Lacquer thread sculptures are a delicate art. The sap of lacquer
trees is mixed with brick powder and spun into hair-like threads,
which are then used to shape various patterns, such as Chinese
dragons and phoenixes. The process involves 27 procedures and has
taken local craftsmen more than 10 generations to master and
perfect.
This year the art of lacquer thread sculpture in Xiamen, Fujian
Province, was listed as a national intangible heritage. However, a
decade ago, the lacquer thread sculptures, like many other
traditional Chinese arts, were facing demise. Were it not for Shen
Jinli, her workshop and a family tradition, the old art might have
well faded away from people's memory.
Ancient art
Lacquer products have been part of Chinese life for thousands of
years. About 7,000 years ago, ancient Chinese people discovered the
sap of lacquer trees and started using it to coat eating utensils,
ornaments and other articles.
Being adhesive and glossy, lacquer also prevented articles from
rotting. In 1973, a 7,000-year-old lacquered bowl was unearthed at
the Hemudu site in Yuyao, a town in East China's Zhejiang Province.
After all the years buried in the soil, the bowl still retains its
colour and was in good shape.
Between the 8th and 3rd centuries BC, lacquer wares became very
popular in upper-class society.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), the technique of
making lacquer wares reached its climax as governmental and private
lacquer workshops spread around the nation.
Shen Shao'an, a Fujian native, was one of the most famous
lacquer ware masters in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Before his
time, lacquer wares only featured red and black colours, but Shen
created ways to add green, yellow, blue and brown. He even invented
methods to apply gold and silver foil to lacquer wares, which made
them more colourful and lustrous.
During Shen's time, more craftsmen joined the lacquer business
and a slew of new techniques were invented, including a way to make
lacquer threads, which later gave rise to lacquer thread
sculptures.
Lacquer sap would be mixed with brick powder and other
materials. Craftsmen hammered the mixture for 12 hours until it
becomes as soft as flour paste. The lacquer paste would then be
rubbed into hair-like threads, which could be used to make patterns
and pictures.
Threading through generations
In the past, the lacquer thread was mainly used to decorate
Buddha sculptures, as the tenuous threads could add more liveliness
and details to the giant figures.
One of Shen's forefathers was master in making lacquer wares and
lacquer threads. Such techniques were passed on from one generation
to another for more than 300 years, however, nobody in Shen's
family was still earning a living from lacquer work.
Shen Jinli learned the skills to make lacquer thread sculptures
in her childhood. When she was 5 years old, her grandmother started
to teach her making lacquer threads. It was threads at first, then
over time, the whole range of lacquer work skills.
Shen's career started very unexpectedly. In 1988, her father,
Shen Xue'an passed away and before his death, told a true story,
which changed Shen Jinli's life.
Xue'an, a name given by Shen Xue'an's grandfather, means to
follow the footsteps of the lacquer master Shen Shao'an.
Shen Jinli's great grandfather became an apprentice in Shen
Shao'an's lacquer workshop and after years of hard work, was able
to earn a living off his own lacquer business.
In memory of the kindness of Shen Shaoan, the once "little
apprentice" gave Shen Jinli's father the name of Xue'an, hoping his
offspring could inherit the techniques of lacquer work.
Shen Jinli, running an embroidery business at that time, started
her own lacquer workshop in 1990 to fulfil her father's last wish.
Back then, lacquer crafts had lost their popularity among ordinary
people and most lacquer craft companies in Fujian Province were
battling to survive.
In the earlier 1990s, even the largest lacquer craft company in
Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, went bankrupt.
Shen Jinli's little workshop consisted of only three people and
seemed to stand little opportunity to beat the odds. So instead of
turning her workshop into a company, she chose to hone her skills
and practise new techniques.
In 1992, Shen Jinli made a visit to Beijing and the Forbidden
City, the Imperial Palace in China's Ming and Qing dynasties. The
old palace was the largest and most beautiful lacquer work she had
ever seen. The woodcarvings on the palace walls, the pillars in the
magnificent palaces all amazed her. She even found traces of
lacquer thread sculptures.
"After the trip, I found confidence in the lacquer art, as
lacquer could be made into the world's most beautiful artwork,"
said Shen.
In 1997, Shen established her own lacquerwork company, the
Xiamen Youbide Lacquer Craft Company and her own lacquer art
research centre in Xiamen.
Over the following years, the lacquer art became the main theme
of Shen's life. Besides her efforts to learn new techniques and
improve skills, Shen spent most of her time to promote the lacquer
thread sculptures around the nation. The art, despite being 300
years old, had little popularity outside Xiamen. Shen then decided
to attend every art exhibition with her lacquer thread
sculptures.
"Hard work will pay off some day" the old Chinese saying goes.
Yet, even before 2002, Shen saw little sign her efforts to promote
the lacquer thread sculpture would pay off. Instead, Shen had lost
2 million yuan (US$250,000) in her lacquer company.
In 2002 15 years since her father passed away Shen decided to
hold an exhibition of her own works in memory of her father.
"By opening the exhibition, I was also telling my father that I
have done my best and after exhibition I would have to close my
company," Shen said.
Held in the Great Hall of the People, Shen's exhibition achieved
great success. Her lacquer thread sculptures were even chosen as
State gifts for guests visiting China, including the Chinese
Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan.
Since 1997, Shen has made 103 pieces of lacquer work, with a
number of them winning awards in national exhibitions.
Shen's most satisfying work can now be seen in the lacquer-work
museum she established in Xiamen. The work, called "Nice Dragons of
Auspice," also adopted the techniques used in Beijing Cloisonne
enamel and embroidery.
The work consists of nine dragons made from lacquer thread and a
gourd-shaped porcelain bottle. On the top of a dark-red bottle, two
Chinese dragons are chasing a pearl with a background of clouds and
sea. In the lower part, the seven dragons are flying through the
clouds.
Shen's grandfather, who is now 90 years old, spent half of his
life in making lacquer wares.
When seeing his granddaughter's works, he always keeps saying:
"It can be better."
(China Daily December 6, 2006)
