Lantern | Arts
Introduction
A lantern is a portable lighting
device or mounted fixture used to illuminate areas. Lanterns may also be used
for signaling, as torches, or as general light sources outdoors. Low light
level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also
used more generically to mean a light source, or the enclosure for a light
source. Examples are glass pane enclosed street
lights, or the housing for the
top lamp and lens section of a lighthouse. The term is commonly associated with Chinese
paper lanterns.
History
Lanterns are first spoken of by Theopompus, a Greek poet, and
Empedocles of Agrigentum. Lanterns were used by the ancients in augury. The
only known representation of an ancient Egyptian lantern probably is not much
different from those spoken of by John the Evangelist in John 18:3 from the New
Testament, where the party of men who went out of Jerusalem to apprehend Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane is described as being provided “with lanterns and torches.”Lanterns
in ancient China were made of silk, paper, or animal skin with frames made
of bamboo or wood. One of the earliest descriptions of paper lanterns is found in records from Khotan, which describe a
"mounting lantern" made of white paper.
The simplest technology used is the candle lantern. Candles give only
a faint light, and must be protected from wind to prevent flickering or
complete extinguishment. A typical candle lantern is a metal box or cylinder
with glass or mica side panels and an opening or ventilated cover on the
top. A primitive form of candle lantern, made from white horn and wood and
called a lanthorn, was first made in the time of the English king Alfred the Great (849–899).
Traditional and Decorative lanterns
Decorative lanterns exist
in a wide range of designs. Some hang from buildings, while others are placed
on or just above the ground. Paper lanterns occur in
societies around the world. Modern varieties often place an electric light in a
decorative glass case.
The ancient Chinese sometimes captured fireflies in transparent or semi-transparent containers and used
them as (short-term) lanterns. Raise
the Red Lantern, a Chinese film, prominently
features lanterns as amotif. Lanterns are
used in many Asian festivals. During the Ghost
Festival, lotus shaped lanterns are set afloat in
rivers and seas to symbolic guide the lost souls of forgotten ancestors to the
afterlife. During the Lantern Festival, the
displaying of many lanterns is still a common sight on the 15th day of the
first lunar month throughout China. In other Chinese festivities, the kongming lanterns can be seen floating high into the sky.
Use of fireflies in transparent containers was also a
widespread practice in ancient India. But since these were short term
solutions, the use of fire torches was more prevalent.
In the Eastern
Orthodox Church lanterns are used
in religious processions and liturgical
entrances, usually coming before the processional
cross.
Lanterns are also used to transport the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday
during Holy Week.
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