Umbrella Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In ancient times, umbrella canopies were all made of silk. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the rulers and officials of the Northern Wei had already adopted canopy covers made of gauze and silk for their outings; the size and color of the silk umbrellas used varied according to the rank of the bearer. After Cai Lun of the Eastern Han succeeded in papermaking, umbrella canopies gradually changed from silk to paper, and by the Song dynasty oil-paper umbrellas appeared.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The umbrella is a tool used in daily life for shading from the sun or sheltering from the rain. It can be opened and folded, and is easy to carry. China's umbrella-making craft has a long history. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Wang, the wife of Lu Ban—the renowned craftsman of the State of Lu—split bamboo into fine strips, covered them with animal hide, and made a device that opened like a canopy and closed like a stick; this was the earliest umbrella. In ancient times the umbrella was also called 'gai' (canopy), 'huagai' (ornamental canopy), and 'sangai' (umbrella canopy), among other names. During the Western Jin, when emperors and high officials went on inspection tours, attendants often followed holding umbrellas, which thus became part of the ceremonial guard. China's oil-paper umbrellas are produced in Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guizhou, and other places, and they were a daily necessity of working people. Today, because of the widespread popularity of folding nylon-silk umbrellas, the traditional oil-paper umbrella and silk umbrella have quietly receded from people's lives, and the related craftsmanship has gradually faded into obscurity. The West Lake silk umbrella of Hangzhou was first created in 1932, its craft developed by the Hangzhou Du Jinsheng Silk Weaving Factory, and it has been passed down for more than seventy years to the present. The West Lake silk umbrella uses the locally unique slender bamboo of Hangzhou and Hangzhou silk as raw materials, and takes the scenery of Hangzhou's West Lake as its decorative motifs; the entire production process comprises 18 important process steps. The main body of the West Lake silk umbrella consists of the ribs and the canopy. The making of the ribs uses an ancient interlocking technique, requiring no adhesive whatsoever. The canopy uses silk as its fabric, and is decorated with techniques such as brush painting, colorful hand-painting, and embroidery. Brush painting takes the scenery of Hangzhou's West Lake as its subject, using multiple overlaid colors; colorful hand-painting employs traditional Chinese painting techniques to depict beauties, flowers and birds, and other subjects on the canopy; embroidery draws on diverse themes, with fine and delicate craftsmanship, bright yet elegant, achieving fine artistic effect. The West Lake silk umbrella is light in form, ingenious in design, and refined in execution—elegant and beautiful. It is both practical and of artistic appreciative value.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The West Lake silk umbrella uses the locally unique slender bamboo of Hangzhou and Hangzhou silk as raw materials, and takes the scenery of Hangzhou's West Lake as its decorative motifs; the entire production process comprises 18 important process steps.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to their use, West Lake silk umbrellas can be divided into types such as daily-use umbrellas, decorative umbrellas, dance umbrellas, acrobatic umbrellas, and tasseled umbrellas.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Umbrella Making Craftsmanship · Umbrella Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Song Zhiming (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1959, a native of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. A representative inheritor of the third batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item 'Umbrella-Making Craft (West Lake Silk Umbrella).' A technician of West Lake silk umbrella making. Later he raised funds to establish a factory, began training artisans, and launched research activities on the craft of the silk umbrella. Based on long-term exploration, he summarized the characteristics of the silk-umbrella craft in two words, 'completeness' (quan) and 'novelty' (xin). 'Completeness' means mastering all eighteen process steps of umbrella making, and being able to engage both in silk-umbrella production and in its production management. 'Novelty' means using Xiaoshan 'wanlusi' lace and Tongxiang blue calico as umbrella fabrics; in canopy decoration, combining embroidery with painting, and brush painting with embroidery; and employing seal-engraving art as canopy ornamentation—thus opening new paths for the development of the silk umbrella. In 1990 he won the first prize for innovative design at the 'Hundred Flowers Awards for Chinese Arts and Crafts', organized by the China Arts and Crafts Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Bi Liufu 03-1405
- Song Zhiming 03-1406
- Dai Gensheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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