Assignment 3

Idea and development

A lantern is a portable lighting device used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, to guide your path somewhere or as general light sources for camping. In the older days it would have been used like a torch. Dim varieties are often used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to mean a 'light source' or the enclosure for a light source, i.e., the housing for the lamp and lens — that is the top section — of a lighthouse.

Traditional and decorative lanterns

The simplest technology used is the candle lantern which can be lit with fire. Candles give only a weak light, and must be protected from wind to prevent flickering or complete extinguishment. Thus the lantern was invented. A typical candle lantern is a metal box or cylinder with glass or mica side panels and an opening or ventilated cover on the top.

The ancient Chinese sometimes captured fireflies in transparent or semi-transparent containers and used them as (short-term) lanterns. Raise the Red Lantern, a Chinese film, prominently features lanterns as a motif. Lanterns are used in many Chinese festivals. During the Ghost Festival, lotus shaped lanterns are set afloat in rivers and seas to symbolic guide the lost souls of forgotten ancestors to the afterlife. During the Lantern Festival, the displaying of many lanterns is still a common sight on the 15th day of the first lunar month throughout China. In Chinese festivities, the kongming lanterns can be seen floating high into the sky during festivities, it first used for signalling to people from distant places.

Decorative lanterns exist in a wide range of designs. Some hang from buildings, while others are placed on or just above the ground. Paper lanternsoccur in societies around the world. Modern varieties often place an electric light in a decorative glass case.

Use of fireflies in transparent containers was also a widespread practice in ancient India. But since these were short term solutions, the use of fire torches was more prevalent.^{[citation needed]}

In the Eastern Orthodox Church lanterns are used in religious processions and liturgical entrances, usually coming before the processional cross.

Lanterns are also used to transport the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Great Saturday during Holy Week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern