Liang Zhongxiu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Liang Zhongxiu, Male, Han, from Pingyao, Shanxi, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Pingyaoxiantuiguangqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-51). The tradition is documented in Pingyao, Shanxi. 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 November 1955 in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province, he is of Han ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of Pingyao Tuiguangqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a senior arts and crafts artist and a Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. At the age of 18 he entered the painting workshop of the Pingyao Tuiguang Lacquer Factory, where he received systematic training in basic skills under the master Xue Shengjin and devoted himself to studying the two core techniques of gold-traced polychrome painting (miaojin caihui) and drummed relief lacquer coating (duigu zhaoqi). In lacquer painting he did not confine himself to ancient methods but boldly integrated the expressive approaches and personal style of oil painting, gouache and watercolour into lacquer art. He thus gave full play to the decoration techniques of gold-traced polychrome painting and drummed relief coating while creating the new techniques of gold dripping (lijin), silver dripping (liyin) and mother-of-pearl dripping (liluo). His works Yueyang Lou (Yueyang Tower) and Jiangshan Song (Ode to the Rivers and Mountains) won numerous major awards at arts and crafts exhibitions. Since the 1980s he has taken on apprentices and taught them the craft, and his disciples now number more than one hundred. He also serves as a visiting professor at several universities and as an instructor in lacquer art training courses. Within the documented technical tradition of Pingyaotuiguangqiqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Pingyao, Shanxi: 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
In 2012, Liang Zhongxiu was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Pingyaotuiguangqiqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship, with Pingyao, Shanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pingyaotuiguangqiqi Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Pingyao, Shanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Pingyao, Shanxi as its declared area, and Pingyao County Culture He Tourism Development Center 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
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 | Same declared area |
| Liang Zhongxiu | Pingyao, Shanxi | 04-1849 | This page |
| 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。