The filigree inlaid metal art: exquisite beyond compare

BEIJING, Feb. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on China's intangible cultural heritage:

The Spring Festival, one of the most important traditional festivals in China, is also the most representative display stage of Chinese traditional culture today.In the Spring Festival of 2017, BTV launched the first derivative show of the Spring Festival Gala, "Spring Bowl", which brings "the Filigree Inlay ", a traditional handicraft with a history of more than 2,000 years, into public view.

Days before the Spring Festival of 2022, international students Nancy from Russia and Bae Ja-yeon and Kim Min Kyum from South Korea came close to the intangible cultural heritage "the Filigree Inlay" for the first time. They came to the filigree inlaid metal art manufacturing factory and experienced the basic steps of twisting and knitting metal threads.

Under the guidance of Liu Meng, the ICH inheritor of the Filigree Inlay, the international students used the wooden block  and thread rolling plate, and by their own hands made the small and exquisite rings, which were presented in the showcase now.

As early as 2008, filigree inlaid metal art was included in the national intangible cultural heritage, with high cultural value.

According to archaeological findings, the Filigree Inlay can be traced back to as early as the Shang Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, artisans began to roll gold and silver into threads and inlay it on bronze ware, commonly known as "metal inlay".

The Filigree Inlay art flourished in the Han and Tang dynasties, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The production procedure of the Filigree Inlay is complicated, featuring eight techniques: pinching, filling, jointing, welding, stacking, piling, weaving and knitting, and each technique may have many variations when it is used in different works and for different pieces.

Nowadays, the craft skill of the Filigree Inlay is mainly seen in Chengdu and Beijing, especially in Beijing, where the skill of the art has the most complete range.

Although the Filigree Inlay demonstrates the highest level of precious metal processing in the world, this traditional skill will keep pace with the times.

During the APEC meeting in 2014, "Rose" brooch and "floral" handbag of inlay art were presented to foreign guests as national gifts.

"Every step in the Filigree Inlay is very delicate and requires careful production," after the activity, Nancy said.

After the experience, the international students also visited the Filigree Inlay art exhibition to learn more about the different production techniques and stories of each piece.

With Liu Meng's illustration, students learned that the Filigree Inlay today is no longer confined to the tradition ways, but has greater development and changes as compared to the past.But what remains unchanged is that this art still carries people's expectations and wishes for a better life.

Bae Ja-yeon and Kim Min Kyum admitted that they had never expected such a complicated craft of the Filigree Inlay to be present in daily life. They hoped that this art could go from China to the world for a better future and development.

SOURCE China.org.cn