Lantern maker Zhang Mingliang has many secrets to tell about the Forbidden City. The stories, together with his lantern making skills, were passed on by his master, Dong Shihui, a eunuch who lived in the imperial palace.

"There is another name for red gauze lanterns in the Forbidden City," said Zhang, who is now 74 years old. "They are known as qisifeng deng (meaning lanterns that make the wind mad)."

"In order to please royal family members, eunuchs had to make up many auspicious sayings. The name and description of various lanterns is vivid proof of that," he said. Zhang showed off a thin, gauze-coated lantern, framed with 24 curved bamboo strips, which is meant to bring the owner prosperity for the whole year. He explained that the braid at the bottom of the lantern symbolizes peace.

Zhang first started to learn the art of making palace lanterns from the age of seven. After the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ended, the eunuchs were expelled from the imperial palace. Without a job, Zhang's eunuch master survived by collecting trash and making lanterns.

"The poor Dong lived next to my home near Dongsi area since 1930s," recalled Zhang. "My kind-hearted mother asked me to help our special neighbour."

Zhang was excited and proud about helping the eunuch earn money by making and selling lanterns. And his enthusiasm paid off the lanterns were so popular that he dropped out of school and made lantern making his career.

Over the last 67 years, Zhang has made hundreds of different types of lanterns from palace lanterns and lanterns with revolving figures to gauze lanterns and wall lanterns.

His home is a world of colour, filled with lanterns that hang from the ceilings and walls.

Among the collection is a lantern called zouma deng, (horse walking lantern), which has images that move across it. The lanterns look like pretty paper pavilions with upturned eaves and corners. Inside there is a wire frame fastened at the centre to a vertical shaft pasted with paper vanes, on which a group of figures stand. Propelled by the heated air from the lit candle, the shaft and vanes move, turning the frame and making the figures dance across the paper.

The pictures depict old Beijingers from all walks of life such as fruit sellers, barbers and knife polishers.

Zhang used to sell his lanterns at temple fairs. "The amount of money we got at temple fairs not only depended on our lanterns, but also on our ability to hawk and attract customers," said Zhang, who turned hawking into an art form by singing different songs about his numerous lanterns.

Lanterns originated from the white paper lights used as signals during battles. Later lanterns were made red and only lit for emperors in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) and then they were gradually introduced into regular households.

As well as the major Lantern Festival held on the fifteenth day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar, there are a number of other lantern festivals held throughout the year. On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, for instance, people gather near Shichahai Lake to light lotus-shaped lanterns and sail them on the water to remember their forefathers. According to Chinese tradition, such lanterns should be destroyed and abandoned after the ceremony.

"People would burn their lanterns in a giant, hollow copper Buddha, over 60 metres high, set between the Drum and Bell towers," said Zhang. "Thick smoke could even been seen from the top of the Fragrant Hills in west Beijing."

Lantern making combines the skills of a carpenter, painter, potter and weaver. Zhang's lanterns became famous for combining all these skills.

The talented pensioner can also make shapes like flower baskets, animals, vegetables and buildings by using all different materials from bamboo, rosewood to iron.

He continues to use the traditional technique of "fine brushwork" to draw characters and scenes from legends and history onto the lanterns, giving them a dazzling brilliance.

A pair of "birds" that nod to each other on one lantern, and a lantern that rolls along the ground without being burnt by the lit candle inside are two of his signature works.

Some of Zhang's works are currently on display at the Culture Palace of Nationalities Museum. His lanterns have even been printed on stamps and he is often invited to lecture on lantern making to young students and foreign diplomats. He used to have stores at Beijing Lufthansa Centre and Wangfujing, but too overloaded with orders, he shut up shop to concentrate on simply making lanterns only.

Zhang can make a regular lantern in less than 3 hours, which he will then sell for at least 100 yuan.

The problem he faces now is ensuring that his traditional lantern making skills are handed down to the next generation.

He currently has just one apprentice, aged 51. They are busy making several hundred lanterns in a studio to meet the annual demand from exhibition centres and hotels.

"It's a modest discipline," he said with a smile. "I like to think that I'm just a small lantern maker who makes others feel happy."

(China Daily 01/04/2007 page16)