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Sexagenarian artist in N China’s Shanxi devotes over 40 years to traditional art of pyrography

(People's Daily Online) 15:43, November 24, 2021

Zhang Donghai, a 61-year-old man in Yuci district, Jinzhong city, north China’s Shanxi Province, has been devoting himself to the traditional art of pyrography for more than 40 years.

Zhang learned how to do pyrography all by himself, which is a kind of ancient artform for decorating wooden objects by burning designs onto the material’s surface with the tip of an electric soldering iron. He started learning the artform when he was 20 years old.

Pyrographer Zhang Donghai creates his works on a piece of Xuan paper in Yuci district, Jinzhong city, north China’s Shanxi Province. (Photo/Zhang Yun)

At the age of 40, Zhang started focusing on making pyrographs on Xuan paper, a delicate, long-lasting type of paper traditionally used for Chinese calligraphy and painting.

The artist said that it’s very difficult to master the skills for making pyrographs on Xuan paper. “I must accurately control the temperature of the electric soldering iron and the speed of touching down the soldering iron onto the ‘painted’ surface, so as to avoid leaving holes in the piece of Xuan paper,” Zhang said.

“In the beginning, I had to think about how to design the images before drawing,” the man said, explaining that he was able to successfully create works on pieces of Xuan paper after several years of practice.

“Making pyrographs on Xuan paper demands great patience and pyrographs can’t be modified,” Zhang said, revealing the challenges in training future inheritors of the ancient art.

Pyrographer Zhang Donghai displays his designs created on a piece of Xuan paper in Yuci district, Jinzhong city, north China’s Shanxi Province. (Photo/Zhang Yun)

“I prefer to train adults because electric soldering irons are dangerous to children,” the artist said.

Zhang has accepted apprentices and attended activities featuring intangible cultural heritage, aiming to let more people know about the craft and find suitable inheritors to take on the artform.

Meanwhile, Zhang has created unique pyrographs by combining the craft with the skills of traditional Chinese bird-and-flower paintings.

“Pyrography is a kind of valuable traditional cultural skill. I will continue to seek new innovations to make more pyrographs and do my best to pass on the craft from generation to generation,” Zhang said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)

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