Luxurious craft keeps its luster through the ages

In the ancient city of Pingyao, Shanxi province, local lacquerware is among the most sought-after souvenirs by tourists.

"Varnished jewelry boxes are the most popular among tourists, especially those who are newlyweds," said a salesman at a local lacquerware shop.

The popularity of Pingyao's lacquerware comes from its unique place in the history of Chinese industry.

Lacquerware is one of the exquisite Chinese crafts, which is said to date back to the New Stone Age.

The original wares in China were those coated with black and red lacquers. From the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Chinese lacquerware industry had developed steadily and exerted influence on the craft in Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Renowned as one of the top four lacquerwares in China, Pingyao's lacquerware, especially the handpolished variety, is a brilliant representative craft in China.

The hand-polished－or tuiguang in Chinese－lacquerwares in Pingyao, a county in the center of Shanxi province, can be traced back to ancient times.

It is said that they originated in the Shang and Zhou (c. 11th century-256 BC) dynasties, were developed in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and peaked in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties.

In the middle period of the Qing Dynasty, the tuiguang lacquerware began to be exported to Europe and Southeast Asia. During the 1912-49 period, a lacquerware craftsman named Qiao Quanyu adopted the style of glass painting in southern China with improved techniques for manufacturing varnished lacquerware. It led Pingyao lacquerware into a new stage.

The tuiguang lacquerware of Pingyao is made of a natural raw lacquer unique to China and varnished by hand using a special technique.

Through embedding, sculpting, carving and colored painting, the lacquerware is decorated with patterns of mountains and rivers, flowers and birds, figures and pavilions. Finally, ornaments made of copper and even gold are installed and the lacquerware is carefully finished.

The finished products are simple and elegant. The surface of the lacquerware is smooth and shiny. It is also resistant to high temperatures, acids and alkali.

Lacquerware items include tables, cabinets, screen walls, jewelry boxes and lacquer paintings.

In 2006, the technique for making Pingyao's tuiguang lacquerware was included in the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

The technique is complicated, involving more than 30 procedures. In terms of varnishing, at least five layers of lacquer is applied and polished each time.

"The delicate varnishing and polishing procedures can result in a surface as shiny as mirror," said Liang Zhongxiu, a master inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage.

However, he said the varnishing and polishing procedures are not the most difficult part of production.

"How to decorate the items with images of Chinese and local cultural connotations is the most difficult,"Liang explained.

He added that the process requires the artist to have a high aesthetic taste when planning works of tuiguang lacquerware.

Elegant as it is, the tuiguang lacquerware is not a luxury out of common people's reach.

Li Xiao, a tourist from Changzhou, Jiangsu province, recently bought several tuiguang lacquerware items in Pingyao.

"When I found out the making of tuiguang lacquerware is a national intangible cultural asset, I figured it would be very expensive," Li said.

"However, when I was strolling down the street, I found I could buy several pieces at affordable prices."

Bai Jie contributed to this story.