Original Mandarin story series
The Lantern That Knew the Way
会认路的灯
The Lantern That Knew the Way (会认路的灯, Huì rèn lù de dēng) is a SayMei Original, written in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 3 (Intermediate).
An original three-chapter Mandarin listening fairy tale: Bai Lu follows her late mother’s lantern toward a lost workshop and wonders what its light is asking of her.
Meet the voices
- Bai Lu · 白露 — A lantern maker who misses her late mother and worries that their craft may disappear with the old workshop.
- Chen Bo · 陈伯 — An older neighbor and lantern maker who knew Bai Lu’s mother. He remembers the old workshop in ways Bai Lu does not.
- Chen Qing · 陈晴 — Chen Bo’s adult daughter, called A Qing. She remembers the old workshop from a different time in her life.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: Light Against the Wall
照着墙的光
A lantern from her mother leads Bai Lu through familiar streets toward a workshop she may no longer know.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The Pattern Box
装着图样的盒子
Beyond the brick wall, Bai Lu finds a clue her mother left behind. The lantern’s light changes when she hesitates.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 3: A Light to Pass On
传下去的光
Bai Lu must decide what to do with what remains of her mother’s craft—and who might carry it forward.
SayMei Stories
Key words in The Lantern That Knew the Way
Behind the story
An original SayMei fairy tale about a lantern maker and a craft that is handed down.
Paper lanterns fill Chinese streets for the Lantern Festival (元宵节), on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which ends the New Year holiday. Many lantern-making traditions are protected as intangible cultural heritage.
Did you know?
- 传 (chuán) means to pass on. 传下去 is “hand it down,” and 传承 (chuánchéng) is passing a craft from one generation to the next.
- At the Lantern Festival, people solve riddles written on lanterns (猜灯谜) and eat sweet rice balls (汤圆).
- A traditional lantern is a bamboo frame covered in paper or silk.