ILLUMINATING CHINESE L ANTERNS
Discover the symbolism and science behind these floating features of Chinese New Year festivities
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
Chinese lanterns originate in a 2,000-year-old tale: when Chinese emperor Zhuge Liang needed to send a signal during a dark night, he turned to a sheet of rice paper and some bamboo. He wove together a bamboo frame in the same shape as the hat he was known for wearing. After placing the rice paper over the frame and a candle at the base, the first Chinese lantern was lit and the signal successfully rose into the sky. Zhuge Liang was known as Kongming, so today these lanterns are called Kongming lanterns.