Pay for it with Steem - Get an Authentic Hand Crafted Vietnamese Silk Lantern
The silk lantern is a symbol of good luck, elegance, charm and just so darn pretty to look at. Introduced in the 1600 century by the Japanese, here in Hoi An, Vietnam the lantern has become a cultural icon and renowned over the world for their quality and colorful creativity.
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A little History of the Vietnamese Silk Lantern
The history of lanterns in Vietname stretches back many years and over different cultures. The Chinese first developed this style of the lantern by splitting bamboo and covering it with paper to protect the flame from the wind. Later the Japanese borrowing the idea from the Chinese and used colors to designated locations, they named the lanterns “chōchin”. Then the Vietnamese taking the paper “chōchin” lantern from the Jappines and started making them silk. They added their own flair and style and over the last few hundred years made it a staple of tradition and culture.
How are these Lanterns made
The Silk for the Lanterns
The Silk is perhaps the most important part of the lantern, and what gives it the colorful magic feeling you will love. Silk was first developed by the Chinese. The story goes that the Chinese Empress Si-Ling around in or around BC 2600, held the title of “The Goddess of the Silkworm”. As is the story, She (Si-Ling) discovered silk when one day a silk cocoon fell into her tea. The heat from the tea loosened the strands. After this (Si-Ling) apparently designed the first silk look and raised silkworms.
After this, the Japanese started to use since to further the production of silk and created some of the wolds best silk. Then when Vietnam was under Jappines rule, the Vietnamese people learned this craft and applied it to their art.
All the silk used is produced locally here at the Silk Village.
The lantern artists will go to the village and selects the colorful bolts of fresh silk to use. They then take the silks back to their shops to start the handcrafted process of making the lantern.
The process starts with Bamboo. Outside of Hoi An, local artists gather the baboo from sustainable forests. They select the straight and long stalks then split it into many smaller rods. These rods are then assembled together with a wooden top, and metal stays in the center.
Vietnamese Silk Lantern and their meanings
Color plays an important roll in life here. Some colors are good luck, some are used to attract fortune or celebrate a festival. Such as in the Mid-autumn festival of Tet Trung Thu where you will find many white Lanterns.
Here are some basic meanings. But don’t let this stop you from getting your favorite color!
- Yellow : wealth, prosperity, royalty, happiness, change
- Red : happiness, love, luck, celebration
- Blue : calmness, hope, growth
- Green : jealousy, lust
- White : purity, death, the end
- Black : evil
- Purple : nostalgia, sadness, fragility, tenderness
Sparrow thoughts:
When you buy a hand made silk lantern from Vietnam, you are supporting many local artists who have this as their only source of income. You are also helping to support this web page and the continuing journey roaming sparrow to document the wonders of this world in photos.
Should you have any questions, or would like to make a custom order, or just curious to learn more, contact me.
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