Tianshui pursues sustainable development of carved lacquerware

Tianshui-style carved lacquerware, a time-honored traditional handicraft from Northwest China's Gansu province, has wooed many young people with its exquisite patterns, bright colors and incorporation of creative and cultural elements.

The hand-polished lacquerware is widely known for having striking modeling, sturdiness, luminosity and good resistance to acid, alkali and heat. It was approved by the State Council to be added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China for protection in 2008 in recognition of its unique techniques and important influence in the domestic lacquerware industry.

Techniques used in Tianshui-style carved lacquerware include carpentry, lacquering, stone inscription, line gold stacking painting and many other sophisticated skills. For instance, making an ornamental screen requires over 100 procedures and the lacquer surface, measuring just several millimeters, must be manually polished more than 30 times.

Therefore, it often takes a long time to make a piece of carved lacquerware. Sometimes, craftsmen have to spend a year or even longer to complete one.

The city of Tianshui has been working on exploring more creative approaches to better promote the preservation and development of carved lacquerware and encourage more young people to learn how to make it.

Many lacquerware factories and studios have strengthened their cooperation with local universities and colleges of arts in order to provide apprenticeships for students.

Zhao Chen, manager of a Tianshui-based carved lacquerware company, said that thanks to the cooperation between universities and enterprises and the adoption of on-site training plans, the typical length of an apprenticeship has been cut from five or six years to two or three years.

Meanwhile, local lacquerware companies have set up online stores on many domestic e-commerce platforms, along with offline sales channels, to expand the market for their handmade products.

"There are abundant original materials for the making of carved lacquerware in Tianshui. The industry has witnessed robust growth in the production of relevant cultural commodities during the past few years. A rising number of people are keen to learn more about the handicraft, which is beneficial for its inheritance and protection," Zhao added.