Yintaiqiasifalangqi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Since its introduction into Yongsheng it has continually absorbed cultural elements from the Bai, Naxi, Tibetan, Yi and other ethnic groups. Since the Ming dynasty, Yongsheng enamel silverware has been sold both within and beyond the province, and it enjoys a high reputation overseas, especially in the countries of Southeast Asia; it is one of Yunnan's famous local specialty products.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Yongsheng enamel silverware craft is an important component of the craft of silver-bodied cloisonné enamelware. It is transmitted mainly in the Han Chinese communities of Yongbei and Sanchuan townships in Yongsheng County, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, on the Hengduan Mountains and the plateau of north-western Yunnan, and radiates into the surrounding areas. Yongsheng County is rich in coal, placer gold, copper and other mineral resources, which provided the material basis for the development of the silver-bodied cloisonné craft. The craft is based chiefly on the cloisonné technique known in the Yuan dynasty as "Guiguo inlay": fine silver wire is used to inlay patterns on a silver body, and enamel glaze is filled into the pattern cells and fired. The technique was brought to Yunnan by artisans who accompanied Kublai Khan, Shizu of the Yuan dynasty, on his campaign against the Dali Kingdom. Its main process steps are melting the silver, casting the mould, pressing the mould, making the blank, shaping, soldering, drawing the wire, wire inlay (cloisons), applying enamel, firing the enamel, washing and brightening, inspection and packing, and so on. Among these, wire inlay, enamel filling and enamel firing are the core techniques and are the most difficult. In recent years the number of people working in the enamel silverware craft has grown steadily and the market has continued to expand, and it has played a positive role in promoting rural revitalisation and inclusive social development.
Documented process steps
Its main process steps are melting the silver, casting the mould, pressing the mould, making the blank, shaping, soldering, drawing the wire, wire inlay (cloisons), applying enamel, firing the enamel, washing and brightening, inspection and packing, and so on.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The traditional wares of Yongsheng enamel silverware are chiefly jewellery and wine vessels. Their shapes and decorative patterns follow the tradition that every motif must carry a meaning and every meaning must be auspicious; the finished pieces are strongly three-dimensional and richly coloured, and are much loved by the local people.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Its well-developed transport also created favourable conditions for the trade and circulation of handmade enamel silverware and promoted the spread and transmission of the craft. After the 1990s, through nearly 30 years of unremitting effort by the relevant departments and the practising families, the convention that the traditional enamel silverware craft was transmitted only within families and only from men to men was broken. Today it is passed on in many ways, including family transmission, master-to-apprentice teaching, company training and joint training by enterprises and universities, and the ranks of inheritors have continued to grow. The area of transmission has also expanded from Yongsheng County to Dali, Kunming, Wenzhou, Shenzhen and other places. In several hundred years of transmission in Yongsheng, the enamelware craft has both retained its own technical characteristics and absorbed the features of Yongsheng's regional culture and the cultural elements of its various ethnic groups. It is a typical case for the study of cultural collision, exchange, fusion and change among different countries, regions and ethnic groups.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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