Xiangqian
01 · Historical Records
Daliao embedded porcelain and Puning embedded porcelain are outstanding representatives of Chaoshan embedded porcelain. Daliao embedded porcelain has a history of more than one hundred years to date; it is mainly in the Chaoshan style while also incorporating features of southern Fujian. The history of Puning embedded porcelain is longer still, traceable back to the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The inlay art of China has a long history and a distinctive style. As early as the Yin-Shang era, decorative patterns of gold inlay and jade setting already appeared in bronze casting. With the continuous improvement of craftsmanship, natural colored stones, pebbles, shells, mother-of-pearl, gems, jade, and such artificial materials as glassware, ceramics, and wood all became materials for inlay. In the course of its long development, inlay art accumulated many important technical methods, chiefly direct inlaying, prefabrication, reverse pasting and reverse setting, and front pasting and front setting. Besides flat inlay, inlay can also be carried out on relief, a method that further enhances the three-dimensional effect of the inlaid object. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the relief inlay method was widely applied to the decoration of all kinds of craft objects, and in the mid-to-late Qing dynasty there also appeared a relief inlay method of setting opera figures and stories upon various grounds; embedded porcelain and bone-and-wood inlay both belong to this category. Inlay craftworks are solid, resistant to sunlight and damp, and not prone to fading; the texture of the materials and the resulting effects of form, color, and luster add artistic charm to them, fully displaying a beauty that is at once rugged, vigorous, sumptuous, and splendid. Embedded porcelain, also known as 'jurao', 'nianrao', and 'kourao', is a folk architectural decorative art popular in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong Province. Taking painting and sculpture as its basis, it uses specially fired colored-glaze porcelain pieces to build up artistic images of figures, flowers, and birds and beasts, decorating the roofs, walls, and other parts of temples and buildings. The techniques of Chaoshan embedded porcelain are unique, mostly adopting semi-relief or fully rounded sculpture styles; the images are vivid, the colors brilliant, and the texture solid and stable, able to withstand sun and rain without fading. In the Chaoshan region, porcelain workshops usually work in close cooperation with embedded-porcelain artisans to fire low-temperature porcelain in a variety of colors. The artisans then carefully cut these porcelains into the pieces needed for inlay, piece the pieces together with an adhesive into partial components, and finally combine the components into patterns or sculptures on themes of folk custom, folk tales, or auspicious festivity.
The Ming origins of Puning inlay
Puning's inlay reaches back to the Wanli era of the Ming, making it one of the earliest homes of the Chaoshan craft.
Gable and gate ornaments of local courtyard houses
Beside temples, Puning inlay decorates the courtyard walls, gates and ridges of the local si dian jin and xia shan hu house types.
The Eight Immortals and auspicious figure groups
Sets of figurines such as the Eight Immortals stand ranged along ridges and gates like a frozen stage scene.
Rotating upkeep of clan halls
Clan halls were repaired in rotation, and the same workshops were handed down the same clan's work across generations.
Inlay where Chaoshan meets Hakka
On the Chaoshan-Hakka border Puning's work blends vivid Chaoshan colour with a plainer Hakka handling of drapery.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The history of Puning embedded porcelain can be traced back to the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty. It is transmitted in Puning City and the surrounding border area of the Chaoshan and Hakka regions, with the Puning City Cultural Center serving as its protection unit. Local embedded-porcelain artisans often join forces with counterparts in Chaozhou and Chaoyang to undertake construction projects; besides temples and ancestral halls, embedded porcelain is also widely used on the courtyard screen walls and gate ridge ornaments of the 'four-point gold' and 'descending tiger' style homesteads of the Puning area.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian · Xiangqian.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The themes of Puning embedded porcelain are closely integrated with local folk beliefs; besides flowers, auspicious beasts, and opera figures, one frequently sees complete sets of festive figure groups such as the Eight Immortals, 'Wealth, Son, and Longevity', and 'Guo Ziyi Offers Birthday Wishes'. Because the repair of Chaoshan ancestral halls is generally carried out on a rotating yearly basis under clan property, embedded-porcelain artisans tend to undertake projects for the same clan generation after generation, and their works have thereby become part of the memory of the clan and the village.
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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