Decorate your home in Chinese style with our most beautiful Chinese lanterns. You will find the most beautiful lanterns on the market, for all tastes! From the traditional red lantern to the flying lantern through the paper lantern. Our paper lanterns are available in large quantities and in many colors. If you want more Chinese decoration, see our collection of typical Chinese paintings to dress your walls.
History of the Lantern
Becoming a worldwide symbol of China, Chinese lanterns have a very simple origin. Indeed, they were initially used simply as lamps, to light, before the invention of electricity. During the Eastern Hans Dynasty, it was common to wrap a candle with bamboo or wheat straw and stretch a silk cloth around it to protect the flame from the wind, thus creating the first Chinese lantern. Little by little, these lanterns were decorated with animals of the zodiac, Chinese characters or lucky symbols in Chinese calligraphy, to hang at the entrance of a business, a house, or during an event.
Later, these lanterns, whose sole purpose was to light, were used by Buddhist monks during their worship rituals, especially on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Then, under the order of Emperor Han Wudi, the ritual was extended to the whole Empire, and was no longer the pomp of the monks. It was then common for all Chinese to light a lantern and carry it to a Buddhist temple. This minor habit became a real national tradition during the Tang Dynasty, and is still celebrated every year in China.
The fifteenth day of the first month of the Chinese calendar is now called the Lantern Festival. This day is the most important celebration in China, and thousands of lanterns can be seen lighting up the Chinese sky to celebrate the end of the Chinese New Year.
All about Chinese Lanterns
There are several types of Chinese lanterns, and one is sure to find one to his taste, and for every occasion! We can categorize lanterns into three types: hanging lanterns, flying lanterns, and lanterns on water. The oldest are the royal lanterns, which are still the most popular today. They are red lanterns, made of silk or paper, used in ancient times to light palaces and temples. They are usually flattened round or ball shaped.
The Chinese New Year is the event when the most red lanterns can be seen in the streets. But nowadays, Chinese lanterns have diversified a lot, and you can find them in many different materials. If the paper lantern remains the most popular, we also find gauze, tissue paper, rice paper, silk, various fabrics ... There are even more fancy lanterns: in the form of animals of the Chinese zodiac, cartoon characters, Lotus flowers or multicolored ... The lanterns can nowadays meet all types of requests. There are even some adapted to the ecology, which are biodegradable or equipped with a burner in vegetable wax!
Use of Chinese lanterns
To use the lanterns, nothing could be easier! Just place a small candle on the base provided for this purpose, and let the magic happen. If you do not like candles, there are also many lanterns that work with an LED. But you should know that it is also very common, in China, to use the lantern without a burner, since red lanterns are not only decorative: they are also considered as powerful good luck charms. It is therefore common to see them at the entrance of stores, not only as decorations, but especially to bring good luck to the shop.
The lamp is sometimes even replaced by a LED candle. These hanging paper lanterns are then frequently decorated with lucky tassels. In China as in the West, lanterns often seduce young couples who decide to use them as wedding decoration, either as reception hall decoration, or sky lanterns, or flying lanterns, to offer a fairy-tale lantern release show to all guests. This flying lantern works like a hot air balloon, with the hot air from the candle hitting the balloon to make it fly away. The lantern garland is also very popular and makes a great colorful decoration for an interior or a garden.