The Palace lantern is very ornate and used to decorate many impressive public and private buildings in China. It is usually large in size and embedded with painted silk or glass panes around its body, The lantern is a Six-side-lantern, each side has its superbly Chinese Arcadian construction, like the Imperial Palace, The Great Wall Etc.
The ordinary lantern transformed into the Chinese palace lantern. This was a far more ornate and highly decorated version of the orthodox lantern. The main aim of these lanterns was to serve as a center piece in an interior setting.
The use of Chinese palace lanterns was popular in the homes of Chinese people. It was however most popularly used in public and private buildings. Today however the use of the Chinese palace lantern has spread to all corners of the world. Anyone looking to give an oriental touch to their home or office setting can make use of Chinese palace lanterns.
About Chinese lanterns
Chinese lanterns have grown more popular in the western world but actually have a deep rooted history in Chinese culture, with records suggesting that they were being used as torches at New Year as early as 250BC.
When lanterns became more popular they were used on mass; villagers would gather on the streets and hold the lanterns up into the air in an attempt to see their deceased loved ones fly into the afterlife.
The Chinese lantern can be seen in various shapes and sizes and more recently can be found in the form of heart or flower shapes in a range of different colours. Traditionally, the colour red on a lantern signified heightened energy or a new marriage; a happy event that could also include a new birth or addition to the family. The height the lantern was placed indicated the social status of the family, similarly the size of the lantern would signify how wealthy a household was.
