The Changxin Palace Lamp, also known as the Bronze Gilt Human-Shaped Lamp, is representative of this during this period.The West Han lamp is 48 cm high, and weighs 15.85 kg, and was unearthed at Mancheng City, Hebei Province. The whole object is in the shape of a kneeling lady-in-waiting, who holds the lamp base with her left hand and touches the top of the lamp with her right hand. Six parts of the object could be disassembled - her head, body, right arm, the lamp base, the lamp tray, and the lamp cover. The lamp cover consists of two movable arched pieces, through which the brightness and the direction of light could be adjusted. Sixty-five Chinese characters are engraved on the lamp, recording its owner.

 Many oil lamps are in human shape. The figure holding the lamp always appears in a subservient pose , reflecting the owner's high status.

The celadon (a type of pale green glaze pottery) technique developed rapidly in Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties (265-581) and celadon oil lamps replaced bronze lamps. New lamp shapes emerged as the technique improved: bears, oxen and lions are all popular shapes of unearthed lamps. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907), all kinds of new materials have been used in lamp making, including copper, iron, tin, silver, jade, wood, and glass.  During the Song Dynasty (960-1279) pottery lamps were most common, while in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), metal lamps were used by common people.

It is not difficult to discern the scientific and aesthetic development in the evolution of oil lamps. In the Han Dynasty, pipes were used to channel away smoke while in the Tang Dynasty, oil-saving lamps were invented. Designed using mechanical theory, lamps that could be both put on the table and hung on the wall emerged in Ming Dynasty.Human figures were common in the Warring States period and animal figures were popular in the later Han Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, blue-and-white and famille rose painting techniques began to feature in lamp designs.

Oil lamps can be categorized into two varieties: for imperial court use and common use. Court lamps usually had an emphasis on elegant and elaborate designs, while the common use ones excelled in practicability and creativity. Finger lamps were worn on the fingers of left hand to leave the right hand free for work; portable lamps could be folded for travel ; anti-mouse lamps designed so mice couldn't touch the oil; and everlasting lamps holding a large amount of oil.

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