Jin Yongcai
01 · Lineage & Regional School
In 1982 he was apprenticed to Li Jiaru, and he is the sixth-generation transmitter of the wutong zouyin (black copper inlaid with silver) making craft. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wutongzouyin Making Craftsmanship in Shiping, Yunnan: The core producing area of wutong zouyin has always been around Yuejiawan, Shiping County, Yunnan. Beyond the Yue family's exclusively operated hereditary lineage, the Shiping County Cultural Center undertakes the public display and transmission of the craft. Jin Yongcai was born in Kunming but learned the technique from Shiping; the Yunnan Wutong Zouyin Cultural Industry Co., Ltd. he founded in 2010, together with the Kunming Wutong Zouyin Craft Hall and the Wutong Zouyin Heritage Hall, extended this branch to the provincial capital. The origin of wutong zouyin (black-copper inlaid with silver) traces back to the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty, when the Yue Yong brothers of Yuejiawan Village, Shiping County, created this method using local copper materials; thereafter it was exclusively transmitted as the family craft of the Yue clan. This craft was early on ranked alongside Beijing cloisonné, and painters and insiders habitually referred to it as one of the "two supreme copper arts under heaven," which also indicates its position in Qing-dynasty metalwork.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, of Han ethnicity, born in September 1953 in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. He is a national representative bearer of Wutong Zouyin Making Craftsmanship, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a senior arts and crafts artist. In forty years of practice he has mastered the procedures, techniques, formulae and proprietary methods of the craft. In 2010 he founded the Yunnan Wutong Zouyin Cultural Industry Co., Ltd. He founded the Kunming Wutong Zouyin Craft Hall and the Wutong Zouyin Training Hall. He serves as a standing director of the China National Arts and Crafts Association and as deputy director of its Metal Art Committee. He has been invited to give lectures and classes at Yale University, the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, the Central Academy of Fine Arts and other well-known universities, and was selected by the China National Arts and Crafts Association as a model figure of the Chinese arts and crafts sector for 2012. Within the documented technical tradition of Wutongzouyin Making Craftsmanship in Shiping, Yunnan: The wutong zouyin-making craft was first created during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty (1723–1735) by the Yue Yong brothers, descendants of the famous anti-Jin general Yue Fei, in Yuejiawan Village, Shiping County, Yunnan Province, and has always been exclusively operated by the Yue family. Historically, wutong zouyin was as famous as Beijing cloisonné, jointly known as the "two supreme copper arts under heaven." Wutong zouyin uses precious metals such as copper and gold as raw materials, which are melted in a certain proportion to make a blank, on which various decorative patterns are carved; then the melted silver (or gold) is led into the fine patterns, and after cooling it is polished smooth; then through a hereditary process the base copper is turned black, revealing the silver (or gold) pattern, producing a decorative effect of clear black-and-white (or black-and-yellow) contrast. Because silver inlay is generally predominant, it is called "black copper inlaid with silver." Its products are mostly daily utensils such as ink boxes, brush pots, wine pots, censers, and vases; ingeniously shaped and finely made, they can be called artistic masterpieces and have collection value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Melting alloy and casting the blank": Copper, gold and silver are melted in fixed proportions and cast into a blank, which is left undecorated as the ground for the next stages. "Chiselling the pattern": A dense pattern is chiselled into the blank; the fineness and depth of each line decide how much silver will later show. "Running the silver into the lines": Molten silver or gold is poured into the chiselled lines and polished after cooling, so the pattern sits inside the metal rather than upon it. "The blackening stage": A hereditary process turns the copper ground black so the silver lines show through, giving the crisp black-and-white effect behind the name.
Melting alloy and casting the blank
Copper, gold and silver are melted in fixed proportions and cast into a blank, which is left undecorated as the ground for the next stages.
Chiselling the pattern
A dense pattern is chiselled into the blank; the fineness and depth of each line decide how much silver will later show.
Running the silver into the lines
Molten silver or gold is poured into the chiselled lines and polished after cooling, so the pattern sits inside the metal rather than upon it.
The blackening stage
A hereditary process turns the copper ground black so the silver lines show through, giving the crisp black-and-white effect behind the name.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2018, Jin Yongcai was announced in the fifth batch of national representative bearers for Wutongzouyin Making Craftsmanship, with Shiping, Yunnan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Wutongzouyin Making Craftsmanship in Shiping, Yunnan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Shiping, Yunnan as its declared area, and Shiping County Cultural 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 origin of wutong zouyin (black-copper inlaid with silver) traces back to the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty, when the Yue Yong brothers of Yuejiawan Village, Shiping County, created this method using local copper materials; thereafter it was exclusively transmitted as the family craft of the Yue clan. This craft was early on ranked alongside Beijing cloisonné, and painters and insiders habitually referred to it as one of the "two supreme copper arts under heaven," which also indicates its position in Qing-dynasty metalwork.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jin Yongcai | Shiping, Yunnan | 05-2880 | 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。