Li Guowei
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Li Guowei, Male, Han, from Yunnan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-263). The tradition is documented in Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship in Yunnan: The Yunnan Go stone craft is mainly practised in Longyang District of Baoshan and Guandu District of Kunming, each of the two places with its own strengths based on local mineral materials and craftsmen's traditions. The stones produced are sold within the province and beyond, with merchants and Go players coming and going without cease, so the old methods of compounding and drip-moulding have been handed down from generation to generation with the physical stones as their evidence. The convenience of raw materials is especially important: borax, quartz and other minerals are produced in both central and western Yunnan, the wood for Go bowls comes from yew and pistacia, and that for boards from fir and hemlock; materials and minerals alike lie within one province, which is why this craft has never been interrupted since the Tang dynasty. Go originated in China and was already recorded in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; it is an important part of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and can be called a national treasure. Yunnan Go stones, of which Yunzi and Yongzi are the typical representatives, are first recorded in Fu Mengqiu's “Rhapsody on Go” of the Tang dynasty: “The board is made of patterned catalpa wood, the stones come from the furnaces of southern Yunnan.” Go was introduced into Yunnan in the Han dynasty, and in the Tang dynasty Yunnan Go stones were mostly fired from earthenware clay. The making of Yunnan Go stones reached its greatest height in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Li Guowei is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship in Yunnan. Within the documented technical tradition of Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship in Yunnan: The craft of making Yunnan Go stones (Yunzi and Yongzi) is mainly practised in Longyang District of Baoshan City and Guandu District of Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Yunnan has a mountainous plateau terrain and is the province with the greatest variety of plant species in the country, as well as being extremely rich in mineral resources. Yunnan's abundant yew and pistacia are excellent woods for making Go bowls, fir and hemlock can be used for boards, and the rich mineral resources serve for the stones themselves; these fine raw materials brought about the emergence and development of the Yunnan Go stone craft. The craft uses quality Yunnan borax, quartz sand, southern red agate, yellow dragon jade, jadeite and other natural mineral raw materials, fired in kilns by the old method and formed by a distinctive hand-dripping technique. The main process steps include selecting the raw materials, crushing and grinding, weighing and compounding, high-temperature fusion, hand drip-moulding, annealing and cooling, matte polishing, rinsing and sun-drying, quality grading, and packing the finished product. In this craft the compounding of the ingredients is the core secret, and drip-moulding the stones is the key technique. The finished stones are smooth and mellow in texture yet extremely hard, black as ink and white as jade, warm in winter and cool in summer; through the ages they have been universally acknowledged as the finest of Go stones. In the Song and Yuan periods black and white glazes were added to the earthenware clay and fired into ceramic Go stones. In the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty, the Yunnan man Li Dezhang used agate, fluorite and other quality minerals as raw materials, adopting a special formula, fusing them at high temperature and drip-moulding Go stones by hand. The craft of making Yunnan Go stones (Yunzi and Yongzi) is an indispensable part of Chinese Go culture and has high historical and cultural value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Records of Process Steps": The main process steps include selecting the raw materials, crushing and grinding, weighing and compounding, high-temperature fusion, hand drip-moulding, annealing and cooling, matte polishing, rinsing and sun-drying, quality grading, and packing the finished product. "Compounding the minerals": Borax, quartz sand, agate, yellow jade and jadeite are compounded in proportions that decide the character of each colour — hard and moist for black, smooth but not slick for white — and the formula is kept within the workshop. "High-temperature fusion": The compounded minerals are fused at high heat into a flowing mass; an even temperature matters, for too fierce burns the batch and too slow lets it settle, and impurities float out before the pour. "Drip-moulding the stones": The molten material is dripped by hand into metal moulds, one drop to a stone; the judge is the consistency of the melt, too thin and the shape sags, too thick and the surface stays rough, before the pieces are annealed.
Archival Records of Process Steps
The main process steps include selecting the raw materials, crushing and grinding, weighing and compounding, high-temperature fusion, hand drip-moulding, annealing and cooling, matte polishing, rinsing and sun-drying, quality grading, and packing the finished product.
Compounding the minerals
Borax, quartz sand, agate, yellow jade and jadeite are compounded in proportions that decide the character of each colour — hard and moist for black, smooth but not slick for white — and the formula is kept within the workshop.
High-temperature fusion
The compounded minerals are fused at high heat into a flowing mass; an even temperature matters, for too fierce burns the batch and too slow lets it settle, and impurities float out before the pour.
Drip-moulding the stones
The molten material is dripped by hand into metal moulds, one drop to a stone; the judge is the consistency of the melt, too thin and the shape sags, too thick and the surface stays rough, before the pieces are annealed.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Li Guowei was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship, with Yunnan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship in Yunnan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Yunnan as its declared area, and Yunnan Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding 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
Go originated in China and was already recorded in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; it is an important part of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and can be called a national treasure. Yunnan Go stones, of which Yunzi and Yongzi are the typical representatives, are first recorded in Fu Mengqiu's “Rhapsody on Go” of the Tang dynasty: “The board is made of patterned catalpa wood, the stones come from the furnaces of southern Yunnan.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Li Guowei | Yunnan | — | 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。