Chao zhou hua deng, the flower lantern
A lantern built as a scene from a play, one to a panel; at its height a hundred panels were hung, turning a whole opera into an arcade of light.
Pronunciation cháo zhōu huā dēng｜Craft and performance｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
A lantern built of pasted paper and bamboo, one panel to one scene. The figures, the scenery and the frame are all made up by hand; when the light is lit the play is performed inside the lantern. At its height came the hundred-panel set, an entire opera hung as a corridor of light.
Its relation to the stage is close. It appeared as Yuan drama flourished, and at its peak every subject was a scene from a play; the Chaozhou songbook called The Hundred Panels is still sung.
When you see it
At the Lantern Festival and the lantern fairs of the second month. In 2008 it entered the second national list of intangible heritage under the name lantern craft, Chaozhou flower lantern, number Ⅶ—50, with Xiangqiao district of Chaozhou as the registering area.
Words easily confused
The Chaozhou flower lantern is a sub-entry under lantern craft and not a project name of its own. The first list of 2006 had no Chaozhou entry in lantern craft; Chaozhou came in with the second list as an extension.
Read next: The Chaozhou flower lantern: one panel, one play.
Same group: deng shou, the lantern head, Chao opera, songbooks.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026