Literary and art works – Frameless lantern

The frameless lantern was originated in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, only well-to-do families could afford to hang this kind of lanterns in front of their houses. It became a fad in the Qing Dynasty. Due to many reasons, its craft was lost for almost half a century. At present, there are only “embroidered frameless lanterns” in the forms of a lychee, eight trigram, flower basket and more, in Xianju County, Zhejiang, China. It is special because it doesn’t have a frame. This work is an imitation of the drawings in books done by an inmate. First, she drew a picture on a piece of paper. Then, she pierced holes on it with a needle on rice papers and cotton patterns in different sizes and shapes. She then pasted 5-8 layers of paper together and used LED to light up the lantern. The fine artisanship will then be projected on the paper. During the process, she had to overcome the problem of the heat given out by the lights that affected the paper. She had tried different kinds of paper but in vain. The making process was very complicated and labor consuming. With more than 10 production processes, it was completed finally. In addition to cultivating the inmate’s patience, it also achieved the goal of continuing the nearly discontinued artisanship.