The Use of Candles in China
Although candle making was developed independently in many countries through history, according to several historical accounts the very first candle was made in China from whale fat during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). The National Candle Association describes early Chinese candles molded in paper tubes, with rolled rice paper for the wick and wax taken from an indigenous insect combined with seeds.
Candles in Chinese History
Candles made of whale fat were reportedly found in the mausoleum of the first emperor of the Chinese Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), which was rediscovered in the 1990s, twenty-two miles east of Xi'an. Some of the excavated bronze figures had been painted with candles nearby.
Throughout the history of the Chinese dynasties there are many records and objects tied to candle use. Among the gifts the Emperors of the Han Dynasty (25-220) often received were candles, and excavated objects from that era, such as candle-holders, back up the written record. This is one of the earliest chapters in the broader history of candles anywhere in the world.
The Northern and Southern Dynasties period, which began in 386 and ended in 589, brought China 203 years of division and war, but it was also the time when candle use spread among ordinary Chinese people.
Candles During the Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (618-907) is regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization, equal or even superior to the Han era. This is also the period with the most numerous records of candle making and use.
During the Sung Dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1279, candles were used as a means of measuring the passage of time. Their candle clocks could not tell the exact time, but marks cut into the wax let a household know when roughly an hour had passed: once a burning candle melted down to the one-hour mark, the hour was gone. Sometimes sticks of incense with varying scents did the same job, so that the hours were marked by a change in fragrance.
By the Ming and Qing dynasties, candle use had spread so widely that candles reached almost every Chinese house.
Candles from China
Today candles remain popular in China, particularly during the holiday seasons. The most important of all traditional Chinese holidays is Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival. On the final, fifteenth day of Spring Festival, candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. That day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the streets carrying lighted lanterns. Candles in lampion form also appear during the Mooncake Lampion Festival, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. And candles are an age-old part of Buddhist ritual: together with incense and flowers, they are placed before shrines, statues, and images of the Buddha as a mark of respect.
What Chinese Candle Traditions Look Like in Los Angeles Today
The candle-and-incense pairing at the heart of Buddhist ritual hasn't gone anywhere. It's alive on our shelves. At Candle Delirium in West Hollywood we have carried both formats side by side since 2003: sandalwood is the classic ritual material, and P.F. Candle Co.'s Sandalwood Rose incense ($11 for a pack of hand-dipped sticks) is what our team hands people first, and it's the cheapest way into the tradition. On the candle side, Trudon's Spiritus Sancti ($140) builds an entire luxury candle around the smell of ritual incense itself.
Color carries meaning in these traditions too. In Chinese tradition red is tied to luck, prosperity, and celebration, which is why red candles appear at weddings and New Year altars. If that thread interests you, our guide to candle color meanings follows it across cultures. Every January, Darren fields the same happy question at the counter from shoppers prepping Lunar New Year dinners: something festive, something red, something that smells like celebration. The traditions this post describes aren't museum pieces. People still shop them, and we're happy to point the way.
Reviewed and updated August 12, 2026.
