Chinese lantern

For some of you, this may be the first encounter you have had with the term Wish Lantern. You may know them by another name, sky lanterns, night sky lanterns, or Chinese Lanterns to name a few. For others, this may be the first time you have heard of these lanterns full stop. While this may stagger me (I personally can’t imagine life without a Wish Lantern!) this is not at all surprising. Wish Lanterns are relatively new on the market, on the western market that is. In China and Thailand, they have actually enjoyed recognition for thousands of years. Unbelievable isn’t it?

Swan Chinese lantern

In the three Kingdom period of China (184AD-280AD), Emperor Zhuge Liang would use lanterns as aids in times of warfare. Surrounded by enemies from all sides, he would take note of the wind direction and use these floating balloons to send signals for help, the first distress signals if you will. They were also the earliest manifestations of hot air balloons, though of course no one would think of building one ten times the size and attaching a huge wicker basket to the bottom until years later!

Chinese lanterns

Later in history, these military lanterns became accessories in Chinese festivals. In the 6th Century, Emperor Yangdi invited envoys from other countries to gape in awe at his beautiful colourful lanterns. In the Tang Dynasty of the 7th Century, lanterns displays would last up to three days. This may sound long, but this record was beaten in the 15th Century where the largest lantern display took place and lasted for a whopping 10 days! They must have been sick of the sight of lanterns after that…

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