Chinese lacquerware

Lacquerware is an important invention in chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China. It is usually painted with vermilion and black, or black with vermilion, forming a gorgeous colorful world with beautiful patterns on the surface of the object. Since the Neolithic Age, the Chinese have understood the properties of lacquer and used it to make tools. From the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's lacquerware technology continued to develop and reached a very high level. China's gold-plating, gold-painting and other handicrafts have had a profound impact on Japan and other places.

Daily utensils, handicrafts, and art objects made of raw lacquer coated on the surfaces of various utensils are generally called "lacquer ware". Raw lacquer is the natural sap cut from the lacquer tree, which is mainly composed of urushiol, laccase, gum and water. Use it as a coating, which has special functions such as moisture resistance, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. It can also be formulated with different colors of paint to make it look dazzling. Lacquerware is an important invention in chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China. It originated in the Neolithic Age and went through the Shang and Zhou Dynasties until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The craftsmanship continued to develop and reached a very high level. Its gold-making, gold-painting and other handicrafts have also had a profound impact on Japan and other places.

Historical inheritance

Prehistory

About seven thousand years ago, our ancestors were already able to make lacquerware. In 1978, a vermillion lacquer wooden bowl and a vermilion lacquer tube were discovered at the Hemudu cultural site in Yuyao, Zhejiang. After chemical methods and spectral analysis, it was found that the paint was natural lacquer.

Pre-Qin

After the Xia Dynasty, the variety of lacquerware gradually increased. During the Warring States Period, the lacquerware industry took the lead, forming an unprecedented prosperity that lasted for five centuries. According to records, Zhuangzi once worked as a minor official in charge of the lacquer industry when he was young. During the Warring States Period, the scale of lacquerware production was already very large, and it was listed as an important economic income by the country, and dedicated personnel were set up to manage it. The production process of lacquerware is complex and time-consuming, and there are many types of lacquerware. It is not only used to decorate furniture, utensils, stationery and works of art, but also used in musical instruments, funeral utensils, weapons, etc. Lacquer ware at this time was very expensive, but the emerging princes were no longer keen on bronze ware, and turned their interest to lacquer ware that was bright, clean, easy to wash, light, heat-insulating, corrosion-resistant, and decorated with colorful inlays. Therefore, lacquer ware was to a certain extent Replaced bronze. During this period, lacquerware was generally painted with vermilion and black, or black with vermilion, creating a gorgeous world of color with graceful patterns on the surface. There are more than 220 pieces of lacquerware unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Hubei. These lacquerwares are the earliest and most exciting among the Chu tombs. They have a full range of categories, large sizes and simple styles. These exquisite lacquerwares embody the charm of Chu culture.

Han Dynasty

The lacquerware of Han Dynasty was also mainly black and red. The Han Dynasty was the heyday of lacquer ware. The varieties of lacquer ware increased to include boxes, plates, boxes, earrings, dishes and bowls, baskets, boxes, rulers, saliva pots, masks, chessboards, stools, chairs, tables, etc. At the same time, it also created the New craftsmanship techniques, such as colorful, needle carving, copper buckles, gold veneers, tortoiseshell flakes, inlays, paint piles and other decorative techniques.

According to different utensils, lacquerware patterns are expressed in rough and concise lines or complicated compositions to enhance the dynamics and strength of people or animals. The alternating colors of black and red produce bright and beautiful special effects. On the intertwined picture of red and black, a magnificent and colorful artistic style with a sense of music is formed, showing a mythical world where humans and gods are present, strange, flowing, and magical.

Tang Dynasty

The lacquerware of the Tang Dynasty reached an unprecedented level. It was made of thick lacquer and embossed with raised patterns; shells were cut into objects and carved with lines. , mother-of-pearl wares inlaid with patterns on the lacquer surface; gold and silver flat wares inlaid with gold and silver flowers. The craftsmanship surpasses that of the previous generation, and the carvings and chisels are exquisite. Combined with the lacquer craftsmanship, it has become a handicraft that represents the style of the Tang Dynasty. Red lacquerware also appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Ramie sculptures are the inheritance and development of reincarnation techniques since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. First, clay is used to make an embryo, and the exterior is covered with ramie cloth. The dry lacquer ramie Buddha statues in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are expensive and time-consuming. They are rare because of their small number. At present, the most complete preserved Dunhuang Buddha statue covered with dry lacquer and ramie is circulated in the British Museum in the United States.

Among the remaining Buddhist images unearthed in Hotan, there are pottery statues, a few wooden statues and works similar to the lacquered ramie statue. Among the clay sculptures and pottery statues, in addition to the statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva that are more or less "Gandhara" in style, there are also many statues of kings, warriors and donors of various shapes, most of which were made from local materials by the sculpture creators. It is a variety of characters with different identities and personalities taken from local real life.

Among the wooden statues unearthed from Hotan in southern Xinjiang, there is a statue of the Heavenly King with a damaged body. Its armor and attire are mostly of the Central Plains style, but its expression and appearance are modeled on local figures. Another wooden statue is divided into three layers. Most of the images are naked and straight, almost purely Indian. On the right side of the lowest level, two male donors are carved, which are the clothes of the Central Plains at that time. There is also a fragmented Buddha's hand, which is made of ramie cloth and painted with pastels, which is very similar to the Chinese method of inserting ramie lacquer statues. From the hand of this Buddha, we can further understand the reality of Xinjiang Buddhist sculpture art. The muscles and joints of this hand are very round and soft, as if the cortex is full of flowing blood. Such masterpieces of art cannot be compared with ordinary works that merely imitate their appearance.

Song and Yuan dynasties

The Song and Yuan Dynasties were once considered to be the era of one-color lacquer ware, but the excavation of many highly decorated lacquer ware from the Song and Song dynasties corrected the past understanding. The pearl relic sutra pillar found in the Ruiguang Temple Pagoda in Suzhou, the Suan Ni and Baoxiang flowers on the base, and the donors were deplasticized with thick paint. The most accomplished lacquerware in the Yuan Dynasty was carved lacquerware, which was characterized by thick piles of lacquer and rich and round patterns carved with hidden-edge knife techniques. The appearance is simple and pure, but the details are extremely exquisite, which has a special charm in texture, such as the red plate carved with mast patterns collected by Zhang Cheng in the Palace Museum, the square red plate with Yang Mao's early view of the waterfall, and the Wujian painted by Zhang Cheng in the Anhui Provincial Museum. Zhuxian rhinoceros box, etc.

Ming and Qing dynasties

Beijing was the capital of both the Ming and Qing dynasties of China. Its culture and art inherited from the Song and Yuan dynasties and continued to develop and improve. At the same time, the living customs and cultural characteristics of ethnic minorities such as the Mongols, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Manchus have had some influence on the traditional culture of the Han people and greatly enriched the cultural traditions of the Chinese nation. Foreign trade was relatively developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties. While exporting, some Arab and European crafts were also introduced, imitated, absorbed, and digested, injecting new blood into the development of arts and crafts during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The arts and crafts of this period experienced 549 years of development and changes, forming a unique style and appearance of the times. During this period, the painting process was combined with architecture, furniture, and furnishings, and shifted from practicality to furnishing and decoration. It has entered a new era of countless styles based on techniques such as embellishing, duplication, inlaying, and inter-graining.

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Cheng and Yang Mao of Xitang in Jiaxing (now Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province) were first used as examples for lacquer carving.

Zhang Cheng’s sons Zhang Degang and Bao Liang presided over the official office of the Inner Orchard Factory Production of lacquerwork. During the Chenghua and Hongzhi years, the lacquer carving in the inner court became thinner and the patterns became sparse and clear, indicating that the Xitang School of lacquer carving had come to an end. Dali, Yunnan is another place where carved lacquer is produced, and only one famous lacquer worker is known to be Wang Song. During the Jiajing period, Yunnan carved lacquerware began to enter the inner court and displayed its skills. It finally replaced the Xitang School and changed the inner court carved lacquerwork. Its characteristics are that the knife does not hide its edge and its edges are not sharpened. The carved lacquer was lost in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign, the famous bamboo carver Feng Qi carved a sample, and Suzhou weaving lacquer was successfully imitated. Most of the carved lacquer used in the palace was also made in Suzhou. Yangzhou carved lacquers include mother-of-pearl, inlaid with treasures and other varieties. Mother-of-pearl is the most distinctive, among which the snails are the most exquisite. The lacquerware produced has fine patterns and colorful patterns. Famous craftsmen include Wang Guochen, Lu Yingzhi, Xia Qi Gong, etc. The latter is especially good at making antique red lacquerware. The lacquer work in Su and Yang was destroyed when the Qing government suppressed the Taiping Revolution. Fuzhou lacquerware is famous for its uniqueness, gorgeous color and light body. It was created by the famous craftsman Shen Zhaoan using the traditional clamping method. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing developed from repairing carved lacquer to imitating Yongle, Xuande and Qianlong carved lacquer. Maki-e lacquer is a famous Japanese lacquer. During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, the lacquer worker Yang was ordered to go to Japan to learn maki-e lacquer. He then returned to China and imitated it. His son Yang Xun studied there and made a replica of the original lacquer. Another painter, Jiang Huihui, was also good at imitating Shiki-e lacquer. In the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou's imitation Shiki-e lacquer was very popular, and the golden lacquer was shining and magnificent. The soft mother-of-pearl that appeared in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties is a new variety of mother-of-pearl. Xin'an (now Xin'an County, Anhui Province) Fang Xinchuan mother-of-pearl inlay paint and Yangzhou Lu Kuisheng's mother-of-pearl inlay paint were both famous for a while. Lacquer ware such as Jinjin and Tuotuo have also made progress to varying degrees.

Modern

Modern lacquerware craftsmanship is mainly distributed in Beijing, Jiangsu, Yangzhou, Shanghai, Sichuan Chongqing, Fujian, Shanxi Pingyao, Guizhou Dafang, Gansu Tianshui, Jiangxi Yichun, Shaanxi Fengxiang and other places . Among them, Beijing carved lacquer is decorated with dozens or even hundreds of layers on a wooden or copper body, and then relief carving. The color is mainly vermilion, and the style is rich and luxurious. Yangzhou lacquerware in Jiangsu Province is characterized by mother-of-pearl inlays, which are very exquisite when illuminated by light. Fujian bodiless lacquerware is characterized by its bright color, lightness and beauty, not afraid of water immersion, temperature resistance, and resistance to acid and alkali corrosion.

Sichuan lacquerware mostly uses polished painting techniques, is famous for carving and filling, or is famous for grinding and painting. In addition, there are Xiamen lacquer line decorations, Tianshui carvings and fillings, etc., all of which have different artistic characteristics.

Ancient lacquer has a lustrous luster, like black gold but not cold. It is bright and majestic, with a solemn and wealthy temperament. In ancient times, it was mostly used by the royal family and nobles. Contemporary Chinese arts and crafts workers use lacquer art. The natural beauty of the material and the craftsmanship are used to re-display it in graphic art, through a variety of visual languages ??such as color, gloss, texture, texture, etc., and to combine the dazzling artistic effects of traditional Chinese Jingtailan craftsmanship to produce visual pleasure. , evoking artistic beauty that is either deep and tranquil, or implicit, or luxurious, or simple and elegant, arousing the wisdom of the soul and conferring a high degree of spiritual enjoyment. [1]

Types of techniques

A method of decorating the surface of lacquerware with golden patterns. Gold is the most common on black ground, followed by vermilion or purple ground. Some people also call gold tracing as "gold and silver paint decoration method".

"Eight Notes of Zunsheng": "There are lacquered vessels in Xuande, piled with colorful thick lacquer to form patterns, and polished to look like pictures ------" "The Imperial Capital and Other Objects", lacquered and carved Flowers and birds are made, filled with thick paint, and polished to look like a picture------" This painting technique of piling up carvings and then filling in paint and grinding to reveal patterns is called "painting."

Also known as "luochai" or "luodian", it is a decorative technique in which figures, birds, animals, flowers and plants are made from thin shells and embedded in carved or lacquered objects, and then decorated with colors and traces. Lacquer, colored lacquer, rosy makeup, festoons, tracing colors and other production methods, decorated with gold, there are placer gold, tracing gold, sprinkling gold, coating gold, mud gold, gold paste and other names, according to their respective names, from It can be inferred that the production methods are different. In short, carved lacquer is the most noble and artistically interesting. Therefore, people in the Song Dynasty worked hard to make red lacquerware. If the boxes were used in the palace, gold and silver were often used. The red lacquer is piled up to dozens of layers thickly, and pictures of figures, towers, flowers and plants are carved. The craftsmanship of the knife and the carving are exquisite, just like strokes. Some have tin bodies, some have red ground, and some have red flowers and yellow ground. There are five-color carvings with different colors, such as red flowers, green leaves, yellow hearts and black stones. They are eye-catching, but few have been handed down from generation to generation.

Tang Gaoshi's feast with mother-of-pearl

The ground is also made of vermilion, and the surface is carved with various flowers and plants. The surface is black, and the ground is carved with various flowers and plants, and the brocade ground is embossed. The red and black are cute, but they are mostly boxes, followed by the steamed cake type boxes. , Hexi style, curtain section style, three-bump style, two-bump style, plum blossom style, oval style, ranging from a few feet to a few feet, with patterns on both sides. The plates are round, square, waist-shaped, and so on. There are four-corner, eight-corner, tapestry-like ones, and four-corner peony petals. The boxes are rectangular, square, two-bang, three-bang, etc.

The mother-of-pearl craft method originated very early in the Zhou Dynasty. It has been popular since the Tang Dynasty. Judging from the existing objects of mother-of-pearl in the Tang Dynasty, it was at a very high level at that time. Cao Zhao's "Gegu Lun Yao" states: "Mother-of-pearl utensils came out of Luling County, Ji'an Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. Items from the Song Dynasty imperial palace are still old-fashioned, but those with solid lacquer or inlaid copper wires are very good. In the Yuan Dynasty, rich people made them regardless of age or period. The paint was strong and the characters were cute. "There were two families, Zhang Cheng and Yang Mao, who were good at their crafts for a while, but the Zhu they used was not thick and the paint often cracked.

Dianluo lacquerware is a traditional handicraft in my country. In 1966, a piece of lacquerware was unearthed from the Yuan Dynasty site in Beijing The remaining pieces of the plate are inlaid with conch slices in Guanghan Palace. The Ming Dynasty was the peak period of snail lacquerware, and the level of craftsmanship has reached a very exquisite level. Shells, luminous snails, etc. are used as raw materials, and they are refined into conch slices as thin as cicada wings. The thin conch pieces are "dotted" on the paint base, hence the name "dianluo". Because the material used for inlaying the dotted conch is thinner and softer than the ordinary mother-of-pearl, it is also called "thin mother-of-pearl" and "soft mother-of-pearl" in today's Yangzhou and other places. , there is still the production of lacquer ware.

The thin slices of gold and silver are made into various patterns of characters, birds, animals, flowers, etc., and are pasted on the polished lacquer tire with glue. After drying, the whole surface is painted. The second and third layers of lacquer are then polished to reveal the gold and silver pattern, so that the pattern is as flat as the base of the paint, and then polished to become a beautiful flat lacquerware. Fine lines can be carved on the wider surface of the gold and silver pattern. The gold and silver pieces cannot be carved through. This decoration method is labor-intensive and the materials are noble, but the luster of the gold and silver and the lacquer color complement each other extremely gorgeously. It is a very precious lacquerware. ", "Taizhen Gaiden", "Tang Yulin", etc., all have records about the names of various flat lacquerware given to Anlushan by Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei of the Tang Dynasty.

It does not use paint ash but uses different colors. A painting technique for making patterns with ground paint. The current pile of paint can be made of glue, which can be gilded or painted.

It has a wide range of meanings. The technique of engraving patterns.

my country's carved lacquer began in the Tang Dynasty. Historically, Xitang in Jiaxing during the Yuan Dynasty was the most famous. In modern times, the main producing areas include Beijing, Yangzhou, Tianshui, Huizhou, etc. Most carved lacquers use bright red lacquer, so it is also called "Tihong". Carved lacquer is often made of wood ash or metal, and is piled with lacquer, ranging from eighty to ninety layers to as many as one or two hundred layers. It is a painting technique in which the drawing is traced and carved when it is semi-dry. Generally, the brocade pattern is used as the ground, and the pattern is hidden, which is exquisite, gorgeous and solemn.

Spotted paint is a lacquer decoration technique used in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was used as a decoration for vehicles in ancient times. This method is named because it uses two or more colored paints, interlaced with each other, to present various patterns, just like the patterns on animals and plants. "Painting and Decoration Records, Kun Collection, Complex Decoration": "Decorations with fine spots on the ground". Yang Ming’s note: “All the decorations listed are suitable for fine spots, and the spots are black, green, red, yellow, purple, and brown, and the texture and color are also the same. Six colors are used interchangeably, and there are two colors and three colors. If it is mixed, there may be spots of the same color, which can be divided into light and dark.” This seems to be similar to spot paint. In addition, using a single color paint to show patterns of different shades is also called spot paint.

"Eight Notes of Zunsheng": "There are lacquered vessels in Xuande, piled with colorful thick lacquer to form patterns, and polished to look like pictures ------" "The Imperial Capital and Other Objects", filled with lacquer and carved Flowers and birds are made, filled with thick paint, and smoothed to look like pictures ------" This painting technique of piling up carvings and then filling in paint and grinding to reveal patterns is called "painting."

There are no other procedures for lacquering. It is the only method of lacquering. It is simple, well-made and very cute, so this method is often used today.

The object is coated with lacquer, and after it is dry, the pattern is carved with a needle, and then gold shavings are sprinkled into the hollow to make it flat, which is called 戗金. The ancient word "Chuang", commonly pronounced as "Qiang", is a method of decorating objects with gold. According to the "General Record of Dan and Lead", there are four kinds of gold in the "Liu Dian" of the Tang Dynasty, and there is one method of creating gold. "Golden Cricket Pot Song", the creation of gold was very successful in the Ming Dynasty, so there were many famous vessels.

The surface of the lacquerware is piled into various patterns and covered with vermilion lacquer, which is called Duihong. The fake red paint is made of ash and painted with vermilion paint, which is called Duihong.

Technical Features

Overview

Lacquer ware. Generally refers to certain wooden or ceramic or metal objects coated with transparent or opaque paint. The lacquer used in ancient Chinese lacquerware is the natural sap harvested from the lacquer tree. The sap can be harvested from the lacquer tree when it is about 10 years old. ─ Raw lacquer. The production process of lacquerware is quite complex. The body must be made first. The body is sometimes made of wood, or sometimes made of ceramic, copper or other materials. After the carcass is completed, the lacquerware is also carved directly. Artists use a variety of techniques to decorate the surface. The main feature of lacquerware is that it can be polished to a level comparable to that of porcelain. The paint layer dries in humid conditions, and after curing, the surface is very hard and resistant to acid, alkali, and wear. The exquisitely crafted lacquerware, like ceramics and silk, is a treasure of national culture.

"Rhinopi"

"Rhinopi" is also written as "西PI" or "西PI". ", the so-called "rhinoceros skin" here is not rhinoceros skin, but specifically refers to a decorative technique in the production of ancient Chinese lacquerware. It first piles paint of different colors on the uneven tire, and then the paint dries. It is then polished to produce a bright, smooth, natural and vivid artistic effect.

As for the age when the "rhinoceros skin" craft appeared, in the past, records of rhinoceros skin lacquerware mostly appeared in the literature. The late Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), so it is believed that the emergence of this lacquer craft will not be earlier than the Tang Dynasty. The discovery of the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280) makes the appearance of rhinoceros lacquerware. Nearly 600 years earlier.

Rhinoceros leather gilt copper buckle leather lacquer ear cups

This pair of rhinoceros leather gilt copper buckle leather lacquer ear cups was unearthed in Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province, eastern China. The tomb of the Three Kingdoms period (the Tomb of Zhu Ran in the State of Wu) is now stored in the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology. The cup body is about 9.6 cm long, 5.6 cm wide, and 2.4 cm high. Both pieces are made of leather, and the mouth of the cup is oval. ,flat. There are copper buckles inlaid on both ears and the edge of the mouth, and the copper buckles have been gilded. The rhinoceros leather lacquer pattern on the body of the vessel is composed of black, red and yellow lacquer, which is elegant in conception and extremely exquisite. The discovery of rhinoceros skin lacquerware is of great significance to the study of the development history of Chinese lacquerware technology.

The craftsmanship of "rhinoceros skin" lacquerware has achieved great development in the Song and Yuan Dynasties (10th to 14th centuries AD), and the production technology has become increasingly mature.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911 AD), the development of "rhinoceros skin" technology reached perfection. During the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644-1911), lacquerware produced using this technique ranged from boxes to furniture, and were presented to the imperial palace as tributes.

Lacquer painting

Lacquer painting is a painting that uses natural lacquer as the main material. Cashew paint and synthetic paint can also be used. Lacquer paintings already existed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the most common ones were black lacquer with gold on the ground. In the late Ming Dynasty, "clear lacquer" was used to blur gold and silver, producing the effect of changing shades and enriching lacquer paintings. Lacquer painting is a type of painting that combines painting and craftsmanship. It is both a work of art and a practical decoration closely related to people's lives. It often appears in the form of wall decorations, screens, murals, etc. The materials are diverse, and the techniques are also rich and colorful. According to different techniques, lacquer paintings can be divided into different varieties such as carved lacquer, piled lacquer, carved lacquer, inlaid lacquer, colored painting, and polished lacquer. Therefore, lacquer painting is a large-capacity painting type with rich expressive power and huge artistic potential.

Lacquer painting has many characteristics such as unique craftsmanship, exquisite materials, and excellent production. The entire process is purely handmade, and the process is very difficult and time-consuming. The process alone includes 1. Plate making: 2 , Copy: 3. Material inlay: 4. Paint filling; 5. Painting: 6. Cover paint: 7. Grinding: 8. Polishing and many other processes. The technical performance of the product is anti-corrosion and moisture-proof, non-deformation, strong color stability, long-term storage, etc., and has a strong collection value.

The beauty of lacquer painting lies in its unique materials and craftsmanship. The lacquer scraper is a painting tool, and the lacquer liquid is the toner of the pigment. Special materials such as mother-of-pearl and eggshells are used to inlay, hang, scatter, cover, and grind to form the special quality of the lacquer painting effect. Various materials, either simple, bright, shiny, or matte, are embedded and pasted to create a beautiful picture that is both present and distant, similar but not yet similar. If the uneven paint surface is applied with chip powder and filled with colored paint, it can form a surprising image effect that alternates reality and reality. The ability of the paint liquid to dilute and flow, and the texture formed by the wrinkles and undulations of the paint film, are so interesting that they cannot be created by a paintbrush. When the paint reaches a certain thickness, three-dimensional effects of mountains, rivers, trees, rocks, flowers, birds, and figures can be carved on it. If metal foil powder appears on lacquer paintings in different forms, it can not only achieve a magnificent effect, but also create a soft and subtle charm. If metal foil powder is combined with lacquer, it can also achieve a unique effect of inherent brilliance and brightness that is difficult to achieve with any pigment. Natural lacquer gives people a deep, restrained and rich natural beauty. Coupled with various inlay materials, it can achieve artistic effects that are either sparkling black, golden or silver, colorful or sparkling. The transparent lacquer is mixed with gold, and the layers of it are overlapped and ground to create a picture that is like a mirrored flower in the water, giving people endless reverie. The profound and mysterious oriental style, the rich and magical texture, the confusing poetic artistic conception, as well as the overall decorative sentiment and

Lacquer painting

The exquisite processing of details all make lacquer painting Art has a unique effect that varies with time and place, which is thought-provoking and endlessly interesting.

The beauty of lacquer painting lies in its rich artistic expression and diverse techniques. Its broad tolerance gives it an infinitely rich beauty: painting is like the beauty of fine brushwork, painting is like the beauty of heavy colors, carving is like the beauty of printmaking, piling up paint is like the beauty of relief, scraping paint is like the beauty of oil painting, and splashing paint is like the beauty of watercolor painting. It can compress the block surface like a relief, or it can be decorated in blocks like a mosaic. It can also be more thick and thick than an oil painting. It can be swayed vertically and horizontally, splashing gold like water, or it can be double hooked with heavy colors, dense and gorgeous, or it can be wiped dry and applied lightly, which is elegant and elegant. Three thousand years ago in the Zhou Dynasty, the screen appeared as a special instrument for the emperor, as a symbol of fame and power. After continuous evolution, screens serve as windproof, partition, and concealment functions, as well as embellishment of the environment and beautification of space. Therefore, they have been passed down to this day and have derived various forms of expression. Today's screens are mainly divided into surround screens, seat screens, hanging screens, table screens, etc. Among them, large screens can show that noble momentum and are the first choice for living rooms, halls, conference rooms, and offices. It combines practicality and appreciation. It not only has practical value, but also gives the screen a new aesthetic connotation. It is definitely a fine handicraft with traditional national characteristics.

Screens

Screens are mainly divided into two categories: seat screens and folding screens: a seat screen is a screen with a base underneath and cannot be folded. Some people also call it a standing screen, and some people also call it a standing screen. table plaque. There are single-leaf ones, two-leaf ones, and three-leaf ones.

Among them, the smaller seat screen is placed in front of the bed or on the table; it is used for decoration; the folding screen is a foldable screen, also called a surround screen, with six, eight or twelve leaves. After continuous development and evolution, the types of screens continue to increase, including floor-standing screens, bed screens, hair combing screens, lamp screens, etc.; and there are more types based on texture, such as jade carving screens, carved screens, glazed screens, mica screens, and silk screens. Plain screens, calligraphy and painting screens, and so on. Screens in the Qing Dynasty can be roughly divided into three types: throne screens, surround screens, and insert screens.

In China, the properties of lacquer have been known and used to make tools since the Neolithic Age. From the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's lacquerware technology continued to develop and reached a very high level. China's gold-plating, gold-painting and other handicrafts have had a profound impact on Japan and other places. Lacquerware is an important invention in chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China. The raw material of lacquer ware is lacquer, which is obtained from a tree called lacquer. After the lacquer is processed into lacquer liquid, lacquer creation can be carried out. Lacquer ware is a kind of art painting that uses lacquer mixed with various pigments to paint on the lacquer board, and uses polishing and other methods to gradually make the color appear layered and crystal clear. The lacquer board is made by sealing and polishing the wood board with lacquer mixed with tile ash. It can isolate acid, alkali, oxygen and moisture, and lacquer paintings can generally maintain their bright colors for thousands of years. Lacquer paintings using lacquer as raw materials have a strong sense of color, strong visual impact, and are popular with modern people. Favorite sense of texture. Compared with various art forms such as oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, printmaking and gouache painting, the characteristics of lacquer painting are its thickness, layering, crystal sense, color sense, material sense, easy care and long shelf life. , and lacquer painting can very well achieve the effects of the above art forms, and produce lacquer paintings in styles such as traditional Chinese painting and oil painting, which have the characteristics and advantages of lacquer painting.

Expression forms of lacquer screens

Large-scale three-dimensional Tianchen lacquer screens are the most suitable high-end noble art paintings for tasteful decoration and collection in hotels, hotels, clubs, halls, halls, offices, etc. Depending on the placement, the lacquer paintings can be made into wall-mounted lacquer paintings on the wall, floor-to-ceiling screens, floor-to-ceiling screens, and partition screens for partitions, etc.

Four major lacquer ware

Bodiless lacquer ware

Fuzhou bodiless lacquer ware is an art treasure with a unique national style and strong local characteristics. It is closely related to cloisonné in Beijing and Jingdezhen in Jiangxi. Porcelain is also known as the "Three Treasures" of traditional Chinese crafts and is well-known at home and abroad. With a history of more than 200 years, its texture is strong and light, its shape is elegant and unique, its color is magnificent and bright, its decoration is fine, it is strong and durable, and it has the advantages of being unbreakable, unbreakable, paint-proof and fade-proof.

Fuzhou lacquerware began in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the painter Shen Shaoan discovered in a temple that although the wood of the plaque on the gate had decayed, the base frame mounted with gray linen was still intact. The careful Shen Shaoan was inspired by it. After returning home, he kept thinking and experimenting, inherited and carried forward the traditional lacquer art, and created the earliest bodiless lacquerware. Shen Shaoan thus became the originator of Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware.

There are two methods for making bodiless lacquerware in Fuzhou: one is bodiless, which is to mold the embryo with soil, gypsum, etc., use lacquer as the adhesive, and then use linen (ramie cloth) or silk cloth on it. The embryo is mounted layer by layer, and after drying in the shade, the original embryo is taken off, leaving the prototype of the varnished cloth, which is then put on a gray background, sanded, painted and polished, and finally various decorative patterns are applied, and it becomes as bright as a mirror and colorful. The lacquer ware is finished; the second is the wooden body and other material bodies, which are made of hard wood and directly painted without going through the process of reborn. The process is basically the same as the reborn.

One of the distinctive features of Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware is its "magnificent colors and mirror-like brightness." People's favorable impression of it depends to a certain extent on the richness of the decoration. Its traditional decoration techniques include black polishing, color polishing, thin paint, color paint halo gold, brocade pattern, vermilion paint with gold, silver inlay and color inlay, Taiwan flowers, inlay with snails, etc. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, gemstones were also developed. Techniques such as flash, sunken flower, piled lacquer relief, carved lacquer, imitation color kiln transformation, variable coating, imitation bronze, etc., and combine lacquer painting techniques with the art of jade carving, stone carving, ivory carving, wood carving, and horn carving to make the surface decoration of lacquerware dazzling. More colorful.

Yangzhou Lacquerware

Since the 1950s, as many as ten thousand pieces of lacquerware and their fragments have been unearthed from many Han Dynasty tombs in the far and near suburbs of Yangzhou.

The utensils include bowls, plates, pots, spoons, ear cups and other eating utensils; daily necessities such as dowry boxes, desks, tables, boxes, pillows, rulers, combs, grates, kui, and ear cups; and musical instruments, figurines, inkstones, boxes, and bows. Backs, sword scabbards, arrow uniforms and other stationery and equipment supplies, as well as lacquered coffins, coffins, masks and other funeral utensils are all in various shapes, reflecting a wide range of uses. Its decorative techniques include painting, needle carving, gold pasting, gold and silver inlay and other categories. Most of its fetal bones are made of wood, so relevant scholars call Yangzhou the birthplace of my country's wooden lacquerware. There are also many that use dry paint clips as the body, which is called bodiless paint in the world. There are also a small number of bamboo, copper and leather bodies.

According to records in books such as "Youyang Zazu" and "Yang Taizhen's Biography", Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei repeatedly gave precious lacquerware such as gold and silver Pingtuo tribute from Yangzhou to An Lushan and other officials. During the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Pian was appointed as the salt and iron historian of Yangzhou. In order to please the imperial court, he once transported more than 10,000 pieces of Yangzhou lacquerware to Chang'an.

The "Seated Statue of Vairocana Buddha", "Standing Statue of Medicine Master Tathagata" and "Standing Statue of Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara" at Tangshoti Temple in Nara, Japan were all made by Yijing, a monk of Xingyun Temple in Yangzhou, a disciple of Jianzhen. They are all Japanese national treasures. By the Yuan Dynasty, Yangzhou had become the national lacquerware production center. The carved lacquer is particularly exquisite. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the "snail-pointing" technique appeared.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday in the history of Yangzhou lacquerware, with a gathering of famous artists and a wide range of products. In the late Qing Dynasty, the export trade of Yangzhou lacquerware was relatively prosperous, exported to Europe, the United States and other countries, with an annual sales volume of more than 20,000 pieces, and an "annual income of 30,000 taels".

Pushing lacquer ware

According to historical records, Pingyao lacquer ware began in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,200 years. In 1917, six people including Qiao Shengrui and Ren Maolin, painters in Pingyao City, jointly opened the "Shenghe Shop" to engage in the production of lacquerware. The lacquerware they produced had excellent texture and unique style. Most of the products were exported to Japan, France and other places. In 1937, after Japan invaded China, production came to a halt. After the 1950s, Pingyao lacquerware flourished again.

Glossy lacquer comes from the plant Lacquer, which is called "old lacquer" or "big lacquer". The production of polished lacquerware is unique. First, select the wood, make the tire, then apply pig blood and brick powder on the seams, polish it, then start to apply natural old paint, polish it and paint it, paint it and polish it again, repeat it many times, and finally dip your palms in sesame oil on the paint surface The luster comes from the top, and then through several processes such as elaboration, gold tracing, and color painting, various patterns such as landscapes, figures, birds and animals, pavilions, and exotic flowers and plants appear. Polished lacquerware makes the paint shine like a mirror, so it is also called "gold lacquer furniture".

The surface is smooth and bright, the painting work is exquisite and delicate, the coloring is skillful and vivid, the lines are hard and soft, the brushwork is strong and beautiful, the use is light and strong, and it can withstand heat and moisture, and has a unique national style and local color. It can not only be used as an ornamental display and decoration, but also has practical value.

Chengdu lacquer ware

Chengdu lacquer ware is also called halogen lacquer. The world-famous Han Dynasty lacquer ware unearthed in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan is engraved with "Chengshi grass" and "Chengshi grass" representing Chengdu production. "Chengshibao" chrome records were sold as far as Pyongyang (Gulelang County), North Korea during the Warring States Period. Currently, there are 7 Chengdu lacquerware handicrafts in the collection of the China Art Museum of Arts and Crafts.

Chengdu lacquerware has exquisite craftsmanship and exquisite workmanship. Most of the processes are handmade. The base is made of fine-textured, dehydrated logs. The craftsmanship involves carving, inlaying, filling, tracing, pushing, painting, and pasting. , the most distinctive ones are fine painting, carving and color filling (the essence of lacquer art lies in using a knife instead of writing, and applying the eighteen-step white drawing method to the tip of the knife), carved tin halo mercerization (a unique decoration method, the metal material is noble and delicate, shining The shimmering luster is the ultimate charm of lacquerware art).