Page 4 - YunnanTourismCultureTimes (117)

03 VOICE | 声音

A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive. China’s young people of today are living in a remarkable time.
They have an incomparably broad stage on which to display their full talents, and they have incomparably bright prospects of
realizing their dreams.
——Chinese President Xi Jinping

青年强，则国家强。当代中国青年生逢其时，施展才干的舞台无比广阔，实现梦想的前景无比光明。
——中国国家主席习近平

When silver flows into copper

当银“走”进铜里

By Xinhua News Agency □ 新华网

silver cools and hardens, careful polishing
bonds the silver wire firmly with the dark cop-
per. In the light, the finished piece glows softly,
as though breathing life into the rigid metal.
Wuhei (hand-darkening), on the other hand,
is a transformation bestowed by time. A new-
ly crafted copper piece must be polished at
length by the artisan’s palms, whose warmth
and sweat gradually trigger a subtle chemical
reaction with the metal’s surface. Through this
At a Wutong Zouyin workshop in Kunming, patient process, the copper slowly deepens into
Yunnan, a studio dedicated to the silver-inlaid a dark, lustrous finish. Because the chemistry
black copperware craft, an artisan melts down of each person’s hands is unique, the resulting
silver and carefully guides the liquid metal into shade of black also varies, making every piece
fine grooves etched on dark copper. This deli- truly one of a kind. That is why Wutong Zouyin
cate process is called zouyin, which translates is often called “living metal”: it forever im-
literally to “making the silver flow.” prints human warmth and the passage of time
The forge fire burns bright, casting the ar- into the material itself.
tisan’s silhouette onto a mottled wall. In his The transmission of this craft is itself a story
palm lies a piece of unadorned black copper, of devotion. Li Jiaru, the fifth-generation in-
signaling the start of a silent dialogue between heritor of Wutong Zouyin, learned the trade at
craftsman and metal. Using copper as canvas a silver shop in Kunming in his youth, only to
and silver as thread, guided by the warmth of see his practice interrupted by war. In his later
his hand, the pale-red copper gradually darkens years, without children of his own, he glimpsed
into a deep, solemn black. Silvery-white lines hope for the legacy when Jin Yongcai began
then glide smoothly across its surface, tracing caring for him with deep dedication. At the
vivid patterns onto the somber ground. time just 29, Jin had been drawn to metalwork-
The craft of Wutong Zouyin originated in ing since childhood and had started learning
Shiping, Yunnan during the reign of Emperor gold, silver, and copper ornamentation at 18.
Yongzheng (1723–1735) of the Qing Dynasty Under Li’s guidance, he systematically learned
and was inscribed into China’s National Intan- what had become an endangered art. After
gible Cultural Heritage List in 2011. More than years of devoted study, Jin mastered its essence
a traditional handicraft, it is an aesthetic dia- and is now recognized as a national intangible
logue spanning three centuries. Through smelt- cultural heritage bearer. Today, through his
ing, carving, inlaying, and fine engraving, these hands, mountains and rivers gain majesty on
arts converge to shape what is often described the dark copper surface; flowers and birds brim
as a form “with copper as its bones and silver with life; and threads of silver flow vividly,
as its soul.” capturing scene after scene of artistic vision.
“Zouyin” is a dance between fire and metal. Late into the night, the forge fire in the
Guided by ancient recipes, the artisan smelts workshop still burns. Amid the flickering
the materials, shapes the copper, and then flames, a young apprentice, under Jin’s watch-
carves intricate patterns into its surface with ful gaze, gently strokes a newly shaped piece of
fine engraving tools. When the temperature copper. He feels the metal warming in his palm
reaches just the right degree, the silver melts and watches as its color deepens from pale red
into a shimmering liquid. Under the precise to ink-black. “Remember this warmth,” the
hand of the maker—much like streams gen- master’s voice resonates like distant mountains.
tly filling riverbeds—the molten silver flows “This is not just the passing of a skill; it is our
smoothly into every engraved line. Once the dialogue with time.”