Leigushari

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He began learning the craft at the age of twelve and received the true transmission of it from his father, Legu Lan'niu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yinshi Making Craftsmanship in Butuo, Sichuan: Many ethnic minorities in China have the custom of wearing ornaments, among which the Miao and the Yi are the most prominent; they are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, and other provinces. The Yi are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, and other provinces, and their silver ornaments are also quite rich in variety, including phoenix crowns, rings, ear pendants and earrings, neck rings, silver bracelets, silver chains, and silver buttons. Butuo Yi silver ornaments can be classified by use into drinking vessels, tableware, jewelry, and other categories. The Tang-dynasty poet Liu Yuxi, after being banished to a post in western Hunan, once wrote a poem describing the Miao people wearing "silver bracelets and gold hairpins." Hong Mai of the Song dynasty, in his Rongzhai Suibi, recorded that Miao ornaments were made of silver and tin and were more than one chi in length. The Ming-dynasty text Qian Ji states that the Miao of Guizhou "wore silver rings in their ears, called malang (horse youths), removing them upon marriage," while in Liping "the wealthy wore gold and silver earrings, as many as five or six, like linked rings."

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Yi ethnicity, born in June 1956 in Butuo County, Sichuan Province. A national representative bearer of the Yinshi Making Craftsmanship (Yi silver ornament making technique), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He joined the army at the age of twenty-two. In 1981 he formally took up the hand-making of Yi silver ornaments as his livelihood. He excels in the purely hand-made production of Yi silver wine vessels, tableware and costume ornaments; his pieces retain traditional Yi cultural symbols and are exquisite and distinctive, and are highly esteemed. He has more than thirty disciples, among whom Legu Eri, Legu Yongri and Legu Turi have achieved notable mastery. Within the documented technical tradition of Yinshi Making Craftsmanship in Butuo, Sichuan: The Miao people have a long history of making and wearing ornaments. Miao silver ornaments come in many varieties, including neck rings, silver bracelets, silver crowns, silver flowers, silver waist chains, silver bells, silver earrings and ear pendants, silver collar plates and capes, and silver rings and buttons. Yi people's buttoned jackets commonly use rows of silver buttons, the most famous being the silver tiger jacket button. Shaped like a tiger, it symbolizes dignity, solemnity, good fortune, and happiness. Whenever a daughter marries, her mother sews silver buttons onto her wedding dress to pray that everything goes well for her. As social life has changed, the dress and customs of some ethnic minorities have gradually modernized, and their original cultural characteristics are being lost. Therefore, protecting and inheriting the silver ornament making craftsmanship of ethnic minorities is of significance that cannot be underestimated for revitalizing ethnic culture and sustaining the ethnic spirit. Butuo County in Sichuan Province has long been known as the hometown of Yi silver ornaments. Drinking vessels include silver cups and silver wine pots; tableware includes silver bowls, silver chopsticks, and silver plates. Silver jewelry comes in a great variety, including earrings, bracelets, buttons, rings, chest pendants, collar ornaments, ear chains, ear pendants, and headdresses. These silver ornaments are made using a variety of techniques such as chasing, openwork, inlaying, and suspension, in diverse forms and shapes. The Yi people of Butuo have loved silver ornaments since ancient times. The silver jewelry they make is noble and elegant, achieving a perfect combination of dress, silver ornament, and the human body. Protecting and utilizing the folk craftsmanship of Butuo Yi silver ornaments is of great significance for promoting ethnic culture, adjusting the industrial structure of ethnic minority regions, and advancing all-around local social and economic progress. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Chiselling the pattern": Chiselling is the hardest step in Butuo silver work, the line being driven freehand and the depth judged by the wrist. "Piercing openwork": Openwork is used on thin plaques and chest pendants: positions are marked first, then cut from behind, and the spacing decides how light the piece feels. "Inlay and hanging work": Inlay and hanging work finish a piece; the balance of inlay and dangling chains has to hold while the wearer moves. "Chiselling the tiger-shaped coat button": The tiger-shaped button is the best-known fastener of the Yi coat; a mother pins it to her daughter's wedding robe, which gives the chaser's work a ceremonial weight.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2007 he took part in the Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage and received the Silver Award for Yi silver ornament hand-making conferred by the organizers.

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. Leigushari · National Representative Bearer Archive