The Last Light: a Legacy That Never Goes Out

When he was seven years old, Chen Mingyuan witnessed the splendor of three hundred handmade lanterns being lit at the same time in a lantern shop by the Qinhuai River. Ten years later, the neon lights drowned out the light of the paper lanterns. He went north to study, forgetting his ancestral craftsmanship in the fast-moving era. Until his grandfather became seriously ill and the old shop was closed, Chen Mingyuan, who had become a programmer, returned to his hometown. In the dusty attic, he found his grandfather's notes that had recorded sixty years of lighting events. Every page was an ordinary life that was illuminated. A cross-strait connection brought about the lost remnants of the "Boneless Lantern"; an old lantern lit late at night illuminated his lost original intention. After resigning and returning to his hometown, he started by cutting the first crooked bamboo strips, and with the help of his grandfather's last look and his father's silence, he restarted the fire. When the crane lantern without a skeleton was lit again on the bank of the Qinhuai River, he understood: what his grandfather protected was the dignity of creating immortal beauty in a rapidly decaying era; and what he wanted to pass on was a lamp that must be carried by someone - it was not dazzling, but enough to warm the road for night travelers. The last light is never the end. As long as there are still people who remember, light will always be on the road of inheritance.