Lacquer masters apply historic touch

Lacquer art is widely applied in the making of various items, such as ornamental boxes.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Editor's note: Traditional arts and crafts are supreme examples of Chinese cultural heritage. China Daily is publishing this series to show how master artisans are using dedication and innovation to inject new life into heritage. In this installment, we explore the long-lasting luster of lacquer.

Lacquer art: Tears of nature, timeless beauty

Art form utilizes nature's resilient sap and evolves with the accumulation of time, patience and artistry, Lin Qi reports.

At first, it appears to just be a piece of decayed wood. No one would bother giving it a second glimpse. Not unless one is told that this object, standing no more than 6 centimeters with some red stains, is of great historical significance. Belonging to the Neolithic period, it suggests that people living along the Yangtze River between 6 and 7 millennia ago had sourced sap from lacquer trees and used it to facilitate their daily lives.

This wooden piece, later identified as a bowl coated with a thin layer of lacquer, was excavated from the relic site of Hemudu Culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang province, in 1977. The Neolithic culture once thrived along the Yangtze's lower reaches and, according to archaeological findings, has produced jade objects, lacquerware and other relics.

When the people of Hemudu applied lacquer to the bowl, it is believed that they also mixed the varnish with vermilion to beautify the piece, explaining the red stains.

The bowl is now part of a collection at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in the provincial capital of Hangzhou.

The chemistry between a man's hands and raw lacquer evolved in this land for millennia.

The advances of human intelligence to utilize the juice of nature, manual dexterity and creativity have dramatically changed the appearance of lacquerwork. It is vividly evident if the Hemudu bowl is juxtaposed with another bowl, made by prominent living artists in the field, such as Gan Erke, 69, from Anhui province, who is reputed for his lacquerwork featuring distinctive marbled patterns.

No one could better summarize the evolution of the techniques and artistic styles than Yang Ming, a celebrated lacquerer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), who wrote in the preface for Xiushi Lu, a publication on Chinese lacquerwork written by fellow artisan Huang Cheng in the 16th century, which stated that the techniques and types "have been so well-developed and diverse, one would find it an extravagant feast for the eyes".

编者按：传统工艺美术是中国文化遗产的最高典范。《中国日报》正在出版这一系列，以展示大师级工匠如何用奉献和创新为遗产注入新的活力。在本期中，我们将探讨漆的持久光泽。

漆艺：自然之泪，永恒之美

林琦报道说，艺术形式利用了大自然的韧性，并随着时间、耐心和艺术性的积累而发展。

起初，它似乎只是一块腐烂的木头。没有人会费心再看一眼。除非有人告诉我们，这个不超过6厘米、有一些红色污渍的物体具有重大的历史意义。它属于新石器时代，表明6000年至7000年前居住在长江沿岸的人们从漆树中提取树液，并用它来促进日常生活。

1977年，在浙江省余姚市河姆渡文化遗址出土了这件后来被确定为涂有一层薄薄的漆的碗的木制品。新石器时代的文化曾经在长江下游地区蓬勃发展，根据考古发现，这里生产了玉器、漆器和其他文物。

河姆渡人在碗上涂漆时，相信他们也会将清漆与朱红色混合，以美化这件作品，解释红色污渍。

这只碗现在是省会杭州浙江省博物馆收藏的一部分。

人的手和生漆之间的化学反应在这片土地上进化了数千年。

人类利用自然之汁的智慧、灵巧的手工和创造力的进步极大地改变了漆器的外观。如果将河姆渡碗与该领域著名的在世艺术家制作的另一个碗并置，就可以清楚地看到这一点，例如来自安徽省的69岁的甘二可，他以独特的大理石花纹漆器而闻名。

明代（1368-1644）著名漆匠杨明在16世纪同行黄诚所著的中国漆器刊物《漆器录》序言中写道，漆器的工艺和类型“已经发展得如此发达和多样化，令人目不暇接”。

Depth of layers

Archaeological work has revealed that people began to use the fluid from lacquer trees as early as 8,000 years ago. "Because of its fine physical and chemical properties, natural lacquer as a coating material played a vital role in ancient times," says Yang Peizhang, 47, a lacquer artist and associate professor at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, in Beijing.

He is referring to a lacquer bow found at a grave site of the Neolithic Kuahuqiao Culture in Hangzhou, which is over 1,000 years older than the Hemudu bowl, and therefore considered the earliest lacquer object found in the country.

Lacquer sap was one of the early gifts people received from nature. It is milky and grayish when collected, and as it is exposed to the air, it turns a dark brown color.

After being purified, the lacquer is ready for use. It protects objects from water, humidity and insect infestation so they are more durable. It can also be mixed with color pigments for decorative purposes.

Layering lacquer onto the surfaces of objects multiple times for better protection requires patience; each layer must dry before the next is added. The process results in a distinguished depth, which is smooth, shiny and mysterious, leaving the object in a state of stability — achieving aesthetic heights that Yang Peizhang describes as "an essential part of the Eastern cultural tradition".

This was grounded on a system of sophisticated workmanship gradually formed in practice by craftsmen throughout several millennia, he says.

At Phoenix Kingdoms, an ongoing exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing, one will feel the splendor of lacquerwork in the late stage of the Bronze Age, proceeding people's initial exploration with the material and craft in the Neolithic period.

From the collections of five museums in Hubei province, a production hub of lacquer trees, a wide variety of objects on show stand as witness to the flourishing of several states between the 11th and 3rd centuries BC.

"Lacquer, lightweight and accessible, was used in many aspects of life at the time," says Chen Keshuang, the exhibition's curator.

"It was applied, mostly on a wooden core, to make armors, vessels, plucked zithers, wine cups, ornamental objects and drums."

These pieces are testimony to the height of lacquerware that would run through the 3rd century. Striking visual effects were created on an opaque lacquer-coated surface on a wooden, metal, cotton or other type of core, such as outlined patterns with other pigments, inlaid fine shells to generate light contrasts, and carved relief patterns — and sometimes gold leaf filling — to exhibit a three-dimensional effect.

Popular decorative motifs included animals, clouds and geometrical shapes.

This was just the beginning of ancient Chinese utilizing lacquer and other materials to make wares that define timeless beauty in their living spaces. By the time lacquerers Yang Ming and Huang worked on Xiushi Lu, there had been 14 primary crafts and over 300 varieties of lacquerware.

In the book, Huang mentions one such sophisticated technique called xipi qi, in which the time-consuming process of coloring, layering and polishing ultimately assumes a dazzling pattern — multiple interlaced colors, predominantly red, yellow and black, sometimes added with other hues to present "a harmonious feeling, and with a closer look, changeable details, a sense of fluidity and splendid luster", as the late scholar Yuan Quanyou once described.

各层深度

考古工作表明，早在8000年前，人们就开始使用漆树的液体。北京清华大学艺术与设计学院副教授、47岁的漆艺家杨培章说：“由于其优良的物理和化学性能，天然漆作为涂料在古代起着至关重要的作用。”。

他指的是在杭州新石器时代郭桥文化墓地发现的一把漆弓，它比河姆渡碗早1000多年，因此被认为是中国发现的最早的漆器。

漆树汁是人们从大自然中获得的早期礼物之一。收集时呈乳白色和灰色，当它暴露在空气中时，会变成深棕色。

经过净化后，漆就可以使用了。它保护物体免受水、湿度和虫害的侵害，使其更耐用。它也可以与彩色颜料混合用于装饰目的。

在物体表面多次涂上漆以获得更好的保护需要耐心；每层在添加下一层之前必须干燥。这个过程产生了一种独特的深度，光滑、闪亮、神秘，使物体处于一种稳定的状态，达到了杨培章所说的“东方文化传统的重要组成部分”的美学高度。

他说，这是基于几千年来工匠在实践中逐渐形成的复杂工艺体系。

在北京中国国家博物馆正在进行的“凤凰王朝”展览中，人们将感受到青铜时代晚期漆器的辉煌，对新石器时代的材料和工艺进行初步探索。

湖北省是漆树的生产中心，从湖北省五家博物馆的藏品中，展出了各种各样的物品，见证了公元前11世纪至公元前3世纪几个国家的繁荣。

展览策展人陈克煌说：“当时，漆器轻便易用，被用于生活的许多方面。”。

它主要应用于木制核心，用于制作盔甲、器皿、拔古筝、酒杯、装饰品和鼓

这些作品见证了漆器在3世纪的高度发展。在木制、金属、棉花或其他类型的核心上涂有不透明漆的表面上创造了引人注目的视觉效果，例如用其他颜料勾勒出的图案、镶嵌的精美贝壳以产生光对比，以及雕刻的浮雕图案（有时是金叶填充物）以展示三维效果。

流行的装饰图案包括动物、云朵和几何形状。

这只是中国古代利用漆器和其他材料制作在生活空间中定义永恒之美的器皿的开始。到漆匠杨明和黄在修石路工作时，已经有14种主要工艺和300多种漆器。

在书中，黄提到了一种名为“犀皮器”的复杂技术，在这种技术中，耗时的着色、分层和抛光过程最终呈现出令人眼花缭乱的图案——多种交织的颜色，主要是红、黄和黑，有时还会添加其他色调，以呈现“和谐的感觉，近距离观察，细节多变，流动感和灿烂的光泽”，正如已故学者袁全友曾经描述的那样。

【语法填空改编】

Archaeological work has revealed that people began to use the fluid from lacquer trees as early as 8,000 years ago. Lacquer sap was one of the early gifts people received from nature. It is milky and grayish when collected, and as it 1._______(expose) to the air, it turns a dark brown color.After being purified, the lacquer is ready for use. It protects objects from water, 2._________(humid) and insect infestation so they are more durable. 3.______ can also be mixed with color pigments for decorative purposes.Layering lacquer onto the surfaces of objects multiple times for better protection requires patience; each layer must dry before the next is added. The process results in a distinguished depth, 4.________ is smooth, shiny and mysterious, leaving the object in a state of stability — achieving aesthetic heights that Yang Peizhang describes as "an essential part of the Eastern cultural tradition".This was grounded 5.________ a system of sophisticated workmanship gradually formed in practice by craftsmen throughout several millennia, he says.

Popular decorative motifs included animals, clouds and geometrical shapes.This was just the beginning of ancient Chinese utilizing lacquer 6._______ other materials to make wares that define timeless beauty in their living spaces. By the time lacquerers Yang Ming and Huang worked on Xiushi Lu, there 7._________(be) 14 primary crafts and over 300 varieties of lacquerware.In the book, Huang mentions one such sophisticated technique called xipi qi, in which the time-consuming process of coloring, layering and polishing 8._______(ultimate) assumes a dazzling pattern — multiple interlaced 9._______(color), predominantly red, yellow and black, sometimes added with other hues to present "a harmonious feeling, and with a closer look, changeable details, 10.________ sense of fluidity and splendid luster", as the late scholar Yuan Quanyou once described.

【参考答案】

1.is exposed 2.humidity 3.It 4.which 5.on 6.and 7.had been 8.ultimately 9.colors 10.a

Diverse styles

Gan, an esteemed artist committed to carrying on this unique lacquer style into modern times, says there is a debate over how the term xipi originated — it could be inspired by a torn leather saddle or the texture of rhinoceros hide — while "it is agreed that lacquerers discovered the color patterns in nature and managed to replicate them on lacquer".

He says the encyclopedic view of Chinese lacquerwork shows varying features from different regions to reflect local history and cultures, as "some developed a neat, majestic style to fulfill royal requests while others addressed the aesthetic preference of intellectuals to be poetic and aloof".

In the mid-17th century, artisans in southern Fujian province developed a new technique to decorate Buddhist statues with lacquer threads, which further evolved into a homegrown form of lacquered sculpture. When Cai Shuikuang (1939-2021), a lacquerer in Xiamen, Fujian, inherited this family undertaking in the 1950s, it had become a delicate job that Cai later named qi xian diao (lacquer thread sculpture).

The style requires piling and accumulating various diameters of lacquer threads on a lacquer-coated ware to form repeated patterns and complicated motifs of several levels. It can be done on a small porcelain vase or on large temple statues.

Both Gan and Cai have endeavored to keep the craft alive in modern life.

Gan has collaborated with luxury brands to integrate lacquerwork with new materials and designs. For example, he applied the xipi qi coating to part of a chair made of carbon fiber and a rosewood table to render "both classical and modern feelings".

In the twilight of his life, Cai was devoted to cultivating the younger generation of lacquerers in his family while holding workshops and lectures at schools to popularize the craft. "It is my mission to inherit (the craft). It is my job to pass it on to the next generation, which is far more important than making money," he once said.

Yang Peizhang from Tsinghua University says that aesthetics have evolved and will continue to transform, and however artistry is defined, the life of lacquerwork is first grounded on the well-preserved techniques passed down and based on artists developing new techniques to carry the tradition forward.

风格多样

甘是一位受人尊敬的艺术家，致力于将这种独特的漆器风格延续到现代，他说，关于“xipi”一词的起源存在争议——它的灵感可能来自撕裂的皮革马鞍或犀牛皮的质地——而“人们一致认为，漆器师在自然界中发现了颜色图案，并设法在漆器上复制了它们”。

他说，中国漆器的百科全书式观点显示了不同地区的不同特征，以反映当地的历史和文化，因为“一些人发展了一种整洁、雄伟的风格来满足皇室的要求，而另一些人则解决了知识分子对诗意和超然的审美偏好”。

17世纪中叶，福建省南部的工匠开发了一种用漆线装饰佛像的新技术，这进一步发展成为一种本土的漆雕形式。20世纪50年代，福建厦门的漆匠蔡水光（1939-2021）继承了这项家族事业，这已经成为一项精细的工作，蔡后来将其命名为漆线雕。

这种风格要求在漆器上堆叠和积累各种直径的漆线，形成多层次的重复图案和复杂图案。它可以在一个小瓷瓶或大型寺庙雕像上完成。

甘和蔡都努力使这门手艺在现代生活中得以延续。

甘与奢侈品牌合作，将漆器与新材料和设计相结合。例如，他在碳纤维制成的椅子和红木桌子的一部分上涂上了西皮气涂料，以呈现“古典和现代的感觉”。

晚年，蔡致力于培养家里年轻一代的漆匠，同时在学校举办工作坊和讲座，推广漆器工艺。他曾说过：“继承（手艺）是我的使命。我的工作是把它传给下一代，这比赚钱重要得多。”。

清华大学的杨培章表示，美学已经发展并将继续变革，无论艺术性如何定义，漆器的生命首先建立在保存完好的传承技术之上，并以艺术家开发新技术来继承传统为基础。

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