Wuwei Gauze Lantern

Wuwei Gauze Lantern

　　[Wuwei Gauze Lantern] Legend has it that during the Northern Song Dynasty, when Mi Fu served as the military governor of Wuwei, he used his painting skills to depict figures, landscapes, dragons and phoenixes, flowers, and other patterns on the lantern walls to share joy with the people. During the Guangxu era, to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi’s 60th birthday, the Qing court sent officials specifically to Wuwei to select Wuwei Gauze Lanterns, which were then hung in the imperial palace gardens. The Wuwei Gauze Lantern integrates carpentry, carving, lacquering, and painting arts. Its production involves processes such as processing, shaping, painting, and ink-scraping. The frame is made from sandalwood or red toon wood, carved with dragon and phoenix heads at the top and elephant trunk or tiger paw feet at the bottom. The lamp’s body is covered with gauze or silk, painted with landscapes and figures. Through the ink-scraping technique and eye-dotting method, the eyes of the figures on the lantern appear to blink under candlelight, making them vivid and lifelike. (Wuwei County)

　　 Also known as palace lanterns. With a history of over 300 years, it is one of the eight famous local specialties of Anhui. The Wuwei Gauze Lantern was developed by drawing on various traditional lantern-making techniques such as bamboo-strip framing, paper covering, and colored dyeing. Its shape is generally hexagonal or square. High-quality hardwoods such as rosewood, mahogany, oak, and red toon are often chosen for the frame, which is foldable. The outer edges of the frame are carved with three-dimensional dragon heads and phoenix bodies, adorned with scrolling floral patterns in the middle, and feature elephant trunks or tiger horns at the bottom. The base is decorated with golden or bright red tassels. The overall design is unique, proportionally balanced, exquisitely carved, structurally sturdy, and connected via mortise and tenon joints, allowing for easy disassembly and convenient storage or transport. The tradition of releasing and admiring lanterns in Wuwei is said to date back to the time when Mi Fu governed the region. During the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, Cai Jing, an artisan from Wuwei County, created the first ink-scraped gauze lantern. By the Qianlong era, renowned local painters such as Cai Zhutian, Xu Shiyin, and Bian Zi’huan formed an art society, eventually abandoning colored paper and glass in favor of painting on silk gauze. They refined the “ink-scraping” technique: first outlining the intended design with ink on the silk frame, then applying diluted ink to the areas outside the outline before scraping away the dark ink. A layer of transparent fish glue was evenly applied to the reserved painting areas, dried, and then outlined, colored, and shaded with fine brushwork in the Gongbi style. Common subjects included figures, flowers and birds, animals, mythical legends, and idyllic rural landscapes. The more exquisite works also featured scenes from well-known stories like Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dream of the Red Chamber, and The Peony Pavilion. The paintings were rich in detail, vividly expressive, and glowing brilliantly when lit, creating a stunning visual effect. The ink-scraping technique matured during the Jiaqing era, with over 30 workshops producing the lanterns at their peak, yielding more than 10,000 pairs per year. In 1894, Emperor Guangxu dispatched a senior officer to Wuwei specifically to select lanterns for Empress Dowager Cixi’s 60th birthday celebrations. These lanterns were hung throughout the “Birthday Celebration Palace,” earning them the title “Palace Lanterns.” In 1911, Wuwei Gauze Lanterns were exhibited at the Nanjing Museum and won a second-place award, attracting purchases and collections from foreign diplomats and merchants stationed in China. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government placed importance on folk crafts, tracking down surviving artisans like Bian Zhongying and organizing lantern production. Starting in 1953, Wuwei Gauze Lanterns were sent to various Anhui Provincial Industrial and Agricultural Product Exhibitions, gaining fame across the country. In 1956, the Wuwei Gauze Lantern Cooperative was established. By 1958, the Wuwei Arts and Crafts Factory had developed more than 10 new products based on existing designs. During the 10th National Day anniversary, Wuwei Gauze Lanterns were displayed at the National Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Beijing and were hung in the Anhui Hall of the Great Hall of the People as premium local specialties.