灯笼制造商让火焰流传

Lanterns are an inextricable part of China’s long cultural history. Always seen lining shops and restaurants, they come out in full force during any festival season. And the biggest is of course the Lantern Festival. There’s a long tradition of making lanterns, which continues today. So let’s now head to Kaifeng, one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China, to visit a traditional lantern-maker, running his very own lantern museum.

Walking into this museum is walking into a world of lanterns.

41-year-old Zhang Juntao is part of the seventh generation of a renowned lantern-making family in Kaifeng. His family has been making traditional Chinese lanterns for more than 200 years.

The first Zhang to make the lanterns was Zhang Taiquan who lived during the late Qing Dynasty. He was particularly good at making lanterns with woodprint pictures, flower-basket-shaped silk lanterns, and palace lanterns.

His exquisite creations soon brought the family fame. Their lanterns were even used to decorate the Dowager Empress Cixi’s mansion in Kaifeng.

The traditional art continued to be passed down, generation after generation.

But due to modern manufacturing and shrinking demand, the traditional craft of lantern-making is now a tough business. The family now only has two members making hand-made lanterns -- Zhang Juntao and his sister Zhang Junli.

Zhang Juntao’s predecessor made a living from lantern production. But Zhang now has to work as an accountant to make both ends meet.

Zhang regularly invests part of his salary towards the preservation of his family’s traditional craft.

In 2010, he cleaned up his ancestral home and turned it into a lantern museum.

Zhang Juntao, a traditional lantern maker, said, "Lanterns have special meanings for Chinese people. In ancient times, people used to hang exquisite lanterns in front of their houses, especially for big occasions. But nowadays, they no longer hang lanterns in high-rises as they did in one-story houses in the past. Traditional lantern-making is facing a very difficult time. That’s why I started this museum. I want to keep all those old lanterns made by my family and pass down the lantern-making skills to younger generations."

The two-story building now houses hundreds of handmade lanterns by Zhang Juntao’s family. Some were passed down from his predecessors decades ago. Some are recreations of rare old lantern styles, done from sketches saved by his family.

Although they’ve all been made at different times, they have one thing in common - their amazing beauty. Paper, silk and palace lanterns are the most common styles.But there are also some unusual ones, such as unframed lanterns and this rolling lantern.

Zhang Juntao said,"There’s a swing-like structure inside this lantern. It can hold the candle and keep the candle perpendicular to the ground, so that the candle won’t light the surface material or go out."

But these delicate lanterns are not so easy to make. It usually takes several days to finish one of them.

Take this lotus lantern for example. You need to make a frame with iron wires and bamboo first. And then comes the most time-consuming part - pasting the colored rice-paper petals together. And there are hundreds of them.

Zhang Juntao said, "Everything is made by hand, from the orderly needle punctures to creases of various shapes. It takes perception, a calm mentality, design innovation and tool-making skills. They can’t be made overnight."

But Zhang has also injected some new energy into this centuries-old art. He’s adopted modern techniques and materials, which make his products even more attractive.

Zhang says he’s realized the first-phase of his plan - opening a lantern museum.

Next, he plans to open a school where he can pass this ancient craft to younger generations. He also wants to compile a book for lantern-making enthusiasts to keep this ancient art alive.