Master artisan passes on time-honored craft of carved lacquerware

Photo taken on June 5, 2024 shows Zhu Jiang working on a carved lacquerware piece in his studio. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Zhu Jiang, born in 1976, is an inheritor of the time-honored craft of carved lacquerware and a master of arts and crafts in Beijing.

Making carved lacquerware pieces involves very complicated and time-consuming procedures, and requires expensive materials and outstanding skills.

He learned the craft from his father Zhu Qingyuan at a young age and then from Yin Xiuyun, a national-level inheritor of carved lacquerware and a national-level master of arts and crafts.

In 2017, Zhu Jiang established a studio with teachers and students of the College of Fine Arts of Langfang Normal University. They have made carved lacquerware pieces, including tea sets, wedding decorations, trendy ornaments, and decorative artworks, injecting new vitality into the traditional craft and attracting many young people to pay attention to carved lacquerware culture.

In recent years, the works designed and carved by Zhu Jiang have won more than 30 awards both at home and abroad.