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 red lantern traditional to the lantern flying through the paper lantern. Our paper lanterns are available in large quantities and in many colors. If you want more Chinese decoration, go see our collection of typical chinese paintings in order to best dress your walls.
History of the Lantern
Having become a global symbol of China, Chinese lanterns have a very simple origin. In fact, they were initially simply used as lamps, to provide lighting, before the invention of electricity. During the Eastern Hans Dynasty, it was common to surround a candle bamboo or wheat straw to stretch a silk fabric around it to protect the flame from the wind, thus creating the first Chinese lantern. Gradually, these lanterns were decorated with zodiac animals, 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 provide lighting, were used by monks Buddhists during their worship rituals, especially on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Later, under the order of Emperor Han Wudi, the ritual was extended to the entire Empire, and was no longer the trappings of 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 today. 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, so you are sure to find one to suit your taste, and for every occasion! Lanterns can be categorized into three categories: lanterns with hang or to suspend, the lanterns flying, and the lanterns to put down on the 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 illuminate palaces and temples. They usually have a flattened round shape or a ball shape. The Chinese New Year is the event where you can see the most red lanterns in the streets. But today, Chinese lanterns have become much more diverse, and they can be found in many different materials. While the paper lantern remains the most popular, they can also be found in gauze, paper, silk, rice paper, silk, various fabrics… There are even more lanterns fantasy : in the shape of Chinese zodiac animals, cartoon characters, lotus flowers or multi-colored... Lanterns can now meet all types of demands. There are even some that are adapted to ecology, which are biodegradable or equipped with a vegetable wax burner!
Use of Chinese lanterns
To use the lanterns, nothing could be simpler! Just place a small candle on the base provided for this purpose, and let the magic happen. If you don't like candles, you can also find many lanterns that work with an LED. But be aware that it is also very common in China to use the lantern without a burner, since the red lanterns are not only decorative: they are also considered powerful lucky charm. It is then common to see them at the entrance of stores, not only as decorations, but especially to bring good fortune to the shop. The lamp is sometimes even replaced by an LED candle. These hanging paper lanterns are then frequently decorated with lucky pompoms. In China as in the West, lanterns often seduce young couples who decide to use them as wedding decoration, either as reception room decoration, or as sky lanterns, or flying lanterns, to offer a magical lantern release show to all the guests. This flying lantern then 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 is a superb colorful decoration for an interior or a garden.
