Xue Shengjin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
In 1953 he entered the Pingyao Cultural Scenery Society to learn the craft, and in 1958 he joined the Pingyao Polished Lacquerware Factory, where he studied under the veteran lacquer master Qiao Quanyu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pingyaotuiguangqiqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Pingyao, Shanxi: The Pingyao polished lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique centers on Pingyao County, Shanxi Province; the lacquerware workshops of the Jinzhong and Jinnan areas are mostly connected with it. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Pingyao Polished Lacquerware Factory was established, and veteran artists Qiao Quanyu, Ren Maolin and others performed and taught apprentices, bringing polished lacquerware production into a golden age. The Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Development Center is the project's protecting unit, and products are exported to more than thirty countries. The Pingyao polished lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique originated in Pingyao County in central Shanxi and spread to a wide area of northern China. Lacquerware made with this technique was already widely renowned as early as the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty; during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the rise of the Shanxi merchants, polished lacquerware made considerable progress. In 1989, Pingyao polished lacquerware won the national Golden Cup Award.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Born in August 1937 in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province, he is of Han ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of Pingyao Tuiguang Lacquerware Decoration Craftsmanship, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a technician of Pingyao polished lacquerware decoration and a senior craft artist. In fifty years of practice he has built boldly on tradition. He succeeded in researching and reviving the lost tuiguzhaoqi (raised gesso and coated lacquer) technique, and he has also created a series of Pingyao lacquer techniques, among them san jin san cai (three golds and three colours), san se jin (three-colour gold), dui gu cai hui (raised-gesso polychrome painting), the qinglü jinbi landscape manner, and the li jin (dripped gold), li yin (dripped silver) and li luo (dripped shell) methods. His lacquer paintings Yuyu Qionglou (Jade Mansions), Taishan Chenxi (Morning Glow over Taishan) and Yuyu Qionglou, and his screens Qiongshan Chuxi (First Light on the Jade Mountain), Wanqian Shanlou Zheng Shuse (Towers upon Countless Peaks at Daybreak) and Chunyuan Xiancui (Spring Garden Presenting Greenery), are at once dignified and fluent, and have become fine pieces among Pingyao polished lacquerwares. He has always held that master and apprentice should compare notes on technique, so that teaching and learning advance together. Within the documented technical tradition of Pingyaotuiguangqiqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Pingyao, Shanxi: After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Pingyao Polished Lacquerware Factory was established; veteran artists Qiao Quanyu, Ren Maolin and others performed and taught apprentices, bringing polished lacquerware production into a golden age. Pingyao polished lacquerware thereby became one of China's famous lacquerware varieties, its products were exported to more than thirty countries, and some of its finest pieces were collected by the Great Hall of the People and the National Art Museum of China. The Pingyao polished lacquer technique is a consummate, complete set of techniques; its production process mainly includes the following steps: (1) refining raw lacquer with special formulas, techniques and facilities; (2) refining finishing lacquer from raw lacquer and natural tung oil; (3) covering the wooden body with hemp and hanging ash putty — raw-lacquer ash must be backed with cloth, pig's-blood ash must be covered with hemp, and loess glue requires backing with paper; (4) fashioning the hair-tipped lacquering tools from human hair and ox tails; (5) drying the lacquerware in the shade in a specially built drying room; (6) gold-outline painting and color painting, including such traditional techniques as flat gold on a black ground, raised-drum finishing lacquer, gold tracing, gold covering and eggshell inlay; (7) polishing successively with sandpaper, charcoal, hair, brick ash and sesame oil until the lacquerware gleams like a mirror; and (8) decorating with inlay, carving, gold covering, ash engraving and other techniques. The polished lacquer technique is also widely used for the furnishing and decoration of palaces, temples, halls and scholars' studies, achieving excellent artistic effects. Pingyao polished lacquer artists still alive today include Xue Shengjin, a master of Chinese industrial arts, and his disciples Geng Baoguo, Jia Xinglin and others. Due to the impact of modern chemical lacquer and cashew lacquer, the polished lacquer technique, which uses natural lacquer as its raw material, is shrinking day by day, leading artists to change trades and drift away; product quality has declined somewhat, and the technique is in an endangered state. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The burnishing": Burnishing with a linen charged with refined lacquer polishes the surface to a mirror, and gives the craft its name. "A divided craft": From body-making and cloth backing to lacquering, colour and burnishing, each stage a separate hand and a large piece half a year in the making. "Works in national collections": Its pieces now sell in more than thirty countries, and some are held by the Great Hall of the People and the National Art Museum.
The burnishing
Burnishing with a linen charged with refined lacquer polishes the surface to a mirror, and gives the craft its name.
A divided craft
From body-making and cloth backing to lacquering, colour and burnishing, each stage a separate hand and a large piece half a year in the making.
Works in national collections
Its pieces now sell in more than thirty countries, and some are held by the Great Hall of the People and the National Art Museum.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He leads by example, teaching both in word and in personal demonstration, and has already trained more than one hundred people in various capacities.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The Pingyao polished lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique originated in Pingyao County in central Shanxi and spread to a wide area of northern China. Lacquerware made with this technique was already widely renowned as early as the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty; during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the rise of the Shanxi merchants, polished lacquerware made considerable progress.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xue Shengjin | Pingyao, Shanxi | 03-1324 | This page |
| Liang Zhongxiu | Pingyao, Shanxi | 04-1849 | Same declared area |
| Xue Xiaodong | Pingyao, Shanxi | — | Same declared area |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。