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Keeping light burning for 1,000-year-old craft
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XIXING Town in Hangzhou’s Binjiang District was once a thriving center for producing traditional Chinese paper lanterns, with a history stretching back 1,000 years.
However, today the ancient skill has almost vanished there, with only one craftsman keeping the light burning.
In the past two years, two elderly lantern makers, Xia A’san and Yu Wuquan, have passed away, leaving 73-year-old Cai Xue’an the only Xixing lantern maker.
Cai is now passing down the skills of the trade to his son-in-law, Wang Jianguo, hoping that he will continue the craft.
Xixing Town was China’s paper lantern making center from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). According to historical documents, when the Southern Song government lifted curfews, nightlife began flourishing again and created a demand of lanterns.
Moreover, Xixing Town was at one end of Hangzhou-Ningbo Canal, where numerous traveling merchants lodged, creating a bustling nightlife and greater demand of lanterns than at other places.
Meanwhile, ample local supplies of bamboo provided natives with the material for making lanterns.
It takes modern-day lantern maker Cai 30 minutes to make one. First, he weaves the frame from bamboo strips, creating a structure that resembles a bird cage; next, he sticks the paper to the frame with a mixture of water and starch; finally, he paints patterns on the paper and coats the lantern with transparent lacquer.
While Xixing lanterns are renowned for being made from bamboo and paper, these days lanterns made of cloth with iron frames dominate the market.
“Only temples and some tourist spots buy lanterns from me. Nowadays, people prefer the lanterns made of cloth and iron frames to our Xixing lanterns,” says Cai.
“It’s true that Xixing lanterns don’t last so long as they become worn out if exposed to wind and rain for a long time,” he adds. “But the craft is 1,000 years old and it would be a pity if we lost it now after all this time.”
Formerly, Xixing local craftsmen used two bamboo varieties — dan zhu and gang zhu — to produce lantern frames.
However, as Hangzhou developed, the original bamboo-growing area in Binjiang District was built over with schools and factories.
Cai now has no choice but to buy bamboo from Hunan Province in central China.
His lanterns come in many sizes, with price tags ranging from 8 yuan (US$1.3) to 20 yuan each.
Annually, Cai says that he can sell between 2,000 and 3,000 lanterns — earning 3 yuan for each.
“Locals these days are not interested in learning how to make lanterns because they can’t make enough money following the trade,” Cai admits.
Yet historical documents show that just a century ago Xixing Town was filled with stores selling many different kinds of lanterns.
Moreover, local craftsmen were being invited to make lanterns for Quzhou, Jiaxing, Jinhua, Shaoxing and other nearby cities in Zhejiang Province.
However, as electric lights grew in popularity, the use of lanterns declined, being seen mostly as decorations on festivals.
Nowadays, it’s hard to find any trace on Xixing of the trade that brought the town prosperity in the past.
As a Xixing local who feels responsible for handing down the skill, Cai began to study lantern making under craftsmen in 2004, spending two months learning the ancient craft.
Unlike Cai — who switched to lantern making as a retiree from making crockery — the late Xia and Yu had trained in the craft since children.
They enjoyed great fame as lantern masters and received Inheritor of Hangzhou Intangible Culture status from Hangzhou’s government.
Today, the precarious state of the craft of paper lantern making worries Xixing Town government.
In addition to the application for a protected craft of Hangzhou folk culture and art status, the town government has held training classes, inviting Cai to teach locals how to make paper lanterns.
However, Cai doesn’t think that classes offer a long-term solution to preserving the trade.
“It’s impossible for people to master all of the skills and techniques of making lanterns in a few hours,” he says.
To encourage Cai to continue with his trade and keep this ancient craft part of the town, the Xixing Town government promotes his work and attempts to find new clients for the town’s lantern maker.
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