Cao Yunjian

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Cao Yunjian, Male, Han, from Linfen, Shanxi, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Furniture Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-45). The tradition is documented in Linfen, Shanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Furniture Making Craftsmanship in Linfen, Shanxi: Jinzuo furniture uses high-quality local softwoods such as walnut, elm, and catalpa, and applies the techniques of hardwood furniture making; the resulting pieces have flowing lines and a solid, unadorned quality, and are known in the trade as "the softwood huanghuali"—a key characteristic of Jinzuo furniture. Together with the Jingzuo (Beijing), Guangzuo (Guangdong), Suzuo (Suzhou), and Ningzuo (Ningbo) schools, Jinzuo is one of the five great schools of Ming and Qing furniture, and to this day furniture workshops in the Shanxi area still operate according to the old rules. Shanxi Tangrenju Classical Home Culture Co., Ltd. is the project's protecting institution. The Jinzuo furniture making technique originated in the Qin and Han dynasties, gradually matured during the Song and Yuan dynasties, reached its peak in the mid-Ming dynasty, and continued until the end of the Qing dynasty. In the mid-to-late Ming dynasty, as hardwood materials became increasingly scarce, Jinzuo furniture rose in their place by using local softwood, becoming a remarkable anomaly in the world of furniture making.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1972 in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province. A national representative bearer of the Furniture Making Craftsmanship (Jinzuo furniture making technique), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a Jinzuo furniture making technician. From the age of fifteen he learned classical furniture making from his father and collected widely the various fine pieces of Ming and Qing date that circulated among the people. At twenty-seven he took the Jinzuo carpenter Zheng Xiaolong as his master, and later studied under the Jinzuo lacquerer and painter Wang Zhiquan, learning and systematically organizing the Jinzuo furniture making technique. Through years of research and practice he has summed up the key points of mortise-and-tenon construction in Jinzuo furniture making and such traditional virtuoso techniques as crackle patterning, gold tracing and polychrome painting, and has applied them in the development of furniture products. To transmit the craft more effectively he established a research institute for the Jinzuo furniture making technique and trained a number of key personnel in carpentry, lacquering and painting, exploring and studying Jinzuo furniture techniques by pairing experienced masters with newcomers. Within the documented technical tradition of Furniture Making Craftsmanship in Linfen, Shanxi: Jinzuo furniture is a typical representative of Chinese classical furniture. Jinzuo furniture uses high-quality local softwoods such as walnut, elm, and catalpa, and applies the techniques of hardwood furniture making; the resulting pieces have flowing lines and a solid, unadorned quality, and are known in the trade as "the softwood huanghuali" (yellow rosewood). Its natural-finish furniture must pass through process steps such as boiling, soaking, baking, sanding, lacquering, and burnishing. Its lacquer (daqi) furniture must go through complex process stages such as applying hemp cloth, applying putty, lacquering, gold outlining, and painted decoration. Signature techniques include "tortoise-crackle broken-pattern lacquer," "bamboo-wood-rattan three-timber structure," and "five-color with gold outlining." The Jinzuo furniture making technique is transmitted mainly within families, and has gradually developed into a distinctive local traditional craft. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "": "Archival Record of Process Steps": Its natural-finish furniture must pass through process steps such as boiling, soaking, baking, sanding, lacquering, and burnishing.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2012, Cao Yunjian was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Furniture Making Craftsmanship, with Linfen, Shanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Furniture Making Craftsmanship in Linfen, Shanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Linfen, Shanxi as its declared area, and Shanxi Tangrenjugudianjiaju Culture Co., Ltd. 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. Cao Yunjian · National Representative Bearer Archive