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 In Taiwan, the number of
professional lantern makers is
decreasing, but with the
advancement of technology, the
types, materials, and production
techniques of lanterns has
gradually increased. Generally,
the basic materials for
traditional lanterns are the
following: makino bamboo, silk
cloth, cotton paper, PVC, and
paints. |
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Makino
bamboo: also known as
spotted bamboo, May bamboo, and
wheat bamboo; this name comes
from the fact that it has the
same growing season as wheat.
Ancient books also refer to makino bamboo as ˇ§precious
bamboo.ˇ¨ It can grow to 18m
tall, 18cm wide, with sections
of 40cm long.
Makino bamboo is widely grown in
various places, and is a type of
scattered bamboo that is grown
in the flow region of the Yellow
River, to the provinces south of
the Yangtze River, as well as in
areas with altitudes between 100
and 1500 meters in central and
northern Taiwan. Among these
places, Nantou, Hualien, and
Jiayi are main areas of its
cultivation. Makino bamboo grows
quickly and there is high
production volume, and is hard
and flexible, with good tensile
ability. It is a material that
is suitable for the construction
of scaffolds, or in weaving
bamboo lanterns. |
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Makino
bamboo: one of the most
prevalent bamboos in Taiwan.
It is tough and flexible,
suitable for construction
frames, bamboo-woven
lanterns, and other items. |
Bamboo
strips: Cut the makino
bamboo into strips, or
ˇ§bamboo strips.ˇ¨ Punch holes
in the top and bottom ends
of the bamboo strips and
string them with wire.
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Bamboo
base: at the makino
bamboo nodes, carve troughs,
fix them with thick wires to
serve as the top and bottom
of bamboo lanterns.
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Silk
cloth: better flexibility, good
level of water absorption, but it is
less good at resisting wrinkles. It
colors well and has a good sheen, with
water absorption rates of 11~12%.
However, it has poor light resistance,
and would turn yellow if exposed to
strong light. The types are real silk,
artificial silk, synthetic fiber silk,
and cross-weave silk. When making
lanterns, materials are based on needs
at the time. One would use real silk for
a gentle sheen with good translucence
and flexibility; one would use
artificial silk for bright colors.
Synthetic silk and cross-weave silk are
less often used in making lanterns.
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Cotton
paper: cotton paper is firm
and bright white, and has high
tensile strength. It is
flexible, not prone to color
loss, can endure use, is
corrosion-resistant and
insect-resistant, making it a
relatively permanent material.
Thus, cotton paper is a good
material to make traditional
lanterns.
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PVC
(Polyvinylchloride): Lanterns
made with PVC are primarily for
commercial use. PVC is water-resistant,
wind-resistant, and cheap, so commercial
lanterns are generally made with this
material. However, since it is difficult
to recycle PVC, and because it may
produce dioxin after burning, leading to
environmental pollution, Taiwan
currently lists PVC as a material that
should be recycled.
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Coloring:
since lanterns tend to be
three-dimensional with irregular shapes,
it is difficult to concretely express
the desired images and colors.
Therefore, coloring lanterns is a
difficult part in its production. Before
coloring, one has to compose the
three-dimensional draft, and design the
images based on the curved covers of
lanterns, and finally filling in colors
on the images. Generally, paints differ
according to the material of lanterns.
For instance, cotton paper lanterns are
generally colored with advertising
paints or water colors, silk cloth
lanterns are colored with advertising
paints, because these raw material
prices are cheaper and they are
translucent, so that light can shine
through after coloring is complete. PVC
lanterns generally use oil paint and
acrylic paint, but because these two
paints are not translucent, light would
not shine through, so these are
generally used in commercial or outdoor
lanterns. Colors of the paints are
generally yellow, red, blue, green,
black, and white.
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