Thursday, February 09, 2006

Chinese "Bobbles"

















These are some decorations that were hanging from the ceiling in the conservatory in the Bellagio. They are celebrating the Chinese New Year and I have no idea if these specific decorations have a name, but I thought they looked like they should be called bobbles and I thought they were pretty.

6 comments:

Jeff said...

actually, windy...this is a bobble.

spigo said...

they are called "red lanterns." they are a traditional chinese celebratory decoration, most often seen in conjunction with the chinese new year. in particular with the "lantern festival", which takes place on the 15th day of the chinese new year, and marks the end of the new year celebration. the history of the lanterns goes back over 2 millenia to the days of the han dynasty. the traditional red lantern is made of bamboo and silk, and is lit with candles. in olden days, skilled craftsmen would make red lanterns as large as possible, sometimes several meters in diameter, to show their love and loyalty to the emperor. there was also a movie made in the early 90's called "raise the red lantern", but i don't think it had anything in particular to do with the decorations.

Windy Lampson said...

OK Glen...I want to know what kind of job you have that allows you to take the time to research and write a mini-essay on red lanterns. I'm not even technically supposed to look at blogs at work, but since I use some of the images as teaching materials... sometimes... then I figure I'm allowed to go to mine. and by the way- my word verification this time is deadg. sorry...i thought that was funny.

Windy Lampson said...

However- since you are able to snatch enough minutes out of your day in order to write such an essay, I am honored that you have chosen to post it on my blog.

spigo said...

yeah, my job's pretty cushy. however, i did not do much research so much as ask the chinese guy at work about them. then we had free pizza. awesome!

Anonymous said...

Windy,

I'm sure you had fun at the Bellagio with all the family. I was looking for your phone number to put on the packing slip for your wedding book. It is shipping out today (Friday) on DHL. I hope you and Jeff and your mom like it.

Art