Lantern (Bianjing lantern)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Lantern (Bianjing lantern)

Applicant: Kaifeng City, Henan Province

Project No.: 349

Project No.: Ⅶ - 50

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Henan Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Kaifeng City, Henan Province

Protection unit: Kaifeng Lantern Art Research Association

Brief introduction of lantern (Bianjing lantern)

Applicant: Kaifeng City, Henan Province

Lantern Festival is an important year custom activity, and lantern making has become a special folk art with folk custom. According to the records of Kaifeng county annals, Zhang Taiquan created Bianjing lantern for the first time in the late Qing Dynasty, which has been handed down for six generations.

Kaifeng lantern has a long history. After Kaifeng was established as the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, lantern festival activities were unprecedented. Lantern and lantern categories were recorded in Meng Hua Lu of Tokyo by Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty. Since modern times, due to various reasons, lantern festival activities have gradually declined. Especially in the "Cultural Revolution", the Lantern Festival and lanterns were classified into the "four old" ranks and wantonly destroyed, which made the production technology of lanterns on the verge of extinction.

Bianjing lantern Zhang's Lantern modeling and pasting technique originated from the Folk Lantern making tradition in Kaifeng. Its main varieties, such as "dragon and Phoenix presenting auspicious light", "Lotus bearing noble son light", "Peony rich light" and "auspicious high light", all embody the traditional cultural connotation of praying for good luck.

At present, the social basis for the survival and development of Zhang's lantern has changed. With the continuous progress of science and technology and the weakening of traditional folk customs, the handicraft of Bianjing lantern making has been neglected, and there is no successor. Some unique skills have been lost. The prospect of Zhang's Lantern technology in Kaifeng is not optimistic, and it has become an urgent task to actively carry out the rescue and protection work.