Lotus lantern, monkey rolling lamp, long-haired rabbit lamp, pomegranate lamp, toad lotus lamp, peach lamp...
Wen Cunlin, 73 years old this year, is the third generation of "Wen Ji Caiza Lantern" in Pingliang, Gansu Province, and he insists on making handmade lanterns during the Spring Festival every year, which has been more than 50 years.
The lanterns made by Wen Cunlin are mainly based on the traditional local crafts of Pingliang, and new elements have been added, which are loved by many people.
On the occasion of the Lantern Festival in 2022, Wen Cunlin innovatively produced 5 types of innovative lanterns such as Tiger King Lantern, Toad Lotus Lantern and Red Strawberry Lantern, and 3 types of traditional lanterns to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
Wen Cunlin began the material preparation and innovation of the 2022 lanterns since last year's National Day, hand-tied lanterns, and has produced more than 180 lanterns so far.
This year is the Year of the Tiger, Wen Cunlin innovatively produced 10 "Tiger King" lanterns that symbolize the vitality of tigers and tigers, which were purchased by a company in Pingliang. Due to the complicated production process, It takes more than four hours for Wen Cunlin to make a Tiger King lamp and a monkey rolling lamp.
When the reporter met Wen Cunlin, he was making lotus lanterns at home, from the bamboo that chose to tie the lanterns, kidnapping, dyeing paper, pasting paper, painting, sticking, to the completion of the molding, all of which were completed by himself.
Wen Cunlin said that there are many processes for making handmade lanterns, there are seven processes to make a lotus lamp, five layers of petals should be glued, the headlight lotus lamp should be glued to 72 petals, the smaller lotus lamp should be glued to 56 petals, like a more complex monkey rolling lamp, six-tooth watermelon lantern has 13 processes.
Wen Cunlin's half-century of perseverance stems from a set of lamp-making tools for pressing lotus petals - flower shafts, flower tubes, which are "heirlooms" for making colorful lanterns, which have been handed down from his grandfather's hands and have a history of more than 150 years.
"I've been making handmade lanterns for 50 years, just to pass on this ancestral craft..." Wen Cunlin said
In recent years, most of Wen Cunlin's handmade lanterns need to be booked in advance, so there are not many finished products at home.
Wen Cunlin pointed to a few lanterns and said that people like this Tiger King Lamp, Toad Spit Money Lamp, and Monkey Rolling Lantern were all booked in advance, and there were more and more people booking lanterns near the Lantern Festival.
"But now that I'm older, I can't do it slowly, and it's not certain whether I'll continue to do it in the future!" Wen Cunlin finally said.
China Gansu Network reporter Li Hongjun correspondent Guo Huimin Li Weixuan