Ningbo Zhujinqi Wood Carving

01 · Historical Records

The lacquering craft of the Ningbo region can be traced back to the Hemudu culture of the Neolithic Age, while vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving shares its origins with the gold-foil appliqué art of carved lacquer boxes of the Han Dynasty; by the Tang Dynasty, with the development of timber-frame architecture, decorative wood carving combining painted lacquer and gold leaf had appeared. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving has been widely used in everyday display objects, Buddhist figure carving, and furniture decoration; in particular, the “beds” and “sedan chairs” used in wedding celebrations all employed vermilion-and-gold wood carving.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving, abbreviated as “vermilion-and-gold wood carving,” is a technique of applying gold leaf and vermilion lacquer over wood carving. Centered on Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, it extends to Cixi, Yuyao, Fenghua, Xiangshan, Ninghai, Zhenhai, and Yinzhou. The lacquering craft of the Ningbo region can be traced back to the Hemudu culture of the Neolithic Age, while Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving shares its origins with the gold-foil appliqué art of carved lacquer boxes of the Han Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, with the development of timber-frame architecture, decorative wood carving combining painted lacquer and gold leaf had appeared. The vermilion-and-gold wood carving surviving on the architectural decoration of Ningbo's Ashoka Temple is of this style, and it closely resembles the vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving on the lecture hall and relic hall of the Toshodai-ji Temple built in Japan in the second year of the Qianyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (759) by the monk Jianzhen and his disciples. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving has been widely used in folk daily life — everyday display objects, Buddhist figure carving, and furniture decoration. In particular, the “beds” and “sedan chairs” used in wedding celebrations all employed vermilion-and-gold wood carving, being both refined and ostentatious, which gave rise to the sayings of the “thousand-craft bed” and the “ten-thousand-craft sedan chair.” In addition, carved wooden boats, drum pavilions, and festival platforms used in religious processions and lantern festivals were all made with vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving; all are exquisite examples of folk craft. The figures in vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving are mostly drawn from Peking opera; artisans imitate the costumes and postures of the plays, a style known as the “Peking-opera manner.” The composition of the Peking-opera manner centers on figures, with backgrounds added; vertical position is used to suggest distance, so that foreground figures do not block those behind, making the picture full and rich. In these wood carvings, human figures and horses are often larger than houses; a tree on a rock stands for a mountain, grass growing on a rock stands for the rock itself, birds and clouds indicate the sky, scenery indicates land, and boats indicate rivers. “Warriors have no necks, beauties have no shoulders, lords have protruding bellies, warriors thrust out their chests.” These vividly characterized images and stylized techniques fill traditional Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving with endless charm. The carving materials are mainly camphor wood, basswood, and ginkgo wood; the forms include relief, round carving, and openwork; and the technical means also include lacquering, gold-leaf application, sand gold, silver grinding, and gold splitting. “Three parts carving, seven parts lacquer” is the empirical summation of vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood-carving artisans, showing that the distinctive character of the art lies mainly in the lacquer rather than the carving. The keys lie, first, in the lacquer material (raw lacquer) and, second, in the lacquering technique — applying gold foil and vermilion red. The process steps of dressing and polishing, filling, coloring, gold-leaf application, and floral painting are all highly exacting; the craft involves as many as eighteen process steps. Gold-leaf application has the formula of “five firsts and five afters, four accuracies and four quicks,” which makes considerable demands; carried out accordingly, it can produce a magnificently rich and brilliantly golden effect. With the change of folk customs, Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving is now far less important in people's lives than it once was. Today, when folk artisans make antique-style furniture, they still use this technique, but it falls far short of former standards, mainly because authentic transmission has been lost and standards are steadily declining. Makers no longer strictly follow the craft procedures, often simplifying production steps at will or using substitutes to reduce costs. The consummate skill and magical expressive power of the tradition, as well as the complementary relationship between lacquerers and carvers, can no longer be seen today.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving, abbreviated as “vermilion-and-gold wood carving,” is centered on Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, and extends to Cixi, Yuyao, Fenghua, Xiangshan, Ninghai, Zhenhai, and Yinzhou. From Sun Yutian of the late Qing Dynasty to the present, every generation has had inheritors; the present inheritors, more than fifty in number, mainly include Huang Cailiang of Ninghai, Tong Xiaohai of Fenghua, Chen Gaiyong of Yinzhou, Xie Wuhong of Dongqian Lake, Dai Xinguo of Ninghai, Zhou Xifang of Fenghua, and Ge Anfei of Ninghai.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

From Sun Yutian of the late Qing Dynasty to the present, every generation of vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving has had inheritors; the present inheritors, more than fifty in number, mainly include Huang Cailiang of Ninghai, Tong Xiaohai of Fenghua, Chen Gaiyong of Yinzhou, Xie Wuhong of Dongqian Lake, Dai Xinguo of Ninghai, Zhou Xifang of Fenghua, and Ge Anfei of Ninghai. Because of the lack of a transmission system and social security, the vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood-carving craft will find it difficult to continue existing and developing in its original form; it urgently needs rescue, support, excavation, and protection. Chen Gaihong (from the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1962, a native of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Senior Arts and Crafts Artist. He began studying wood-carving design and production in 1976. In 1981 he entered the Ningbo Arts and Crafts Research Institute, where he studied vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving and traditional techniques such as painted gilding under Cao Houde, a specialist in Buddhist-figure production, and successively took part in the restoration of Tiantong Temple and Ashoka Temple in Ningbo. In 1990 he founded the Ningbo Yinzhou Zhongyi Sculpture Factory, engaged in producing Buddhist figures, Buddhist implements, and craftworks. In 2010 he founded the Ningbo Vermilion-and-Gold Lacquered Wood Carving Art Museum. In 2012 he founded the Ningbo Vermilion-and-Gold Lacquered Wood Carving Culture Development Co., Ltd., producing large numbers of vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood Buddhist figures and implements for famous mountains and ancient temples in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, as well as for temples in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore. Representative inheritor of Ningbo vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving, a project of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. His vermilion-and-gold lacquered wood carving “Ten-Thousand-Craft Bridal Sedan Chair” won the gold prize of the 9th Chinese Folk Literature and Art “Shanhua Award,” jointly organized by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Folk Literature and Art Association.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Chen Gaihong 03-1245
• Yu Jinshun 04-1787

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Ningbo Zhujinqi Wood Carving (Ningbo, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Chen Gaihong · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗