When did lacquerware appear? How are lacquerware made?

Daily utensils, handicrafts and artworks painted on the surfaces of various utensils are generally called "lacquerware". Raw lacquer is a natural juice cut from lacquer tree, which is mainly composed of urushiol, laccase, resin and water. It has special functions such as moisture-proof, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, and can also be used to prepare paints with different colors, which is radiant. In China, the performance of lacquer has been known since the Neolithic Age, and it is used 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 gold-plated painted handicrafts have a far-reaching influence on Japanese and other places. Lacquerware is an important invention of chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China.

Lacquerware has a long history. According to relevant data, it was used as early as 4,200 years ago in the Xia and Yu Dynasties, and it was more developed in the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty, lacquerware, as a daily appliance, became more and more common. The production of lacquerware in the Tang Dynasty also developed greatly. Since the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there have been more than 20 kinds of lacquerware.

Lacquerware was widely used in ancient people's daily life. Lacquerware has been used for a long time because of its acid resistance, alkali resistance, heat resistance and corrosion resistance. China is the first country to use pigments in the world. According to the article "Ten Years of Han Feizi", Yu Shun made utensils and "used ink on them". Jade is a ritual vessel, painted with ink on the outside and Zhu on the inside. "Lacquerware was found in the ruins of the late primitive society. It was quite common to plant lacquer trees in ancient times. Zhuangzi, a great philosopher in the Warring States period, once held the post of managing lacquer gardens. Early lacquerware was generally painted on simple wooden tires and bamboo tires, which could be both antiseptic and decorative. With the development of lacquerware technology, there are painting, painting, gilding, filling paint and so on. It has gradually appeared on various utensils, or painted the tire to a certain thickness, and then carved patterns on it. Some lacquerware is also inlaid with gold, silver, copper, mother of pearl, jade teeth and precious stones, forming gorgeous patterns, and the list goes on. The level of gold and silver in the Tang Dynasty, monochromatic lacquerware in the Song Dynasty, carved lacquerware in the Yuan Dynasty, inlaid treasure in the Ming Dynasty and bodiless lacquerware in the Qing Dynasty are all representative famous products of each generation.

China lacquer craft is a dazzling pearl in the ancient cultural treasure house of China. Lacquerware refers to daily utensils, handicrafts and artworks painted on the surfaces of various utensils. Raw lacquer is a natural juice cut from lacquer tree, which is mainly composed of urushiol, laccase, resin and water. Using it as a coating has special functions such as moisture-proof, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, and can be made into different colors and radiant. Lacquerware is an important invention of chemical technology and arts and crafts in ancient China. The manufacturing process of lacquerware is quite complicated, and the matrix must be prepared first. The tire is made of wood, occasionally made of ceramic, copper or other materials, or directly carved with cured paint, and there is no tire. After the carcass is completed, lacquerware artists use various techniques to decorate the surface. The main feature of lacquerware is that it can be polished as well as porcelain. The paint layer is dry under wet conditions, very hard after curing, and has the characteristics of acid resistance, alkali resistance and wear resistance. Like ceramics and silk, China lacquerware is a treasure of national culture.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China lacquerware reached its heyday. Lacquer art, combined with architecture, furniture and furnishings, has turned from practicality to the field of furnishings and decoration, and entered a new era with rapid changes based on colorful, decorative, mosaic and decorative techniques. Take Zhang Cheng and Yang Mao in Xitang, Jiaxing (now Jiaxing, Zhejiang) in Ming Dynasty as examples. Zhang Cheng's sons Zhang Degang and Bao Liang presided over the production of official lacquer works in Neiting Orchard Factory. During Chenghua and Hongzhi years, the imperial court carved lacquer, and the tires became thinner and the patterns were sparse, indicating that the Xitang school carved lacquer had come to an end. Dali is another origin of Qi Diao, and there is only one painter named Wang Song. During Jiajing period, Yunnan carved lacquer began to enter the imperial court, replacing Xitang School and changing the imperial court carved lacquer. Its characteristic is that the knife does not hide the front and the cutting edge is not polished. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the art of lacquer carving was once lost. After four years in Qianlong, it was carved by a bamboo carving master. Suzhou woven lacquer was copied successfully, and most of the carved lacquers used in court were made in Suzhou. There are many kinds of carved lacquer in Yangzhou, such as mother-of-pearl and inlaid treasure. The lacquerware patterns made are slim and colorful. Famous ones are Lu Yingzhi and Xia. The latter is especially good at making antique lacquerware. The lacquerware works of the Soviet Union and Yang were destroyed in the war of suppressing the revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by the Qing court. Fuzhou lacquerware is famous for its vivid shape, bright colors and light body. It was created by the famous worker Shen Zhaoan with the traditional clamping method.

Modern lacquer crafts are mainly distributed in Beijing, Jiangsu, Yangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing, Fujian, Pingyao, Shanxi, Guizhou Dafang, Tianshui, Gansu, Yichun, Jiangxi and Fengxiang, Shaanxi. Among them, Beijing carved lacquer is decorated with dozens or even hundreds of layers on wooden tires or copper tires, and then embossed, with vermilion as the main color and rich and luxurious style. Lacquerware in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province is characterized by mother-of-pearl inlay, which is very beautiful under the light. Fujian bodiless lacquerware is characterized by bright color, lightness and beauty, water immersion resistance, temperature resistance and acid and alkali corrosion resistance.

There are two ways to make Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware: one is bodiless, that is, using clay, gypsum and so on. To mold the embryo, paint is used as adhesive, and then summer cloth (ramie cloth) or silk cloth is used to mount on the embryo layer by layer. After drying in the shade, the embryo is removed, leaving the embryonic form of lacquer cloth, and then painted with various decorative patterns. Second, tires made of wood tires and other materials are hard, directly painted, and are not born out, basically the same as born out.

Taking vase making as an example, firstly, a mud tire or a wooden petal tire model is preformed; Then two layers of fringed paper are mounted with water; Brush the release agent twice; Paint with polishing paint; Then the finished product is painted with raw paint, and the number of fine, medium and coarse ashes is adjusted; Depending on the size of the vessel, use flour to paint summer cloth or silk cloth once, twice or three times; Color with raw lacquer, and adjust the number of coarse, medium and fine ashes respectively; Wash the clay tire with water or take off the wooden petal tire; Washing the inner surface of the fetus with clear water has become the "embryonic form" of bodiless lacquerware. Every working procedure should be dried in the shade, and each painting should be dried with Soviet bricks after drying in the shade. After the "prototype" is made, there are several major processes.

Sichuan lacquerware, mainly push-light painting, is good at carving and filling, or is famous for grinding and painting. In addition, there are lacquer lines in Xiamen and carvings in Tianshui, all of which have different artistic characteristics.

Mother-of-pearl inlay technology is very decorative, giving people colorful aesthetic feeling, which is a very popular lacquer decoration art in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl is a wonderful flower in Chinese lacquer art garden, which enriches the decorative art of lacquerware with colorful and changeable colors. Mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer ware is made of mussels, luminous snails and other high-quality shells as raw materials, ground into figures, pavilions, flowers, birds, fish and insects, collaged and inlaid on lacquer blanks, and then painted and polished. Mother-of-pearl inlay can be divided into soft mother-of-pearl inlay and hard mother-of-pearl inlay. Soft mother-of-pearl inlay is also called point snail. It is made of shells, luminous snails and other raw materials, carefully made into spiral slices as thin as cicadas, and placed on the lacquer blank. The method of making hard mother-of-pearl inlay is the same, except that the shells used as raw materials are ground thicker. Another method is to line the bottom of mother-of-pearl flakes with different colors, which can be displayed through the thin shell. This method is called color matching mosaic.