Qingtongqixiufujifuzhijiyi
01 · Historical Records
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, ancient bronze vessels were reproduced on a large scale, and China's traditional bronzeware restoration trade established its four great schools at this time: the Beijing school, the Xi'an school, the Suzhou school, and the Weifang school. In 1952, bronzeware-restoration specialists led by Zhao Zhenmao of the Beijing school entered the Palace Museum and began using traditional techniques to restore and replicate bronze cultural relics.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
China's traditional bronzeware restoration and replication techniques already appeared two thousand years ago and have continued unbroken since. Among them, the Beijing school has had the greatest influence, producing a succession of master craftsmen and accomplished disciples, and forming a self-contained technical system. These specialists also include the Beijing-school successors Zhao Tongren, Li Huisheng, and Meng Haiquan, as well as Jing Dequan, Gu Dewang, Zhang Juru, and others who have long been engaged in bronzeware restoration and replication. Traditional bronzeware restoration techniques mainly include shaping, joining, patching, bonding (welding), reinforcement, and aging simulation, and sometimes also involve rust removal and wax sealing (surface protection). Traditional bronzeware replication techniques include mould making, casting from moulds, chiselling decorative patterns, and grinding and aging simulation, each step demanding a high level of technical difficulty. Against the background of the rapid development of modern science and technology, it has become imperative to carry out a scientific systematization of traditional crafts, including the traditional bronzeware restoration and replication techniques.
Process-Step Record
Traditional bronzeware restoration techniques mainly include shaping, joining, patching, bonding (welding), reinforcement, and aging simulation, and sometimes also involve rust removal and wax sealing (surface protection).
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Bronzeware restoration and replication split into four schools—Beijing, Xi'an, Suzhou, and Weifang—around the Ming–Qing transition. In 1952, Beijing-school artisans led by Zhao Zhenmao entered the Palace Museum; thereafter Zhao Tongren, Li Huisheng, and Meng Haiquan passed the craft down through Jing Dequan, Gu Dewang, Zhang Juru, and others, emphasising work upon the metal's original casting traces. The Xi'an line excels at joining broken vessels, while the Suzhou line specialises in moulding decorative patterns.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qingtongqixiufujifuzhijiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Over the decades, these specialists have restored and replicated more than a thousand bronze cultural relics of various kinds, making an important contribution to China's cultural-relic conservation and restoration work. At present, the professionals engaged in traditional bronzeware restoration are aging, and the further transmission of the craft faces difficulty. Wang Youliang (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born April 1964, from Beijing. A representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the Bronzeware Restoration and Replication Craft, a national intangible cultural heritage item. He is mainly engaged in the restoration of metal-and-stone cultural relics, and is especially skilled at joining damaged metal-and-stone relics and at aging simulation. During his career, working independently or in collaboration, he has restored more than one hundred bronze and gold-and-silver objects—including the Lotus-and-Crane Square Hu, bronze you vessels, Spring and Autumn bronze wares, the gilt-bronze treasure casket of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, fittings from the bells and stands of the Zhonghe Shao Music, and the Songpeng fruit cover—and has replicated more than one hundred bronze objects. He attaches importance to the transmission of the craft and has taken Gao Fei as his apprentice. Yun Xiaogang (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born November 1962, from Beijing. A representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the Bronzeware Restoration and Replication Craft, a national intangible cultural heritage item. Over more than thirty years of work, he took part in restoring grade-one cultural relics such as the Shang-dynasty bronze Qi Shi Zu Xin zhi, the Spring and Autumn bronze Qi Rongji pan, the eagle-pillar pan, the dragon-eared square hu, the Sword of the King of Yue, the Maiche tiangliang you, and the sheng ding, as well as Warring States bronze mirrors, bronze dun, and nipple-pattern ding. In restoration work, he is able to combine modern restoration methods with the actual condition of each relic to solve practical problems. He emphasises summing up practical restoration experience and has published more than ten papers. He has taken Yin Hang as his apprentice.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Youliang 04-1926
- Yunxiaogang 05-2881
- Lvtuanjie 05-2882
- Zhang Peichen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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