Architectural Painting
01 · Historical Records
Beijing architectural painting has a long history and deep roots. From antiquity through the Qing dynasty it developed complete formal regulations, craft procedures, and artistic forms.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Architectural painting is a decorative art technique applied to the surface of ancient building components. The painting-and-lacquer work (youqi zuo) comprises the dizhang ground, the oil and lacquer finishes, and gilding. The dizhang is the base layer; there are hemp-cloth dizhang and single-putty-ash dizhang. The finishes include oil and lacquer: the oils are gloss oil and pigment-loaded gloss oil, and the lacquer is daqi (true lacquer). Hexai and xuanzi polychrome painting are used mainly on palaces, city towers, altars and temples, monasteries, and imperial tombs. Hexai polychrome is the highest grade of painting, with forms such as dragon hexai, dragon-and-phoenix hexai, dragon-and-plant hexai, phoenix hexai, and dragon with Sanskrit script. The boundary between the zhaotou (outer section) and the fangxin (central panel) is formed by a sloping "big line"; the fangxin and the detail work consist mainly of dragon-and-phoenix motifs symbolizing imperial authority. Suzhou-style (Sushi) polychrome is used mostly on gardens and courtyard houses. It has three forms: the "wrapped bundle" (baofu) type, the fangxin type, and the haiman (overall spread) type. Its subjects are mainly figures, linear-perspective (xianfa) painting, flowers and birds, landscapes, feathered creatures, and fish and insects, emphasizing figure stories and emblematic painting. Baozhu jixiangcao (treasured pearl and auspicious grass) and haiman are used less frequently than the three types above; they are sometimes combined with the principal painting. The characteristic crafts of Beijing architectural painting are the "one hemp, five ash" dizhang and golden-dragon hexai polychrome. The "one hemp, five ash" dizhang process includes the following steps: hacking and chopping, tearing open the seams, wedging the seams and driving in bamboo nails, applying sizing pulp, seizing the joint putty, the sweeping-ash coat, applying the hemp, smoothing the hemp, pressing the hemp with ash, middle ash, fine ash, and grinding the fine ash and soaking it with raw oil. The golden-dragon hexai polychrome process includes the following steps: measuring with the craft stick, preparing the paper, drafting and pricking the pattern template, grinding the raw-oiled surface and washing it with water, marking the center, transferring the template, laying out the zhaohuo sections, marking the colors, applying relief paste, brushing on colors, overprinting colors, applying glue, applying gold size and laying gold leaf, drawing the gradient (yun) colors, drawing the big white lines, the "cuantui" (gathered-fade) work, the "cutting" work, drawing the black ribbon line, pressing the black "lao," making the queti (sparrow brace), and the final touch-up spotting.
The one-hemp five-ash ground
The signature ground of one hemp layer and five ash layers runs from chopping and seam opening through hemp laying to fine ash and oil sealing.
The golden-dragon hexii process
The golden-dragon hexii sequence runs from measuring and paper patterns through pouncing, powder lines, colour, gold sizing and gilding to final touching up.
Hexii rank and variants
The highest rank, used on palaces, gate towers, altars, temples and tombs, it comes in dragon, dragon-phoenix, dragon-grass, phoenix and Sanskrit-dragon variants.
Ranks of the xuanzi palette
Xuanzi painting is graded into whole-gold, jade-grinding, large and small dotting, refined ink and realgar-ochre variants, the ends built of whorl flowers.
Suzhou-style painting in gardens
Used mostly in gardens and courtyard houses, it appears as bundle, central-panel or all-over schemes featuring figures, landscape, birds and flowers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Beijing architectural painting is the official-style practice of painted-and-lacquered polychrome on Chinese historic buildings. It is found mainly in the Beijing area, and is also present at the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei, in Xi'an, Shaanxi, and in Qufu, Shandong. Painted and lacquered polychrome divides into five kinds: hexai, xuanzi, Suzhou-style, baozhu jixiangcao (treasured pearl and auspicious grass), and haiman. All the motifs of the polychrome painting carry cultural meaning. Xuanzi polychrome has many varieties and a clear hierarchy of grades, with methods such as hunjin (all-gold), jin zuomo shi nianyu (gold polished-stone and jade-ground), yan zuomo shi nianyu (smoked polished-stone and jade-ground), gold-line big dotted gold, ink-line big dotted gold, small dotted gold, yawumo, and xionghuangyu. The zhaotou section consists of patterns formed by xuanhua (whorled) flowers.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Architectural Painting · Architectural Painting · Architectural Painting · Architectural Painting · Architectural Painting.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Beijing architectural painting consists chiefly of two major parts: the painting-and-lacquer work (youqi zuo) and the polychrome work (caihua zuo). First a dizhang base is built on the surface of the building members, and then the oil finishes and polychrome painting are applied. While protecting timber structures against decay, it achieves a decorative and beautifying effect. Historically it was transmitted from generation to generation mainly through oral instruction and mental absorption between master and apprentice. Today it is more often combined with skills training, transmitting the craft and culture through a combination of theoretical study and practice in the construction and repair of historic buildings. A clearly documented lineage of transmission has reached five generations. Beijing architectural painting is an important component of Chinese architectural technology, art, and culture, and a crystallization of the wisdom of the working people of ancient China; it has considerable historical, cultural, and scientific value. At present China has many historic buildings in need of protection and repair and needs more craftsmen and management personnel who master historic-building techniques; carrying out the transmission and development of Beijing architectural painting is therefore of positive significance.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Yunyi 03-1302
- Li Shengbin 03-1303
- Hao Yanming 05-2705
- Chen Jinde
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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