Wan Zi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1979 she entered the Beijing Gold Lacquer Inlay Factory, where she studied under Liu Xiheng, fourth-generation inheritor of the Qing imperial workshops, and comprehensively mastered the lacquer decoration techniques of gold lacquer inlay. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jinqixiangqian Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Beijing: The old foundation of Beijing lacquerwork is the official workshops: the Yuan dynasty set up the Paint Bureau, the Ming dynasty had the Guoyuanchang carved-lacquer workshop, and the Qing palace's Imperial Workshop gathered a large group of skilled artisans; today's gold-lacquer inlay, in craft techniques and artistic style, largely took over directly from the Ming and Qing court set. Now these jobs are scattered among several lacquerware enterprises and studios, producing objects from boxes, trays, and screens to plaques and wall decorations; inlaying mother-of-pearl, jade, and bone-horn each requires different manual work. Beijing is an important lacquerware-producing region in China's history; the rise of official handicraft workshops such as the Yuan-dynasty Paint Bureau, the Ming-dynasty Guoyuanchang carved-lacquer workshop, and the Qing palace's Imperial Workshop laid the foundation for the development of Beijing lacquerware. Today, Beijing gold-lacquer inlay has, in many aspects from craft techniques to artistic style, directly inherited and developed the lacquerware art of the Ming and Qing imperial courts.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in October 1959, a native of Beijing. She is a national representative bearer of Gold Lacquer Inlay Decoration Techniques, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She is a master of Chinese arts and crafts. She is especially skilled in the design and production of painted, carved-and-filled and inlaid work, and she has innovated the technique of pale-coloured painting on gold lacquer. She directed the design and supervision of more than three hundred works in the project to reproduce classic lacquerware of successive dynasties, rescuing techniques and product types on the verge of extinction. Her representative works include the finely inlaid screen Ode to Chrysanthemum in Dewy Autumn (Lu Qiu Yong Ju) from Dream of the Red Chamber, the large three-dimensional inlaid Nine-Dragon Wall, and the finely inlaid screen Fragrance of Flowers and Congealed Greenery (Hua Xiang Ning Cui). Within the documented technical tradition of Jinqixiangqian Lacquer Decoration Craftsmanship in Beijing: Gold-lacquer inlay is an important category of traditional Chinese lacquerware craft, with a history of over seven thousand years. Beijing gold-lacquer inlay decoration encompasses numerous techniques, broad themes, and richly varied artistic expressions. Among these, inlaid products have clear layers and are delicate and translucent; painted products are brightly colored, brilliant as fine brocade; carved-and-filled products have fluent lines and a magnificent bearing; incised-gray products bear sharp knife edges and vivid spirit; crackled-pattern products are archaic and elegant, refined and graceful; tiger-skin lacquer products are resplendent in varied colors, close to nature. By use, Beijing gold-lacquer inlay products include vessels, furniture, screens, plaques, and wall decorations. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since the reform and opening up, Beijing gold-lacquer inlay has made considerable progress, but there are also causes for concern. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Preparing the base": Wood, cloth or coiled bases are made flat and true before any lacquer goes on. "Lacquering": Raw lacquer is laid in layers, each dried and ground, building the depth of the surface. "Hundred-treasure inlay": Stones, shell and coral are set into the lacquer in clearly layered, intricate relief. "Engraved and filled carving": Patterns are carved and filled with colour, the technique paired with revived crackle work.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

She teaches apprentices at the institution protecting the project and at universities and vocational schools, and takes an active part in promotional and exhibition activities related to the project. She has received the gold award of the Hundred Flowers Cup China Arts and Crafts Fine Works Prize and the Chinese National Art Treasure Award, both presented by the China Arts and Crafts Association.

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. Wan Zi · National Representative Bearer Archive