The designers of the Beijing Winter Olympic flame lantern recently discussed how they came up with their design, which was inspired by a bronze lamp dating to the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) that demonstrates the ingenuity of ancient Chinese in combining aesthetics and utility in one.
The Olympic flame lantern is based on the Changxin Palace Lantern, a bronze relic excavated from the tomb of Dou Wan in Mancheng county, Hebei Province, in 1968.
The design project started in September 2020, and the designers were inspired by the cultural meaning of the Changxin Palace Lantern since “Changxin” means “determined belief” in Chinese.
“To refer to such ancient relics or iconic symbols such as clouds is a way of delivering traditional Chinese values, being kind and upright for example. When people see this design, they’ll know it was created in China, not just because the inscription says so, but because of the national belief attached to it,” Li Mingyu, a cultural symbolist, told the Global Times.
The original ancient lamp was cleverly designed so that the light is kept burning in the middle of a plate surrounded by a round bronze wall that can be slid around 360 degrees to focus the light where it needs to be.
This inspired the design team to also preserve the light by designing the surrounding shades from a more contemporary material – transparent double glass – so people can see the flame of “hope.”
The transparent double glass also solves a practical problem. A diversion channel forms between the inner and outer glass shades to reduce the impact of the wind on the flame, ensuring that it will not be extinguished.
The Olympic flame lantern is also in a passionate and encouraging “Chinese red” color, which was also used in the torch design for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
The original Changxin Palace Lantern has been called “China’s first light.” It was in shape of a maid of honor on her knees holding a lantern. Her right sleeve is connected to the top of the lantern and serves as a chimney so that smoke from the flame flows directly into the body of the maid figurine and does not spread throughout a room.
Beijing Winter Olympic flame lantern(L)and the Changxin Palace Lantern (R) discovered in Hebei Province in 1968 Photo: Sina Weibo
