Craftsman Decorates the Forbidden City with Delicate Palace Lanterns

Work lamps are specifically made for craftsmen crafted for the use of artisans My name is Zhai Yuliang After graduating from high school in 1975 I have been making red lanterns nonstop and it has now been over forty years This red lantern factory of ours— The red lanterns made for the imperial palace have been passed down through generations continuing to this day the red lanterns we craft now are a continuation of the past preserving the craftsmanship left to us by our ancestors Primarily made of wood Wood must be fine-grained free from resin pockets and have a certain degree of hardness Making the most ordinary red lantern requires over a hundred pieces of wood and more than a hundred crafting steps carving the dragon head for Bābǎo's sawing and sculpting alone takes six lanterns to complete No nails at all—entirely a mortise-and-tenon structure I've spent my whole life making lanterns My lanterns hang all over the world They're everywhere The big red lanterns at Tiananmen Gate Tower Inside the tower Red lantern chandeliers And floor lamps wall lamps too They're all from our catering department Love this red lantern especially My favorite six-sided red lantern Double-layered It has curved beams A dragon head Overhanging eaves Pillars of various sizes Including window panels Fully infused with Chinese elements Its overall shape and structure have been passed down to this day featuring a hat on top paper lanterns attached tassels beneath and in the past within palaces flowers and longevity peaches were placed on top during birthday celebrations Also known as the hexagonal flower basket used for birthday celebrations Apply it to generate diverse functional designs with various shapes The third thousand diagram The first seat was a six-sided red lantern I still remember it very clearly 14 inches After finishing it rushing to the needle felt incredibly rewarding and strangely beautiful This one lamp of mine is endlessly versatile—it can transform into multiple layers the six-sided red lamp is two layers but I can also turn it into four six or even eight layers including purple lamps A red light dominates flanked by an imposing diagram several purple lights and a purple mother light It has no expiration date—just don't drop it avoid bumps and it'll last forever perfectly fine even after a hundred years Later the emperor bestowed these red lanterns upon ministers allowing them to be passed down outside the palace where they became especially popular by the time of the Lunar New Year on the fifteenth day throughout the year for instance in spontaneous folk traditions people made use of local materials Ladder high collar pole then shaped into a frame adorned with cut paper decorations molded into various forms such as animal shapes vegetable shapes or flowers and birds big ones loved during lantern festival displays Hang up some lanterns—children light one each praying for health and prosperity in the coming year a hopeful wish as the festive lights begin to glow during the Lantern Festival Within my lifetime I am determined to do this one thing well—so that more people can come to understand the craftsmanship behind our traditional lanterns