Kneel down and admire the style and technique of lacquerware.

China is the first country in the world to know or use lacquerware and make utensils with lacquerware. China lacquer craft has a long history and has made great artistic achievements. For thousands of years, lacquerware works full of charm and unique China style are a brilliant page in China's art history and an important part of world culture.

The Warring States Period was the first prosperous period of lacquer craft in China. During the Warring States period, due to the changes in ethical consciousness and aesthetic concept caused by fierce social changes, the lacquer craft in this period developed rapidly. The paint color is mainly red and black, which has the characteristics of "Zhu painting inside, ink dyeing outside" The container is painted with vermilion, which is bright and warm; Painted with black paint, it is quiet and dignified, and the contrast between red and black sets off the elegance and richness of lacquerware, showing a strong decorative effect, and the utensils have a stable and dignified beauty.

By the Qin Dynasty, the manufacture of lacquerware had become an important handicraft industry. Compared with the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, lacquerware in Qin Dynasty was more regular and exquisite, with rich shapes and varieties, and its output increased, which was widely used in all aspects of social life. Although the history of Qin Dynasty is not long, lacquerware in Qin Dynasty played an important role in the development of lacquerware from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty. The decorative patterns of lacquerware in Qin and Han dynasties are red and black, flying and elegant, which not only gives people a strong visual impact and infinite reverie, but also makes people marvel at their rich, bold imagination and skillful painting techniques.

During the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, lacquerware began to develop in a diversified way on the basis of inheriting the tradition of the Han Dynasty, and its decorative techniques were more detailed and in-depth. During this period, the content of lacquerware decoration showing real life increased, with all kinds of birds, animals and insects painted, and narrative content such as dance, music, feasting, hunting and character narration began to appear more on lacquerware. With the economic and cultural prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the popularity of porcelain, the use value of lacquerware was replaced by low-priced porcelain, and lacquerware production gradually developed towards gorgeous and rich handicrafts. It is mainly manifested in the innovation of lacquerware varieties and techniques, the prevalence of even dyeing of gold and silver, the development of mother-of-pearl inlay and the appearance of carved lacquer.

The traditional lacquer-making technology in China reached the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the production technology system was basically formed. The main types of lacquerware ornaments are monochromatic lacquerware, painted gold, gilded and carved lacquer. Monochrome paint was the most popular in the Song Dynasty, and the prosperous paintings in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties changed to pure paint color, showing the evolution of aesthetic taste of the times.

Mr. Wang once summed up the achievements of lacquerware technology in Ming and Qing Dynasties in one sentence: "The combination of different lacquerware changes ushered in the richness of lacquerware." During this period, the society was stable, the economy was prosperous, and the painting technology developed greatly. The Royal Lacquer Production Center of Orchard Factory and Factory was formed in the two Dynasties respectively, which formed a situation that the central and local governments, the government and the people developed together, influenced each other and learned from each other. Lacquerware products in this period were not only used by the royal family, but also given as valuable gifts to overseas countries.

The common lacquerware in Ming and Qing Dynasties includes monochrome lacquerware, carved lacquer, filling lacquer, painting, gold painting, piling lacquer, inlaying, painting, gold dipping, rhinoceros skin and so on. Decorations have changed from the traditional geometric patterns, animal patterns and decorative patterns, and began to pursue life interest and natural beauty. The themes of the works are mostly based on natural scenery and have a strong flavor of life. The types of container shapes involve all aspects of life. Take court lacquerware as an example, including court regulations, furnishings, daily use and Wan Wen.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty, Qi Diao in the Qing Dynasty was also obviously different. In the Ming Dynasty, the paint color was deep red, and the patterns were solemn and vigorous. In the Qing dynasty, it was even more delicate. In the Ming dynasty, wooden tires were generally made, and they were also used as other tires, and were combined with other crafts, such as gold-plated bronze ornaments, enamel, king carving and tooth carving. After the middle of Qing Dynasty, the style of lacquer art was too delicate and complicated, the spirit of artistic creation gradually lost, and the production of carved lacquer gradually declined.

From the Neolithic lacquer bowl in Hemudu to the prosperity of lacquer culture in Chu and Han dynasties, until the peak of Ming and Qing dynasties, China lacquer art has been passed down for 7000 years. As a tradition, lacquer art was once the carrier for China people to meditate on nature. However, with the evolution of production mode, cultural orientation and modern artistic concept, the ancient lacquer art is faced with the new possibility of how to rebuild modern value in the context of contemporary culture, and the self-positioning of lacquer art in the process of social transformation, which has become a problem that lacquer art circles must face and answer. As a member of the lacquer industry, the author deeply feels the tension and competition between tradition and modernity, and feels the great survival pressure faced by traditional culture and national handicrafts. Facing the situation that challenges and opportunities coexist, China lacquer art should choose the survival way of excavating, sorting, protecting and inheriting, innovating and developing simultaneously.

Daily utensils and handicrafts painted on the surfaces of various utensils are called lacquerware. In China, people have known the performance of lacquer since the Neolithic Age and used it to make utensils. From the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the lacquer craft in China has been developing continuously, reaching a fairly high level. China's bronzing and gold tracing technology has a far-reaching impact on Japan and other places. Lacquerware is an important invention of chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China. Its technology and types are as follows:

Draw gold. A decorative method of drawing patterns with gold on the surface of lacquerware. Gold paint is the most common on black paint ground, followed by vermilion or purple ground. Others call gold paintings "decorative paintings with gold and silver pigments".

Mother-of-pearl, also known as "snail filling" and "Luodian", is a decorative technique in which figures, birds, animals, flowers and plants are embedded in carved or painted objects. This process originated very early and became popular in the Zhou Dynasty. Judging from the existing mother-of-pearl in the Tang Dynasty, it was of a high level at that time.

Order snails. Mother-of-pearl lacquerware is a traditional handicraft in China. Shell, luminous snail, etc. They are all raw materials, refined into spiral slices as thin as cicada wings, and then the thin spiral slices are "spotted" on the lacquer blank, hence the name "point snail". Because it is thinner and softer than ordinary mother-of-pearl, it is also called "thin mother-of-pearl" and "soft mother-of-pearl". Now in Yangzhou and other places, there are still some snail lacquerware production. Gold and silver are even. Thin gold and silver are made into various figures, birds, animals, flowers and so on. And then stick it on the polished paint tire. After drying, two or three layers of paint are completely coated, and then the gold and silver patterns are polished to make the patterns as flat as the paint base, and then polished to become a beautiful flat paint remover. This decorative method is elaborate, labor-consuming, and noble in materials, but the luster of gold, silver and lacquer color reflects each other very luxuriously, and it is a very precious lacquer.

Carve lacquer. The technology of carving patterns on piled flat paint tires. Qi Diao in China began in the Tang Dynasty and is most famous for its history of Xitang in Jiaxing in the Yuan Dynasty. Carving paint mostly uses red paint, so it is also called "picking red". Qi Diao is often made of wood ash and metal, which are piled with paint, ranging from 80 to 90 layers to 100 to 200 layers. This is a semi-dry painting and carving technique. Generally, brocade is used as the ground, and the pattern is hidden, which is beautiful and solemn.

Spot paint. Painting is a kind of lacquer decoration technique in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, which was used as automobile decoration in ancient times. This method is named after the use of more than two kinds of colored pigments, which are interlaced with each other and present various patterns, just like the markings on animals and plants. In addition, monochrome paints are used to display different shades of marks, some of which are called spot paints.