Woody lacquer color five rhymes Chinese

Chapter 1 Preface
Regarding the fact that I wrote the foreword in Internet literature, it can be said that there are mixed opinions.But from my personal point of view, the preface can better explain to readers what kind of thoughts I want to convey in this book, and avoid some plots in my book due to "poor information" that will make readers doubt the authenticity , or think that I am too ideal, "blind" cultural self-confidence, etc...

Regarding the theme of this book, the title and introduction of this book can already explain everything. The theme story revolves around lacquerware and the Grand Canal, and incorporates a variety of excellent traditional Chinese cultures as elements of the book.

Since I have already mentioned the value of intangible cultural heritage, this book will talk about lacquerware, talk about the current impression of lacquerware in society, and talk about how I found an intangible cultural heritage protection unit to understand and purchase.It can also be regarded as a response to the impression that many people on the Internet do not pay much attention to lacquerware, which is extremely inconsistent with the actual situation expressed in my book.

According to historical data, the use of lacquerware has a history of more than 8000 years.Its role, place of origin, craftsmanship, market share, etc. are constantly changing with historical development. In the process of continuous improvement and enrichment of its craftsmanship, it also promotes internal and external exchanges and shows an important political system transformation in Chinese history: from primitive society to From the worship of gods to the homes of ordinary people, lacquerware is an important form of expression of Chinese culture.

Words and idioms such as "pitch black" and "like glue like lacquer" not only describe lacquerware, but are also derived from the characteristics of lacquerware. These are enough to show that lacquerware has an important stroke in the history of Chinese civilization.

Lacquerware has always been valued by the state, and its status is no less than that of porcelain.From the fixed-point training in the last century, specially cultivating relevant talents for several major state-owned enterprises, to the lacquerware screens that can be clearly seen in many domestic and international conferences and meetings...

But it is well known that urushiol in raw lacquer can cause people to be allergic.Although I started to understand lacquerware can also be traced back to 2018, but at that time it was just a glimpse of its stunning, and I started to visit lacquerware protection units on the spot in 2021. I heard many craftsmen tell about their experiences before I really saw it. horrible.

From Pingyao Tangdu Pushing Light Lacquer, to Yangzhou Lacquer Ware Factory, to BJ Gold Lacquer Inlay, and finally to Taoist Master where I learned to play the piano, allergies are an inescapable topic, and it is also the reason why many people hesitate.

It is precisely because of these hardships that I am increasingly disgusted with the irresponsible remarks made by many marketing accounts and some irresponsible bloggers.

"Without design, it can't keep up with the times, it's not even as good as the aesthetics of the ancients, it's better to reproduce the ancients" is usually the main topic and form of their drainage.

I used to only see the lacquer works displayed in the Dongcheng Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, and I thought "no innovation, no design", but when I thought of "innovative designs" one after another, I really passed the guidance of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Download the official website of the national intangible cultural heritage, find the intangible cultural heritage protection unit, search for the address, go deep into the protection unit, and see their works...

Only then did I realize that my so-called innovations might just be leftovers from my ancestors, which can be easily reproduced now, or maybe they were designs from 20 or 30 years ago, and they can’t even keep up with the current innovation and development.

However, whether it is the Forbidden City lacquerware restored by BJ's gold lacquer mosaic, or the Nine Dragon Wall engraved by BJ and Pingyao, or Yangzhou lacquerware's re-creation of pure carved lacquer and mother-of-pearl vase "Canal Pearl" centered on a canal based on thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, Even countless restoration works.

Or "rhinoceros lacquer brooch, rhinoceros lacquer earrings, drift lacquer fans, drift lacquer refrigerator stickers and bottle holders, claw and mother-of-pearl comb" inlaid with BJ gold lacquer, "hook knife painted Luchong board, Porcelain inlaid and carved lacquer tea boxes, screw-point key chains, mother-of-pearl disc watches, rhinoceros lacquer pens, mother-of-pearl brushes” and the scroll lacquer paintings of the two companies, which respectively integrate four-cut craftsmanship and mother-of-pearl on soft and rollable scrolls.

Of all these, which one is not innovation?How come they are not designed, and how are they out of date?
Some people may say, "What are you, what are the ideas you think of?" Apart from myself, those videos and comments that claim to be uncreative, the cosmetic box they want is actually a collaboration between Yangzhou Lacquerware and Xie Fuchun Duck Egg Powder How old are the boxes; the hairpins and jewelry they want can be found in all lacquerware factories; the fans they want can be priced from hundreds to hundreds of thousands...

Therefore, through this book, I want to tell you that the country, lacquer ware artists and even related practitioners have never underestimated lacquer ware, let alone its practical value and the value of the times.

The practicality of lacquerware has never been a problem, but what really troubles its development lies in the understanding of lacquerware by the Chinese people and the world, as well as the understanding of lacquerware craftsmen.

"japan" is regarded as traffic by countless people, calling for the so-called "attachment". However, the most commonly used translation of lacquerware is "lacquerware". , also bolded "lacquerware" and put it at the top.

Some people will say, no matter what they say is right or wrong, as long as someone sees it, it’s fine?
But a lie, or the importance brought by a deliberately fabricated 'dispute', is like "grabbing the crowd" and "moaning without a disease".If many people really blindly join the lacquerware industry for love and make innovations they think, they will end up with nothing but suffering after suffering a lot.

Let me ask: At that time, people's blood was so cold. Besides lacquerware, would anyone save those endangered intangible cultural heritage?

The impact of these videos goes far beyond this. Many people learned about lacquerware in the video "China is not without luxury goods", thinking that lacquerware has been shelved and ordinary people can't afford it at all. There are a lot of daily necessities for [-] yuan, such as makeup boxes, fruit plates, tea tables, bracelets, fans, key chains... everything.

Yes, there are millions of fine products.But "one or two lacquers for a thousand dollars", the price of individual purchases of high-quality lacquer is around 300 yuan per catty, and the average price is also around 150 yuan.

In addition to money, more investment is time.Taking carved lacquer-inlaid jade screens as an example, if you want to change from raw lacquer to carved lacquer-inlaid jade and other works, after the cinnabar, azurite, and stone green are toned, the wooden body painted with raw lacquer needs to be dried in the shade under a special temperature and humidity.

Yangzhou does one layer a day, and during the rainy season two layers a day; BJ sometimes takes a week to dry one layer, which is less than half a year a year.And a layer of paint is only 0.03-0.04 mm thick, and it takes a whole year to paint it to one centimeter.

Only on this basis can the craftsmen carry out the next step of carving lacquer, and there must be no mistakes during the process, otherwise the whole game will be lost.In addition, a series of steps such as designing manuscripts require a lot of labor and time, and also require the extremely superb skills of craftsmen.

Therefore, it may take several masters to work together for five or six years to complete a work that can sell for millions.

There is a reason why expensive is expensive, and cheap is also a daily utensil in the hands of ordinary people.And those irresponsible videos just keep talking about "expensive", which makes the society's perception of lacquerware go further and further on the wrong road.This is the real reason why lacquerware is 'shelved'.

In the videos I saw, some people also saw all kinds of irresponsible propaganda, so that they mistakenly believed that lacquerware artists were using their suffering and tiredness to "kidnap" consumers with morality, so they were unwilling to buy.

But the reality is: many contradictions are not actually caused by the inheritors themselves, nor are they bragging.Difficulties such as market, culture, innovation, practicality, aesthetics, and raw materials are real, and they are not wrong to tell everyone the facts.However, some irresponsible videos are publicized in order to gain traffic and benefits.

Fortunately, in the video of the marketing account "Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da ," I have also seen a lot of comments from people who have similar views to mine.

Among them are students majoring in lacquerware, and there are also enthusiasts like me-the inheritors or craftsmen in protection units I met, they will talk about "allergies", but they never complain and complain, just plain Telling the story of the past, saying "now has come", and being able to enjoy lacquerware making.

Even if they are allergic, it is possible to experience it again if they don’t touch raw lacquer for a year. They just smiled and told us that this is lacquer—like saying that good things always have a temper.

What really makes me most unacceptable is that some people link the false proposition of "not paying attention" to "'blind' cultural self-confidence".

I never deny that there is still a lot of room for improvement in our cultural development, but putting on the skin of "objective cultural self-confidence" and practicing the reality of "worshiping foreign things and fawning on foreign countries" will really cause great shock to many people who do not understand and hope to understand. Misunderstand.

After all, the sense of responsibility of the sons and daughters of the Chinese people is ancient, and this sense of responsibility will also bring a sense of gain, making us more accepting that "we rely on us to help others" instead of "because we don't understand, so we can't help others." other people".

What's more, some people put aside the environment, society, economy, and substitutes to talk about market share, saying "a certain Japan uses a lot", "I used to use it in every family here, but now almost no one buys it", "a certain Japan Our country is better at innovating than ours” and so on.

These views cleverly use the patriotic psychology of the Chinese people, as well as the fine virtues of being prepared for danger in times of peace, humility, and empathizing with others, attracting traffic and earning enough attention, but in fact they are exaggerating the achievements of other countries and belittling our own lacquerware. value.

In addition to the word "japan" above, which attracted attention by grabbing a very common word, Kangxi was also used as an example, using the sentence "among lacquerware, foreign lacquer is the best" in his remarks as a gimmick, which made all kinds of Patriotic people in the age group are quite indignant, but this is undoubtedly a bright out of context!
The original words of Kangxi recorded in "Ting Xun Motto" are: "Among lacquerware, foreign lacquer is the best. Therefore, people all think that foreigners are clever, and what they do is good, but they don't know that lacquer is a thing. It should be wet and not dry." There is a lot of dryness and dust, so the color of lacquerware is the darkest, and it looks rough. The foreign land is in the sea, damp and dust-free, so the color of lacquerware is extremely gorgeous. This is due to the water and soil everywhere. It is not the best made by foreigners, and the Chinese are not as good. also."

This text clearly explains Kangxi's point of view: Yangdi is wet, so the color of lacquerware looks bright and beautiful, and China is dry and sandy, so lacquerware produced in Yangdi does not look as good as it is.Therefore, although people think that foreign lacquerware is better, this view is wrong.

As for why Yongzheng let the manufacturing office, that is, the distant teacher of the BJ Gold Lacquer Inlay Factory inherit foreign lacquer, there is no clear point of view that it is because of the "high quality" of foreign lacquer.On the contrary, there is evidence to prove that the imitation products produced by the Manufacturing Office are not only "high quality", but also "various in variety".

At the same time, the imitated technology was actually passed down from the Tang Dynasty, and was slightly changed by a certain Japanese country in combination with local culture.Therefore, the imitation behavior, in a big way, means that Yong neither respects the precepts of his ancestors, nor does he know much about the development history of lacquerware.

In addition, nothing more than the reasonable personal preferences of a generation of emperors.

Going back to what I said earlier, I also met someone who compared the proportion of a certain Japanese lacquerware market with the Chinese lacquerware market; The comparison of Chinese lacquerware innovations shows how "poor" the development of Chinese lacquerware is.

However, the main reason for the decline in market share is not directly related to "lacquerware is not valued". Instead, it is the closure of lacquerware factories and the low-quality and low-quality products during the foreign exchange period. The price is expensive, so consumers buy more, and with the development of the times, the increase of substitutes also determines the change of market share.

The development of private enterprises in rural and urban areas is also due to the reform and opening up.State-owned enterprises are supported by state funds. Therefore, during this process, Chinese enterprises will close down, and factories that no one will take over will cease to exist, and production will inevitably drop sharply.

Among the intangible cultural heritage, such as: Bi Liufu Oil Paper Umbrella and Suzhou Ruyi Sandalwood Fan Factory are state-owned enterprises that cannot be responsible for their own profits and losses.

What's more, China has porcelain, copper, bamboo, wood, purple sand and other materials, and there are many choices.High school political economics tells us: if the substitutes for one thing are cost-effective, such as stainless steel bowls and porcelain bowls can replace lacquerware bowls, and wooden furniture and simple furniture can replace lacquerware furniture, then the sales volume of substitutes will be high. Therefore, Lacquer ware obviously cannot occupy the upper hand.

Take the lacquerware fountain pen that the other party and I were arguing about as an example. Its use value in China cannot be compared with that in a certain Japanese country.

Because the current market of our pens is mostly supported by students, and students need to use "0.5mm black signature pens" according to the examination regulations. Buying pens is often used as a gift, or purchased by business people. At this time, the practicability of lacquer pens And the necessity is not high, not even as good as lacquerware rod brushes.But on this basis, our country still has a variety of lacquer pens such as carved lacquer, dotted snails, and rhinoceros lacquer, which are produced and sold.

As mentioned by Kangxi, the environment affects the appearance of lacquerware. The dryness, humidity, and corrosiveness of the social environment are different, which makes it impossible for lacquerware in China to be compared with a certain Japanese country. Even within China, the environment of each province is very different. , It is doomed that the market share of lacquerware is very uneven.

Taking Yangzhou Guqin as an example, it is easy to crack when it comes to BJ. Although the northern lacquerware has no problem in the south, the service life of the southern lacquerware is greatly reduced in the north.As a result, simple and cheap porcelain is the first choice.

Of course, five years ago, I also felt that "the xx country squatted" and "why don't we pay attention to it", but this was all because of insufficient understanding.As long as you have a deep understanding, you should understand that many things are not temporary, and there are too many changes in the times behind it, and the situation between countries is also different, so it cannot be generalized.

A single variable can be compared. When there are too many variables, such a comparison is nothing more than a family statement to prove their point of view, and it cannot be used as their saying that "Chinese lacquerware is poorly developed, not valued by the country, no one inherits it, does not understand innovation, and does not care about female groups. proof of need".

Individuals may have a little knowledge, but when carrying out cultural propaganda, they must take responsibility, at least understand its historical, social and cultural background, understand its past, present and future...

The me five years ago, and even the me now, are far less likely to be "seen" than a marketing account or blogger. I can't do more. I can only let the readers who read my book really understand What I learned about the status quo of lacquerware and the cultures they told me.

Speaking of this, I realized that the preface of more than [-] words was about to be written as an editorial by me.To sum up, in fact, there is nothing more than the introduction. Lacquerware in China does not lack attention and innovation. What it lacks is "understanding", and what it lacks is a legitimate way of publicity that does not use "deceived" words to attract people.

I don't have the ability to do publicity, but I can write lacquerware into the story, and together with the characters in the book, use the youth thinking to bring to the world the message that "lacquerware originated in China" and "lacquerware has never been abandoned by the new era" Recognition, from the perspective of youth, let everyone see the power of youth empowering lacquerware, and see how they let more people understand the culture behind lacquerware and the difficulties that lacquerware craftsmen have overcome one after another.

My personal personal experience now only includes the experience of bleaching lacquer and learning the qin. Although the qin has learned the steps of putting on gray tires and painting the qin now, because I know that I have to repeat the college entrance examination, the Taoist teacher who taught the qin looked at me It's very tight, I'm afraid that my allergies will delay the college entrance examination, and I won't have a chance if I try to die.

Of course, after my college entrance examination this year, I also intend to express my purpose straightforwardly. On the premise of ensuring safety, I will see what a real "lacquer allergy" is, so that I can truly write about that feeling.Of course, if I am lucky enough not to be allergic, that is also the source of my ability to write a kind of "extra lucky".

Finally, I will send a section of my message in a video comment area to all readers, to those who want to write intangible cultural heritage, and to myself, remembering:

To write about lacquerware, you can’t just write about raw lacquer, but also write about the face scratched due to allergies, and write about the “worth it” that will be joked about many years later.

To write about oil-paper umbrellas, you can’t just write about beauties, you should write about the confusion like walking in a rainy alley, and you should write about the indescribable “wow” in the museum.

To write about silk and satin, you can't just write about fluttering clothes and fluttering fireflies, but also about the close connection between the textile industry and the development of the motherland, about thousands of years of history, and even more about the history behind today's inheritance. A sigh of relief.

To write about intangible cultural heritage, one should really understand them, understand the inheritance from generation to generation, the ups and downs, and even the luck that keeps them until now.Not just as a gimmick that can bring you economic value and make you famous...

Ci Liansheng

March [-], [-]
(2023 05 年 月 日 04)
Yu Jing
(End of this chapter)