Xiangqian
01 · Historical Records
Daliao porcelain inlay and Puning porcelain inlay are outstanding representatives of Chaoshan porcelain inlay. Daliao porcelain inlay has a history of more than a century to this day; it is primarily Chaoshan in style, with some southern Fujian characteristics as well. The history of Puning porcelain inlay is longer still, traceable to the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty.
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. Porcelain inlay, also known as 'jurao,' 'nianrao,' and 'kourao,' is a folk architectural decorative art popular in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong Province. Based on painting and sculpture, it uses specially fired glazed porcelain pieces that are adhered and inlaid to create artistic forms of figures, flowers, and birds and beasts, decorating the roofs, walls, and other parts of temples and buildings. The technique of Chaoshan porcelain inlay is distinctive, mostly adopting semi-relief or round-carving styles; its images are vivid, its colors brilliant, and its texture solid and stable, able to withstand sun and rain without fading. In the Chaoshan region, porcelain workshops often work in close cooperation with porcelain inlay artisans to fire low-temperature porcelain in various colors. The artisans then carefully cut and snip this porcelain into the pieces needed for inlay, assemble the pieces with adhesive into partial components, and finally combine the components into patterns or sculptures expressing folk customs, folk tales, or auspicious and festive themes.
Chaoshan and Minnan strands in Daliao inlay
Over a century old, Daliao inlay is mainly Chaoshan in style while carrying Minnan traits in figure modelling and colour.
Low-fired bowls cut into shards
Potteries fire coloured low-temperature bowls to the inlayer's order, and the craftsman shears them into the shards he needs.
Half-relief and full round
The technique favours half-relief or fully round figures, vividly coloured and stable enough to resist sun and rain.
Placement on ridge and screen wall
Figures, flowers and beasts are built from glazed shards to decorate roofs and walls, then assembled into scenes of legend and good omen.
Jurao, Nianrao and Kourao
The craft's several Chaoshan names all use the word rao, meaning the coloured porcelain shards themselves.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Daliao porcelain inlay is primarily Chaoshan in style with some southern Fujian characteristics, and is found in the Daliao area of Chengtian Town, Chaonan District, Shantou City; the Daliao Porcelain Inlay Craft Cooperative of Chengtian Town, Chaonan District, Shantou City is the protecting unit. Local craftsmen mostly move with construction projects for ancestral halls and temples; the gable heads, ridge blocks, and screen walls on roof ridges are the main places where porcelain inlay artisans exercise their craft.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chaoshan porcelain inlay does not use ready-made overglaze colors; instead, specially fired low-temperature colored porcelain bowls are smashed and cut into pieces, so the joining of porcelain edges and glaze colors depends entirely on the artisan's handwork. The finished works both withstand sun and rain without fading and achieve the three-dimensional effects of semi-relief and round carving, and they are often described as a 'theater on the roof' of ancestral halls and temples.
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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