A Brief History of Lanterns and Lantern Festivals

A Brief History of Lanterns and Lantern Festivals 

Origins in Ancient China

Global Winter Wonderland’s magnificent towering lanterns, some of which soar to over 50 feet high, are built by Chinese engineers with modern technology and even reflect the trendy green thinking of today, with their eco-friendly features of low voltage LEDS, fluorescent lights, and solar paneling. However modern the lanterns gracing the night skies of Global Winter Wonderland are, their history actually goes back over centuries and two thousand years to ancient China. 

Paper lanterns originated from as far back as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD – 220 AD) and were used as lamps, especially in entry ways of homes. The lantern shade was practical in that it protected the flame from being extinguished in windy weather. Lanterns were made with a variety of crafts such as Chinese paintings, paper-cutting, and pricking and seaming, as well as various kinds of materials such as bamboo, wood, wheat-straw and metal. Paper and silk were the major materials. The traditional Chinese lantern was one that was red in color. 

Chinese monks also used lanterns on the twelfth day of the first lunar month to worship Buddha. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Emperor Liu Zhuang was a Buddhist and ordered his citizenry to light lanterns to worship Buddha as the monks did. Eventually this lantern lighting became a grand festival with common people. During the Tang Dynasty (618 AD – 907 AD), people made lanterns to celebrate their peaceful life. During this time, lanterns also symbolized and celebrated the prosperity, strength, and power of China. From then on, lighting lanterns became popular in the entire country.

Lanterns as a Status Symbol 

Eventually, lanterns went on to become an object of artistic expression, ornamentation, and a major status symbol. Common to ancient Chinese society was its penchant for grand celebration, such as the Lantern Festival, aka Little New Year, named because it is the culmination of the Chinese New Year festival.

The lantern festival was also where artisans competed amongst themselves to produce the most beautifully designed, elaborate, and exquisite lantern. The most popular designs were ripped off and copied by other lantern makers. The emperor of China himself would hire the best lantern designers to work for him, a position which was considered to be a high honor. 

Lantern Festivals Today

Once used for lighting before the introduction of gas and then electricity, lanterns have now evolved to become merely decorative or more significantly used during celebrations. Although there is no practical necessity for Chinese lanterns nowadays, they are still made, used, and enjoyed by the Chinese people. They continue to be a means of artistic expression, both in terms of functionality, design, and decoration.

Now more types of lanterns appear in festivals apart from the traditional red Chinese ones. More modern technology is used on making lanterns, such as the ones at Global Winter Wonderland.  Lanterns can be made with music playing from them, with control panels to make them light up in various ways and at various times, and so forth. The shapes of the modern lanterns have changed a lot too. They can be cartoon characters, Chinese zodiac animals, and architectural landmarks such as the ones featured at Global Winter Wonderland. Lantern engineers can even involve computer games in lanterns, which give visitors a  new and fresh perspective of the entertainment value of lanterns.

The streets both in big cities and small towns all over China and various other parts of the world are decorated with red lanterns during festivals, especially Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Lantern Festival. In fact, Global Winter Wonderland, which ICEG launched in 2011, has the distinction being the largest lantern festival of its kind outside of China.