Raw lacquer is a natural sap cut from lacquer trees. It is milky white in color. It turns brown-red when oxidized by the air. When it is slightly thicker, it is almost black. It can be said that black is the normal state of lacquer. Ancient lacquerware has "unusual color". Those who speak and look are all black." This is where the word "pitch black" comes from. Pitch black is the blackest and most beautiful black in the world. It is deep, noble, subtle, and mysterious. Therefore, the art of lacquer can also be said to be the art of black. Pitch black is The most precious color in lacquer painting.
Speaking of red, it is made from the natural mineral mercury sulfide and lacquer. It is bright in color and does not change for a long time. There is a saying in ancient literature that "red lacquer is not written" to express its praise for vermilion lacquer. , it is the best companion of black and the second most popular color of lacquerware. Red and black have almost become symbols of lacquer. Last year, the Metropolitan Museum of America held an exhibition on ancient Chinese lacquer carvings, which was named after "Red and Black."
But lacquerware is not just black and red.
In human history, the discovery and use of natural lacquer was an original creation of the Chinese. "Han Feizi Shi Guo" once said that when Shun and Yu were in power more than 4,000 years ago, the use of lacquered wooden utensils caused dissatisfaction among the princes of the world. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, lacquer liquids not only began to be mixed with various pigments, but also the techniques of pasting gold foil and inlaying turquoise on lacquerware appeared, which was the beginning of the "gold and silver flat stripping" technique in the Han and Tang Dynasties. During the Western Zhou Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period, the craftsmanship of lacquerware became increasingly sophisticated. The "clam group pattern" on lacquerware found in a tomb in Xincun, Junxian County, Henan Province in the late Western Zhou Dynasty can be regarded as the beginning of the decoration on lacquerware. Lacquer painting refers to the decorative paintings on ancient painted lacquerware, rather than generally referring to the "painting" process on lacquerware. In the art of lacquer painting, although the method of applying paint is very important, it is also different from Western "oil painting". In addition, it also has different expression techniques from murals and silk paintings. Lacquerware is the earliest invented and unique art in China. Lacquer painting is the perfect combination of lacquerware and painting, which has a unique historical position in the history of painting.
Chinese lacquer painting has a long history, which can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. Many lacquerware surfaces in the Shang Dynasty have red or black lacquer decorative patterns. The decorative techniques include realism and deformation and exaggeration, and there are single-color or multi-color depictions. Complex patterns including thunder patterns, banana leaf patterns, Kui patterns, dragon patterns, tiger patterns, Taotie patterns, string patterns, dot patterns, etc. are painted on the utensils. Some of the utensils are also inlaid with scroll-engraved patterns on part of the pattern. Clam bubbles and turquoise in different shapes. The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were an important stage in the development of Chinese lacquer art. The excellent quality of lacquer ware is increasingly recognized and mastered by people, and it gradually replaces bronze ware. The advancement of lacquer materials and lacquer ware production technology makes the exquisite shape of lacquer ware and the beauty of patterns far superior to those of previous generations. The lacquerware has exquisite and vivid patterns, bright colors, mainly black ground, with red paint, simple yet gorgeous, reaching an unprecedented level. The "Welcome to Travel" unearthed from the Warring States Period Chu tomb in Baoshan, Jingmen, Hubei is the earliest existing lacquer painting in my country. It is the earliest and best-preserved lacquer painting in the world today. It is of great importance in the history of Chinese art. status. The Han Dynasty was the heyday of the development of my country's lacquerware manufacturing industry. Not only did the central government set up "Dongyuan Craftsman" in the Shaojian Mansion to supervise the production of lacquerware for officials, but also set up workers in Shuhan and Guanghan counties to supervise the production of various exquisitely decorated lacquerware. Exquisite lacquerware, Yang Xiong, a poet of the Western Han Dynasty, described the grand production of precious lacquerware such as carved fillings, mother-of-pearl, gold and silver buckles produced in Shu Han and Guanghan County in "Ode to the Capital of Shu" and wrote: "The carved mother-of-pearl ware requires thousands of skills. Three ginsengs The utensils, gold, silver and culture are all excellent." At the same time, folk workshops are also distributed in Shandong, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Jiangsu and other places.
There are few lacquer paintings unearthed from the Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, but the lacquerware unearthed from the tomb of Sima Zhuran, the right military advisor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty in the middle of the Three Kingdoms period, excavated in Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, has an astonishing number of lacquerware, with various shapes and colors, reflecting the Three Kingdoms. Level of period lacquer decoration. The most obvious innovation in decorative arts during the Northern and Southern Dynasties was the invention of green paint and striped paint. The widespread use of lacquer decoration techniques such as spotted lacquer and green lacquer has broken the traditional main colors of black and red that have remained unchanged for thousands of years since the Warring States Period. The lacquer screen with painted figures and stories unearthed from the tomb of Sima Jinlong in Shizhaishan, Shanxi is both an ancient painting craft and an authentic painting of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is a unique piece. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, lacquerware decoration developed a new artistic style and aesthetic taste based on the inheritance of the previous generation. Contrary to the decorative themes that are dominated by animal patterns, a large number of flower and grass patterns, figures and landscape patterns are used. The composition is free and gorgeous, showing a style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Song Dynasty lacquerware has gradually moved from high-end luxury goods to daily life, reflecting the civilian characteristics of lacquer craftsmanship.
The decoration of the utensils has turned away from the richness and richness of the Tang Dynasty, and replaced it with a fresh and elegant style. It is characterized by beautiful lines and elegant colors, showing a certain contemporary nature, reflecting rational beauty, static beauty, implicit beauty, Introverted beauty. The pattern composition generally takes characters and pavilions as the pattern theme, is lined with landscapes, birds and animals, and is decorated with folded branches and flowers on the edges, giving it the effect of meticulous painting. Works that express human subjects have a strong interest in genre paintings.
After thousands of years of accumulation, lacquerware decoration in the Ming Dynasty has become more colorful in terms of decorative themes, decorative structures and decorative techniques, and has distinctive artistic characteristics. As far as decorative themes are concerned, there are all-encompassing patterns such as landscapes, auspicious clouds, dragons and phoenixes, flowers, insects, fish, and festive and auspicious patterns. The patterns are lively, natural, and generous. They are both heritage and innovative, full of inclination and selectivity. angry. The variety of decorations is increasing day by day, and it has reached extremely high achievements in craftsmanship, especially in the aspects of gold tracing, mother-of-pearl, color, and inlay. , rigorous and meticulous, seems to have reached the limit and is insurmountable. The decorative art of lacquerware in the Qing Dynasty inherited the techniques of the Ming Dynasty, and the decoration became increasingly delicate and complicated. In particular, the lacquerware decoration during the heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong showed the majestic spirit of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty and represented the secular style of pursuing magnificence and wealth. It used complex colors, applied both oil and lacquer colors, and was full of carvings. The patterns were rich and colorful, gorgeous and luxurious. Distinctive artistic personality. The lacquerware that best represents the decorative level of lacquerware in the Qing Dynasty is the lacquerware produced by the Qing Palace Manufacturing Office. After Daoguang, the Qing Dynasty suffered from internal and external troubles and weakened national power. Lacquer craftsmanship also gradually entered a trough. Important lacquer craft categories such as carved lacquer have been lost. Although other types of lacquerware can be produced at this time, the level is low and cannot be compared with the heyday. Compared.