Copperware Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The origin of Kashgar Uyghur copperware is directly tied to the demand for vessels brought by Silk Road trade. Kashgar, anciently called Shule, was a strategic junction on the ancient Silk Road where Chinese and foreign merchants gathered in great numbers; both merchant caravans and religious activities required batches of copper vessels—copper ewers, copper pots, copper trays, and copper lamps. Craftsmen, on the one hand, fixed designs according to local usage habits, and on the other, processed vessels by reference to the forms of foreign objects, the two styles coexisting in the same workshop. Local copper supply was continuous, and the crafts of forging copper, chiseling, and welding were passed down through generations, so copperware-making became closely interwoven with the oasis's agricultural and pastoral life and with the implements of mosques and households. In recent years this craft was included in the traditional-craft list, and its protecting institution is set up at the Kashgar City Cultural Center.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Kashgar Uyghur copperware-making technique is one of the representatives of China's traditional copperware-making techniques. It mainly spreads in Kashgar City of the Kashgar region, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and radiates to the surrounding counties of Shufu, Shule, Yarkand (Shache), and Yengisar, as well as some county-level cities of the Hotan region and some of the Aksu region. Kashgar lies in southwestern Xinjiang, anciently called "Shule." As a strategic junction of the ancient Silk Road, it was an international commercial port where Chinese and foreign merchants gathered, and is also Xinjiang's only National Historical and Cultural City. The emergence of the Kashgar Uyghur copperware-making technique is closely linked to the historical development, folk customs, culture, and arts of the Uyghur people. The Uyghur copperware-making technique still preserves the most traditional processing skills to this day, with little use of mechanized tools. The technique has four main steps. First, according to the quality of the copper and the field of use of the copper vessel to be made, select the copper material (namely brass, red copper, white copper, mixed bronze, etc.), conceive and design the vessel model, and measure and cut the material. Second, manufacture the large components of the vessel. Next, manufacture the various small components of the vessel, and weld or connect the vessel components to one another. Finally, polish or buff to make it smooth and bright, with clear patterns and decorative lines, and a well-proportioned, beautiful form. Vessel carving is generally done mostly by hand, while polishing is done with electric machinery. The finished Uyghur copperware is beautiful and generous, exquisite and fine, flexible and varied, and rich in connotation. The Uyghur copperware-making technique has a long history. It is an important component of Uyghur handicraft culture, with unique artistic characteristics and strong artistic expressiveness, displaying the feature of the interactive fusion of Eastern and Western plastic arts; it has important reference value for the study of the history of Uyghur and Western-Region metallurgy techniques and of historical culture.
Choosing metal, setting the form and cutting stock
Brass and red copper serve pots and kettles, white copper gives a pale surface and tin-mixed bronze is used for others; the model is conceived first and the stock measured and cut to it.
Forming large parts and soldering small ones
The main body is raised first, then spouts, handles and ears are made separately and soldered or riveted on; the ornament is still cut by hand and only the final polish is done by machine.
The shapes qilapuchi and abuduwa
Abuduwa is a tall washing pot, qilapuchi a receiving pot and qiaogonghu a tall kettle for boiling water; their high waists and long spouts and handles suit dry-country use and the manners of hospitality.
The final polish that reveals the pattern
Once everything is joined, the final polish or grinding makes the surface bright, brings the patterns and flowers into clarity and leaves the form balanced; the depth of every incised line is settled at this stage.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Among the most typical are the Abdowa (a high-waisted hand-washing ewer), the Qilapchi (water-receiving ewer), and the Qiaogong pot (a high-waisted water-boiling ewer) commonly used in Uyghur households, whose local, ethnic, and artistic characteristics are all very distinct.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Copperware Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, the craft has one autonomous-region-level representative inheritor, three prefecture-level representative inheritors, and eight city-level representative inheritors, who actively promote the dissemination and transmission of the copperware-making technique through production practice and the establishment of cooperatives, among other means. The craft spreads across the whole of Xinjiang; its transmission and dissemination can not only drive local economic development, but also strengthen cultural exchange and cooperation between China and abroad and among regions, enhance friendly ethnic interaction, and holds important historical, cultural, and social value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Anmin 05-2899
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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