Li Rongkui

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Li Rongkui, Male, Han, from Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-43). The tradition is documented in Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship in Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei: Jingtailan products are sold throughout the country and around the world, and are widely acclaimed; they also play an important role in promoting local inclusive economic development and international cultural exchange. The technique originated in the Ming dynasty and flourished in the Qing dynasty.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1941 in Beijing. A representative bearer of cloisonne enamel craftsmanship, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a senior technician. He studied cloisonne enamel craftsmanship under Wang Baocheng and, once trained, passed his skills on to nearly one hundred disciples. He has mastered such virtuoso techniques as the upward and downward bending and shaping of inlaid wires, the traditional coiling of decorative patterns, the forming of flowers and birds from a single wire, the forming of the wan character from a single wire, and the dragon-through-clouds and phoenix-through-flowers motifs; he also restored the wire-coiling and enamel-filling techniques of imperial treasures and the secret formula for preparing enamel pigments. His works have novel forms and distinctive patterns, remaining faithful to tradition while innovating boldly, as in the Qingyun Jin Fu Ping (Blue Cloud Brocade-Wrapped Vase) and the Cloisonne Reliquary Pagoda. Over more than fifty years of practice he has developed a distinctive artistic style of his own. He is currently chief craftsman of Jingdong Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd. He took part in compiling the Operating Procedures for Cloisonne Enamel Craftsmanship and the Quality Standards for Each Process of Cloisonne Enamel, and led the compilation of materials such as Cloisonne Enamel Form Design. Within the documented technical tradition of Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship in Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei: The Jingtailan production technique is a traditional craft, born of the combination of imported enamel technique and native metal-enamel craftsmanship, for making special craft products: red copper serves as the body, flattened thin copper wire is affixed to the copper body and pinched into various patterns, the patterns are then filled with colored enamel glazes, and the piece is completed through multiple process steps including firing, polishing, and gilding. Dachang Hui Autonomous County, Langfang City, Hebei Province, is one of the main areas where the Jingtailan production technique is distributed. The county faces Beijing across the Chaobai River, and the influence of its technique has reached deep into Beijing and its surrounding areas. By craft category, Jingtailan can be divided into cloisonné enamel ware on copper (gold, silver) bodies, champlevé enamel ware on engraved metal bodies, enamel ware on hammered metal bodies, painted enamel ware on copper bodies, enamel ware on metal bodies with exposed ground, translucent enamel ware on metal bodies, enamel ware combining multiple techniques on metal bodies, and flat cloisonné enamel paintings on metal bodies. Jingtailan products from Dachang Hui Autonomous County use carefully selected materials, mainly gold, silver, and copper; the handmade craft is fine and complex, passing through six major stages and several dozen process steps. First comes artistic design, including the design of form, patterns, and color drawings. Next is body-making: sheets of red copper are cut into various shapes according to the drawings, hammered into copper bodies of various forms, and welded at high temperature into the finished body shape. Third is wire clipping: flattened thin red copper wire is pinched and bent with tweezers into exquisite patterns, which are then affixed to the copper body, and the copper-wire patterns are soldered onto it. Fourth is enamel filling: various enamel glazes are filled into the gaps between the wires, and the powdered glaze is melted into a smooth, glossy enamel surface, with glazing and firing repeated three or four times. Fifth is polishing: the uneven blue enamel is rubbed flat in three passes with coarse sandstone, yellow stone, and charcoal. Finally comes gilding decoration. The Jingtailan production technique is characterized by complex craft and numerous process steps; even an ordinary Jingtailan vase requires several dozen steps to complete, which is why it is called "court art." Because Dachang lies in the heart of the capital's outskirts, historical Jingtailan craftsmen were concentrated in the area centered on Dachang. On the basis of inheriting tradition, the Dachang Jingtailan production technique has been influenced by local Hui culture, and its product types, vessel shapes, and decorative patterns carry high historical, artistic, and socio-cultural value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "": "Archival Record of Process Steps": The Jingtailan production technique is a traditional craft, born of the combination of imported enamel technique and native metal-enamel craftsmanship, for making special craft products: red copper serves as the body, flattened thin copper wire is affixed to the copper body and pinched into various patterns, the patterns are then filled with colored enamel glazes, and the piece is completed through multiple process steps including firing, polishing, and gilding.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2018, Li Rongkui was announced in the fifth batch of national representative bearers for Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship, with Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship in Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2014 (batch 4), with Dachanghuizuzizhi, Hebei as its declared area, and Dachang Hui Autonomous County Jingdonggongyipin 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. Li Rongkui · National Representative Bearer Archive