Source: China News Network
Chen Jiaming: How do oriental lanterns light up the world?
China News Service, Sichuan Zigong, February 14 Title: Chen Jiaming: How do oriental lanterns light up the world?
China News Service reporter He Shaoqing
The lights reflect the night, and there is a light at the end of the world. In the New Year of the Tiger, the colorful lanterns that integrate shape, color, sound, light and movement shine in the night sky of Zigong, Sichuan, the "thousand-year-old salt capital". At the same time, in the French city of Blagnac, thousands of miles away, 40 groups of Zigong lanterns showing representative architecture, humanities, folklore and science and technology between China and France lit up The Lituret Park.
In January 2022, the 28th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival was beautiful. China News Service reporter Wang Lei photographed
Zigong lanterns, which began in the Tang and Song dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, are known as the "world's first lamp". Since its first trip abroad in 1990, zigong lantern fairs have been exhibited in 80 countries and regions around the world, accounting for 85% of China's and 92% of the overseas lighting market share.
Why are Chinese local folk lanterns loved by Chinese and Western tourists? How do oriental lanterns light up the world? Chen Jiaming, executive dean of China's first Lantern Academy, was recently interviewed by China News Agency's "East and West Question" to make an in-depth interpretation of this.
An excerpt from the interview is as follows:
China News Service: When did the custom of displaying lights during the Chinese Lantern Festival originate and what changes did it undergo? In the history of Chinese lanterns, what are the exchanges between Eastern and Western cultures?
Chen Jiaming: "A song is like the sea in spring, and a thousand doors are lit up like day at night." Lantern illumination is the symbol of the most festive and auspicious atmosphere of the Chinese Spring Festival, especially the Lantern Festival of the fifteenth lunar month, which not only derives colorful folk customs such as sending flower lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, dancing dragon lanterns, and snatching rolling lights, but also develops into a unique Chinese lantern art.
In January 2022, the 28th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival was printed with a color with a surname to attract visitors. China News Service reporter Wang Lei photographed
As early as the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, China already had the custom of putting lights on the Yuan Festival, whether it was a mansion or a cold alley, lanterns were hung high to compete with the moon to celebrate the arrival of the first full moon night of the year. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, lanterns became a national cultural activity for elegant and popular appreciation, and the Sui Emperor even invited international friends to watch the lanterns. The Sui Shu Music Chronicle records that "every year and the first month of the year, all nations come to the dynasty, stay until the fifteenth day, and inside the Jianguo Gate outside the Duanmen Gate, stretching for eight miles, it is listed as a theater." The Lantern Night of the Song Dynasty was even more magnificent, leaving a vivid description of Lu You's "advocating the boiling of the five doors in the sky, and the ten thousand torches of the Lantern Mountain moving at dusk".
During the Republic of China period, Beijing Wenshengzhai Lantern Painting Fan Zhuang once took the Beijing Palace Lamp to participate in the Panama International Exposition, won the gold medal, and once again let the world know the charm of the ancient Oriental lanterns. In 1990, the Zigong Lantern Festival went to Singapore and opened the prelude to overseas exhibition. For more than 30 years, Zigong Lantern Festival has been exhibited in 80 countries and regions such as the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Hungary, Belgium, and Mexico. In recent years, despite the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Zigong lanterns are still facing difficulties, and in 2021 alone, they will be lit in the United States, Singapore, France, the United Kingdom and other countries.
The cultural section of "Animal Habitat Through Time and Space" at the Chinese Lantern Exhibition in Blagnac, France. Courtesy of Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Technology
China News Service: Why is the Zigong Lantern Society, which originated in the Tang and Song Dynasties, called "the first lamp in the world"? In the past half century, what changes have zigong lanterns in terms of expression, theme, materials, technology, technology and other aspects?
Chen Jiaming: With the prosperity and development of the Lantern Festival, various parts of China have gradually formed a unique and ingenious illumination art. According to the statistics of Chang Sixin, director of the Lantern Committee of the China Folk Writers Association, there are more than 200 genres of Lanterns in China at the most, and more than 50 genres have been retained so far. These include Beijing Palace Lanterns that make good use of rosewood and mahogany, Suzhou Lanterns with the charm of Jiangnan Water Town, as well as Guangdong Xinhui Dragon Lanterns, Sichuan Zigong Lanterns, Zhejiang Haining Kip Stone Lanterns, Fuzhou Flower Basket Lanterns, and Anhui Wuhu Iron Painting Palace Lanterns.
The reason why Zigong Lantern is known as "the first lamp in the world" dates back to the Zigong Lantern Festival held in Singapore in 1990. Zigong lampmakers around the oriental culture, for this lantern fair designed folk customs and local characteristics of the "lion play ball", "dragon and phoenix Chengxiang" porcelain lamp, "peacock open screen", "oriental elegant rhyme" shadow lamp, "cold three friends" blow molding lamp, "Zigong dinosaur" lamp, "dragon tour phoenix dance" lamp and so on. After the then President of Singapore, Jin Hui, opened the first group of "Dragon Play Beads" porcelain lanterns at the lighting ceremony, the Chairman of the International Trade Bureau of Singapore presented a pennant of "the world's first lamp" to the Zigong Lantern Pavilion. Since then, this reputation has spread throughout the north and south of the great river with the zigong lantern festival.
Zigong is rich in well salt, known as the "salt capital of a thousand years". In the long history, the wind of salt merchants not only improved the skills of Zigong lanterns, but also made zigong lanterns larger than other lanterns in China, which made tourists from the East and the West more immersive. In 2000, I designed and produced the "Chinese Millennium Lantern King", the colored lantern with a diameter of 21 meters means the 21st century, 16.6 meters high means a smooth wind, and 56 15-meter long dragons represent 56 ethnic groups. Nowadays, the volume of large-scale Zigong lantern groups has reached thousands of square meters.
With the development of the times, the theme of Zigong lanterns is closer to life in addition to praying for blessings, myths and legends, historical allusions, fairy tales, and traditional dramas. At the beginning of 2020, due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the 26th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival was suspended for 3 months. During this period, zigong lampmakers presented the anti-epidemic deeds of The Chinese people in 15 groups of lights, shaping the characters of medical staff, policemen, community workers, takeaway brothers and other characters, paying tribute to retrograde heroes.
The "anti-epidemic theme light group" produced at the 2020 Zigong Lantern Festival. Courtesy of Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Technology
Lanterns have gradually stepped out of the Lantern Festival and entered the fields of cultural tourism and night economy, and have now developed into "lantern art" that includes traditional lanterns and modern light and shadow. The latest 28th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival not only continues the past two VR full-view lights, but also integrates digital technologies such as naked-eye 3D visual effects and AR virtual reality enhancement for the first time. The mascot of the lantern festival generated by the use of live-action motion capture technology, "Lantern Girl", communicates with tourists when they pick up their mobile phones and guides orderly passage.
China News Service: How to light up the world under the epidemic of oriental lanterns and be a "cultural messenger" who is well connected with the people?
Chen Jiaming: One of the reasons why Zigong Lantern, a very local Folk Culture Event in China, can be welcomed by tourists from both the East and the West is the popular nature of the Lantern. It is a people-friendly art, the content is mostly from the people, from life, in different countries are easy to love the people. The Zigong Lantern Festival has become one of the celebrations of many overseas countries, not just the Chinese New Year.
The lanterns tell the story of cultural exchanges between the East and the West in the language of images. Even if the language is not barrier, people can read it effortlessly. For example, Zigong lampmakers have used more than 250,000 pieces of porcelain and more than 300,000 pieces of glass products to recreate the grand occasion of the "Silk Road", and created landmark buildings in 18 countries such as the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, the Taj Mahal in India, the Colosseum in ancient Rome, and the pyramids in Egypt. In the world of light and shadow, Zigong lanterns unfold a magnificent picture of the "Silk Road" for tourists from the East and the West.
Therefore, in order to go abroad, oriental lanterns first need to understand the culture of other countries and clarify the creative direction in order to cook a "cultural feast" suitable for the needs of overseas markets. For example, in the British Langrit Manor, zigong lampmakers designed the "Peter Rabbit" lantern, without any words and language, the British audience at a glance to know that it is the British fairy tale writer Beatrice Potter depicted the fairy tale image. At the ongoing lantern festival in Blagnac, France, Zigong lampmakers created the French aircraft "Fengshen", which is 30 meters long and 6 meters high, and reproduced french pride with tens of thousands of light bulbs.
In 2017, in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the manor's wildlife park, the British Langlitt Manor launched the fairy tale animal Zigong Lantern Special Session of the famous British fairy tale author and author of "Peter Rabbit" Beatrix Potter. Courtesy of Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Technology
The French "Fengshen" aircraft in the form of colored lights in the Lantern Festival of Blagnac, France. Courtesy of Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Technology
In the current "global pandemic" of new crown pneumonia, the impact of the epidemic on the world and the reflection of mankind in the face of the epidemic can strongly stimulate the emotional resonance of people in the East and the West. In 2022, the Lantern Academy will take the lead in designing epidemic-themed lanterns that integrate modern light and shadow art, and this group of lanterns is expected to cost nearly 10,000 pieces of lamps and lanterns to be exhibited at home and abroad.
At present, the biggest challenge of the "going to sea" of colored lights is the inconvenience caused by the epidemic to personnel exchanges and logistics and transportation. The Spring Festival of 2020 coincided with the early days of the outbreak, and it took half a year for the lampmakers responsible for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Chile to return home safely. Now many Zigong lamp companies have innovated the exhibition model, which is remotely accused by Chinese lampmakers and organized by foreigners to reduce the number of people working abroad.
The challenges brought about by the epidemic are also the rising cost of logistics and transportation and the tightness of containers. At present, many Zigong lamp companies have realized the "slimming" of colored lanterns through modular design, and explored standardized production, transportation, exhibition organization, and dismantling to reduce transportation space. In addition, at present, many lighting companies are changing the traditional single exhibition model and lengthening the value chain of exhibits through round exhibitions and touring exhibitions.
In short, in the "post-epidemic era", only through its own reform and upgrading can oriental lanterns continue to light up the world and be a "cultural messenger" with good people-to-people bonds. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Chen Jiaming, the country's first lantern college - Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Technology, executive dean, obsessed with lantern culture, technology for nearly 40 years, in creativity, materials, light sources, technology and other aspects of continuous innovation, the invention of luminous body illumination technology won the national patent, the design of more than 5,000 pieces of lantern works, of which "Chinese Lamp King", "Chinese Cabbage", "Huanglong See Water" has won many awards, hundreds of works exhibited overseas.