Changzhou Shubi
01 · Historical Records
The history of Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs can be traced back to the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties; by the Ming dynasty their manufacturing technique had reached a considerable level, and the combs they produced were selected as tribute to the court, earning the reputation of "palace combs and famed fine-toothed combs." Changzhou is located in southern Jiangsu, at the land-and-water thoroughfare between the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Shanghai-Nanjing corridor, where bamboo, wood, and raw lacquer materials were easily obtained; since the Ming and Qing dynasties, comb workshops gathered along the river docks, forming an industrial pattern of divided and coordinated labor in comb-making, fine-toothed-comb-making, carving, and painting. Combs and fine-toothed combs are divided by material and use into two categories: fine-toothed combs (biji) are made of moso bamboo, ox bone, raw lacquer, and other materials through more than seventy process steps; wooden combs use boxwood and photinia wood, with the entire production process consisting of twenty-eight process steps.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs are a traditional handicraft unique to Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. According to local records, Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs have a long history; their manufacturing technique reached a considerable level in the Ming dynasty, and the combs produced were selected as tribute to the court, earning the reputation of "palace combs and famed fine-toothed combs." Changzhou comb products mainly comprise two categories: fine-toothed combs (shubi) and wooden combs. Fine-toothed combs, also called "biji," are made of moso bamboo, ox bone, raw lacquer, and other materials through more than seventy process steps; wooden combs use boxwood and photinia wood, with the entire production process consisting of twenty-eight process steps. Whether fine-toothed combs or wooden combs, they are usually ornamented through five techniques: carved flowers, painted flowers, incised flowers, branded flowers, and inlaid patterns. Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs use finely selected materials, are finely made, beautiful, and practical, and are everyday necessities for the home and excellent gifts for relatives and friends.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Fine-toothed combs, also called "biji," are made of moso bamboo, ox bone, raw lacquer, and other materials through more than seventy process steps; wooden combs use boxwood and photinia wood, with the entire production process consisting of twenty-eight process steps.
The seventy-odd steps of the fine-toothed comb
The bì comb is made from bamboo, ox bone and raw lacquer through more than seventy processes, its tooth spacing and surface held to exacting standards.
The twenty-eight steps of the wooden comb
The wooden comb uses boxwood and photinia, its production running through twenty-eight processes from rough cutting to tooth grinding and polishing.
The five decorative techniques
Both combs and bì are decorated by five methods — carving, painting, engraving, branding and inlay — turning everyday articles into objects of display.
Palace comb and famous bì
The title won when Ming court requisitions took Changzhou combs as tribute, evidence of a craft already recognised in the Ming and Qing.
Jin Songqun and the Changzhou comb museum
Born in Changzhou in 1943, Jin Songqun spent over fifty years turning the craft from a purely practical article into an ornamental and collectible one, and founded its museum.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs have the urban area of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, as their main place of production; in former times, workshops were mostly concentrated in the Ximen (West Gate) area, and products were sold along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Beijing and Tianjin, and elsewhere, becoming a representative handicraft product of the locality; locally, the process steps of comb-making, fine-toothed-comb-making, carving, and painting were divided and coordinated in labor, with fine-toothed combs and wooden combs belonging to two separate trades. Today, production is still undertaken by enterprises such as the Changzhou Comb Factory, and the techniques are transmitted mainly through master-apprentice teaching; the Changzhou Comb Museum founded by Jin Songqun undertakes the display of the history and craft of combs, and he has personally trained six intangible cultural heritage inheritors at the provincial, municipal, and district levels.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, affected by the general environment, the development of Changzhou combs and fine-toothed combs faces difficulties and their situation is precarious; the key manufacturing techniques are on the verge of being lost and urgently need rescue and protection. Jin Songqun (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1943, from Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. He is a Master of Arts and Crafts of Jiangsu Province. For more than fifty years he has devoted himself to the manufacture, product development, and transmission and innovation of Changzhou comb techniques, developing combs from single practical articles into everyday craftworks, art appreciation pieces, tourist souvenirs, and collectibles. He founded the Changzhou Comb Museum; the Changzhou Comb Factory Co., Ltd., of which he was in charge, has been designated a "China Time-Honored Brand" (Zhonghua Laozihao). He has been designated a "Three-Leads" noted talent among Jiangsu's rural talents by the Organization Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and other departments, and his studio was named the Jin Songqun Skilled Master Studio for the Transmission of Historical Classic Crafts by the Changzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. He is a representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Changzhou Combs and Fine-Toothed Combs. His works have won many gold and silver awards at the national, provincial, and ministerial levels. He frequently participates in intangible cultural heritage exhibitions at home and abroad, and has trained six intangible cultural heritage inheritors at the provincial, municipal, and district levels.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jin Songqun 03-1290
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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