Interior painting (Beijing interior painting snuff bottle)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: interior painting (Beijing interior painting snuff bottle)

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

Item No.: 314

Project No.: Ⅶ - 15

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Beijing

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

Protection unit: Beijing Great Wall Art Factory

Brief introduction of the interior painting (Beijing interior painting snuff bottle)

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

The inner painted snuff bottle is a unique kind of national handicraft after snuff was introduced into China. Its production skills mainly spread in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong and Shantou, forming "Beijing school", "Ji school", "Lu school" and "Guangdong school". After the snuff bottles entered Beijing, they were used by imperial relatives, princes and ministers, as well as influential banners. In addition to the palace office, a large number of snuff bottles were also made among the people. From about 1890 to 1945, the production and development of the snuff bottle with interior painting reached its peak. Zhou Leyuan, Ding Erzhong, Ma Shaoxuan and ye zhongsan, known as the "four masters of interior painting", appeared. These folk artists created the original snuff bottle with interior painting in Beijing.

In 1954, ye Xi (Xiaofeng) and ye Qi, the descendants of Ye zhongsan, were invited to Beijing Institute of Arts and crafts to train Ye Shuying to learn arts. In 1958, they accepted Wang Xisan (Wang Ruicheng) as an apprentice, and later Liu Shouben and other apprentices. Around 1970, ye brothers died one after another. Wang Xisan, his disciple, founded the "Ji School of internal painting" in Hengshui City, Hebei Province, and Liu Shouben became the leader of the modern "Beijing School of internal painting". There are four generations of snuff bottles in Beijing.

Beijing snuff bottle is a historical witness of the development of China's tobacco industry in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As a special craft variety, it not only contains traditional folk crafts such as carving, inlaying and silk, but also collects a variety of Chinese and Western painting techniques, which becomes the epitome of the development of handicraft at that time. The contents of snuff bottles in Beijing's interior paintings show the history and culture of our country, which is of great value for appreciation and research. At present, due to the lack of profits and long learning period, most of the practitioners have changed their professions, and the phenomenon that the old people are unwilling to work and the new people are unwilling to learn has emerged. The snuff bottles of Beijing's interior painting are in a critical situation, and the rescue and protection work is imminent.