MasterOfCrafts | Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts: Studios of Masters (Part Two)

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts, namely Jingtailan (Cloisonne), Carved Lacquer, Jade Carving, Palace Carpet, Gold Lacquer Inlaid, Filigree Inlaid Metal Art, Ivory Carving, and Beijing Embroidery, once reached the art peak of handicraft in ancient China when they were used only by the Royal family.

Thanks to the efforts of generations of masters, those handicrafts have been preserved well and given a new life.

Let's walk into the studios of those masters to see how they work on their art.

Beijing Embroidery, also called Imperial Embroidery, dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and is one of the Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts. Made initially for the extended royal families, the embroidery became famous worldwide for its delicacy during the Guangxu Period (1875-1908) of the Qing Dynasty. It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty that some folk embroidery workshops appeared in Beijing, making embroideries suitable for common people. Thereafter, Beijing Embroidery is used for calling embroideries made around the city of Beijing.

Beijing Embroidery emphasizes on the auspicious meanings of its patterns and is usually made with elegant and gorgeous designs and colors. Adopting expensive silks and satins as the fundamental materials, it not only uses threads made with natural silk but also with gold or silver foils to embroider the patterns. The craftsmen still inherit traditional tools such as embroidery needles, scissors and embroidery stands. The making goes through procedures like selecting materials, drawing patterns, rubbing patterns, selecting threads, embroidering and brushing paste. In 2014, the craft of Beijing Embroidery was listed as one of the national-level intangible cultural heritages.

Jin Xin, a woman of Yao ethnic group born in 1977 in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has loved embroidery since her childhood when she saw women in her village embroidered on clothes. In 2003, she quit her former job and started to study Beijing Embroidery after taking part in an event on the restoration and replica of cultural relic embroideries in Beijing. Having no basic knowledge of the art, she learned from purchasing materials, copying and rubbing patterns, to stitching in various ways and completing a whole product.

In 2005, Jin started her own business on Beijing Embroidery. In 2008, she set up her company which has been dedicated to the inheritance and innovation of the art and the creation of patterns. In 2010, she became an apprentice of Yu Meiying, an inheritor of Beijing Embroidery. During her study, Jin tried to combine the traditional handicraft with modern art, creating a series of Beijing Embroidery products such as embroidery screens, tea table mats, scarfs and capes, handbags and ties, in a bid to apply the art to modern products and attract young people's attention.

"I hope more people will see the beauty of Beijing Embroidery and our traditional crafts," said Jin Xin, "My ultimate goal is to bring it to the international stage."

Filigree Inlaid Metal Art, a traditional imperial handicraft dating back to the Spring and Autumn period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.), reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). In 1958, five cooperatives specialized in Filigree Inlaid Metal Art in Beijing merged into one factory, which revived this traditional art from almost extinction. In 2008, Filigree Inlaid Metal Art was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

Four main crafts, namely making filigree, inlaying jewels, engraving and making the rough-body, are involved in the art, where a product needs to go through about 100 procedures. Nowadays, these skills are still being imparted by a master to an apprentice in a literally hand-holding manner, and can only be grasped through long-time practices.

Dong Ruijing, a Beijing native born in 1970, started to learn the art when he was 15. In 1988, he entered the Beijing Filigree Inlaid Metal Artwork Factory and became an apprentice of three masters Yang Rui, Wu Kenan and Bai Jingyi. In 2006, he set up his own company to further develop the art.

For more than three decades, Dong and his apprentices have been dedicated to the innovation of the art, integrating it with other crafts such as lacquer carving and enamel art. Their products are now exported to markets including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

By far, Dong has cultivated over 20 craftsmen on the art, and has built up a production base on Filigree Inlaid Metal artwork in Zunhua of north China's Hebei Province, where he has also trained nearly 100 farmers.

Joining hands with Beijing Cultural Development Foundation, Dong started a project in 2023 on cultivating new-generation Filigree Inlaid Metal art talents across Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. "It's lonely and tough in persisting the art," said Dong, "My love for it has encouraged me all along the way." In his view, to pass down the craft, artists should come up with products that cater to modern aesthetics and people's daily needs.

Gold Lacquer Inlay Art, a main category of traditional Chinese lacquer art, has a history of more than 7,000 years. Developing on the basis of the imperial art dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the art has formed a classically elegant and splendid Beijing-style. It has been applied to a wide range of aspects in life, from pillars in ancient buildings, screens, thrones and furniture in the palace, to tableware, tea sets, writing materials and jewelry in people's daily life.

Adopting pine as the body and covering it with natural lacquer, a Gold Lacquer Inlay artwork costs at least four months to finish through a series of processes such as color painting, inlaying and carving. In 2008, the craft was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

Hu Xin, born in 1957, is an inheritor of Gold Lacquer Inlay art. She entered the Beijing Gold Lacquer Inlay Co., Ltd. in 1976 after graduation to learn color painting from senior master Liu Xiheng. Over the 48 years of her career, Hu has achieved a new breakthrough on the craft that paints colors on gold foils. Many of her artworks, winning important prizes in China and abroad, have been collected by the National Museum of China.

Hu has trained about ten apprentices, some of whom have become arts and crafts masters in Beijing. In 2015, the Beijing Gold Lacquer Inlay Co., Ltd. started cooperation with Beijing Arts & Design Technology Institute to train new talents. As a visiting professor, Hu has given lectures every week in the institute since then. In 2019, Hu also set up a studio of her own, where she and her apprentices design and make new Gold Lacquer Inlay artworks that meet the demand of the market and pass down the traditional art.

Ivory Carving, an ancient craft in China, was famous for its elegance due to its pure white material -- ivory. The earliest ivory carving artwork was found in a cultural relic in China during the Neolithic Age, dating back to 7,000 years ago. Beijing Ivory Carving, featuring elegant and luxuriant styles inherited from the imperial art, goes through several main procedures before completion such as designing, hewing, shoveling, face shaping and grinding.

China has been intensifying its efforts in wildlife protection over the years. On Dec. 30, 2016, China declared it would enforce a complete stop to its domestic ivory trade within a year. On Dec. 31, the last day of 2017, processing or selling ivory and its products was officially illegalized in China with the complete ban entering into force. Nowadays, carvers use mammoth tusks or antlers as substitutes.

Li Chunke, born in 1949 in Beijing, a national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of ivory carving, started to learn the art at 15 years old. In his sixty-year career, Li has formed a uniquely simple and crisp style in his carving. He emphasizes on using the most simple lines and skills to express the theme of the artwork, also stressing on the traditional Chinese aesthetics. Many of his works have won important prizes in the art, with some being regarded as art treasures in China.

In recent years, Li has passed down the craft at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and Beijing Light Industry Polytechnic College. He has cultivated over 20 students with master's degrees in arts and crafts and over 100 apprentices in ivory carving. He has also presided over the maintaining and repairing projects on 100 plus ancient ivory carving artworks at the Beijing Arts & Crafts Museum. For him, the art should lay importance to its subtle beauty inherited from the traditional Chinese culture. To further develop it, China needs more young talents and should explore new carving materials.