Silk Appliqué
01 · Historical Records
Since the twentieth century, a group of outstanding piled-brocade artisans has emerged in the local area. In the early 1970s, the artisan surnamed Gong devoted painstaking effort to research and, on the basis of inheriting the tradition, carried out reform and innovation, bringing the piled-brocade craft to further development.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shangdang piled brocade (duijin), commonly known as 'Changzhi duihua' (Changzhi piled flowers), is a traditional handicraft unique to the Shangdang region of Shanxi Province (present-day Changzhi City). In the third year of the Shenlong era (707) under Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang dynasty, Li Longji — then enfeoffed as Prince of Linzi — took up the post of biecha (assistant prefect) of Luzhou (present-day Changzhi City) and brought the court's piled-silk (duijuan) technique to the Shangdang region. It later spread among the people and, after more than a thousand years of practical exploration, gradually developed into the exquisite craft of Shangdang piled brocade. Today's Shangdang piled brocade, while preserving the elegant and sumptuous beauty characteristic of silk art, presents a new look with contemporary features: its products have both the brush-and-ink flavor of Chinese painting and the modeling effect of oil painting, while also producing a relief-like sense of three-dimensionality. Through careful selection of materials and technical processing, Shangdang piled brocade does not breed moths and does not fade, enabling it to be preserved in the world for a longer time and passed on to later generations.
Gong Chunxiang and her master Li Shizhong
From a scholarly family and fond of calligraphy and painting since childhood, Gong Chunxiang learned the craft under Li Shizhong after joining the Changzhi workshop.
Blending painting and relief
Gong Chunxiang drew on Chinese painting and relief carving to amplify the sumptuous effect of silk, deepening the craft's expressive range.
Innovations in material and technique
Against the old problems of insects, fading and poor preservation, her reworked materials and methods won a national patent and repeated gold awards.
The Yellow River arts-and-crafts school
Moving to the Changzhi arts centre, she raised funds to found a craft school that combines teaching with production to secure the art's future.
The auspicious subjects of Changzhi stacking
Its subjects run to auspicious birds and flowers, opera figures, religious images and landscapes, used for hall display, festival gifts and temple offerings.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shangdang piled brocade is mainly transmitted in Changzhi City and the counties and districts under its jurisdiction, with the Changzhi Mass Art Center and the Huanghe Arts and Crafts School jointly undertaking protection and teaching. The inheritor Gong Chunxiang was born in August 1942 in Changzhi County; born into a family of scholars, she graduated from the Jindongnan (Southeastern Shanxi) College of Education at the age of 22 and then joined the Changzhi Arts and Crafts Factory, where she studied the production and design of Shangdang piled brocade under Li Shizhong. Building on traditional production methods, she borrowed from and incorporated Chinese painting and relief techniques, bringing out the sumptuous effect of silk and satin; at the same time, she innovated in materials and techniques, solving the problems of traditional piled brocade's susceptibility to moths and fading and its difficulty of preservation. Her production method has obtained national patent certification.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Silk Appliqué.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Gong Chunxiang (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in August 1942, from Changzhi County, Shanxi Province. Senior arts-and-crafts designer. Born into a family of scholars, she was influenced by her family from childhood and developed a love of calligraphy and painting. At the age of 22, after graduating from the Jindongnan (Southeastern Shanxi) College of Education, she joined the Changzhi Arts and Crafts Factory, where she studied the production and design of Shangdang piled brocade under Li Shizhong. On the basis of traditional production methods, she borrowed from and incorporated Chinese painting and relief techniques, bringing out the sumptuous effect of silk and satin and strengthening the artistic expressiveness of Shangdang piled brocade. At the same time, she innovated in materials and techniques, solving the problems of traditional piled brocade's susceptibility to moths and fading and its difficulty of preservation. Her production method has obtained national patent certification, and her works have won national gold awards on many occasions. After transferring to the Changzhi Mass Art Center, she devoted herself to research and the cultivation of talent, raising funds to establish an arts-and-crafts school and persisting in integrating production with education, laying a solid foundation for the inheritance and development of Shangdang piled-brocade art. She is a representative inheritor of the fourth batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Piled Brocade (Shangdang Piled Brocade).
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Gong Chunxiang 04-1810
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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