Wu Zhongfeng
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wu Zhongfeng, Female, Han, from Dongcheng, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Beijing Mengxiangjiyi (Ⅷ-244). The tradition is documented in Dongcheng, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Beijing Mengxiangjiyi in Dongcheng, Beijing: The settlement of Beijing Mengxiang craftsmen has never left the area north of the city from the late Qing to the present: in and around Andingmen, Waiguan East Street, Wudaoying, the Yonghe Temple area, and Dongzhimen Street. After the technique spread among the common people in the mid-to-late Qing, some craftsmen's descendants returned to their native places and the craft scattered with them beyond the passes; thus, apart from Beijing, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai, it also radiated to groups of apprentices in Hebei and Shanxi. The local transmission lineage in Beijing has reached the fourth generation. Beijing was the political, economic, and cultural center of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and the Mengxiang (Mongolian-style inlay) technique that circulated in the Beijing region has distinctly imperial-craft characteristics. In the late Qing, the craftsmen of the Imperial Workshops (Zaobanchu) and craftsmen of the folk trades were concentrated mainly in the Eastern City, and Mengxiang craftsmen were likewise distributed mainly in and around Andingmen, Waiguan East Street, Wudaoying, the Yonghe Temple area, and Dongzhimen Street. The Beijing Mengxiang technique flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the mid-to-late Qing the technique gradually spread among the common people.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wu Zhongfeng is anchored in the documented technical standards of Beijing Mengxiangjiyi in Dongcheng, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Beijing Mengxiangjiyi in Dongcheng, Beijing: Mengxiang is a traditional special metal craft of Mongolian-Tibetan artistic style, in which pearls, coral, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and other natural gemstones are inlaid in gold and silver objects; in China it is distributed mainly in Beijing and in Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and other regions. For various reasons the descendants of some craftsmen of the trade returned to their native places, and the technique thereby spread to other localities as well. The Beijing Mengxiang craft is based chiefly on plate casting, body hammering, chasing and carving, and torch welding, supplemented by jade inlay, gilt floral-ground work, antiquing, and part of the cold filigree technique; it comprises more than a dozen process steps, including blank forming, chasing and carving, assembling, welding, polishing, gilding, antiquing, and gemstone inlay. Its technical characteristic is to shape and chase forms by exploiting the ductility of metal, as if a fine-line (gongbi) painting were displayed on a metal plate. The craftsmen use entirely traditional tools, including the saddle block, various pry bars, iron hammers, and many kinds of chasing tools (zanzi), numbering several hundred in all. The more common Beijing Mengxiang works include Buddhist statue sculpture, vessels for Buddhist ritual implements, articles for imperial ceremonial and daily use, and later Mengxiang works of gold inlaid with jade. These works have a sturdy and uninhibited modeling; the patterns are mostly auspicious motifs, the chased ornament covers the whole vessel, and natural gemstones are inlaid. The figures are clearly distinct from the traditional metal crafts of the Han people of the Central Plains: the chasing is fine and complex, the forms draw on bronze vessels, and the work is combined with jade culture, giving it a distinctive character. From the ninth year of Shunzhi in the Qing dynasty (1652), the Qing government built a number of large lama temples in Beijing, Chengde, and other areas, providing soil for the transmission and development of the Beijing Mengxiang technique and making the craft truly a royal craft combining Mongolian-Tibetan and Han metal crafts, which then developed to its peak. The Beijing Mengxiang technique is a product of the unity, integration, and common progress of China's many ethnic groups, a representative of ethnic art and court art, and embodies rich historical and cultural information; it has important reference value for the study of religious art, metalworking techniques, and customs and practices. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Records of Process Steps": The Beijing Mengxiang craft is based chiefly on plate casting, body hammering, chasing and carving, and torch welding, supplemented by jade inlay, gilt floral-ground work, antiquing, and part of the cold filigree technique; it comprises more than a dozen process steps, including blank forming, chasing and carving, assembling, welding, polishing, gilding, antiquing, and gemstone inlay.
Archival Records of Process Steps
The Beijing Mengxiang craft is based chiefly on plate casting, body hammering, chasing and carving, and torch welding, supplemented by jade inlay, gilt floral-ground work, antiquing, and part of the cold filigree technique; it comprises more than a dozen process steps, including blank forming, chasing and carving, assembling, welding, polishing, gilding, antiquing, and gemstone inlay.
Core Technique I
Mengxiang is a traditional special metal craft of Mongolian-Tibetan artistic style, in which pearls, coral, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and other natural gemstones are inlaid in gold and silver objects;
Core Technique II
in China it is distributed mainly in Beijing and in Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and other regions.
Core Technique III
For various reasons the descendants of some craftsmen of the trade returned to their native places, and the technique thereby spread to other localities as well.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wu Zhongfeng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Beijing Mengxiangjiyi, with Dongcheng, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Beijing Mengxiangjiyi in Dongcheng, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Dongcheng, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Wuzhong Feng MengXiang Art Pin 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
Historical origin
Beijing was the political, economic, and cultural center of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and the Mengxiang (Mongolian-style inlay) technique that circulated in the Beijing region has distinctly imperial-craft characteristics. In the late Qing, the craftsmen of the Imperial Workshops (Zaobanchu) and craftsmen of the folk trades were concentrated mainly in the Eastern City, and Mengxiang craftsmen were likewise distributed mainly in and around Andingmen, Waiguan East Street, Wudaoying, the Yonghe Temple area, and Dongzhimen Street.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wu Zhongfeng | 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。