Riding the wind of rebirth

However, as maki-e lacquerware has progressed, it must be admitted that it has borrowed and absorbed a great deal from Japanese craftsmanship.

Lacquerware craftsmanship was invented in China, but in the early Tang Dynasty, after hundreds of years of turmoil during the Three Kingdoms, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, lacquerware was considered a luxury item that could lead to the downfall of a country due to its expensive raw materials, complicated craftsmanship and long production time. Therefore, the court issued a "lacquer restriction order" that prohibited its production and use. However, it was also during this period that lacquerware art spread to Japan along with the culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The art forms of lacquerware, such as maki-e, mother-of-pearl inlay, hibimon, lacquer painting, mitō-e, foil painting, sunken gold, soy sauce, star-shaped lacquer, carved lacquer, and carved wood lacquer, spread to Japan and were highly regarded and developed there.

Just as CHINA is a synonym for porcelain in the West, JAPAN actually has another meaning, referring to "bright lacquerware".

Many lacquer art forms originated in China but were developed and popularized by artisans in Japan, especially during the Meiji period. Art forms such as maki-e, mother-of-pearl inlay, hibimon, lacquer painting, mitō-e, foil painting, sunken gold, star-shaped lacquer, carved lacquer, and carved wood lacquer were all developed and popularized.

The main reason for this lies in the artistic skill of the craftsmen.

Just like the "Eight Friends of Zhushan" in the late Qing and early Republican periods, who truly introduced Chinese painting and even Western painting techniques into porcelain painting, thus raising the level of porcelain painting, Japanese craftsmen in the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods also revived traditional crafts in the process of constantly learning new and old Western art and classical Chinese art.

At that time, the island nation introduced modern education methods and established the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and the Imperial Exhibition Arts Department, marking the transition between the old and new eras of Japanese lacquer art and laying the foundation for the development of modern Japanese lacquer art.

With the enthusiastic participation and active innovation of artists who combined the strengths of both East and West, such as Matsuda Gonroku, Takano Matsuyama, Otomaru Kōdō, Saji Kenji, and Taguchi Yoshikuni, the art of maki-e was brought to its fullest potential. Various expressive techniques were integrated and used together, and the subject matter became bolder and freer, pushing Japanese maki-e to a new height.

Combining Chinese and Western elements, and integrating traditional and foreign styles, using modern aesthetic systems and techniques to guide traditional art in order to achieve effects that conform to modern aesthetics—this approach is actually nothing new.

Liangshan has such talent. Liesuoage himself is an oil painter and lacquer painter. With his guidance, he quickly mastered the essence of "Koyoku Maki-e". Now, in expressing modern style using traditional methods and techniques, he has already surpassed his teacher.

Absorbing the style of green landscape painting, Lesoage introduced two colors, azurite and malachite, into lacquerware creation, based on the main use of black background and gold painting in maki-e. The aesthetics of our ancestors are indeed impeccable. The combination of the four colors is a perfect match. The rest is just the pattern.

"This box is so beautiful!" Xu Anxin walked up to an exquisite lacquer box: "Why does this hydrangea flower reflect light?"

"This is actually a replica," Zhou Zhi explained. "It's a work showcasing the skills of Lesoago. His original is a famous national treasure-level intangible cultural property made in the Meiji period of Japan, called the 'Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Hydrangea Lacquer Box.' The box utilizes mother-of-pearl inlay and gilding techniques. The surface of the box is in light gold, while the hydrangea leaves are created by first carving the branches and leaves using a shallow relief technique, and then using two shades of gold, one darker and one lighter than the background, to create the effect of light and shadow on the leaves, highlighting the hydrangea flowers in the center, which are made of mother-of-pearl inlay."

Hydrangeas naturally possess three colors: white, blue, and purple. Mother-of-pearl also displays these three colors under reflected light. This is where the artist's ingenuity is evident.

However, there's not much to say about the replicas. The creative aspects are purely copied, mainly conveying the message "I can do that too."

"So this isn't a very important exhibit, can I buy it?" Xu Anxin asked. "Uh, well..." Wu Renzhong looked at Zhou Zhi somewhat awkwardly.

Modern artists' reproduction of 1900 craft patterns is essentially a case of "dimensional reduction," especially in island nations where everything strives for "perfection," making replication relatively easy.

On the contrary, the unique beauty brought about by "imperfections" and the passage of time, such as the crackle of Ru ware, the iron lines of Ge ware, and the various crack patterns of the guqin, is basically out of the question.

Therefore, this 1:1 replica of the 'Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Hydrangea Lacquer Box' was actually 99% accurate to Lesoage. In any case, to Zhou Zhi, a layman in lacquerware, there was absolutely no difference between it and the original.

“This won’t do either,” Zhou Zhi said. “One important reason why this piece can be imitated so perfectly is that the Fujita Museum of Art provided us with an opportunity for close-up, immersive learning. Lesoag spent a month in the island nation just to study the craftsmanship and all the details of this piece, and brought back a complete set of high-definition pictures.”

"However, the Fujita Museum also has its requirements. This replica will be collected by the Fujita Museum. Furthermore, it is not allowed to be reproduced without the museum's authorization. Other replicas must be significantly smaller than the original in size to distinguish them."

"Fujita Art Museum? The one you collaborated on with about the library?" Although Xu Anxin didn't care much about art, she was quite concerned about her cousin. She knew that he had once gone to Japan for a period of time and brought back a bunch of treasures, as well as a library project.

“Yes, it’s the Fujita Art Museum that we collaborated on with the digital library,” Zhou Zhi said. “They have a collection of some of the finest porcelain from the Song Dynasty, as well as some Goryeo porcelain, lacquerware from three different periods in China, and thousands of sets of books from the Song to the Qing Dynasty.”

"Those damned devils! They just keep stealing our good stuff!" Cousin Anxin said indignantly.

"It's not easy to evaluate this. The loss of cultural relics from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period cannot be summarized by the word 'plunder.' It also reflects the weak sense of national consciousness and the aiding and abetting of the perpetrators." Zhou Zhi was pragmatic: "The books in the Fujita Art Museum are a great pity, but they are also the result of the Chinese people's export. As for the Song porcelain pieces in Ryūshima, they have a long history. They were already sent there during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties."

"So, according to you, it's perfectly reasonable for them to take the things?" Xu Anxin glanced at Zhou Zhi and raised her elbow again.

"That's not what I meant!" Zhou Zhi quickly explained, "I just wanted to say that the factors that caused this situation are very complex. Each and every one of them needs to be analyzed specifically. There are many ways to help it return to its original state. Just talking about it will only give you a superficial feeling and won't have any real effect."

“Over the years, elbow has facilitated the return of many national treasures.” With only three people in the room, Wu Renzhong no longer needed to pretend to be an official and came out to mediate: “But he just can’t let things go when he’s right. Cousin, you don’t need to be angry with him.”

"Exactly, he's just using his knowledge to intimidate me and deliberately trying to annoy me."

"Was I being unreasonable? I was simply stating the facts." Zhou Zhi was both amused and exasperated, a feeling of "a scholar encountering a soldier—reason is useless" rising within him. (End of Chapter)