PLA T E XX.
A LANTERN-^AINX&R.
HE- Qhji^fe. are- v^rys. if> tjbsij^ If^teiipsi. IJffeen difplayed, at
thea-t fifla,vaf§|t thgfe are o£ e^t^ejTjptyilarge, fize^ of various forms, and
Very richly, ornamented Thpy aye qgyered. \yitb tr^trfparqnt filk or
paper, whereon are pajnfied flayers, animals, &c. which receive a kind of
aidn%ri<?ns iii& light Tfj^hp. Th^t tririsjPitfeiif fightf ia employed
upop, is-of, the more common fbjtj. Every, period wfiq ij,,found i® the
ftreets after fh f watch is fet, tyitfeout a, ifu^dj lantern o f this defcrigtiph,
heating his name and jdace o f abode painted yponfit^fufejes^s hinjfelf to
fee ayrefted by the cheers of the pofaefef|fll
There i^m annual'feftival called the Feafbof Lanterns.' It commences
pn the evenmgpf the thirteenth day of the-firft, month, apd continues'til^,
the! eyeping o f fixtpepth day. On this oecafion, pgspje. ip affluent
circumftances difplay lafitgrns pf teij pounds, cpft y jfeqfe (which are made
for viceroy§, and other great jtiandafins, are fpmetimes yalued at one hun-r
drsd, or .ope hupdrgd p>d fifty pgupds gachf. Their faiilefps are rarely*
if evgr, made of gljfs, that competition feeing yery little ufed in £hina
unlefs for fjoirrt®si In .tfegir hfejjfeg the air is generally, exploded, and the
ligljt admitted, by yjujdo^s m,&dg of the feipi-tranfparent fiell of the pearl
pyftex.
* Paufanias, the hiftorian, relates that the ancient Greeks had alfo an annual no&umal
illumination, which was ftyled “ ift/g9» Eo^r«— The Feftival of Torches.”