Chinese lanterns, also known as Huadeng, are an important representation of traditional Chinese handicrafts. Their production process has a long history, passed down for thousands of years, integrating various traditional techniques such as bamboo art, paper art, painting, and embroidery. Today, let's step into the wonderful world of Chinese lanterns and explore the Oriental wisdom hidden among bamboo strips, silk, and light and shadow.

I. Design Conception: From Inspiration to Blueprint

The first step in Chinese lantern making begins at the designer's desk. Experienced lantern artisans will sketch out the initial outline on paper according to the theme's needs.

Mr. Chi, an inheritor of Zigong lantern intangible cultural heritage, told me: "Designing a Chinese lantern is like directing a play; you have to consider the overall effect and calculate the position of each 'character.'" Traditional themes such as dragons and phoenixes, peonies, and the twelve zodiac animals are the most common, while modern lanterns boldly incorporate popular elements, and have even created giant lantern sets up to 30 meters high.

During the design process, proportion calculation is particularly crucial. A lotus lantern with a diameter of 5 meters requires precise calculation of the curvature and overlap of each petal; while figure-shaped lanterns need to pay attention to limb proportions to avoid deformation caused by light illumination. Designers use traditional meticulous painting techniques or modern computer-aided design to transform two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional models, marking the skeleton structure, decorative details, and lighting layout plans. This stage often requires repeated modifications until every angle achieves perfect balance.

II. Material Preparation: A Dialogue Between Nature and Craftsmanship

"Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice," and lantern artisans are almost demanding in their material selection. In traditional lantern workshops in Zigong, Sichuan, master craftsmen insist on using Cizhu bamboo that has grown for more than 3 years. This type of bamboo has a soft texture and long fibers. The bamboo, after being felled, undergoes processes such as steaming and drying to ensure it is not easily worm-eaten or cracked. The lantern surface material is chosen according to needs – real silk crepe has the best light transmittance but is expensive; modern polyester fabric has lower cost and bright colors, making it a popular choice.

Other materials also have their specific requirements. In the process of making modern lanterns, iron wire needs to be galvanized for rust prevention; adhesives should be environmentally friendly glutinous rice glue; pigments must be high-temperature resistant and colorfast. An old artisan showed his "treasure": natural mineral pigments passed down from his grandfather, "the carp painted with these look like they are swimming in the water under the light". Although chemical pigments are now available, traditional workshops still retain a reverence for natural materials.

III. Skeleton Production: The Dance of Bamboo and Iron

Walking into a workshop that produces traditional lanterns, the most astonishing sight is the process of artisans making skeletons. They first split bamboo into strips about 0.5 centimeters wide, and bake them in a special furnace until slightly scorched, at which point the bamboo strips become extremely flexible. The master craftsmen's hands fly, bending the bamboo strips into the shapes from the design drawings, or using iron wire to assist in fixing complex structures. Large lanterns require a 1:10 small model to be made first to verify structural stability before scaling up for production.

The skeleton is like the "skeletal system" of the lantern, and must simultaneously meet the requirements of lightweight and high strength. A Qing Dynasty revolving lantern housed in the Zigong Lantern Museum, only 40 centimeters high, is composed of 368 thin bamboo strips, without a single iron nail, relying entirely on mortise and tenon joints, and can still rotate normally today. Modern large lantern sets use steel frames for internal support, with external bamboo weaving patterns, preserving traditional aesthetics while ensuring safety.

IV. Lantern Surface Production: The Magic of Colorful Splendor

Mounting is the crucial step that gives the colored lantern its "skin". Artisans smoothly stretch the treated silk onto the skeleton, carefully pasting it with a brush dipped in special glue, ensuring no wrinkles. Mounting requires extreme care, not only to ensure the silk adheres tightly to the skeleton but also to avoid tearing the material due to excessive force. After the glue dries, a second trimming is performed to remove excess edges, making the lantern surface smooth and flat.

Painting and decoration further test the skill. Pigment blending needs to consider the color rendering effect under light, usually 20% darker than normal colors. Painters use meticulous heavy-color techniques, outlining details stroke by stroke. I once witnessed an old painter drawing a hundred children picture for a palace lantern; on a lantern surface with a diameter of 30 centimeters, a hundred children had different expressions, and even the wrinkles in their clothes were clearly visible. Modern colored lanterns also use digital inkjet printing technology, but important parts still insist on hand-painting. This "human-machine combination" approach improves efficiency while retaining the artistic soul.

V. Lighting Design: The Poetic Charm of Light and Shadow

Traditional lanterns used candles or oil lamps, which had a soft glow but posed safety hazards. Modern lanterns use LED cold light sources, which can achieve gradual changes and flickering effects through programming. The "dynamic light and shadow system" developed by the College of Optoelectronic Engineering at Chongqing University in cooperation with colored lantern artisans can make a 30-meter long golden dragon lantern appear to move, with each scale individually controllable for brightness.

Lighting arrangement is a delicate art. Small palace lanterns usually have a single internal light source; large lantern sets use "layered lighting" – main light sources are installed inside the skeleton, and auxiliary lights are added to local details. During the debugging phase, artisans repeatedly adjust the position of the LED beads to avoid dark areas or overexposure. A prize-winning lotus lantern, through a three-layer lighting design, achieved a natural transition of petals from pink to white, appearing like real flowers blooming in the night.

VI. Assembly and Debugging: The Final Magic Moment

When all components are ready, the assembly phase begins. Large lantern sets adopt a modular design, such as a Nezha series lantern set exceeding 10 meters in height, which may be decomposed into more than 20 parts including the head, body, and tail, and assembled on site with cranes. Electricians must ensure correct wiring for hundreds of connection points; structural engineers check the safety of each load-bearing node; and the artistic director controls the overall visual effect.

Debugging often continues late into the night. At the Huangshan Scenic Area Camping Base in 2025, a Nezha series lantern set about to be exhibited experienced shaking due to wind. The artisan team from Senhui Workshop Lanterns Factory worked overnight to add counterweights and adjust the fixing angles, ultimately ensuring the lantern set stood firm and could be exhibited successfully. This pursuit of excellence is precisely the fundamental reason why Chinese lanterns are renowned worldwide.

From design conception to final presentation, the birth of a lantern goes through hundreds of processes, embodying the painstaking efforts of multiple artisans. It is not only a festive decoration but also a three-dimensional representation of Chinese aesthetic taste, a wonderful combination of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. As we linger in the dazzling lantern festivals, let's not forget the artisans who work silently behind the scenes. What they protect with their hands is not just an ancient skill, but also a bright lantern illuminating cultural heritage.

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