Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The materials used were at first silver ingots and sycee (fine-grade) silver; since the late Qing dynasty, silver dollars have been widely used.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Miao silver ornaments, like Miao embroidery, brocade, and batik, are an important marker by which the different branches of the Miao people distinguish themselves from one another. The beauty of the patterns and the great variety of styles of the Miao silver ornaments of Taijiang County are rarely seen in Miao society. Taijiang County essentially concentrates the finest elements of Miao silver ornaments and is one of the important representatives of Miao silverwork in southeastern Guizhou. Taijiang Miao silver ornaments include chiefly silver horns, silver sparrows, silver hairpins, silver combs, silver headbands, silver head flowers, silver feathers, ear posts, earrings, neck rings, silver chains, chest locks, chest ornaments, arm bands, bracelets, silver plaques, and silver bubbles, among others. Garments covered with silver plaques are honorifically known as "silver garments" (yinyi), weighing as much as one to two hundred liang. The Miao villagers combine beauty and wealth in one; unmarried girls hope to win the favor of the opposite sex through their silver ornaments. Households in difficult circumstances may have fewer, but they absolutely cannot have none. In the beliefs of the Miao villagers, silver ornaments also serve to ward off evil and are auspicious charms that protect the wearer. The craft of making Miao silver ornaments has reached the height of perfection. The main working techniques are melting and casting, pattern pressing, openwork piercing, wire drawing, wire winding, chasing, and pattern soldering, among others. The soldering technique is extremely refined: a slender copper blowpipe is used to blow the flame of a kerosene lamp into oxygen, melting and welding the joints of the relevant components without leaving any trace.
Melting and casting
Melting and casting is the first gate of the craft; silver is remelted and poured, then opened into sheets whose fineness is thereby fixed.
Pressing, piercing, winding and drawing wire
Pressing, piercing, winding and wire-drawing are layered on one sheet; a pressed ground with raised wire on top accounts for the density of Taijiang ornament.
Engraving
Engraved lines are made by the tilt of the chisel; depth gives the pattern its layers, and a skilled hand can get three or four out of one flower.
Torch welding with a blow pipe
The finest joining step in Taijiang work: a thin copper blowpipe feeds the flame of a kerosene lamp into a jet of oxygen to melt the joint, leaving no seam.
Assembling the silver coat
Covering the jacket in silver sheets, a garment of one or two hundred liang in weight, is laid out part by part and welded piece by piece, with no joint showing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Taijiang Miao silver ornaments are divided into the Shidong type, the Bala River type, and the Huangping type. The Shidong-type silver region centers on Shidong Town; the Bala River-type silver region covers more than half the territory of Taijiang County; and the Huangping-type silver region covers one township within Taijiang.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Miao Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Making Craftsmanship · Yinshi Making Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Wu Shuigen (official archive record of an associated inheritor): Male, of the Miao ethnic group, born in February 1966, a native of Taijiang County, Guizhou Province. Representative inheritor of the Silver Ornament Forging Craft (Miao Silver Ornament Forging Craft), a representative project in the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. He has fully mastered every process step of silver-ornament working. He has passed the technique on to his children and has taken on more than forty apprentices from society at large. His silver ornaments are of consummate craftsmanship and novel, distinctive design; his work Miao Totem Pillar took part in the First China (Huangshan) Intangible Cultural Heritage Traditional Craft Grand Exhibition, hosted by the People's Government of Anhui Province, and won a gold award. He has given craft demonstrations at the Mexican National Museum and other venues. Complete sets of his silver ornaments are held in the collections of the Guizhou Nationalities Museum, the Guizhou Provincial Cultural Center, the Guizhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, and South-Central Minzu University, among others. He has been awarded the honorary title of Model Worker of Guizhou Province by the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People's Government of Guizhou Province.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Guangbin 01-0160
- Long Migu 03-1316
- Ma Maoting 03-1317
- Lin Shiyuan 04-1842
- Leigushari 04-1843
- Wu Shuigen 04-1844
- Lin Lingxiang 05-2748
- Yang Zhenggui 05-2749
- Tai Yinyan 05-2750
- Mubinglin 05-2751
- Cunfabiao 05-2752
- Li Zhengyun
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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