Ao Chaozong
01 · Lineage & Regional School
He also received instruction and guidance from his maternal grandfather Hu Youqing and his maternal uncle Hu Yidian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qianxikeloujiyi in Jingzhou, Hubei: The lead-tin carving around Jingzhou is mainly transmitted within the family; the Ao lineage masters the complete process of casting various bronze wares, and the father-son succession of Ao Jiansheng and Ao Chaozong comes from this. Lead and tin can be struck, twisted, and pressed at room temperature, and flat patterns and three-dimensional, hollowed-out shapes can be realized simultaneously on the same mold material, so the cast patterns are almost indistinguishable from excavated ancient vessels. Lead-tin carving is a mold-making craft mastered by artisans in the Jingzhou area along with the transmission of ancient bronze-ware shaping techniques. Its basis is the record of this art being passed down through generations in the Ao family genealogy, a lineage exceeding five generations. This craft does not form objects on its own; rather, it uses lead and tin as mold material to provide pattern mother-molds for cast bronze ware. Therefore its transmission has always been attached to the line of bronze casting, and accordingly it has been busy or idle according to the needs of replicating and restoring excavated artifacts.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1944 in Jingzhou, Hubei Province. He is a national representative bearer of Lead-Tin Engraving Craftsmanship, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Born into a family of bronze makers, he was immersed in the craft from childhood and in 1957 began learning lead-tin engraving from his father, Ao Jiansheng, making various kinds of bronze vessels. He has a thorough command of the entire bronze-making process and of gold- and silver-gilding and gold- and silver-inlay techniques for many metals. Within the documented technical tradition of Qianxikeloujiyi in Jingzhou, Hubei: The lead-tin carving craft is a mold-making technique used by the Ao family of Jingzhou for making and replicating ancient bronze ware. This craft has been passed down through generations in the Ao family, with the genealogy recording more than five generations. The uniqueness of the lead-tin carving craft lies in the refinement of making and replicating the patterns of ancient bronze ware and the fluent naturalness of the patterns; the pattern shapes of bronze ware cast using the lead-tin carving craft are extremely similar to excavated ancient bronze ware. Exploiting the unique properties of lead and tin, and based on design drawings, this craft combines flat patterns with three-dimensional, twisted, and hollowed-out shapes, and combines vessel forms with animal forms, through techniques such as striking, twisting, weaving, pressing, and carving, finally completing a refined model. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Hammering and twisting the pattern": Hammering and twisting turn a flat drawing into a raised form, merging the shape of the vessel with the body of an animal. "Weaving and pressing for openwork": Weaving and pressing open the design, so that relief and openwork coexist on one block and appear together in the cast bronze. "Gilt silver and inlaid gold-silver": Besides the whole casting sequence, the inheritor masters gilding and gold-silver inlay on several metals, adding a bright surface to the cast vessel. "Box inlaid with cloud pattern": One of the inheritor's representative works, finely made with flowing ornament, it won a silver award at the first national intangible heritage exposition.
Hammering and twisting the pattern
Hammering and twisting turn a flat drawing into a raised form, merging the shape of the vessel with the body of an animal.
Weaving and pressing for openwork
Weaving and pressing open the design, so that relief and openwork coexist on one block and appear together in the cast bronze.
Gilt silver and inlaid gold-silver
Besides the whole casting sequence, the inheritor masters gilding and gold-silver inlay on several metals, adding a bright surface to the cast vessel.
Box inlaid with cloud pattern
One of the inheritor's representative works, finely made with flowing ornament, it won a silver award at the first national intangible heritage exposition.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
Representative works include a hunting hu vessel, a box inlaid with cloud patterns, a gourd-shaped hu and a bronze basin with dragon design; the cloud-pattern inlaid box won the silver prize at the First China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo held by the Ministry of Culture.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Lead-tin carving is a mold-making craft mastered by artisans in the Jingzhou area along with the transmission of ancient bronze-ware shaping techniques. Its basis is the record of this art being passed down through generations in the Ao family genealogy, a lineage exceeding five generations. This craft does not form objects on its own; rather, it uses lead and tin as mold material to provide pattern mother-molds for cast bronze ware. Therefore its transmission has always been attached to the line of bronze casting, and accordingly it has been busy or idle according to the needs of replicating and restoring excavated artifacts.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ao Chaozong | Jingzhou, Hubei | 04-1924 | This page |
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。