Xiangqian
01 · Historical Records
Colored-stone inlay is a traditional decorative art popular in southern Zhejiang Province; it evolved from the 'dian' (mother-of-pearl) inlay technique of traditional lacquer craft, and is carried out mainly with the richly colored Qingtian stone.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chinese inlay art has a long history and a distinctive style. As early as the Yin-Shang period, decorative patterns of gold inlay and jade setting already appeared in bronze casting. As craftsmanship continually improved, natural colored stones, pebbles, shells, mother-of-pearl, gems, jade, and man-made glass, ceramics, and wood all became materials for inlay. Over the course of its long development, inlay art has accumulated many important technical methods, mainly including direct inlay, the prefabrication method, the reverse-paste reverse-set method, and the obverse-paste obverse-set method. Besides flat inlay, inlay can also be carried out on relief surfaces, a method that can further enhance the three-dimensional effect of the inlaid object. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the relief inlay method came to be widely used in decorating various crafts; in the mid-to-late Qing dynasty there further appeared a relief inlay method that inlays opera figures and stories on different grounds, to which porcelain inlay and bone-and-wood inlay belong. Inlay crafts have the advantages of sturdiness, resistance to sunlight and damp, and freedom from discoloration; the texture of the materials and the resulting effects of form, color, and luster lend inlay crafts added artistic charm, fully displaying a bold, vigorous, and richly splendid beauty. Colored-stone inlay employs technical methods such as mortise inlay, pieced inlay, and adhesive inlay, and takes expressive forms including relief, round carving, and openwork carving. Its working process comprises fifteen steps: designing the sketch, shaping, arranging, carving, burnishing, matching, joinery, lacquering, inlaying, sculpting, gluing, waxing, finishing, outlining, and mounting. Colored-stone inlay products of southern Zhejiang are mostly ornamental crafts such as hanging screens, standing screens, large multi-panel screens, and tabletop display pieces; large works are magnificent in scale and small ones exquisitely wrought, with ingenious conception, layout, and execution. Works inlaid with the natural colors and grains of stone cover a wide range of subjects, their images rich in layering and their color effects pronounced. These inlay pieces depict small scenes of landscape, flowers, and birds, represent major historical events, reproduce classic calligraphy and painting, or recreate the figures and scenes of literary masterpieces, displaying strong decorative appeal and craft beauty.
Archival Process Records
Colored-stone inlay employs technical methods such as mortise inlay, pieced inlay, and adhesive inlay, and takes expressive forms including relief, round carving, and openwork carving. Its working process comprises fifteen steps: designing the sketch, shaping, arranging, carving, burnishing, matching, joinery, lacquering, inlaying, sculpting, gluing, waxing, finishing, outlining, and mounting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the Ouhai area, the Wenzhou Ouhai District Cultural Center serves as the protecting unit for colored-stone inlay. The inheritor Xie Binghua, a native of Wenzhou, has practiced the craft since the 1980s and excels at inlaid figures' heads. Artisans in Ouhai and Lucheng are in close contact, often dividing the labor with a single large screen as the unit: joiners rough out the panel, lacquerers prepare the ground, inlay artisans are responsible for arranging the stone, carving the stones, and pieced inlay, and finally a lacquerer applies the surface finish. Finished works are mostly displayed in the form of hanging screens, floor screens, and murals.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xie Binghua (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1957, native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. He began working in colored-stone inlay in the 1980s. He excels at inlaid figures' heads; his creative practice often reproduces classic famous paintings, represents major historical events, and illustrates classical literary masterpieces, showing innovation in subject matter and technique. He has enriched the art of colored-stone inlay through the forms of hanging screens, floor screens, and murals. His works are finely made, with delicate technique and remarkably lifelike images. He has successively participated in the production of large colored-stone inlay works including 'Journey to the West,' 'Dream of the Red Chamber,' 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' 'Customs of Xishuangbanna,' 'Light of the Olympics,' and 'Harmonious Great China,' the latter created for the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He is a representative inheritor of inlay (colored-stone inlay), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item, from the fifth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Mouchengjin 03-1298
- Chen Mingwei 03-1299
- Lu Zhigao 04-1815
- Xie Binghua 05-2700
- Xu Shaoxiong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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