Pingyao lacquer renaissance

Among the various art forms on display at the Cultural Industries Fair in Taiyuan is the famous Pingyao lacquerware. These decorative pieces and the process of creating them are considered an intangible cultural heritage.

The lacquer art of Pingyao, Fujian, Beijing and Yangzhou are among the most famous in China and each region has its own unique characteristics. The Pingyao lacquerware is famous for its gold painting and hand finished polish. It usually takes several months to finish one piece. The traditional production process is complex. It includes drawing, painting, inlaying and repeating the lacquering and polishing process.

The Pingyao lacquer arts include household items and ornaments like folding screens and paintings. It was highly popular in ancient China and even abroad.

The industry has gone through bad times but has started to recover with the rise of local tourism in recent years.

"In the past, people producing this kind of art were just considered ordinary craftsmen. But our social status has improved. Now people call us artists and more young people are learning the art," said Liu Jinhai, chief designer at the Pingyao Lacquer Industry Park.

Liu Jinhai has been a lacquer designer for nearly twenty years. He suggested more modern concepts should be integrated into this traditional artform.

"I think it’s important to maintain the traditional craftsmanship in the first place. It’s also important to put modern ideas to the content of this traditional art, to make it more popular in the market," Liu said.

The Pingyao lacquer wares also boast of the use of “Daqi”, also known as Chinese Lacquer, which is a natural lacquer produced by trees in China. It’s environmentally friendly and anticorrosion.

The natural lacquer needs to be filtered through cloth twice before being applied to an object. This kind of traditional method dates back thousands of years. The lacquer itself smells a little bit sour. But the natural lacquer is expensive. Many factories now use chemical lacquer to reduce costs, which the older generation of artists say detracts from the traditional Pingyao lacquer art.

"The use of natural Daqi is an essential part of making Pingyao lacquerware. But few manufacturers use it now. We should promote the use of Daqi to protect the tradition," said senior artist Xue Shengjin from National Arts and Craft Society.

Xue says the art form needs to be extended to practical items that people use in daily life now, in order to expand the market.