Bi Liufu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Bi Liufu, Male, Unspecified, from Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Umbrella Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-140). The tradition is documented in Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Umbrella Making Craftsmanship in Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan: The oil-paper umbrellas of the Fenshui area of Luzhou use tung oil, nan bamboo, water bamboo, rock-paulownia wood, and bark paper as materials. More than ninety process steps run from sawing the supports, threading and binding, and edging the mesh all the way to pasting paper, tying, oiling, and hoop-firing—not a single step may be skipped before the umbrella leaves the factory. The finished umbrella can endure being opened and closed more than three thousand times without breaking, and soaking in clear water for twenty-four hours without the ribs coming loose. The 'Luxian County Annals' record that this craft began in the late Ming and early Qing, more than four hundred years ago. Bi Liufu was born into the Bi family of umbrella makers at the Fenshui Umbrella Factory, and by the age of ten could independently complete all seventy-two process steps. In ancient times, umbrella canopies were all made of silk. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the rulers and officials of the Northern Wei had already adopted canopy covers made of gauze and silk for their outings; the size and color of the silk umbrellas used varied according to the rank of the bearer. After Cai Lun of the Eastern Han succeeded in papermaking, umbrella canopies gradually changed from silk to paper, and by the Song dynasty oil-paper umbrellas appeared. According to the records of the 'Luxian County Annals', the Fenshui oil-paper umbrella of Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, originated in the late Ming and early Qing and has a history of more than four hundred years to this day.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in September 1957 in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, he is of Han ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of Umbrella Making Craftsmanship (Oil-Paper Umbrella Making Craftsmanship), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. The Bi family is a long-established household of oil-paper umbrella makers. From childhood he learned oil-paper umbrella making from his father, Bi Linze. By the age of ten he could complete on his own all seventy-two steps of oil-paper umbrella making. In 1980 he became a production workshop team leader at the Fenshui Umbrella Factory and was sent to the Dongshan Machinery Factory in Wuhan to study the manufacture of steel-ribbed cloth umbrellas. In 1993 he led the design and production of the King of Chinese Oil-Paper Umbrellas, which stood 8 metres high, had a canopy 12 metres in diameter and weighed 500 kilograms. In his practice to date he has fully mastered every step of oil-paper umbrella making and is especially adept at boiling tung oil. His representative works include oil-paper umbrellas made with handmade paper and the eight-sided plum-blossom umbrella. Within the documented technical tradition of Umbrella Making Craftsmanship in Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan: The umbrella is a tool used in daily life for shading from the sun or sheltering from the rain. It can be opened and folded, and is easy to carry. China's umbrella-making craft has a long history. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Wang, the wife of Lu Ban—the renowned craftsman of the State of Lu—split bamboo into fine strips, covered them with animal hide, and made a device that opened like a canopy and closed like a stick; this was the earliest umbrella. In ancient times the umbrella was also called 'gai' (canopy), 'huagai' (ornamental canopy), and 'sangai' (umbrella canopy), among other names. During the Western Jin, when emperors and high officials went on inspection tours, attendants often followed holding umbrellas, which thus became part of the ceremonial guard. China's oil-paper umbrellas are produced in Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guizhou, and other places, and they were a daily necessity of working people. Today, because of the widespread popularity of folding nylon-silk umbrellas, the traditional oil-paper umbrella and silk umbrella have quietly receded from people's lives, and the related craftsmanship has gradually faded into obscurity. The Fenshui Umbrella Factory is the inheritor of Luzhou's oil-paper umbrella craft; the tung-oil paper umbrellas it produces by traditional handcraft still display the unique value of the ancient technique to this day. The Fenshui oil-paper umbrella selects its materials with great care, applies thick coats of oil, and is painted with elegant and beautiful designs, manifesting the artistic character of folk tradition. The Fenshui oil-paper umbrella is made from locally abundant Luzhou materials such as tung oil, nan bamboo, water bamboo, rock-paulownia wood, and bark paper. The umbrella body is light and beautiful, and the canopy combines poetry and painting, possessing a rich local flavor; it is a common item in folk wedding celebrations and primitive religious activities. The craft of Luzhou oil-paper umbrellas is complex in its process; a single oil-paper umbrella must go through more than ninety process steps—such as sawing the supports, threading and binding, edging the mesh, pasting the paper, tying, oiling, and hoop-firing—before it is finally completed, and not one step can be omitted. The finished product is of excellent quality: it can be opened and closed more than three thousand times without breaking, soaked in clear water for 24 hours without the ribs coming loose, and walked with against force-five winds without losing its shape. The Luzhou Fenshui oil-paper umbrella is deeply favored by users and folk collectors. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Record of Process Steps": The craft of Luzhou oil-paper umbrellas is complex in its process; a single oil-paper umbrella must go through more than ninety process steps—such as sawing the supports, threading and binding, edging the mesh, pasting the paper, tying, oiling, and hoop-firing—before it is finally completed, and not one step can be omitted.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2009, Bi Liufu was announced in the third batch of national representative bearers for Umbrella Making Craftsmanship, with Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Umbrella Making Craftsmanship in Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Luzhoushijiangyang, Sichuan as its declared area, and Luzhou Jiangyang District Fenshuisan Factory as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

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.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Bi Liufu · National Representative Bearer Archive