Hulu Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The craft of making decorative gourds took shape in the Tang dynasty and has a history of more than a thousand years to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The gourd-making craft is found in many parts of the country, and the Tianjin gourd-making craft is one of its representative examples. In terms of the natural environment, Tianjin lies at the lower reaches of nine rivers and close to the Bohai Sea, with varied soil types suitable for growing gourds; in terms of its human setting, Tianjin is a major commercial centre in northern China and also the centre of northern curio and collectible culture. All this provided favourable conditions for the development of the Tianjin gourd-making craft and related industries. The Tianjin gourd-making craft refers chiefly to the Zhao family's gourd craft: by techniques such as constricting, mould-forming, pyrography, carving and painting, gourds that are natural to begin with are made to grow exactly as desired and become marvellously wrought art treasures. The craft requires 36 process steps, mainly mould-forming, pyrographic drawing, impressing and colour painting, with mould-forming predominant. Mould-forming means placing a growing gourd into a mould carved with intaglio designs; as the gourd grows it gradually fills the space inside the mould, and once the gourd has lignified it is taken out, whereupon the incised designs of the mould appear on the gourd in relief. It is the most complicated and the most technically demanding part of the gourd-making craft. Mould-formed decorative gourds include scholar's desk items, tea-ceremony utensils and incense-ceremony utensils, as well as snuff bottles, display pieces and cricket containers. These works are strict in composition, well proportioned in layout, clear in grain and exquisite in workmanship. Pyrography is a technique that uses incense sticks, branding irons and the like to leave brown patterns on the surface of the gourd. Colour painting is a technique that fills in colours on the basis of the pyrographic drawing. Impressing is a technique in which agate, jade or ox horn is ground to a blunt edge and used to press, burnish, squeeze and push the gourd surface until patterns in the manner of relief appear. Carving is a technique that produces relief or openwork effects by cutting, chiefly openwork carving, pierced carving and relief carving. In Tianjin the gourd-growing and processing craft transmitted in the Zhao family has a history of at least a hundred years. The Tianjin gourd-making craft follows the old court methods of mould-forming gourds and, on that basis, keeps refining and developing them.
Archival Records of Process Steps
The craft requires 36 process steps, mainly mould-forming, pyrographic drawing, impressing and colour painting, with mould-forming predominant. Mould-forming means placing a growing gourd into a mould carved with intaglio designs; as the gourd grows it gradually fills the space inside the mould, and once the gourd has lignified it is taken out, whereupon the incised designs of the mould appear on the gourd in relief. It is the most complicated and the most technically demanding part of the gourd-making craft.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Tianjin gourd-making craft centres on the Zhao family of the Baodi area, carrying on the old court methods of mould-forming, and the craft later spread to various places in Beijing and Hebei. The mould-forming stakes handed down in the Zhao family date from the Qing dynasty to the present day; more than 1,300 of them survive, along with more than 300 varieties of gourd. More than one line is transmitted: mould-forming is the most complicated, pyrography uses incense sticks and branding irons to draw brown patterns, and impressing uses blunt-edged agate to press out relief. The craft has now been passed down to the fourth generation.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It was born, transmitted and developed in Tianjin, and spread to Beijing, Hebei and other places. At present the craft has been transmitted to the fourth generation in the Zhao family; as many as 300 or more varieties of gourd are grown, and the moulds used for growing mould-formed gourds are preserved — including more than 1,300 stakes handed down from the Qing dynasty to the present. The word for gourd (hulu) is a homophone of “blessing and emolument” (fulu), embodying people's longing for good fortune and happiness; the gourd has broad cultural connotations and artistic value, and is one of the objects people handle daily, display, or give to relatives and friends. Protecting and transmitting this craft well helps in understanding court gourd culture, enriching people's lives, promoting social harmony and carrying forward fine traditional culture.
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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