Technology of dry lacquer mixed ramie in Tiantai Mountain

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Tiantai Mountain dry lacquer mixed ramie craft

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 403

Project No.: VIII - 53

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Taizhou traditional art museum

A brief introduction to dry lacquer mixed Ramie Technology in Tiantai Mountain

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Tiantai county is located in the east of Zhejiang Province, where the mountains and forests are dense, rich in lacquer, ramie, camphor and other natural raw materials for lacquer art. As early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the dry lacquer mixed ramie has been applied in the rooftop folk. Through the continuous efforts of modern craftsmen, the technique has gradually matured. In the middle of Tang Dynasty, the monk Situo used this method to make Jianzhen sitting statue in Japan, which was regarded as a national treasure by Japan.

There is a complete technical process for dry lacquer and ramie. Its production consists of 48 processes, from molding, plastering, ramie clipping and ash coating to painting, sanding, vermilion, polishing and gilding, all of which are made of natural materials such as ramie, raw lacquer, ancient tile powder, pozzolanic ash, tung oil, cinnabar and wucaishi. The whole production process is completed by hand. After the hemp cloth and paint are coated layer by layer, polished repeatedly, then coated with cinnabar and other auxiliary materials, then pasted with gold foil and calendered. After a variety of techniques, the finished product reflects the artistic charm of sculpture, painting and gold. The finished products are mainly used for the decoration and protection of Buddhist statues, palaces and temples, as well as the production of folk equipment. They are durable, lustrous, non cracking and non deformation. In addition to the sitting statue of Jianzhen, his masterpieces include the statue of Sakyamuni made by brothers Zhang Yanjiao and Yanqiu in Song Dynasty, which is dedicated to the Qingchun temple in Japan, the statue of Guanyin made by Xie Xiuwang in 1984 in Wannian temple in Tiantai Mountain, and the statue of Sakyamuni made by Tang Chunfu in 1991 in Nanjing Museum.

At present, Tang Chunfu and his apprentices Zheng Bingrui, Jin hongchu, etc. are the main successors of Tiantai dry lacquer and ramie technique. Their works are collected in 49 countries and regions, and have won many international and domestic gold awards for arts and crafts. Tiantai Mountain dry lacquer ramie technology not only has important craft and artistic value, but also has irreplaceable practical value in the restoration of ancient buildings and cultural relics, which can achieve the effect of making the old as the old. Because of the high requirements for the quality of the employees, the long time of study and the manual work, most young people are reluctant to join the industry. With the retirement of old artists, how to inherit the unique skill of dry lacquer and ramie has become an urgent problem. In addition, driven by the interests, some workshops do not strictly follow the traditional skills and use modern chemical synthetic materials in the production process, which leads to the market full of counterfeits. On the contrary, it is difficult to sell real handicrafts and the development space is shrinking. In this situation, we need to take active measures to ensure the inheritance and development of dry lacquer ramie technology.