It is said that the custom of enjoying lanterns originated in the early years of the Han Dynasty. At that time, from the morning of the 15th day of the First Moon in the lunar calendar to dawn next day, a marathon ceremony to honor the North Star required that lanterns be lit throughout the night.
Another story has it that during the reign of Emperor Taichung of the Tang Dynasty, when the Emperor established a civil service examination system and encouraged people to study, almost every family sent their children off to school. But before entering the school, each child first had to make an exquisite lantern, and upon the first day, bring the lantern along. An erudite old master would light up the lanterns for them to signify bright prospects. Since most of the schools started classes not long after the Lunar New Year, which always falls around the 15th day of the First Moon, the lanterns became a custom, then a general festival on their own, and an integral part of Lunar New Year celebrations.
An historic anecdote relates that as onlookers were "visiting temples and streets at night, the lanterns made the night as bright as daytime. Even the ladies came out to saunter around. Horsecarts filled the whole street. The crowds were so dense some feet floated in the air for dozens of steps."
Another historic record has it that during the reign of emperor Hsuan Tsung of the Tang Dynasty, a "lantern wheel" was set up in front of the Fuan Gate. Reaching a height of 200 feet, the wheel incorporated 50,000 lanterns. A thousand court ladies, putting on gossamer over resplendent dress, and wearing jewels and ornaments, danced under the wheel.
The Sung Dynasty inherited the Tang practice and made it into a national festival. During the reign of Emperor Taitzu of the Ming Dynasty, the capital city of Nanking was gorgeously festooned and decorated. All the richest merchants, from around the world, gathered to show off lanterns for ten days. Whatever the age or dynasty, public and private circles joined hands to celebrate the land's prosperity and peacefulness.
History shows that the lantern festivity spread from the court to the populace. In ancient China, where women of breeding were not normally allowed to walk outdoors, the festival was a precious opportunity for young ladies to meet their lovers. A woman poet, Chu Su-chen, said:
"In last year's Lantern Festival,
Lanterns were lit as bright as daytime.
The moon crept up willow tree heads;
Lovers dated after dusk.
There was no sign of the man I saw
last year.
Tears moisten spring blouse sleeves."
This popular poem evokes the scene, people, and "lantern watchers."
When our ancestors first settled in Taiwan, they preserved this custom. And even during the Japanese occupation of the island, people kept the Lantern Festival. After V-J Day, the festival was extended and even more widely celebrated. All the temples of the metropolis, and the major temples in the small towns, now host a grand lantern contest and riddle-solving tournament as part of the Festival. People above the age of 40, perhaps, have the deepest feeling for the lanterns, because only they have witnessed the grandiose, traditional lanterns and enjoyed the fun of displaying them in the days of the old agricultural society.
Professor Chen Hui, a noted folk artist, says that the most impressive set of lanterns in his recollection was the group entitled 36 Trades presented at a temple in the mainland city of Hanchow. Lanterns were fabricated to present the 36 professions—including piece-goods, jewelry, Chinese herbal medicines, stationery, books, etc. Each trade was vividly presented. According to Professor Chen: "Taking piece-goods stores for example, there were shopkeeper, clerks, and some customers. The shopkeeper holds a tobacco bag in hand; even the details of the tobacco are visible. Customers wearing eyeglasses stand next to the clerks, selecting their goods. You can imagine how complicated and delicate were these lanterns."
On another occasion, the Professor saw a huge lantern parade featuring Grandmother Liu touring the Takuan Garden, an episode from the most famous Chinese classical novel, Red Chamber Dream. Professor Chen points out that it took more than a dozen masters half a year to complete the lantern set. The pavilions and towers in the garden and the leading characters were all presented vividly.
The lantern craft calls for a sense of color and a passion for beauty; the results, like flowers, please everyone
Social development appears to have watered down people's interest in the Lantern Festival, according to Professor Chen. He notes that though the lanterns are really only an accessory to the Festival, they embody such Chinese talents as bamboo fabricating, paper cutting, calligraphy, painting, lantern wrapping, and binding. The festival also retains the most humanistic and "frivolous" aspects of all holiday activities.
Professor Chen learned from elders of his family, the expertise for fabricating lanterns. He comments: "The skeleton of the lantern had better be made from bamboo sticks, because the green part of a bamboo is most resilient, and the fellow part is most easily glued. A bamboo pole may be sliced into thin or thick, flat or round slips. After curing over a coal fire, they are easy to bend. Bamboo will maintain its shape once the heat is gone. The grain and color of bamboo are so graceful, that they are best choice for fabricating lanterns.
"To bind the skeleton is another trick. Cotton string such as is used in the market loosens over the (candle) fire. It is best to twist three brands of cotton paper into a pig-tail thread."
Paper used to cover the lanterns includes rice paper, cellophane, and semi-transparent colored papers. Semi-transparent paper which can create an effect of frosted glass is best. Professor Chen said that, in his childhood, lanterns were decorated with glass-like pendants. When the lanterns were lit, these pendants glittered. Now, these pendants are not available; they are replaced with gold and silver tinsel. Lanterns made by those with a literary bent may be inscribed with poems; others are painted in floral and bird patterns. Sometimes, the covering papers are cut into such patterns as wings and scales.
Under the impact of scientific technology, of course, electrically-operated automated lantern sets have come into being.
Professor Chen Hui, demonstrating heat "fluidity" in bamboo
With 20 years experience making such lanterns, Huang Hsin-nan believes that masters in the field do not exceed ten. Before lanterns were electrically operated, those who mastered some crude woodcraft and art design could make simple lanterns. Now, electrification and mechanization of lantern figures requires a combination of talents taken from wood carvers, electricians, artists, and even tailors.
Huang always treats lantern making as an art. Though the profit is limited and the work hard, his skills have sustained him for 20 years. Fortunately, his family shares in and supports his work.
Taking a special interest in historic figures, Huang's father oversees the design of character costumes. Graduated from the art department of National Taiwan Normal University, a brother has the responsibility for art design and the fashioning of animal patterns. Huang has specialized in electrical design, and takes charge of all electrical work. When they are short of helping hands, Huang also undertakes such chores as woodwork.
According to Huang, a 24 by 15 foot lantern may require a construction budget of NT$150,000. Larger sizes—say 36 by 18 feet—can cost much more. However, size is not the only factor in deciding cost. The number of figures in a lantern set and their complexity of structure—as well as the quality of backdrop—will also decide the price.
The characters in such traditional lantern sets as A Pilgrimage to the West, Altar of the Goddess of Mercy, and Kuangkung Protecting His Brother's Wife Braving Through the Five Strategic Points, may need careful research in the shaping and costuming of characters. Otherwise, the results could be monstrous and outlandish. Character height usually runs from two to five feet.
Lanterns in keeping with special times and occasions may feature such motifs as In Memory of Our Leader, In Celebration of the Peacefulness of the Nation, and Ten Major Construction Projects. Huang said that though the more modern sets are more easily made, it is also more of a challenge to make them lively and impressive.
As veterans in the field, Huang and his father are invited by temples in such metropolitan areas as Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung to make their lanterns. This year, Huang's masterwork, In Celebration of the Peacefulness of the Nation, was displayed at Lungshan Temple. On the eve of the Lantern Festival, the crowds packed the square in front of the temple to view this ingenious work.
Before beginning a work, after a temple proprietor or other patron presents a general outline, Huang drafts several sketches from which the customer can choose. Then the Huangs start to gather information and production material. Some sophisticated mechanical appliances, such as special low-speed motors, may have to be imported.
Huang concludes that the subjects and presentations of the lantern sets must improve, change every year, to establish the craft's authority and credibility, otherwise it will eventually die out. In this modern age, this traditional folk art especially needs extensive knowledge and wider participation to prevent, especially, the electrically operated lantern sets from disappearing.