From: Yuncheng Urban Collective Industrial Association
Issue Time: 2020-12-15 17:03
Formerly known as “Xingye Tang” Silver House, founded in 1995, Jiezhong Gold, Silver and Copper Traditional Production Research Center is located in Wudui Village, Jishan County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, dedicated to the processing and production of gold, silver and copper ware. In November 2014, “gold and silver crafting techniques” was announced by the State Council and issued by the Ministry of Culture as a “national intangible cultural heritage representative project”. Now the center is the protection center of the national intangible cultural “gold and silver crafting techniques” project.
Gold and silver details making skill is one of our traditional metal craftsmanship, it is mainly made of gold and silver materials, for indoor display to enjoy and a practical function concurrently. Because of the material’s excellent ductility, it can be thin to a cicada, fine to the duck, therefore its use skills are very subtle and complicated, and dainty, thus has formed a unique fine craftsmanship. It first originated in the Yin and Shang dynasties more than 4,000 years ago, and was widely used in various gold and silver utensils such as incense burner, wine pot, wine cup, tea bowl, and various religious utensils for sacrifice, celebration or decoration in the palace and temple in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Later, it extended to folk ornaments such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and locks.
Jiezhong Gold, Silver and Copper Traditional Production Research Center has 3,000 square meters of space for inheritance and communication activities, including mold room, tool room, reference room, finished product display and protection room and gilding fine work operation room, etc. The display includes the technical materials of gilt fine work, the statues and genealogies of Wang’s ancestors who founded “Xingye Tang”, the time-honored signboards and gold plaques of “Xingye Tang” and its written records. There are 127 kinds of engraving tools, such as scissors, burin, pliers, hammer, axe, torch, agate knife, etc.
At present, Jiezhong Gold, Silver and Copper Traditional Production Research Center has more than 10 people including mold makers, mold operators, chisel technicians, polishers and gilders, among whom WANG Jiezhong is a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor and MA Xingyuan is a provincial intangible cultural heritage inheritor.
In 2017, the Center participated in the CCTV program “I Have Heirloom Treasures”, telling the story of the inheritance of the traditional gold and silver fine craftsmanship, including 1:1 imitation of the tea set excavated from Famen Temple, which was praised on the spot by the famous cultural scholar Mr. WANG Liqun and the Capital Museum researcher Mr. WANG Chuncheng. In 2018, the center provided traditional props for the exhibition of Chinese incense and tea ceremony at the Beijing Summit of China-Africa Forum.
Jiezhong Gold, Silver and Copper Traditional Production Research Center upholds the business philosophy of “gold and silver have a price, credibility is priceless”, always insists on pure handmade. It combines traditional craftsmanship with modern technology to produce high-quality Chinese classical crafts with temperature.
