Published : 30/09/2025
During the Chinese National Day and other important holidays and celebrations, giant, bright red palace lanterns would be hung on Beijing's Tiananmen Gate Tower.
Do you know the origin of these eight palace lanterns? There are media reports saying they were designed by two Japanese people, is this true?
Zhou Enlai finalised the design plan
The construction of Tiananmen began in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), and it has a history of over 600 years, whilst the craft of making traditional palace lanterns is even more ancient.
However, the hanging of giant palace lanterns on the Tiananmen Gate Tower began in modern times. More specifically, it began with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1st October 1949.
Before the proclamation of the PRC was held, the authorities began to renovate and decorate Tiananmen Square and the gate tower. At that time, the designers rushed to create 20 sketches, which were submitted for review to Zhou Enlai, who became premier after the founding of the state.
Zhou immediately took a liking to one of them: eight giant red palace lanterns hanging between the 10 corridor pillars of the Tiananmen Gate Tower; with eight red flags unfurled on each side.
Zhou Enlai believed that the red palace lanterns, red flags, and the red walls of Tiananmen were harmonious and consistent. They not only conformed to Chinese tradition and national style but also fully embodied the strong festive atmosphere of the proclamation of the PRC.
As to who was behind the design, due to the lack of clear written records at the time, two versions later emerged, both of which have been cited by mainstream media: One is that it was artist Zhong Ling (鍾靈) and painter Zhang Ding (張仃), who were the main persons in charge of the art design for the proclamation of the PRC; the other is that it was two Japanese individuals from the cultural troupe of the Political Department of the North China Military Region, Onozawa Kō (小野澤亘) and Shigeru Mori (森茂).
Left-wing artists, Japanese members of the People's Liberation Army
Why would it be Japanese people? Were they "externally hired" designers? This version seems more legendary and eye-catching.
Onozawa and Shigeru were both left-wing artists who had graduated from specialist schools in Japan, and were around 30 or 40 years old at the time. They had come to China very early on, and due to their political leanings, they eventually made their way to Yan"an in Shaanxi, where the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was based.
They also joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA), engaging in work related to propaganda such as stage art design. Because of this background, they were directly involved in the preparatory work for the proclamation of the PRC.
So which version is more credible? In recent years, an article from the official media might offer some clues.
The author of the article referred to visual materials of the time and believed that it was Zhang Ding, Zhong Ling, and others who drew the renderings for the layout of Tiananmen Square, while Onozawa and Shigeru "worked together to carry out more detailed processing on the renderings for the layout of Tiananmen Square".
In any case, the focus and difficulty of the decorations for the founding ceremony lay with the giant palace lanterns, because their size was unprecedented.
Read more: Were portraits of 12 people once hung on Tiananmen? Are there 8 versions of Mao Zedong's portrait?
"Three or four people can crouch inside and play cards"
After that, Onozawa, Shigeru, and other staff members scoured Beijing and finally found craftsmen who could make the giant palace lanterns. Because the palace lanterns were simply too big to transport, the craftsmen had to bring their apprentices to the Tiananmen Gate Tower to make them on the spot.
After working round the clock for three days and three nights, the eight giant palace lanterns were finally completed the day before 1 October.
The skeletons of the palace lanterns were made of iron rods and bamboo strips, among other things, and were wrapped in red shilin cloth. Each was 2.23 metres high, 8.05 metres in circumference, 2.25 metres in diameter, and weighed 80 kilograms, "three or four people can crouch inside and play cards".
Once the giant palace lanterns were hung up, the Tiananmen Gate Tower looked more festive and magnificent.
On 1 October 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong ascended the Tiananmen Gate Tower and, under the light of the palace lanterns, proclaimed to the entire world, "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is founded today".
From then on, the giant palace lanterns became an indispensable element of the Tiananmen Gate Tower.
According to Chinese mainland media reports, the eight giant palace lanterns from the founding ceremony "were hung for 45 years" until the Tiananmen Gate Tower was renovated in 1994, when they were replaced by a new generation of collapsible palace lanterns.
The appearance and size of the new palace lanterns remained unchanged. Although they were made of spring steel and were heavier, their folded volume was only one-tenth of the old palace lanterns.
Read more: Is the Tiananmen Gate Tower a modern building? It was rebuilt in 1970!
Retired palace lanterns auctioned for 13.8 million RMB
As for the retired old palace lanterns, one pair was auctioned for a price of 13.8 million RMB, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the mountainous areas of Beijing and Project Hope.
Why was the new generation of palace lanterns made to be collapsible? It is believed that this was to facilitate transportation and storage.
Many people, even if they have been to Beijing and seen Tiananmen, may not have noticed that the Tiananmen Gate Tower does not normally have palace lanterns hung.
It is only during National Day, the Spring Festival, or other major celebrations that the giant palace lanterns are hung on the wooden beams between the gallery pillars. For this reason, one needs to be there at the right time to see the palace lanterns in person.
Finally, two more points to add.
First, the hanging of giant palace lanterns on the Tiananmen Gate Tower began with the founding ceremony, but two or three months before that, at the rally commemorating the 12th anniversary of the "July 7th War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", seven palace lanterns were hung for the first time on the Tiananmen Gate Tower (to correspond with "7/7"), but their size was incomparable to the later giant palace lanterns.
Secondly, the aforementioned Japanese individuals, Onozawa Kō and Shigeru Mori, returned to their home country to settle in the 1950s. Some reports claim that Onozawa was later active in the Japanese manga world, but his activities in China are rarely mentioned.