Huashulin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Huashulin, Male, Han, from Dongcheng, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Beijing Juanren (Ⅶ-70). The tradition is documented in Dongcheng, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Beijing Juanren in Dongcheng, Beijing: Beijing silk figurines are transmitted mainly in the Donghuashi area of Dongcheng District, historically sustained through the method of masters taking on apprentices. The artisans exploit the softness, delicacy, and high extensibility of silk gauze, passing through more than a dozen process steps such as sculpture, applied gilt and colored painting, garment cutting, sewing, props and backgrounds, and assembly, together with multiple workflows including head pasting, head painting, head combing, hand making, body shaping, and the making of costume and headdress, to produce lifelike three-dimensional human figures; the works bring together several soft-transformation skills of silk modeling — silk figurines, silk flowers, silk fans, palace lanterns, and the like — in one piece, giving them a strong traditional style and ethnic character. The earliest silk-figurine artifact discovered to date is a work from the Zhenguan era of the Tang dynasty, giving the craft a history of more than 1,000 years. By the Song dynasty, the silk-figurine technique had already begun to take shape on a considerable scale. By the Qing dynasty, silk figurines were essentially already in the form we see today.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Huashulin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Beijing Juanren in Dongcheng, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Beijing Juanren in Dongcheng, Beijing: Beijing silk figurines are a traditional art of shaping human figures in silk that circulates in the Beijing area, with a history of over one thousand years. Silk figurines were once widely circulated throughout North China, and northern China still preserves today the custom of displaying silk-and-paper figurines of various forms in the colored lanterns of the Lantern Festival. Beijing silk figurines take their subjects from folk tales of successive Chinese dynasties — court ladies, theatrical characters, and ethnic dances — and use silk as their material, handcrafted into three-dimensional artistic human figures. From head to foot and inside out, top-grade silk gauze is used throughout, hence the name “silk figurine” (juanren). Taking advantage of the softness, delicacy, and high extensibility of silk gauze, the artisans pass through more than a dozen finely executed process steps — sculpture, applied gilt and colored painting, garment cutting, sewing, props and backgrounds, and assembly — together with multiple workflows including head pasting, head painting, head combing, hand making, body shaping, and the making of costume and headdress, producing lifelike three-dimensional human figures. Beijing silk figurines are exquisitely made with delicate, refined workmanship; in a single work, several soft-transformation skills of silk modeling are brought together — silk figurines, silk flowers, silk fans, palace lanterns, and the like — giving the pieces a rich traditional style and ethnic character. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, incessant warfare caused the silk-figurine trade to decline day by day, nearly to the point of extinction. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ge Jing'an, a Beijing master of arts and crafts, consulted the historical records of successive dynasties and restored the silk-figurine craft, enabling this traditional project to continue to be transmitted; it has now reached the third generation. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Record of the Process Steps": Taking advantage of the softness, delicacy, and high extensibility of silk gauze, the artisans pass through more than a dozen finely executed process steps — sculpture, applied gilt and colored painting, garment cutting, sewing, props and backgrounds, and assembly — together with multiple workflows including head pasting, head painting, head combing, hand making, body shaping, and the making of costume and headdress, producing lifelike three-dimensional human figures. "The dozen-odd stages of a silk figure": Built entirely from fine silk from head to foot, a figure passes through sculpting, gilded painting, cutting, sewing, prop making and final assembly. "Head pasting, painting, hairdressing, hand making and body shaping": The specialised stages handling head and limbs: pasting, painting and hairdressing set the face, while hand making and body shaping fix pose and proportion. "The Tang silk figure from the Zhenguan era": The earliest surviving silk figure dates from the Zhenguan era over a thousand years ago; by the Song the craft was established and by the Qing it looked as it does today.
Archival Record of the Process Steps
Taking advantage of the softness, delicacy, and high extensibility of silk gauze, the artisans pass through more than a dozen finely executed process steps — sculpture, applied gilt and colored painting, garment cutting, sewing, props and backgrounds, and assembly — together with multiple workflows including head pasting, head painting, head combing, hand making, body shaping, and the making of costume and headdress, producing lifelike three-dimensional human figures.
The dozen-odd stages of a silk figure
Built entirely from fine silk from head to foot, a figure passes through sculpting, gilded painting, cutting, sewing, prop making and final assembly.
Head pasting, painting, hairdressing, hand making and body shaping
The specialised stages handling head and limbs: pasting, painting and hairdressing set the face, while hand making and body shaping fix pose and proportion.
The Tang silk figure from the Zhenguan era
The earliest surviving silk figure dates from the Zhenguan era over a thousand years ago; by the Song the craft was established and by the Qing it looked as it does today.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Huashulin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Beijing Juanren, with Dongcheng, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Beijing Juanren in Dongcheng, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Dongcheng, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Dongcheng District Dong HuaShiJieDao Citizen Activity 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 earliest silk-figurine artifact discovered to date is a work from the Zhenguan era of the Tang dynasty, giving the craft a history of more than 1,000 years. By the Song dynasty, the silk-figurine technique had already begun to take shape on a considerable scale.
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 Tieling | Chongwen, Beijing | 03-1291 | Other regional school |
| Huashulin | Dongcheng, Beijing | — | 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。