Chapter 30 Section 8 Developed Lacquerware Craftsmanship

During the Warring States period, lacquer ware technology had a huge development, archaeological work in Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qin seven regions were found, indicating that the output of lacquer ware far exceeded the previous generation.Moreover, the variety of lacquerware increased greatly at this time, and the categories were complete.There are daily furniture such as beds, boxes, tables, tables, etc., eating utensils such as ear cups, beans, and plates, dowry utensils such as boxes, dowry [lianlian], and imitation copper ritual utensils such as tripods, beans, pots, and francium [fangfang]. , musical instruments such as drums, harps, and sheng, weapons such as armor, shields, bows, swords, spears, and bamboo and wood, vehicles such as chariots and shoulder vehicles, and funerary objects such as coffins, birds on tiger seats, and tomb-suppressing animals.It shows that lacquerware has been gradually applied to all aspects of people's social life at this time, which also marks that people's material and cultural development level has been greatly improved, and they are about to enter a new stage.

At this time, the fetal bones of lacquerware were still mainly made of wood, but the number of thin boards increased significantly, and bamboo (mite) and sandwich tires appeared.Made of multiple layers of linen or silk, it is light and strong, and easy to penetrate and adhere to the lacquer liquid; the invention of the sandwich tire is a great progress in lacquerware technology.In addition, lacquered objects have been found on copper, pottery or leather products.At this time, the inlay technology has been further developed, especially the technology of inlaying gold foil, silver foil or copper sheet on the surface of lacquerware.Gold foil and so on are cut into various patterns, some of which are decorated with acupuncture, which is magnificent.In the Warring States period, buckles made of copper or silver appeared on the utensils, which were called buckle (kou buckle) utensils.In addition to the reinforcement effect, it also makes the utensils more beautiful.In addition, metal accessories such as copper shop heads, covers, feet, and scorpions are added to the lacquerware.

At this time, red, yellow, blue, green, black, gold, silver and other colors were commonly used to draw complicated cloud patterns, scroll patterns, rhombus geometric patterns, panchi patterns, and bird and animal patterns on lacquerware, which was very gorgeous.In addition, there are often lacquer books, needle engravings or branding stamps on lacquerware, which contain names of government or private workshops, names of craftsmen or users, etc., which provide important information for the study of the handicraft industry and business conditions at that time. Due to the better natural preservation conditions in the southern region, there are many well-preserved lacquerware unearthed, and many of them are exquisite.For example, the lacquer lacquer with hunting, music, dance, monsters, dragons and snakes unearthed from the tomb of Guan Chu in Changtai, Xinyang, Henan, the lacquer box of mandarin ducks unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei, the tiger-seat bird drum frame unearthed from the tomb of Chu in Jiangling, Hubei, No. 406, Wuli Pai, Changsha, Hunan Leather tire lacquer shields unearthed from the Chu tomb, etc.In particular, the lacquered wood-carved small seat screen unearthed in 1965 from Wangshan Tomb No. 1 in Jiangling, Hubei Province can be regarded as a rare treasure.It is 15 centimeters high, 51.8 centimeters wide and three centimeters thick.Composed of a flat base and a rectangular screen, it is hollowed out and carved with phoenixes, deer, snakes, frogs, etc., showing the scene of phoenixes fighting snakes and winning, with profound meaning.With black lacquer as the ground, it is decorated with colorful lacquer paintings such as vermilion, gray green, gold, and silver, which is quite gorgeous.Another example is the lacquer dowry with painted figures of chariots and horses unearthed in No. 2 Chu Tomb (Zuo Yin Shao□ Tomb) in Baoshan, Jingmen, Hubei in 1986. The scene of nobles traveling by car and welcoming guests.A total of 26 people, 4 cars, and 10 horses are painted.Some are still, some are running, there are flying birds in the sky, and swaying trees on the ground, which are rare lacquer paintings.