Lantern: Intro

After going through my pics for this year’s Chinese Lantern Festival, I must say I like it better than the one we had last year .. it’s a lot more colourful, IMO.

But first, here are some fun facts for this year’s Chinese Lantern Festival that I got from the special insert in the Toronto Star a while back (I find it interesting):

• 57: Number of days it took to transport five 40-foot containers from Zigong, China to Toronto via Shanghai and Vancouver.
• 57: Number of days it’s taken to assemble all the parts from hand drawings to colourful lanterns.
• 70,000 bottles: The number of three-centimetre tall containers that will be filled with coloured water and illuminated at the back of Ontario Place.
• 75 tons: The amount of steel produce and transported from China. Workers bend, solder and cut all the rods themselves to create the most accurate representation.
• 80: the number of Chinese nationals who have been working more than 12 hours a day at Ontario Place for the past two months to create the festival.
• 12: The number who will stay to conduct daily maintenance and ensure lights, wiring, motors, silk and bottles remain in good condition throughout.
• 1400 litres: The amount of glue — especially made to withstand the elements — needed to affix the lanterns.
• 2: Number of translators serving as go-betweens for the English speaking Ontario Place staff and the Chinese crew. But, says Tan, the language barrier often produces lots of laughing when hand gestures go awry.
• 250 kilometres: The length of specially-designed nine-stitch silk produced by Tan’s company for the festival. It can withstand Toronto’s potential high lake winds and heavy rains and maintain its colour in the sun.
• 100,000 lights: The number of lights in the festival, from 60W bulbs — found in the lamps — to flood and fluorescent lights.
• Everything: The amount of material from the festival that will go to landfill. tan says there’s just no room to store these large piece and they plan to make next year’s festival bigger and bigger — all from scratch.

Hmm .. on the last point .. hope they at least re-use the bulbs …..

And this year’s festival revolves around these three dynasties (from the Chinese Lantern Festival website):

The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC): After conquering six rival states, the highly centralized bureaucracy of the dynasty transformed the isolated State of Qin into a powerful empire, unifying China for the first time. Led by Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC), the First Emperor, Qin established the first rough national boundaries, common legal code, written language, currency, weights and measures, and standardized administration system that existed for the next two millennia. Emperor Qin sent hundreds of thousands of people to join various defensive walls together and expand them into an elaborate fortification system currently known as the Great Wall. Emperor Qin also built himself an immense tomb accompanied by a terracotta army to protect him and to reflect the glory and dignity of his empire long after his death.

The Song Dynasty (960-1279): The Song Dynasty was another period of prosperity and innovations in arts and technologies. Bianjing, (today’s Kaifeng) capital of the Northern Song (960-1127) was the largest city in the world, spreading across more than 20km. The “Riverside Scene at the Qingming (Clear and Bright) Festival” of Song times depicts the busy activities of the people of all walks of life on both sides of the city river in Bianjing. Hangzhou, capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), is among the best known cities where streets abounded and shops flourished. Italian explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324) was amazed to see vast amounts of commercial activities, markets, transports, and busy river and canal traffic. During this time, gunpowder was used for military rockets and sea trade was helped by the widespread adoption of the compass. The invention of movable-type printing greatly increased the mass production of printed materials, including paper money.

And a couple more things to mention (from the Chinese Lantern Festival website):

The Terracotta Warriors
In 1974, local farmers drilling a well to the east of Xi’an (Chang’an in ancient times), Shaanxi Province, discovered about 6,000 life-size terracotta soldiers, along with horses and chariots. Each clay soldier’s face differs from those around him, and his hands appear to have held a weapon. The warriors parade in battle formation according to Qin Dynasty directives on the art of warfare. The vaults, with more than 7000 figures found by the late 1970s, are only partially excavated and make up only one part of the tomb of the First Emperor which is located at Mount Lishan, 1.5 km away. The Emperor’s tomb itself is yet to be excavated as technology advances. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 BCE when he ascended the throne of the Qin kingdom at age 13, and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. Chinese history records that the First Emperor was buried with great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a replica to scale of the universe.

The Silk Road
East and West first met over 2000 years ago on the Silk Road, which refers to the ancient trade routes connecting China, Central and Western Asia, and the Mediterranean countries. On this road, using different routes by land and sea, many things travelled into and out of China. Silk from China became popular everywhere, reaching as far as Rome. Of course, trade does not happen in isolation. As tea, gems, ivory, cotton and spices were exchanged, along with silk, so were arts, religions, astronomy, agriculture and other items of knowledge. The Silk Road was one of the most significant channels of civilizations in world history.

As a refreshment … here are last year’s 14 Days of Lantern posts: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Extra Day