Lanterns have changed over time. There have long main at least two main styles of Chinese lanterns, although one seems to by dying out, and those painted with Pokemon figures are increasingly popular. The easiest lantern crafts are for cylindrical lanterns, while cylindrical and round ones are both easy to find (and buy) here in the America.
Rarely do we need a lantern to light our way at night, and certainly few of us are used to handling flammable paper lanterns with candles in them!
I just love this quote from Hong Kong Fast Facts on Mid Autum Festival Lanterns: Afgter talking about the obligatory gifts for family, especially mooncakes, and pocket money for the seniors, and that one must buy paper lanterns for the children, they say
Candles are used to light up the lanterns traditionally but modern safety concern has brought battery powered plastic cartoon characters like Hello Kitty and Ultraman. If you really want to annoy your friends, get one with cheap electronic music for their children.Refreshing to hear!
This commercial site has pictures of traditional Vietnamese lanterns - covered in silk and quite different shapes.
Last updated: 9/2007
2 comments:
So, Why do they celebrate with lanterns?
Great question - but I don't know. It seems to have started in multiple places but I can't find any thoughts on why. On a cloud-free Autumn moon night in an open field one does not need a lantern, but in the forest, it is still dark. It might be that lanterns were needed to get to the top of the highest hill to see the moon. Or it could be just that they always used lanterns if they had to go out at night.
Some minorities use lanterns - but certainly not only one, nor every minority.
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