Batutaogao
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Batutaogao, Male, Mongolian, from Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi (Ⅷ-196). The tradition is documented in Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi in Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia: Within the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region it is mainly distributed in the former, middle, and rear Urad banners of Bayannur City, with the core transmission area being the Middle Urad Banner. Middle Urad Banner lies in the northeast of Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia, on a plateau with vast territory and developed transport; its favorable geographic environment aids the dissemination of the Urad copper-and-silver ware craft. Its products are mainly divided into two categories—ornaments and daily-use articles. The ornaments include women's headpieces and bracelets; the daily-use category includes Mongolian knives, silver bowls, drinking vessels, and horse gear. The range of products is very broad and is closely bound up with the life and production of the Mongolian people. In the mid-17th century, the Urad tribe migrated west to the area north and south of the Yinshan Mountains; after more than 300 years of evolution, this craft gradually matured into a copper-and-silver ware processing skill with the tribe's own characteristics, and has been passed down to the present through master–apprentice transmission. This craft began in the late Ming and early Qing. Only after the mid-17th-century westward migration of the Urad tribe to the area north and south of the Yinshan Mountains, and a further 300-plus years of evolution, was the tribe's original metalworking tradition honed into a copper-and-silver ware craft peculiar to the clan, which has endured to this day through oral transmission between masters and apprentices.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Batutaogao is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi in Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the documented technical tradition of Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi in Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia: The Urad copper-and-silver ware craft is a type of copper-and-silver ware making, mainly distributed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and other places. The Urad tribe is a branch of the Mongol tribes; the Chinese meaning of "Urad" is "skilled craftsman." The Urad copper-and-silver ware craft uses precious metals such as copper and silver as raw materials and employs hand-making methods. The craft's procedures are divided into steps such as melting the silver, casting the rough blank, hammering sheets, drawing wire, stamping to shape, mounting on the pitch block, chasing and engraving, soldering, grinding and polishing, and applying the enamel (shangcui dianlan). The making tools include an anvil, axe, hammer, pliers, wire-drawing machine, hazha, lazha, bellows or leather-bag blower, heri-sa (smelting furnace), multi-wick oil lamp, solder, crucible, alum, molds, and charcoal for working. These objects are generous and honest in bearing yet exquisite and fine in detail, emphasizing balance, symmetry, and unity, and possessing a distinct ethnic style. The Urad copper-and-silver ware craft arose in the late Ming and early Qing. The Urad copper-and-silver ware craft is an important part of Urad culture and harbors a rich Mongolian cultural content. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Documented Process Records": The craft's procedures are divided into steps such as melting the silver, casting the rough blank, hammering sheets, drawing wire, stamping to shape, mounting on the pitch block, chasing, soldering, grinding and polishing, and applying the enamel. "Beating leaves, drawing wire": Molten silver is cast as a blank, then beaten into leaves and strips and drawn into wire with the drawing machine, hacha and laza tools. "Stamping and mounting on a glued die": The shaped silver leaf is mounted on a glued die to fix the wall thickness and curvature of bowls and drinking vessels. "Chiselling the ornament": The ornament is chiselled into the shaped surface without biting too deep, so pattern and vessel read as one piece.
Documented Process Records
The craft's procedures are divided into steps such as melting the silver, casting the rough blank, hammering sheets, drawing wire, stamping to shape, mounting on the pitch block, chasing, soldering, grinding and polishing, and applying the enamel.
Beating leaves, drawing wire
Molten silver is cast as a blank, then beaten into leaves and strips and drawn into wire with the drawing machine, hacha and laza tools.
Stamping and mounting on a glued die
The shaped silver leaf is mounted on a glued die to fix the wall thickness and curvature of bowls and drinking vessels.
Chiselling the ornament
The ornament is chiselled into the shaped surface without biting too deep, so pattern and vessel read as one piece.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Batutaogao was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi, with Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi in Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Bayannaoershiwulatezhongqi, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Wulatezhong Banner 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
In the mid-17th century, the Urad tribe migrated west to the area north and south of the Yinshan Mountains; after more than 300 years of evolution, this craft gradually matured into a copper-and-silver ware processing skill with the tribe's own characteristics, and has been passed down to the present through master–apprentice transmission. This craft began in the late Ming and early Qing. Only after the mid-17th-century westward migration of the Urad tribe to the area north and south of the Yinshan Mountains, and a further 300-plus years of evolution, was the tribe's original metalworking tradition honed into a copper-and-silver ware craft peculiar to the clan, which has endured to this day through oral transmission between masters and apprentices.
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
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。