Vietnamese Silk Lantern

Authentic Hand Crafted Vietnamese Silk Lantern

The silk lantern is a symbol of good luck, elegance, charm and just so darn pretty to look at. Introduced in the 1600 century by the Japanese, here in Hoi An, Vietnam the lantern has become a cultural icon and renowned over the world for their quality and colorful creativity.

For a few years I sold these lanterns directly — hand-picked in Hoi An and shipped out myself. I’ve since stopped doing that, so I’m no longer taking orders here.

If you want one, the closest I’ve found online is this traditional silk lantern with tassel on Amazon:

Uonlytech Traditional Silk Lantern with Tassel — on Amazon

Heads up: that’s an affiliate link. If you buy through it I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep this site going.

A little History of the Vietnamese Silk Lantern

The history of lanterns in Vietname stretches back many years and over different cultures. The Chinese first developed this style of the lantern by splitting bamboo and covering it with paper to protect the flame from the wind. Later the Japanese barrowing the idea from the Chinese and used colors to designated locations, they named the lanterns “chōchin”. Then the Vietnamese taking the paper “chōchin” lantern from the Jappines and started making them silk. They added their own flair and style and over the last few hundred years made it a staple of tradition and culture.

How are these Lanterns made

The process starts with Bamboo. Outside of Hoi An, local artists gather the baboo from sustainable forests. They select the straight and long stalks then split it into many smaller rods. These rods are then assembled together with a wooden top, and metal stays in the center.

The Silk for the Lanterns

The Silk is perhaps the most important part of the lantern, and what gives it the colorful magic feeling you will love. Silk was first developed by the Chinese. The story goes that the Chinese Empress Si-Ling around in or around BC 2600, held the title of “The Goddess of the Silkworm”. As is the story, She (Si-Ling) discovered silk when one day a silk cocoon fell into her tea. The heat from the tea loosened the strands. After this (Si-Ling) apparently designed the first silk look and raised silkworms.

After this, the Japanese started to use since to further the production of silk and created some of the wolds best silk. Then when Vietnam was under Jappines rule, the Vietnamese people learned this craft and applied it to their art.

All the silk used is produced locally here at the Silk Village.

The lantern artists will go to the village and selects the colorful bolts of fresh silk to use. They then take the silks back to their shops to start the handcrafted process of making the lantern.

Vietnamese Silk Lantern and their meanings

Color plays an important roll in life here. Some colors are good luck, some are used to attract fortune or celebrate a festival. Such as in the Mid-autumn festival of Tet Trung Thu where you will find many white Lanterns.

Here are some basic meanings. But don’t let this stop you from getting your favorite color!

• Yellow : wealth, prosperity, royalty, happiness, change
• Red : happiness, love, luck, celebration
• Blue : calmness, hope, growth
• Green : jealousy, lust
• White : purity, death, the end
• Black : evil
• Purple : nostalgia, sadness, fragility, tenderness

Sparrow thoughts:

A Vietnamese silk lantern is one of those things that carries a whole place home with it — the color, the light, the memory of the streets of Hoi An lit up at night. I no longer make or ship them myself, but if you pick one up, through the link above or anywhere else, you’re helping keep a centuries-old craft alive.

Questions about the lanterns or Hoi An, or just want to talk travel? Contact me.