey (王信惠), chief of National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute’s (NTCRI) Taipei branch, similarly lauds Lin’s artistic ability and efforts to encourage deeper appreciation of lanterns. “Lin’s determination and persistence have given us inspiring works while ensuring her skills are passed down to younger generations,” Wang said. “She has made major contributions to the art’s survival.”

The NTCRI branch hosted a solo exhibition of Lin’s work from September to November last year. Titled “Glittering Light Feast: Exposition on Decorative Lanterns Creation by Lin Yu-chu,” the indoor show highlighted 30 pieces portraying golden pheasants, koi fish, moth orchids, paradise flycatchers, peacocks, peonies, tulips and local species such as the Taiwan blue magpie.

“Creating lanterns for indoor display poses an even greater challenge because the craftsmanship must be subtler and the designs more elaborate since the audience can view them up close,” Wang said. “That’s why few lantern makers dare to take on such a task, making this type of exhibition rare.”

According to Wang, Lin excels at portraying natural elements like flowers, which she painstakingly recreates through a labor-intensive process. Overall, her attention to detail and use of color, form, line, shape and texture, as well as the artistic principles of balance, contrast, harmony, movement and proportion place her among the best in the lantern craft. Each piece is also imbued with rich symbolic meaning and cultural significance. “She wants to spread positive messages of hope, peace and warmth,” Wang said. “That, combined with stunning aesthetic effects, makes her artwork immensely appealing.”

Lin’s accomplishments have also received recognition from fellow artists like Hung Hsin-fu (洪新富), who specializes in paper cutting and sculpting. The two became acquainted while delivering grassroots training in communities and schools some 20 years ago. “Lin and I share the same enthusiasm for promoting folk art and hands-on learning,” Hung said. “We both strive to keep old traditions alive through reinvention.”

After all these years, Lin’s passion for lanterns remains undiminished. In fact, the 77-year-old continues to dream about the future, committed to living each day to the fullest. “I’ve made it my mission to reinvigorate traditional lantern art,” she said. “My ultimate goal is to establish a museum dedicated to the collection, display and preservation of sophisticated examples for the public to enjoy for years to come.” 

Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw