introduction
Lacquerware is one of the unique arts and crafts of China, and its formation and development constitute a unique lacquerware culture. In China, from the Neolithic age to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the development of lacquerware technology reached a very high level. Rich in variety and exquisite craftsmanship, it has had a profound impact on the world.
China was the first country in the world to use paint. The archaeology of Hemudu Cultural Site in Zhejiang Province has found the world's earliest excavated lacquerware Zhu lacquer bowl, which has a history of more than 7,000 years. After scientific analysis, its coating is natural paint. This proves that our ancestors not only mastered the techniques of planting sumac trees in the Neolithic period, cutting lacquer juice, boiling lacquer liquid, and cutting wood embryonic bones with roulette, but also mastered chemical synthesis and refining techniques – extracting powder materials such as cinnabar from mercury for the preparation of paints.
The shape of primitive social lacquerware is roughly divided into two categories: imitation pottery production and production according to the needs of daily life, including beans, drum bags, round foot plates, rectangular plates, cases, horns, boxes, etc. Rich in color, including red, black, white, yellow, blue, green, brownish red, golden yellow, etc. , mainly red and black, with a mosaic process. Although the original social lacquerware was clumsy and the craftsmanship was rough, it had developed to a certain level and had a wide distribution area.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, due to differences in socio-economic development and cultural traditions, some changes took place in handicrafts. By the Warring States period, the production of lacquerware was already very developed, and the cultivation of lacquer trees was quite common. In the early warring states period, lacquerware production was large-scale, and it was listed as an important economic income by the state and managed by special personnel.
Lacquerware production process is complex, a wide variety, not only for decorative furniture, utensils, stationery and works of art, but also for musical instruments, funerary utensils, weapons and so on. Lacquerware of this period replaced bronze and ceramics as protagonists on the stage of history. In particular, the Chu state inherited the development of early lacquerware production technology, absorbed the advantages of bronze plastic art, and made a unique Chu lacquerware.
Hubei unearthed Chu lacquer, the two provinces of Hunan are the richest and most famous. Among them, the lacquerware excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei province is the most wonderful, with a complete range, large shape and simple style, which reflects the charm of Chu culture. There are many kinds of lacquerware unearthed in the Warring States, including daily life tools, military and cultural tools, etc. Most of the Warring States lacquerware is mainly wooden tires, and there are fewer pottery tires, copper tires, leather tires, sandwich tires, bamboo tires, bone, and horn tires.
Lacquerware production process includes paint, engraving, gold and silver, gold foil appliqué, silver buckle, needle carving and so on. In general, the pattern pattern inherits the Food pattern of the Shang Zhou, such as dragon, plate, plate, disk, geometric, back, thunder, etc. Among them, exaggerated deformation of clouds, thunder, dragons, birds, and phoenix patterns are the most. In short, the great achievements of these craft technologies have had a profound impact on future generations. Qin Dynasty lacquerware fetal bones mainly include wooden tires, clamped tires, bamboo tires and copper tires, but still mainly wooden tires.
The production of wood tire lacquerware mainly includes excavation, manufacturing and rolling. During this period, excavation processes appeared, and the rolling process was a new process that appeared in the Qin Dynasty. The lacquer pattern of the Qin Dynasty is mainly Zhu, black, brown, gold and silver, and Zhu and black are mainly. Most of the utensils are painted with vermilion and brown on the black lacquer floor, and the contrast between vermilion and black is strong and the colors are gorgeous. The pattern pattern of Qin Dynasty lacquerware mainly adopts two techniques of realism and deformation, which are mainly divided into patterns.
The pattern depicted, the lines are rotating, tortuous and changeable, smooth and unrestrained, the composition is clever, and the pen is stable. Writing and symbols were common on Qin dynasty lacquerware. The first is to record the location of lacquerware production; the second is to record the name of the lacquerware making craftsman; and the third is to record the division of labor in lacquerware production. The Han Dynasty was a period of glory in Chinese lacquerware, and lacquerware craftsmanship reached its peak.
In the Han Dynasty, the clothes, food, shelter, and burial mysteries of lacquerware people were related. The production of lacquerware in the Han Dynasty was mainly in the hands of the ruling class, and special lacquerware for the officials of eight counties, such as Guanghan County, Shu County, Henan County, Yingchuan County, Jinan County and Taishan County, was specially set up for the use of the court. There are also many lacquerware workshops in the area.
Lacquerware production has a meticulous division of labor, including sketches, paintings, painters, workers, yue workers, copper buckle yellow coaters, copper ear yellow coaters, cleaning workers, craftsmen, supply workers, lacquer workers, etc. The famous hulling and forming clip embryonic bone technology of the Han Dynasty was fully matured, which made a major breakthrough in the shape of lacquerware. There are many new varieties of lacquerware in the Han Dynasty, such as ding, bell, square, pot, plate and so on. These include household utensils, musical instruments, stationery, weapons and funerary supplies.
At the same time, it also created new technologies such as colorful, needle engraving, copper buckle, gold patch, tortoiseshell piece, rhinoceros skin, inlay, paint stacking, and gold protection. The lacquer color of the Han Dynasty is extremely rich, with ink and vermilion as the abundance, and there are colorful patterns such as vermilion, ochre red, golden yellow, earth yellow, silver white, milky white, light green, dark green, gray green, blue, purple and so on.
During the Three Kingdoms, Western Jin Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development of the original celadon gradually replaced lacquerware and became the mainstream of life. But in addition to continuing the previous generation of craftsmanship, lacquerware also highlights three lacquerware techniques: Buddha statues made with the clamping process, spot lacquer, and tantric paintings imported from Persia with oxygen lead toning oil. The Tang Dynasty was a glorious period when various handicrafts in ancient China blossomed. The most prominent variety of lacquerware is the combination of gold and silver and lacquerware.
In particular, it has innovated new varieties such as flat peel, end gold skeleton, carved lacquer, and Kuluzhen. Particularly popular is the gold and silver flat lacquer stripper. This lacquerware is made by wrapping gold and silver pieces in leather, beaten as thin as silk. Gold and silver pieces are applied to utensils, intricate patterns are carved, then the pattern is sanded with paint, the refractive texture is carved with a needle cone, and finally the paint is polished and pushed. Engraved lacquer was another important creation of lacquerware technology in the Tang Dynasty.
As needed, apply dozens of layers of vermilion paint to the lacquer tire before carving. The Tang Dynasty nut lacquer process was developed, and the five generations of nut flowers and birds found in Suzhou Ruiguang Pagoda were exquisitely painted boxes, although damaged, but the elegant style was still known. The production of lacquerware in the Song Dynasty was mainly concentrated in the south of the Yangtze River, forming lacquerware production centers such as Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Suzhou. The production process of Song Dynasty lacquerware mainly includes plain lacquer, gold lacquer, carving lacquer, rhinoceros paint, gold lacquer and nut lacquer.
The su painting process began in the Tang Dynasty and matured in the Song Dynasty. Plain paint refers to people using color paint to paint the bottom or sprinkle with corner chips, gold powder, and then multi-layer coating with translucent pure paint liquid, drying and polishing, so that the lacquerware in the crystal clear between the hidden subtle subtlety and richness of the bottom layer. Gold lacquer is to use the tip of a needle or blade to draw a slender pattern on the ground of vermilion or black lacquer, add paint to the pattern, and then paste it with gold leaf or silver foil to become a gold and silver pattern.
The carving technology of the Song Dynasty was further developed on the basis of the Tang Dynasty, and was divided into red, yellow, color, green, black and other varieties, making lacquerware art a very gorgeous decorative technology. Rhinoceros is a kind of carved lacquer, painted with black, multi-layered vermilion, and the pattern is mainly cloud pattern. Also known as illuminated gold paint, black paint as the base is the most common, there are also Zhu ware as the base, the Song Dynasty with pure gold as the feature. The Song nut lacquerware is inlaid with gold and silver threads, making the screw pattern more prominent, gorgeous and strong. There are many kinds of lacquerware in the Yuan Dynasty, of which plain lacquerware is the most common.
Folk products are mostly brown and black, generally only suitable, not flashy. In the Yuan Dynasty, the golden lacquer center was in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and there were skilled craftsmen such as Zhang Cheng, Yang Mao, and Peng Junbao who made lacquerware. Luling in Ji'an, Jiangxi is famous for pearl lacquerware, Suzhou for carving lacquer, Hangzhou for gold lacquer, and Fuzhou for rhinoceros lacquer. The nut lacquer technology of the Yuan Dynasty also had a new development, and the nut lacquerware at this time, the characters were exquisite, thick and thin nuts.
It is mainly based on thin nuts and has a colorful decorative effect. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese lacquerware developed into its heyday. The paint process is combined with architecture, furniture, and furnishings, and it has shifted from practical to decorative furnishings, and has entered a new era of kaleidoscopic technology based on technologies such as color, reproduction, filling, and texture room. The Ming Dynasty carved lacquer, first followed by Zhang Cheng and Yang Mao in Xitang, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and Zhang Cheng's sons Zhang Degang and Bao Liang presided over the official paint production of the Neiting Orchard Factory. The ming court used lacquer hugely, and the variety of lacquerware developed unprecedentedly.
Carving lacquer is the most produced, followed by gold turning, gold depiction, nuts, treasure inlays, color and other lacquerware. The Ming Yongle carving lacquer of the Xuande period generally painted dozens to 200 ways, finely carved, thick knife technique, smooth grinding, and no edges and corners. Chenghua, Hongzhi years of inner court carving paint, the tire thinning, the pattern is sparse, marking the Xitang school carving paint has entered the end. Dali, Yunnan is another carving lacquer producing area, and the famous lacquer worker wang song.
During the Jiajing period, color paint appeared on a large scale, and Yunnan carving lacquer began to enter the inner court, replacing the Xitang school, changing the inner court carving lacquer style, forming a new style, and influencing the carving lacquer style of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Ming Dynasty carving and lacquer masters include Zhang Degang, Huang Cheng, Yang Qingzhong and others, and nut inlay craftsmanship is Jiang Qianli. Lacquerware made by ming dynasty government-run workshops is engraved with the year of the dynasty, such as the Ming Yongle year model.
The Qing Dynasty, Kang, Yong, and Yong periods were the golden age of lacquerware development, and the Royal Manufacturing Office specialized in the production of lacquer, concentrating many famous workers. During the Qianlong period, the carving process reached its peak, and the carving was meticulous and cumbersome. Most of the court carving lacquer was also made in Suzhou. Yangzhou lacquerware has nuts, treasure inlays and other varieties of theme content is mostly auspicious and ruyi, etc., lacquer patterns are slender and colorful.
epilogue