Yangzhou Lacquerware Decoration Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
By the Han dynasty, lacquerware was widely used in many fields, and its forms and decorative techniques became more exquisite and varied. No fewer than ten thousand Han dynasty lacquerware pieces have been unearthed in the suburbs of Yangzhou, most of them painted lacquerware, with a great variety of vessel types and rich patterns. By the Tang dynasty, Yangzhou's techniques of bodiless dry lacquer, gold-and-silver flat-inlay and mother-of-pearl inlay were already quite mature, and Yangzhou lacquerware was listed among twenty-four kinds of tribute articles. During the Ming and Qing periods, Yangzhou lacquer art reached its zenith: famous varieties appeared such as carved red cinnabar lacquer, flat-polished mother-of-pearl inlay, soft mother-of-pearl inlay and hundred-treasure inlay, forming a distinctive local style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yangzhou lacquerware is a traditional Chinese special craft product: it has a long history, a complete range of varieties, consummate technique and a unique style, and is renowned at home and abroad. As early as the Warring States period, more than two thousand three hundred years ago, the Yangzhou lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique began to appear; as can be seen from unearthed objects, lacquerware of the time had already reached a high level in form and lacquering technique. During the Qianlong era, multiple streets and lanes named after lacquerware production appeared in Yangzhou, and the output and variety of lacquerware both reached their historical peak. Modern Yangzhou lacquerware production comprises nine great categories: threaded-shell inlay, carved lacquer, carved lacquer with jade inlay, engraved lacquer, flat-polished mother-of-pearl inlay, painted decoration, bone-and-stone inlay, nanmu carved-lacquer sand inkstones, and polished lacquer painting; the range of varieties is complete, the technique exquisite, the colors splendid and the style fresh, full of Eastern charm. Of its products, the "Qihua" brand lacquerware produced by the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory is the most famous; it has repeatedly won international and domestic gold awards, and a number of its representative pieces have been selected as state gifts or displayed in important venues such as the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
Twenty-three centuries of lacquer
Excavated Warring States pieces show lacquer already shaped and decorated at a high level here more than two thousand years ago.
The lacquer streets of the Qianlong era
Streets named for their trade multiplied in the Qianlong reign, and carved, mother-of-pearl, shell-inlaid and inlaid-gold wares were produced in great variety.
Matching sets with carving
A lacquer set often requires carved wood, ivory and jade alongside it, so several crafts cooperate on a single suite.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yangzhou lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique is centered on Yangzhou, Jiangsu, and extends to the Zhenjiang and Taizhou areas; during the Qianlong era, multiple streets and lanes named after lacquerware production appeared in Yangzhou, and the output and variety of lacquerware both reached their historical peak. Modern Yangzhou lacquerware production is carried forward in concentrated form by the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory Co., Ltd., whose supporting crafts of wood carving, ivory carving, jade carving and lacquerware constitute the distinctive face of Yangzhou craft.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Because the training cycle for lacquer art practitioners is long and their income relatively low, under market-economy conditions a talent gap has emerged in the Yangzhou lacquerware industry. In modern life people's aesthetic concepts have changed enormously; the social demand for lacquerware and its aesthetic value have gradually weakened, leading to a shrinking lacquerware market and a crisis in the survival of the lacquer art industry. It is therefore necessary to implement protection of the Yangzhou lacquerware technique so that it can continue to be transmitted in modern society. Zhang Yu (record from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1944, from Yangzhou, Jiangsu. Representative inheritor of the Yangzhou lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique, a first-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project; national-level expert with outstanding contributions; master of Chinese industrial arts. Zhang Yu was born into a poor scholarly family and was steeped in its cultural atmosphere from childhood. In 1985 he went to the Central Academy of Arts and Design for advanced study, where he received guidance from the great artists Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Ding and Ye Qianyu, further improving his level of art theory and his creative design ability. His works draw on the strengths of many sources, carry forward tradition and constantly innovate; he is adept at applying romantic, exaggerated planar composition to lacquer art. He integrated comprehensive cultural cultivation in literature, geography, history and other fields into his creation of lacquerware craft pieces, giving the works rich cultural connotation. Over nearly fifty years of practice he has produced a great quantity of lacquerware. His works have won awards repeatedly; representative works include "Liu Yi Delivers the Letter", "The Soul of China", "A Single View of River and Sky", "Layered Green of Lakes and Mountains" and "A Picture of the Scenic Spots of Weiyang". In 2011 he restored the precious-shell inlay technique, which had been out of production for nearly thirty years; representative works include "Butterflies Dancing in the Golden Autumn" and "Fragrance of the Four Seasons". Zhao Rubai (record from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1939, from Hongze, Jiangsu. Representative inheritor of the Yangzhou lacquerware lacquering and decoration technique, a first-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project; master of Chinese industrial arts. In 1956 Zhao Rubai came from Hongze to the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory, where he studied carved lacquer under the famous lacquerware artist Liang Guohai, devoting himself to researching the various techniques of carved lacquer; in 1958 he studied for three years in the industrial arts specialization of Nanjing Arts College, after which he returned to the carved lacquer workshop of the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory as a technician, and thereafter worked continuously in carved lacquer production, using relief, round carving and openwork carving to produce many fine carved lacquer pieces. After the 1980s Zhao Rubai began to move into the carving of ancient nanmu wood. Zhao Rubai's carved lacquer technique is consummate, his knife work rounded and smooth with the blade edge concealed and lines flowing; his works are exquisite and finely detailed. Over nearly fifty years of practice he accumulated rich carving experience; he excels at red carved lacquer and decorative carving, and is particularly skilled in the lacquering and decoration techniques of ancient nanmu wood carving and lacquer-sand inkstones. His representative works include "Secluded Valley in a Spring Stream", "Taking in the Scenery from Mount Tai" and "The Divine Charm of Rivers and Mountains".
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Yu 01-0168
- Zhao Rubai 01-0169
- Zhang Laixi
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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