The development of Chinese and Western locks is a vivid portrayal of the cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and the West.
"Locks out of a different way - the exhibition of locks from past generations" recently ended in Fuzhou, China. The 99 locks on display have gone through the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and modern times, reflecting the development process of Chinese lock culture.
The locks on display at the "Locks Out of the Ordinary – Past Generations of Locks Exhibition" attract visitors. Photo by Liu Kegeng, a reporter of the China News Service
Ancient Chinese locks, how to "lock" out of a different cultural meaning? Yu Xueyun, collector and connoisseur of ancient ceramics, member of the Chinese Ancient Ceramics Society, and director of the Xiangyunxuan General Le Kiln Museum, was recently interviewed by China News Agency's "East and West Question" to explain this.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: How was the lock invented? What kind of development process has Chinese lock culture gone through?
Yu Xueyun: The history of the development of locks is a testimony to the origin of human civilization, and in ancient times, intelligent human beings knew how to wrap their personal valuables in animal skins, tie them with ropes on the outside, and tie special knots at the final opening, and the knots could only be picked up with a tool called "bone files". Knots and bone files are the prototypes of locks and keys today. With the development of history, locks have been continuously developed and improved, forming a huge category.
At present, the earliest more mature locks found in the world are wooden locks from the Yangshao culture period in China 5,000 years ago. The development of Chinese locks has gone through several stages: from the material point of view, from the wooden lock to the metal lock (iron, copper lock); from the structural point of view, it has undergone the process of latching - reed lock - blade lock - marble lock. The function of ancient Chinese locks also shows the characteristics of practicality- aesthetics - technicality (introduced in the West).
From the earliest wooden locks of Yangshao culture, the Zhou Dynasty has written records about wooden locks and keys. The early wooden lock structure is simple, the shape is bulky, and most of the bamboo poles are used as keys, which are easy to open. The wooden lock was not strong enough, and later the lock was made of iron, bronze and other metal materials, and the structure was simple.
In the Han Dynasty, copper reed structure locks appeared, commonly known as three reed locks or reed locks, using the elastic force of two or three plate-like copper sheets to achieve sealing and opening effects, safety performance, confidentiality compared with wooden locks a big step forward, the scope of use is also more extensive. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the confidentiality was enhanced through the improvement of the public transfer class (that is, luban).
Reed locks have been continuously improved and developed since the Tang Dynasty, and have been used until the 1950s, and more than 120 different styles have appeared, some of which use special technologies such as hidden doors, orientation, two openings, keyless keys, and text passwords, and the degree of secrecy of locks has greatly increased.
The technology of the Han Dynasty reed construction lock was quite advanced for the world at that time. Unfortunately, after the Han Dynasty, the technology of locks in ancient China has progressed slowly.
While the ancient lock technology has not been further developed, the decorative tendency of its shape is becoming more and more obvious. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, locks in the shape of fish, beasts and other shapes appeared, and later developed into a large lock species - Citi locks. Its shape is mainly imitating the form of various natural and man-made objects, and the changes are rich.
In the Qing Dynasty, the blade lock invented in the West was introduced to China and was widely used. In the 1930s, marblelocks with lower cost and higher security entered the Chinese market, and the era of Ancient Chinese Locks became history.
Qing Dynasty carved Fulu Shou three-star pattern lock. Photo by Liu Kegeng, a reporter of the China News Service
China News Service: Chinese lock culture has a long history and rich connotations. Why is the lock the epitome of Fu culture?
Yu Xueyun: Chinese love for the word "Fu", not only for the New Year's Festival, but also for daily life. As an indispensable artifact in people's daily life in ancient times, the lock naturally became the epitome of the "Fu" culture.
After thousands of years, china's ancient locks not only protect precious objects, but also carry hopes and wishes for a better life. Ancient locks are often used in fine patterns to express the wishes of Yuanyuan and Di, Long Life Rich, Kirin Sending Son, Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang, etc., and will also use unique shapes, such as "Qin Lock" to express the deep affection and longevity, "fish-shaped lock" to express more than one year, rich and long, and "Long Life Rich Lock" for women and children to "lock life, lock health". Now some scenic spots can also see a unique "artificial landscape" - concentric lock sea.
The Qing Dynasty carved the "Baifu Risheng" lock. Photo by Liu Kegeng, a reporter of the China News Service
China News Service: How did Western locks originate and develop?
Yu Xueyun: In the 8th century AD, the Eastern Romans made the original leaf lock, also known as the keyhole lock, which used the key tooth flower to dial the blade gap that coincided with the lock to open and close. In the 18th century, the Englishman Denik Potter invented the cam rotor lock. In the 19th century, European manufacturers invented advanced cam rotor locks, and the number of key teeth flowers increased to 1600, and later improvements increased the key tooth flowers to tens of thousands of variations.
The key of the blade lock is beautiful and generous, and is recognized as the symbol of the lock and key. Many countries make it into a large golden key and give it to friends and dignitaries, symbolizing respect, peace and friendship.
In 1848, the American Yell invented the marblelock with cylindrical pin bolts. Since then, the marbles lock has gradually become the most commonly used lock in the world.
China News Service: Historically, have Chinese and Western locks ever exchanged and learned from each other?
Yu Xueyun: The development of Chinese and Western locks is a vivid portrayal of the cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and the West. From the earliest Yangshao period wooden locks, locks appeared, and then experienced the bronze age metal lock popularity, lock culture spread to the West.
At the end of the 2nd century BC, the Reed Lock produced in China was introduced to ancient Rome along the "Silk Road". To this day, the Graz City Museum in Austria still houses reed locks from the Han Dynasty in China. The development of Western locks is actually the inheritance and continuation of China's ancient lock culture.
Beginning with the appearance of reed locks in the Han Dynasty, Chinese lock culture paid more attention to decoration. The West invented the leaf lock on the basis of absorbing the ancient Chinese lock, which was transmitted to China in the Qing Dynasty. The West further invented the marbles lock, entered the Chinese market in the middle of the twentieth century, and China's traditional locks gradually withdrew from the historical stage.
Ancient locks of various dynasties displayed in the Fuzhou China Ancient Lock Museum. China News Service reporter Wang Dongming photographed
China's ancient locks have developed from the initial basic functional practicality to practical and aesthetic, injecting deep traditional culture. Western locks did not begin to emerge until the last few hundred years. Unlike ancient Chinese locks, Western locks pay more attention to the practicality of locks, tend to "lock industry", and regard locks as a technical product.
Among the "Chinese wisdom" shared globally, locks are an important part of it. It originated in China and was later introduced to Europe via the "Silk Road". Europeans integrated locks from the East into local technology and culture, and gradually formed their own lock industrial system, which in turn boosted the transformation of traditional Chinese locks into modern locks. For thousands of years, with locks as the carrier, eastern and western civilizations have continuously exchanged and learned from each other.
China News Service: How should we inherit the Chinese lock culture at present, tell the story of China's ancient lock to the world, and continue to promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations?
Yu Xueyun: A small ancient lock seems to make us feel the "slow time" of the past. Exquisite engraving and ingenious design all pull the heartstrings. However, unfortunately, the cultural factors on the ancient locks have been gradually forgotten, and there are faults in the development of local lock culture, which makes the lock industry in China and the traditional lock industry basically have nothing to do with each other. Coupled with the weakness of the design awareness of domestic lock product modeling development for a long time, the westernization of lock products in the Chinese market has been serious.
At present, China vigorously promotes the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture. How to focus on China's locks to open up new development prospects and design innovative products with personality and market has become a key problem facing China's lock industry.
The "Tang Palace Night Banquet" program of the 2021 Henan Spring Festival Gala is out of the circle, and the beautiful dance "Only This Green" on the spring evening of CCTV in 2022 follows. It seems that the latter is inspired and borrowed from the former, but in fact it is a "unanimous", evoking the audience's inner pride in China's excellent traditional culture and praise for inheriting innovators. This has also stimulated thinking about the current lock industry.
Ancient Chinese locks are a good cultural carrier. Integrating the design ingenuity of ancient Chinese locks into the design concept of modern locks, making cultural relics from thousands of years ago come alive, and continuously enhancing cultural self-confidence has become the current consensus.
The ancient lock is also a true record of exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations. Only by fully exploring China's excellent traditional culture can we better make positive contributions to the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations.
Respondent Profiles:
Yu Xueyun, Fujian Jiangleren, collector and connoisseur of ancient ceramics, member of China Ancient Ceramics Society, member of Shanghai Famous Artists Art Research Association, director of Xiangyunxuan Jiangle Kiln Museum. Since his youth, he has been collecting and studying for more than 30 years, and has published two monographs, "Appreciation of Ancient Porcelain in Jiangle Kiln" and "Tea Cup of the Song Dynasty in Jiangle Kiln", and published more than ten papers on the theme of ancient ceramics in magazines such as "Collection". Since 1990, it has donated more than 1,000 pieces of ancient ceramics from various periods to many museums, and held exhibitions, lectures, treasure hunting and other activities in various places free of charge for cultural dissemination.
China News Service: Liu Kegeng
Source: China News Service