OP: Now I understand why people in old times loved visiting lantern festival so much. I recreated the shrimp lantern for yuanxiaojie/ lantern festival in Song dynasty and Ming dynasty. It can be folded, unfolded, and even moved.
Chinese people recreate traditional lanterns in old paintings for yuanxiaojie (lantern festival). Actually, back in the Song and Ming dynasties, lanterns were way more varied and way more finely made. People’re still trying to get the modern versions up to that level. You can see loads of festival stuff like this in old paintings—bat kites, eagle lanterns, crane lanterns, goose lanterns, bat lanterns, Bagua lanterns, koi lanterns, “Standing Alone on the Ao Head(Number One Scholar)” lanterns, figure lanterns, toad lanterns, dolls, sheep lanterns, elephant cart lanterns, peach lanterns, giant floral lanterns, spinning lanterns, floral lanterns, rolling lanterns, bamboo horses, dog lanterns, rabbit lanterns, deer lanterns, fruit-and-melon lantern, eagle lantern, and “Kuixing Diandou” lantern (depicting The Star God of Literature and Examinations pointing to the Dipper).
Traditional fish lanterns 鱼灯 from Anhui province, East China. 🎏
Villagers in Anhui have a tradition of making fish-shaped lanterns to pray for harvest and good fortune (In Chinese culture, fish symbolize prosperity, abundance, good fortune, wealth, and long life) and parade with them cheerfully around the Lantern Festival元宵节, which falls on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar.
