Traditional copper art shines in hands of skilled artisans

Huang Junjun shows skills of copper engraving to his apprentices at a workshop of his company in Guixi City, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

NANCHANG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Holding a hammer in his right hand and a graver in the left, Huang Junjun skillfully engraves a lifelike bird design on a copper pot. All around him, artisans work on similar designs, the sounds of their hammers filling the air.

"To make the engraved animals come alive, craftsmen must pay particular attention to the details, such as the lines of their skin and their postures, as much as possible," said Huang, 55, a dedicated practitioner of Guixi copper engraving for the past 36 years.

With a rich history spanning over 3,000 years, the Guixi copper engraving craft originated in the city of Guixi, which is administered by the city of Yingtan in east China's Jiangxi Province. Guixi is renowned for its rich copper resources and booming copper industry.

In 2021, this time-honored cultural legacy was included in an extended representative list of state-level intangible cultural heritage items.

A craftsman tints a copper engraving artwork at Huang Junjun's company in Guixi City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Aug. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

According to Huang, a provincial-level inheritor of the craft, it takes more than 10 techniques involving at least 30 steps, with over 150 different gravers, to make a single engraving artwork. "Engravers need a high level of artistic talent, superb skills and great patience," he said.

Huang, a native of Guixi, grew up with copper, exhibiting a keen interest in handicrafts since he was young. He spent his childhood in his grandfather's copper workshop helping to make copper products and repair copperware.

After graduating from high school, Huang was apprenticed to an experienced artisan of Guixi copper engraving.

In 2012, Huang founded the Jiangxi Zhongding metal craft company, blending the traditional craft with contemporary elements to innovate copper products that cater to the mass market. In order to improve the work efficiency, he created a production mode which combines the work of machines with that of craftsmen.

The company has now developed three main categories of copper products, namely copper pots, decorations and block prints, with average annual sales of 60 million yuan (about 8.33 million U.S. dollars). The exquisitely crafted works have drawn customers from around China and other countries like Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.

Huang has been heartened by the increasing number of people who have shown enthusiasm for this traditional craft in recent years. So far, he has nurtured over 200 engravers with a strong spirit of craftsmanship.

In the company's studio, Ju Xiaoying, 40, is finely honing the engraved design on a copper pot lid, following the instructions of her master. "I have been working here for seven years, but I'm still learning to perfect my skills," said Ju, adding that as a native of Guixi, she felt a responsibility to pass down the local traditional legacy.

In recent years, Yingtan has attached importance to the protection of its cultural heritage, including establishing a resource library, recording the endangered projects, and organizing activities to facilitate the development of the local intangible cultural heritage projects, said Wan Li, director of the city's intangible cultural heritage research and protection center.

To further bring copper art into the public eye, Huang's company jumped on the e-commerce business bandwagon in 2021, and built a museum in 2022 to publicize the Guixi copper engraving craft.

"I hope that more and more people will learn about and get involved in this traditional craft, breathing new life into cultural inheritance," Huang said.