The use of Chinese lacquer has a history of nearly 10,000 years. As a treasure of Chinese civilization, lacquerware allows time to shuttle, precipitating the traces left by the years, even if the gorgeous coat is stripped, what is left is the most simple authenticity and the most inclusive wisdom.
2500 years ago, China's lacquerware craftsmanship reached a very high level, especially in the southern Chu country centered on Hubei, Chu lacquerware full of romantic cultural characteristics, recognized by the world as "the peak of lacquerware craftsmanship". This skill has been preserved in Hubei and has been completely passed down to this day.
Western Han Painted lacquered fish pattern ear cups
Western Han Dynasty painted lacquer cloud phoenix pattern large disc
Warring States Chu Painted lacquer paisley square ear cup
What is "lacquer"?
When you think of "paint", everyone thinks of chemical paint. The popularity of chemical paints and the cheap, polluting labels they bring with them are a fatal misconception about traditional lacquerware. "Lacquer", refers to the big lacquer, also known as raw lacquer, national lacquer, is a white viscous emulsion that cuts the bark of the sumac tree and flows out of the phloem, which is a pure natural product. Lacquer is non-toxic and harmless and can be "eaten". According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, dry lacquer is an important Chinese medicine. Chemical paint, which can only be called 'paint', is two completely different things from lacquer.
Lacquer
More than 7,000 years ago, according to historical records: "The use of lacquer began with the use of bamboo, and Shun made the food utensils, black lacquer, Yu made sacrifice vessels, black lacquered its exterior, and Zhu painted its inside." "Zhuangzi Renshi" has a record of "gui can be eaten, so cut it, paint can be used, so cut it". Natural raw lacquer is also known as the "King of Paint" in the world. The Han Feizi Ten Passes says of Yu Shun making food utensils: "Cut mountains and wood and make money, cut the traces of sawing and repairing, flow paint ink on it, and lose it to the palace as a food vessel." ”
Most of the lacquerware mentioned today refers to handicrafts that have been decorated with lacquer, and the product of the lacquerware craft originating from ancient China is called lacquerware. We know that the English translation of "China" is called "CHINA", and the English translation of the word "CHINA" is called porcelain, because ancient Chinese porcelain is famous overseas. Coincidentally, the English translation of "Japan" is called "JAPAN", and the English translation of the word "JAPAN" is called lacquerware, and the reason is obvious that Japanese lacquerware is well-known overseas. And those who have read history know that Japanese culture originated in China, in other words, Japanese lacquerware originated from China and flourished in Japan. Therefore, the history of lacquerware must be verified from Chinese historical materials.
Chinese lacquerware craftsmanship was first born in the Neolithic era. At that time, people were cutting down trees in the deep mountains and stumbled upon a milky liquid oozing from the "wounds" of the trees. Applying the liquid to daily utensils can play a role in antiseptic, durable and aesthetic, which is convenient
Lacquerware can be called an important invention in ancient Chemistry and Arts and Crafts in China. Instrumenter, use also. The primary purpose and function of utensils is to use, and to be easy to use, in order to be widely accepted and applied. In the Han Dynasty, lacquer was used in buildings such as palaces, temples and high-rise mansion compounds, the surface of the hull of buildings and ships, the exterior of carriages and horses, and the painting of tomb coffins. At the same time, the number of food utensils, wine utensils, ceremonial utensils and furniture made of lacquer has gradually increased, and other household items such as plates, pots, boxes and boxes have also occupied an increasingly important position in people's daily lives. Lacquerware began to be active in every corner of Han Dynasty life. The so-called "health care and final tools", from daily life to eat, drink, live, travel to the funeral, coffin, tomb after death, are closely related to the lacquer.
Large lacquers are used for coffin finishing
Lacquer is used for architectural finishing
What is Chu-style lacquerware?
On the land of Jingchu, there are a large number of non-hereditary inheritors, masters of arts and crafts, folk artists, etc., who have been inheriting and developing excellent traditional culture for decades, especially the "absolute learning" and unpopular disciplines with important cultural value and inheritance significance, and Chu-style lacquerware is one of them.
With the development of the times, lacquerware has also been widely inherited. In the process of Archaeological Research in China, a large number of exquisite lacquerware excavated are from Jingzhou, Hubei Province, and more than 15,000 pieces of various types of lacquerware, accounting for about 60% of the national total. At the same time, these lacquerware point to the Chu state that was born in Chinese history, so these lacquerware are named Chu-style lacquerware. Many of these exquisite lacquerware have become "national treasure-level" cultural relics and have become important witnesses to the study of Chu cultural history. We are familiar with: Tiger Seat Bird Drum, Zeng Hou Yi Bean, Through-carved Painted Seat Screen, Tiger Seat Standing Wind, Mandarin Duck Bean, Golden Wind Lotus Bean, Pig-shaped Wine Box, Feather Man, Double Cup, Carriage and Horse Ware and Lacquer Painting.
In the story of the idiom "buy the beads and return the beads", the Chu people sell their beads to the Zheng people, and the Zheng people buy their beads and return their beads, and the "椟" that attracts the Zheng people is the Chu-style lacquerware.
Buy the "椟" in the beads
Chu-style lacquerware is a combination of utensils and culture, a piece of exquisite Chu-style lacquerware, representing the cultural bits and pieces of the Chu state with an 800-year history, from these lacquerware we can already see the daily life of the former kings. Studying this history of China, Chu-style lacquerware is the best witness, which is also the greatest value of Chu-style lacquerware.
Lacquerware is a distinctive symbol of Chu culture. The Chu people have a special love for lacquerware, from lacquer cups, lacquer bowls, lacquer beans and other living utensils, to lacquer drums, lacquer ser and other entertainment utensils, to lacquer deer, lacquer seat screens and other ornaments, and finally to lacquered wooden figurines, lacquer coffins and other funerary supplies, they "live and die without leaving the lacquer".
Chu-style lacquerware appreciation
The representative work of Chu-style lacquerware is the world-famous "Tiger Seat Bird Drum". It takes two crouching tigers as the base, and a singing phoenix on the back of the tiger, using processes such as through carving, circular carving, relief, etc., with black paint as the background color, and painting the tiger spot phoenix feathers with red gold and blue colors, which is the most exquisite Chu-style lacquerware found so far. The combination of phoenix and tiger has a deep meaning. The phoenix is tall and proud of the sky, but the tiger is short and shrunken, lying on the ground, reflecting the Chu people's worship of the phoenix, the consciousness of yearning for serenity, and the spirit of conquering beasts and not fearing violence.
The production process of Chu-style lacquerware
Lacquerware decoration techniques are complex, requiring more than 10 processes such as carving embryos, sanding, and painting, and making a lacquerware, sometimes taking up to 1 year. The production process of Chu-style lacquerware has many similarities with the traditional lacquer art in other parts of the country, but as a distinctive local lacquer art variety, Chu-style lacquer art also has many unique features.
The production process of Chu-style lacquerware can be roughly divided into:
Selection of materials to carve paint
Selection
Tire making
carve
Paint blending
Paint
Painting
According to the process of making lacquerware, there are three types of work: carver, painter and painter. The biggest features of Chu-style lacquerware are the distinction between red and black, the tenon structure, and the three-point carving and seven-point painting. This understood the importance of lacquering, carving and painting.
Yangtze River Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum - Introduction to lacquerware collections
So where can you enjoy this unique traditional work of art today? The Yangtze River Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum provides you with such a platform to lead you through ancient and modern times, and appreciate the beauty of Chu culture that has been passed down for more than 2,000 years, and you can enjoy or collect these lacquerware art masterpieces here at any time.
The cicada-shaped stone of Chu-style lacquerware
Cicada is a kind of cyclical, endless creatures, Shang Dynasty bronzes have the image of cicadas, cicadas because of the metaphor of high quality, so in ancient times often used by literati as a self-metaphor, to indicate their own purity. At the same time, it means immortal. Chu-style lacquerware uses the cicada type as a literary room yantai, which is a manifestation of the literati's sentiments.
A round box of Chu-style lacquerware
The round box is a practical object. The romantic phoenix ornament highlights the magnificence of Chu culture, which can be used as a dining vessel or as a small piece of precious jewelry.
Ear cup of Chu-style lacquerware
An ancient drinking vessel. It can be used for drinking alcohol or for serving. Oval in shape, with curved ears on each side. Most of them are painted with wooden tires, but there are also gilded copper ornaments on both ears or all copper. Its name "Feather" is due to its shape resembling that of a knight (finches), and the wings of a two-eared elephant finch. Lacquered ear cups are beautifully shaped, smoothly decorated, and have a strong Chu style and charm.
An apple box of Chu-style lacquerware
The apple is the fruit of peace, which means peace and security. This lacquerware is an innovative work of craftsmen, using popular themes on ancient lacquerware, which is cute, interesting and practical.
Mandarin duck box of Chu-style lacquerware
In the Chu lacquerware of the Warring States period, the number of wooden tire lacquerware carved with various animal figures is large, the shape is novel and unique, and the pattern is brilliant, which is a major feature of the Chu lacquerware in this period.
Dragon-shaped pot of Chu-style lacquerware
The rich imagination of the Chu people is concentrated in the shape and ornamentation of lacquerware. This lacquerware is shaped like a dragon, not only the image is realistic but also the picture drawn is full, the shape is vivid, the color is colorful, the whole view is smooth, interesting and ingenious. At the same time, it pays attention to practicality, endows the function of utensils, and integrates practicality and beauty.
The large lacquer plate of Chu-style lacquerware
The representative works of Chu-style lacquerware epitomize the brilliance of Chu-style lacquerware, fine carving, gorgeous picture, black and red, antique, highlighting extraordinary taste, suitable for use as home decorations or fruits and vegetables.
Chu-style lacquerware tiger seat bird drum
The Tiger Seat Bird Drum was an important musical instrument of the Chu State during the Warring States period and had strong Chu cultural characteristics. Two Crouching Tigers with their tails held high, their limbs bent, and their backs bowed are the bases, and on the back of the tiger stands a long-legged Mingfeng who sings and sings highly, and in the middle of the Mingfeng who stands with its back to the back, a large bone is suspended from the crown of the phoenix with a red rope belt, and the black paint of the whole body is low, and the tiger stripes and the feathers of the phoenix are painted in red, yellow, gold and other colors, which are brilliant and brilliant, and the level of carving and painting technology is superb.