Jinxiangyu Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade craft is said to have begun in the Ming dynasty; the first inheritor recorded in historical sources is Li Shouren, a Hui who learned the craft in the final years of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade craft is one of the representative forms of China's traditional gold-inlaid jade work, and is distributed mainly in Yaozhuang Hui Township, Jiaxian County, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province. Jiaxian lies in the central-western part of Henan Province and has a warm-temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons; it is rich in resources such as potter's clay, plum-blossom jade and the horsetail grass used for polishing. Yaozhuang Township stands in the south-eastern part of Jiaxian; most of its residents are Hui. The Yunliang River, the ancient Luobianwan road and the Ten-Thousand-Li Tea Route all pass through it. Teahouses, goldsmiths' shops and ceramic shops thrived there, and local people have long had the custom of wearing gold and silver and jade ornaments and using ceramic vessels. The suitable climate and rich local produce created excellent conditions for the birth and development of the Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade craft. In its early form, the craft consisted of reinforcing damaged everyday articles such as pots, bowls, dishes and basins with wire and strips of copper, iron or tin. It later developed into work in which bodies of jade, Jun ware, Ru ware and zisha clay are decorated with gold, silver, copper or tin as the ornament material, finished according to the shape of the vessel, the colour scheme and the customer's requirements. Its process comprises several dozen steps including selecting the material, smelting, fine carving and inlaying, with the restoration of broken objects and the covering of flaws by ornament as its core techniques. The tools used are mainly moulds, smelting furnaces, files, punches, hammers, shears, drills and soldering irons. Besides Henan itself, Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade products are also sold in Hubei, Fujian, Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as in a number of overseas countries. The Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade craft is a traditional skill fused, created, transmitted and developed over a history in which several ethnic groups lived together. It carries ethnic feeling and memory and bears witness to the rise and decline of the Ten-Thousand-Li Tea Route and to the history of harmonious coexistence, exchange and integration among the ethnic groups. Its raw materials are environmentally sound and carefully chosen, its techniques intricate and its varieties numerous, and the motifs it presents are rich in meaning. It has relatively high historical, cultural, scientific and artistic value and is a valuable asset for promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development.
Documented process steps
Its process comprises several dozen steps including selecting the material, smelting, fine carving and inlaying, with the restoration of broken objects and the covering of flaws by ornament as its core techniques. The tools used are mainly moulds, smelting furnaces, files, punches, hammers, shears, drills and soldering irons.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The motifs on Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade products are ingeniously conceived and carry both Hui and Han characteristics; they are rich in meaning and number about a hundred or more, with themes such as fortune, emolument, longevity and happiness and the dragon and phoenix bringing auspiciousness predominating, and with the emphasis on honouring tradition, praising the present and invoking blessings for the future. The products have long been used as household articles and in folk ceremonies and rituals such as weddings, the hundredth-day celebration and birthday congratulations, and are deeply loved by the local people.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Thereafter the craft was transmitted from generation to generation mainly in the Li family of Maolangmiao Village, Yaozhuang Township, for six generations to date, and gradually spread to the surrounding areas. In recent years, as intangible cultural heritage protection has been effectively advanced, the project has expanded from a family transmission that was barred to women and to those outside the clan into transmission through masters and apprentices and through groups. In particular, the skills training classes held in recent years have strengthened the training of successors by means of oral instruction and personal example, on-site demonstration, memorising the key points, drawing the designs and practising carving with abrasives. At present more than 100 people work in the Jiaxian gold-inlaid jade craft, and the related investigation, documentation, transmission and dissemination activities are being carried out in an orderly manner.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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