Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi
01 · Historical Records
The silver-and-copper ware processing industry in the Huangzhong area was introduced just over a hundred years ago, yet it quickly took root in response to the needs of agricultural-pastoral areas and monasteries. The craftsmanship here has long relied on family workshops, passed from father to son and son to grandson, with small shops and quick turnover; silver and copper ware are separate arts—silver ware follows the path of thin form and bright luster, while copper ware follows the path of complex patterns.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Huangzhong silver-and-copper ware processing craft has a long history of over a hundred years; it can be divided into two processing crafts: silver ware and copper ware. The silver-ware processing craft has long been known for characteristics such as thin form, bright luster, lightness, and purity, excels at exquisite workmanship, and is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups. Influenced by Buddhist culture, artisans often use the "Eight Auspicious Emblems" (precious umbrella, golden fish, treasure vase, victory banner, Dharma wheel, auspicious knot, right-spiraling conch, and lotus) as well as mandalas, garuda birds, dragons, phoenixes, lions, mythical beasts, auspicious clouds, and precious flames as decorative patterns. There are more than thirty processing workshops in the county, with representative artisans including He Shengshou (provincial first-grade arts and crafts master), He Man, and He Yun. The copper-ware processing craft is superb, with complex patterns, lifelike shapes, and outstanding techniques of expression. The main process is: cutting stock—welding—hammering—filling with glue—composing the design—polishing. The production mode of Huangzhong silver-and-copper ware is mainly based on family workshops, with sons succeeding their fathers' trades, passed down from generation to generation. Its representative artisans include Quan Fafu and Li Zhanbang, both Qinghai Province third-grade arts and crafts masters, with more than forty workshops. Gilding is also a metal-processing craft, also called "coating with gold," "gold plating," or "flowing gold"; it is a technique of applying a gold-mercury amalgam made by combining gold and mercury to the surface of silver or copper ware, then heating to evaporate the mercury so that the gold firmly adheres to the surface of the silver or copper ware without falling off. Its process steps are: killing the gold, applying the gold, opening the gold, and pressing to shine. The gilding technique for silver-and-copper ware is generally a family-secret technique, kept confidential.
Six stages of copper working
Cutting, welding, raising, glue-filling, composing and polishing follow one another; raising and gluing fix the wall, composing and polishing fix the pattern and the shine.
Four stages of gilding
Four stages prepare the gold, lay it on, open the colour and burnish it; without all four the gilding lies uneven.
Applying and firing the gold amalgam
Gold amalgam is spread over silver or copper and heated until the mercury evaporates, leaving the gold firmly attached.
The eight auspicious emblems
Under Buddhist influence the vessels carry the eight auspicious emblems together with lotuses, dragons, phoenixes, lions, clouds and flames.
Thin, bright silverwork
Huangzhong silver is prized for its thin, bright, soft and pure quality, a marked contrast to the heavy copper work.
Family workshops and kept techniques
Dozens of family workshops pass the trade from father to son, while the gilding knowledge is generally kept inside one household.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Within Huangzhong County, processing workshops are densely distributed; there are more than thirty just on the silver-ware line, and even more copper-ware workshops, exceeding forty. Among the masters, He Shengshou is a provincial first-grade arts and crafts master, Quan Fafu and Li Zhanbang are Qinghai Province third-grade arts and crafts masters, and there are also He Man and He Yun, among others. He Man began learning the craft from his father at the age of 16, inheriting both the family's vessel-making methods and gilding.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi · Yintongqizhizuojiliujinjiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
He Man (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1965, from Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the silver-and-copper ware making and gilding craft, an item of intangible cultural heritage. Qinghai Province first-grade folk craftsman. From the age of 16 he followed his father in the study and research of silver-and-copper ware making and gilding craft. In long-term artistic creation practice, he boldly innovated, absorbed the strengths of various schools—especially ethnic art elements—and gradually formed a unique personal style, becoming the most representative figure of the Qinghai Huangzhong silver-and-copper ware making and gilding craft. His works have been collected by institutions such as the National Museum of China, the China National Arts and Crafts Museum, and the Qinghai Provincial Museum. His works have won gold and silver awards many times at various exhibitions at home and abroad. He was awarded the third "Xinchuan Award" for intangible cultural heritage inheritors by the Chinese Academy of Arts (China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center). In June 2018 he was awarded the title of Advanced Individual in National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Work by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Man 04-1925
- Batutaogao
- Xiao Gang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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