Lacquerware, Once On Verge Of Extinction, Revived As A Big Industry In Fuzhou, China

Craftsman Pan Huiming works on plaster vase moulds in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province, Dec. 27, 2012. Invented by Shen Shao’an in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware is a traditional Chinese handicraft which is on the verge of extinction. It was listed as a state intangible cultural heritage in 2006, and a conservation base was also established in the same year. Nowadays, a growing number of craftsmen who inherited the techniques of the Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware are working towards the industry’s revival.

Craftsman Liu Zhangxin works on a bodiless lacquerware at a conservation base for bodiless lacquerware in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province, Dec. 27, 2012.

Craftworkers Lin Youxin (R) and Zeng Jingxiu (L) examine bodiless lacquerware works in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province, Dec. 26, 2012. <Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan>