Yunnan Weiqizi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Go originated in China and was already recorded in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; it is an important part of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and can be called a national treasure. Yunnan Go stones, of which Yunzi and Yongzi are the typical representatives, are first recorded in Fu Mengqiu's “Rhapsody on Go” of the Tang dynasty: “The board is made of patterned catalpa wood, the stones come from the furnaces of southern Yunnan.” Go was introduced into Yunnan in the Han dynasty, and in the Tang dynasty Yunnan Go stones were mostly fired from earthenware clay. The making of Yunnan Go stones reached its greatest height in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The craft of making Yunnan Go stones (Yunzi and Yongzi) is mainly practised in Longyang District of Baoshan City and Guandu District of Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Yunnan has a mountainous plateau terrain and is the province with the greatest variety of plant species in the country, as well as being extremely rich in mineral resources. Yunnan's abundant yew and pistacia are excellent woods for making Go bowls, fir and hemlock can be used for boards, and the rich mineral resources serve for the stones themselves; these fine raw materials brought about the emergence and development of the Yunnan Go stone craft. The craft uses quality Yunnan borax, quartz sand, southern red agate, yellow dragon jade, jadeite and other natural mineral raw materials, fired in kilns by the old method and formed by a distinctive hand-dripping technique. The main process steps include selecting the raw materials, crushing and grinding, weighing and compounding, high-temperature fusion, hand drip-moulding, annealing and cooling, matte polishing, rinsing and sun-drying, quality grading, and packing the finished product. In this craft the compounding of the ingredients is the core secret, and drip-moulding the stones is the key technique. The finished stones are smooth and mellow in texture yet extremely hard, black as ink and white as jade, warm in winter and cool in summer; through the ages they have been universally acknowledged as the finest of Go stones. In the Song and Yuan periods black and white glazes were added to the earthenware clay and fired into ceramic Go stones. In the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty, the Yunnan man Li Dezhang used agate, fluorite and other quality minerals as raw materials, adopting a special formula, fusing them at high temperature and drip-moulding Go stones by hand. The craft of making Yunnan Go stones (Yunzi and Yongzi) is an indispensable part of Chinese Go culture and has high historical and cultural value.
Archival Records of Process Steps
The main process steps include selecting the raw materials, crushing and grinding, weighing and compounding, high-temperature fusion, hand drip-moulding, annealing and cooling, matte polishing, rinsing and sun-drying, quality grading, and packing the finished product.
Compounding the minerals
Borax, quartz sand, agate, yellow jade and jadeite are compounded in proportions that decide the character of each colour — hard and moist for black, smooth but not slick for white — and the formula is kept within the workshop.
High-temperature fusion
The compounded minerals are fused at high heat into a flowing mass; an even temperature matters, for too fierce burns the batch and too slow lets it settle, and impurities float out before the pour.
Drip-moulding the stones
The molten material is dripped by hand into metal moulds, one drop to a stone; the judge is the consistency of the melt, too thin and the shape sags, too thick and the surface stays rough, before the pieces are annealed.
Matte polishing and grading
After annealing the stones are polished to a soft sheen, washed and dried, then graded by colour and quality; the famed feel — black as ink, white as jade, warm in winter and cool in summer — depends on how finely they are finished.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yunnan Go stone craft is mainly practised in Longyang District of Baoshan and Guandu District of Kunming, each of the two places with its own strengths based on local mineral materials and craftsmen's traditions. The stones produced are sold within the province and beyond, with merchants and Go players coming and going without cease, so the old methods of compounding and drip-moulding have been handed down from generation to generation with the physical stones as their evidence. The convenience of raw materials is especially important: borax, quartz and other minerals are produced in both central and western Yunnan, the wood for Go bowls comes from yew and pistacia, and that for boards from fir and hemlock; materials and minerals alike lie within one province, which is why this craft has never been interrupted since the Tang dynasty.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Historically this craft was transmitted mainly through master-to-apprentice or family lines. It scientifically compounds the powders of different minerals, applying knowledge from gemmology, physical chemistry and metallurgy, and is of great scientific value in the field of new materials.
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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