Red Envelope Project: Red Envelope Lantern 紅包燈籠/紅包灯笼

Do you like this "lantern" 燈籠/灯笼 (Cantonese: dang1 lung4/ Mandarin: deng1 long2)? Do you want to make one?

This 燈籠/灯笼  is made out of "red envelopes" 紅包 (Cantonese: hung4 baau1, Mandarin: hong2 bao1)

Thanks to Helen Man and Tina Lee, instructors at ALESN, I was able to learn how to make such a beautiful flower ball decoration out of Chinese red envelopes.

I have attached a link here in case you want to download the FREE PDF file that I made for this project.

Red Envelope Lantern

Otherwise, the online instructions are below! Enjoy!

Materials Needed:

24 Cardboard Pieces that can fit inside the red envelopes

24 Red Envelopes

Red String

Chinese-Charms, keychain, or anything decorative for the bottom of your lantern

Scotch tape

Step 1: Preparation Insert a cardboard piece into a red envelope. Leave the flap of the envelope open. Do this for all 24 Red envelopes. If you choose not to use cardboard, your lantern might come out flimsy in the end.

Step 2: Taping The Lantern Line up six red envelopes vertically facing down. Tape the envelopes together with the unclosed flap directly above the next envelope. The picture on the left shows what the front should look like after taping.

Step 3: Taping The Lantern

Turn the row of six envelopes to face down again.

With the flap of the red envelope closed, place a new envelope with the back-side facing up and place it directly on top of the envelope that is furthest to your right. Tape the left side of the new envelope to the gap between first and second red envelopes on the right.

Next, repeat the process with a new envelope on top of the second envelope from your right except with the backside of the envelope facing down. Remember to only tape the left side of the envelope.

Repeat this step four more times, reversing the envelope sides each time, making sure all flaps of the new envelopes are closed.

You should have used 12 envelopes in total so far.

Step 4: Taping The Lantern

Set the whole project on its side, drawing out the second set of envelopes.

You should be able to match up the first two red envelopes on the right to make a triangle and tape them together.

Repeat with the third and fourth red envelopes and also with the fifth and sixth red envelopes.

Step 5: Taping The Lantern

At this point, the tip of the first triangle on the right should meet with the tip of the second triangle. Tape the tips together.

Leave the third triangle on the left alone.

Step 6: Taping The Lantern

Take out your red string and fold your red piece of string in half. Make sure the string is still long enough to go through your imaginary lantern and more for the loop at the top and to hang the charm at the bottom.

At the area where your folded your string, estimate how big your want the top loop of your lantern to be and tie a knot at the bottom of the loop.

Place your knot on top of the two triangle tips where you last scotch taped and tape the red string against where you previously taped to reinforce the red string to the middle of the lantern.

Step 7: Taping The Lantern

Tape the tip of the last triangle on the left to the middle of the lantern.

Close up the hexagon by taping the last end of the red envelope to the original first envelope.

 Your lantern should look like this so far.

You have just made the top half of your lantern!

Step 8: Taping The Lantern

Repeat steps 2 and 3 except that you are lining the envelopes horizontally and not vertically.

Step 9: Taping The Lantern

Repeat step 5 again, taping the right two triangles tips together.

At this point, it is easy to place the top of your lantern upside down, pulling the remaining red string upwards and taping it against the middle of the bottom half of the lantern, making sure that the vertical hexagon is also upside down. Close up the bottom hexagon. 

Step 10: Taping The Lantern

Reinforce the insides of the lantern with more tape, unless you like it loose.

It looks prettier when the angles of the top and bottom sides match up.

Step 11: Applying the Charm

Using the remaining string, tie the charm to the bottom of the string. You can cut off any remaining string or do something creative with the leftover string.

Wallah! We have a red envelope lantern!

Optional step: There are options such as rolling up some more envelopes vertically or horizontally and taping it to the sides of the lantern for a more Asian style.

Another option is to get a thin stick and attach it to the top of the lantern so you can hold it like a real lantern in the night for fun.

Red Envelope Project: Red Envelope Flower Ball 紅包花球

Do you like this "flower ball" 花球 (Cantonese: faa1 kau4, Mandarin: hua1 qiu2)? Do you want to make one?

This 花球 is made out of "red envelopes" 紅包 (Cantonese: hung4 baau1, Mandarin: hong2 bao1)

Thanks to Helen Man and Tina Lee, instructors at ALESN, I was able to learn how to make such a beautiful flower ball decoration out of Chinese red envelopes.

I have attached a link here in case you want to download the FREE PDF file that I made for this project.

Red Envelope Flower Ball

Otherwise, the online instructions are below! Enjoy!

 Materials Needed:

30-pack of red envelopes

Scotch tape or a mini-stapler

Red string

Chinese-charms, keychain, or anything decorative for the bottom of your flower ball

Step 1: Making Creases/Preparation

Facing the front of the envelope, fold the envelope backwards in half from top to bottom 

 Step 2: Making Creases/Preparation

Open the envelope again to the original position and fold the envelope backwards with the left side of the envelope meeting the right side of the envelope.

Step 3: Making Creases/Preparation

Open the envelope again to the original position and this time fold the middle-crease at the edge with the middle crease-at the bottom. Folding the creases will create an imperfect triangle.

If you don’t want your flower ball to have any gaps, fold as close as possible to the creases. You can also use a ruler as a guide to fold the perfect crease.

 Step 4: Making Creases/Preparation

Repeat Step 3 with the other corners of the envelope.

Though, it is not necessary to press hard on the crease, I find that doing so makes it easier in crafting my flower ball during the scotch taping/stapling later on.

Step 5: Making Creases/Preparation

Repeat Steps 3-4 with the other 30 envelopes

You can do it!

Step 6: Taping/Stapling the Ball

At this point, you can either use scotch tape, a mini-stapler, or any other tool that would allow you to permanently hold two pieces together in order to begin constructing the flower ball.

Personally, I enjoy using scotch tape so that the staples wouldn’t show on the ball.

Take two red envelope pieces and tape/staple the top upper corner flap together.

If you are taping, use half of piece of tape on one side of the triangle flap along the crease and then fold the other half of the tape to the other side to hold the two envelopes in place. Repeat with the other bottom side of the triangle.

If you are stapling, staple near the bottom corners of the triangle, one staple per side to hold it in place.

Step 7: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Repeat Step 6 three more times, each time connecting a new red envelope with the previous envelope.

 This is the end result.

A star. The top of your ball.

5 pieces used so far.

If you find that you have a big hole in the middle of your star, try to fix it so that it is closer together. We will need to put the red string through this hole, but we don’t want it too large.

If you find that you messed up, you can always use a pair of scissors/stapler remover to undo the tape and staples and then redo the problem areas.

Step 8: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Now, it is time to add five more red envelope pieces to the star. This time, turn your new red envelope piece sideways and match up the flaps with the star. Again, tape or staple the flaps together.

 This is the end result.

You will start to see that your flower ball is becoming 3-D. If you use larger red envelopes, it could be as big as a hat.

 Step 9: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Put your existing flower ball aside.

Using new two red envelopes tape or staple the bottom corner together.

 Step 10: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Repeat step 9 four more times to make a total of five sets.

 Step 11: Adding the Red String

Now is a good time to add the red string. First, make sure your string is long enough to go through the lantern and more after your fold it in half. The length of the string is up to you, but you will need extra string to make a loop on top and to hook the charm on the bottom.

Fold your string in half.

Determine how big of a loop you want for hanging your lantern and create a knot at the bottom of your loop. I also recommend making four extra knots on top of the knot to make the knot way bigger than the hole in the middle of your flower ball. That way, the knot won’t go through the hole in the ball.

As you can see, I chose to make a big loop.

 Step 12: Adding the Red String

In the underside of the ball, place a piece of tape over the knot to secure it in place.

I like to add extra pieces of scotch tape to the knot for further reinforcement. Fixing the string after the ball is already constructed would be a hassle.

 Step 13: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Now is the time to add the new red envelope pieces from step 10.

Line up two side ball flaps with the bottom of the new red envelope piece. Tape or staple the flaps.

Repeat this step four more times with the other pieces from step 10 as you go around the ball.

Make sure the bottom of the red string isn’t accidentally taped or stapled in between flaps.

 Step 14: Taping/Stapling the Ball

After adding the side pieces from step 10, you may have noticed that the side flaps are not taped like the example flap at the bottom of the example picture on the left.

Go ahead and tape the five side flaps.

Step 15: Taping/Stapling the Ball Now, we are ready to start on the bottom half of the flower ball. Repeats steps 8-6 again backwards, except this time, it may be easier to just tape each piece to the flower ball instead as you go along. Basically, you are attaching a row of five horizontally first (as seen in the pictures) and then the last row of five vertically again.

Step 15.5: Taping/Stapling the Ball We are at the final stages of the flower ball. Tape or staple the last five corners vertically. Remember to make sure the red string is not accidentally taped or stapled in between flaps.

Step 16: Taping/Stapling the Ball

Carefully tape or staple the last flap corners, making sure the red string ends up in the middle (hole).

At this point, you can tie a piece of charm or decoration to the bottom part of the string in any way you would like.

It’s best to keep the flower ball light.

Wallah! We have a flower ball!

Colloquial Cantonese: 嗰 vs 那

Source: http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/cantonese.htm

Colloquial Jyutping Cantonese		Standard Written Chinese		English
嗰	gó	那	nà néi	That or those

Continuing from my review of the Omniglot Colloquial Cantonese vs Mandarin Phrases sheet, the word, "that" or "those" is next to be reviewed on the list. If you haven’t seen my previous post on 呢 vs. 這, then I encourage you to read that one first since 嗰 vs 那 follows the same concept.

Once again, I will use the following shortcuts:

(CS) = Cantonese Speech (CW) = Cantonese Writing (M) = Mandarin (TM)= Taiwanese Speech or Southern China Mandarin)

Essentially, 嗰 and 那 have the same meaning of “that” which indicates a noun that is observed by the speaker.  In English, we differentiate the words “that” in reference to singular nouns and “those” in reference to plural nouns, but in Chinese, we do not have to change the words. We only quantify the noun to make it clear we are talking about more than one. For example, in the sentence, “Those five computers are heavy.”, we can say in Chinese, “That five [classifier] computers are heavy.” and it would make sense because quantifying the computers by stating that there are five of them already creates a plural meaning. If somebody wanted to talk about a computer, the Chinese would say “one [classifier] of computer...”

As I have mentioned in my 呢 vs. 這 post, the word “that” is usually accompanied by a classifier when mentioning a noun. Refer to this list for a thorough list of Chinese classifiers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_classifiers

Using classifiers can be tricky when switching between Cantonese and Mandarin because certain classifiers are only used mainly for one language or the other. You will have to be aware of it by experience. Since this post is not about classifiers, I will keep the confusion to a minimum by using classifiers that are shared between the Cantonese and Mandarin languages.

Examples:

That knife is sharp.

That [classifier for handful of] knife is sharp.

嗰把刀好利. (CS = go2 baa2 dou1 hou2 lei6)

那把刀很利. (CW = naa5 baa2 dou1 han2 lei6)

那把刀子很利. (M= na4/nei2 ba3 dao1 zi5 hen3 li4)

That man is tall.

That [classifier for individuals] man is tall.

嗰個男人好高. (CS = go2 go3 naam4 jan2 hou2 gou1)

那個男人很高. (CW = naa5 go3 naam4 jan2 han2 gou1)

                        那个男人很高. (M= na4/nei2 ge4 nan2 ren2 hen3 gao1)

Remember to use the general classifier 個/个 when in doubt of which classifier to use.

The Different Meanings of Na – Demystifying 那

While 嗰 has a distinct meaning for the word, “that,” 那 can be confusing even to native speakers of Chinese.

哪 na3 vs 那 na4

Many people confuse 哪 with 那 and I learned that 那 can be used interchangeably to mean 哪 even though it isn't truly correct.

Let’s learn their original meanings:

那 = na4 = that, then

哪 = na3 = which, where, how, what

In both cases, the Cantonese pronunciation is naa5.

One easy way to remember the tone is to practice pointing at an object and use the mighty fourth tone to say “na4!” (that!). For other meanings, use na3 to remind yourself that it is about uncertainty and you need a “mouth” radical for verification (the mouth radical is the extra mouth character 口 on the left side of the word 哪 when compared to 那).

Example 1

Here’s a fun Taiwanese or Southern Chinese Mandarin example that would help you understand it better. We will be having a little fun with the word, 哪裡 meaning “where” and “那裡” meaning  “there.”

我把刀子在哪裡?

 I [handful classifier] knife at where inside?

Where is my knife?

TM: wo3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 na3 li3?

你把刀子在那裡.

You [handful classifier] knife at that inside.

                                Your knife is [over] there.

TM: ni3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 na4 li3.

                               

Note: The term, 那裡 and 那裏 are interchangeable and have the same meaning. You might see one term or the other.

See? All it takes is one character to alter the meaning. Alternatively, we may see the phrase with the character 哪 written as a 那 instead with the meaning of "where, etc.":

你把刀(子)在那裡?

The sentence is also correct as a lot of people write it that way, but technically, it’s incorrect. If a person wrote it that way, it is up to the reader to determine which “na” is the correct one based on context.

In standard Mandarin (Beijing and northern area of China):

我把刀子在哪兒? M: wo3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 nar3?

你把刀子在那兒. M: ni3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 nar4.

In Spoken Cantonese:

我把刀喺邊度呀? CS : ngo5 baa2 dou1 hai2 bin1 dou6 aa3?

你把刀喺嗰度呀. CS : nei5 baa2 dou1 hai2 go2 dou6 aa3.

In Written Cantonese:

我把刀在何處?

                                CW: ngo5 baa2 dou1 zoi6 ho4 cyu3?

你把刀在那裡.

            CW: nei5 baa2 dou1 zoi6 naa5 leoi5.

I’m aware that there are many ways to say and write the word, “where” in Chinese. I just used one of the terms that I am comfortable with.

Example 2

We can also make a sentence with 哪 meaning “which.”

哪把刀子是我的?

Which [handful classifier] knife is mine?

                                Which knife is mine?

M: na3/nei2 ba3 dao1 zi5 shi4 wo3 de5?

那把刀子是你的.

That [handful classifier] knife is yours.

                                That knife is yours.

M: na4/nei2 ba3 dao1 zi5 shi4 ni3 de5.

Alternatively:

哪把刀是我的?

            CW: naa5 baa2 dou1 si6 ngo5 dik1?

那把刀是你的.

            CW: naa5 baa2 dou1 si6 nei5 dik1.

邊把刀係我嘅/㗎?

            CS: bin1 baa2 dou1 hai6 ngo5 ge3/gaa3?

 (㗎= a contraction of 嘅 ge3 +呀 aa3. When speaking, use either 嘅 or 㗎 as a final particle, but not both.)

嗰把刀係你嘅/㗎.

            CS: go2 baa2 dou1 hai6 nei5 ge3/gaa3.

那 na4 vs nei2 Pronunciation

You may have noticed that sometimes na4 is pronounced nei2 and many people do not understand when to use nei2. Thanks to an online user named “Staarkali,” on the wordreference.com forum, I have been enlightened.

From my research, the word nei2 is not to be used directly before a noun, but before a classifier. Therefore, in the previous example 1, you may not write or say:

你把刀子在那裡. TM: ni3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 nei2 li3. (The word, inside 裡, is a noun.)

你把刀子在那兒.  M: ni3 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 nei2 er5. (The word, 那兒, is a noun.)

The nei2 pronunciation is actually a contraction of the phrase “那一” meaning, “that one.”

那一 = (M) na4 yi1  (C) naa5 jat1 = that one

If you say it fast enough, slurring the two words together, you can hear yourself saying something that sounds close to the “nei2” sound. The “nayi” sound becomes “nei.”  Consequently, the 一 character becomes implied. This contraction only applies to the Mandarin language.

Using the previous example once more with 一 being omitted:

那(一)把刀子在那裡. TM: nei2 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 na4 li3.

那(一)把刀子在那兒.  M: nei2 ba3 dao1 zi5 zai4 nar4.

That one [handful classifier] knife is at there.

That one knife is over there.

Note: The pinyin spelling for 那一 is contracted to “nei2.”

呢 nei1 vs 那 nei2

I want to make a final note to my readers to not confuse the two “nei1” sounds.

We learned 呢 ni1/nei1 previously to mean the word for “this” in Cantonese. Since we learned in Mandarin that 那 na3 can become nei2, could the same contraction happen for the Cantonese 呢 ni1? The sound "nei1" also exists for the the character, 呢.

While I do not find any evidence that 呢 nei1 = this one 呢一, I do believe that perhaps nei1 is used as more of a regional pronunciation than for grammar reasons because Cantonese speakers still use the phrase “呢一” exactly the way it is read and written without omitting the “一” part.

Since the pronunciation nei1 is so close to the pinyin pronunciation nei2, I hope everybody does not confuse the two since jyutping nei1 means “this” and pinyin nei2 means “that.” We want to communicate our true meaning at all times. This topic is something that I find myself confused about so that is why I am mentioning it.

So, I hope you enjoyed my second post in the Omniglot Colloquial Cantonese vs Mandarin Phrases series. I will see you next time when we expand on what we already know to learn “here” and “there.” In the meantime, see if you can incorporate the vocabulary you've learned so far in both Cantonese and Mandarin.