Lacquerware Decoration Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Early Huizhou lacquerware was mainly produced in places such as Shexian County and Yansi (now the Huizhou region) in Anhui Province, with a history of over a thousand years. Among them, mother-of-pearl lacquerware was already quite mature by the Song dynasty and was praised as "Song inlay." Pineapple-pattern lacquer products were used as tribute wares in the Southern Song dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, the Huizhou lacquerworker Huang Cheng summarized the experience of lacquerware-making and wrote the book "Xiushi Lu" (Records of Lacquer Decoration), the only extant specialized treatise on lacquerwork from ancient China.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the lacquerware craft developed as never before; carved lacquer, lacquer painting, gold lacquer, carved-and-filled, qiangjin (gold-incised), mother-of-pearl inlay, and treasure inlay vied in splendor, presenting a magnificent sight. This book also spread far to Japan through cultural exchange, exerting a certain influence on Japanese folk handicraft production. The main raw materials used in Huizhou lacquerware include raw lacquer (plant lacquer), tung oil, wood, hemp cloth, shells, various naturally colored jades, gold powder, gold foil, as well as ox bone, tile ash, cotton paper, and pig blood. The Huizhou lacquerware decoration craft shares the same lineage as traditional Chinese lacquerware craft: both inlay locally produced natural colored stones, shells, ox bone, eggshell, and pearls onto lacquer panels by sawing, carving, and patterning. Painting patterns with colored lacquer on the lacquer base yields painted lacquerware; inlaying shells onto the lacquer panel and polishing them flush with the panel yields flat-polished mother-of-pearl lacquerware. In 1959, several veteran lacquerworkers from the Tunxi Craft Factory went to the capital to make the lacquer-painting screen "Hundred Children" for the Anhui Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Huizhou-produced pineapple-pattern lacquer inkstones and colored-stone inlaid screens successively won the "Baihua Award" of the Ministry of Light Industry. With the changes in modern social life, the market for lacquerware products has sharply declined.
Building the base and applying ash ground
Lacquered cloth on wood, then layers of bone-and-ash ground, each dried before the next.
Lacquering
Lacquer built up in layers; the surface only takes carving once fully dry.
Shell inlay
Shell is thinned, cut with opening lines and ground flush with the lacquer, a technique mature by the Song.
Coloured-stone inlay
Naturally coloured stones are cut and set so the image runs unbroken across many small pieces.
Pineapple lacquer
Copper-pigmented lacquer gives a mottled surface; once a tribute ware, it survives in revived work.
Himalayan rhino-skin lacquer
Layers of lacquer built up and ground to a grain like rhinoceros hide, revived as a lost local technique.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The old producing areas of Huizhou lacquerware concentrated around Shexian and Yansi, with a history of over a thousand years; the craft flourished most in the Ming and Qing dynasties, while Tunxi became the later synthetic processing center. As the local soil nurtures local craft, Shexian's lacquerworkers mostly pass the art down through generations of the same family, whereas the Tunxi craft factory gathered masters from various places into one site, dividing the process steps by product. The most skill-demanding work here is inlay: colored stones, shells, ox bone, tile ash, and pearls are sawn and patterned according to the design, then inlaid piece by piece into the lacquer panel, and after inlaying are repeatedly polished until flush with the lacquer surface; carved-and-filled, qiangjin (gold-incised), and pineapple-pattern lacquer each constitute a separate specialized craft. The Ming-dynasty Huizhou lacquerworker Huang Cheng recorded this line of practice in his book "Xiushi Lu."
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In 1978, Huizhou lacquerware workers again researched and replicated the long-lost lacquer inkstone. Moreover, the lacquerware decoration craft is complex, requires a long apprenticeship, and involves harsh working conditions, so few people are willing to enter this trade nowadays. Under these circumstances, the Huizhou lacquerware decoration craft suffers from a severe shortage of successors and urgently needs protection. Gan Erke (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born March 1955, from Huangshan City, Anhui Province. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Lacquerware Decoration Craft" (Huizhou Lacquerware Decoration Craft). Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts and an expert enjoying the special government allowance of the State Council. In his youth he engaged in carpentry, painting, and carving; in 1979 he entered the Tunxi Lacquerware Craft Factory, learning the lacquerware craft under Wang Fulin and Yu Jinhai. Starting in 1999, he devoted himself to the creation and research of fine lacquerware, reviving the nearly lost Huizhou traditional lacquering techniques of xipi (marbled) lacquer and lacquer inkstones, presenting them to the world with a brand-new appearance. He adheres to the highest standard of zero error and zero defect in every process step; his works esteem the beauty of the Song and Yuan dynasties, with elegant forms and exquisite workmanship, showing a distinct artistic style. His works "Large Circular Box in Red-Gold Pineapple-Pattern Lacquer," "Celestial-Sphere Vase in Gold-Green Marbled Lacquer," and "Heaven-Earth Lidded Box in Red-Gold Marbled Lacquer" are collected respectively by the Palace Museum in Beijing, the National Museum of China, and the British Museum in the UK. In 2012 he founded the Erke Lacquer Art Studio, personally training several disciples, and was appointed a master's supervisor by the Graduate School of the China Art Academy.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Gan Erke 03-1389
- Chen Sibi 03-1390
- He Junming 04-1891
- Li Bosheng 04-1892
- Zou Dexiang 04-1893
- Li Aizhen 05-2823
- Ding Guokun 05-2824
- Fu Yizhou 05-2825
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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