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Vietnamese Silk Lanterns: Craft & Cultural Identity
Light as Memory
In Vietnam, light has always carried meaning. Long before lanterns became symbols of tourism or festival décor, they marked time, guided travellers, and signalled belonging. To hang a lantern was to announce presence. To light one was to invite protection, fortune, and continuity.
Nowhere is this more visible than in Hội An. As dusk falls, silk lanterns ignite the old town in colour. Streets glow in amber, jade, rose, and indigo. What appears decorative is in fact deeply cultural – a living expression of identity shaped by trade, belief, and handcraft.
A Port Shaped by Exchange
From the 15th to the 19th century, Hội An was one of Southeast Asia’s most important trading ports. Chinese, Japanese, and European merchants brought not only goods, but customs. Lanterns arrived through this exchange, merging with Vietnamese craft traditions.
What emerged was something distinct. Vietnamese lanterns softened the rigid frames of Chinese designs and replaced paper with silk. Bamboo ribs gave structure. Hand-dyed fabric introduced colour and movement. The lantern became lighter, warmer, and more fluid – closer to textile than tool.
Form, Fabric, and Meaning
Every lantern begins with a skeleton of split bamboo. Artisans bend, bind, and balance each rib by hand. Over this frame, silk is stretched and stitched. The fabric is dyed in saturated tones, often layered to create depth when illuminated.
Shapes are never arbitrary. Lotus forms speak of purity. Round lanterns symbolise unity and harmony. Elongated ovals echo abundance and growth. Even unlit, these objects communicate. When lit, they transform architecture into narrative.
Lanterns as Living Architecture
Unlike fixed lighting, lanterns remain mobile. They are raised, lowered, moved, repaired, replaced. Streets become seasonal. Festivals redraw the town. Light is not installed – it is curated.
This fluidity reflects Vietnamese cultural rhythm. Homes open and close. Markets assemble and dissolve. Life is cyclical rather than static. Lanterns belong to this movement. They are not monuments. They are companions.
From Ritual to Identity
Historically, lanterns marked lunar festivals, weddings, and ancestral observances. Light bridged the living and the departed. It guided spirits. It honoured memory.
Today, silk lanterns carry national identity. They appear in homes, restaurants, hotels, and streets far beyond Vietnam. Yet each still bears the language of its origin: handmade structure, textile warmth, symbolic form.
What began as a functional object became a cultural signature. The lantern no longer simply lights space. It tells a story of place.
Conclusion
Vietnamese silk lanterns are not nostalgic artefacts. They are living craft. Each frame holds centuries of exchange. Each fold of silk carries belief. Each glow speaks of continuity.
They remind us that light is never neutral. It reflects who we are, how we gather, and what we choose to remember. In Vietnam, light is identity made visible.
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