After the Opium War, that is, after 1840, a large amount of gold and silver flowed out, especially when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded our country, and many valuable handicrafts were plundered out of the country.
As a result, gold and silver craftsmanship stagnated, especially when the Japanese army invaded our country, putting the filigree inlay industry in a precarious situation.
After the Revolution of 1911, court art spread to the people.
During this period, perhaps because the number of craftsmen producing these palace arts increased, this further stimulated the improvement of technology.
During this period, don't think of it as a shift from palace art to folk art, but think of it as a decline in technology.
In fact, just the opposite is true. From now on, palace art is no longer aloof, but has entered thousands of households.
This further allows all crafts to present a state of contention among a hundred schools of thought.
Where there is competition, there is progress, so all kinds of crafts during this period are in a state of rapid growth.
At that time, there were many private gold and silver shops, and the craftsmanship of each shop was truly flourishing.
At this time, just one filigree craft can be divided into several types: filigree, solid inlay, chiseled flower, blue-burning, green dotting, tire making and inlay and other techniques.
The Qianmen area of Shendu is where "jewelry shops" are concentrated, forming a store-front-factory-back-factory format.
At that time, jewelry developed rapidly, and some top figures in the industry emerged.
For example, Zhang Juwu, who is known as the "King of Filigree", artists Yu Hai, Zhao Ziyuan, Wang Zihou, etc., all have unique skills.
Unfortunately, at this most prosperous moment, the country fell into turmoil.
It also caused these masters to be scattered. If it were not for the Sui Marquis Pearl, all their craftsmanship would have been lost, right?
There is nothing that can be done about this. The reincarnation of fate has brought about a prosperous period in the country, followed by a rapid decline. This is determined by the strength of the country and cannot be restored by human power.
Warlords' fighting, Japanese invasion, and civil war in my country have led to social unrest, market depression, and people's displacement.
The filigree jewelry artist lost his job, changed his career, and struggled in poverty.
The famous "Filigree King" Zhang Juwu died of starvation on his way back to his hometown, leaving filigree jewelry in dire straits.
It was not until 1949 that the Chinese government adopted a series of measures such as low-interest loans, supply of raw materials, unified purchasing, and underwriting for the arts and crafts industry, and organized production cooperatives, and the situation did not change.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with state support, product types, expression techniques, shapes, etc. all developed rapidly.
The filigree inlay industry became cooperative in 1956, and it was only then that the craft really began to take off.
The Shendu government reorganized the "fine gold artists" who were scattered among the people and had unique skills, and successively established "Filigree Production Cooperative", "Mosaic Production Cooperative" and other craft enterprises.
In 1958, the two communities were reorganized and merged, and the largest jewelry factory in Asia, the "Filigree Inlay Factory", was officially established on the site of the Confucius Temple in Tongshi.
It was also at this time that this factory became the main production base for filigree inlay crafts in my country.
It specializes in the production of traditional filigree handicrafts and is responsible for the export of jewelry in the Shendu area.
In 1960, the Shendu Arts and Crafts Factory was established, which included a filigree workshop.
In 1971, Shendu Jewelry Factory was established. It was also at this time that Chen Wenzhe discovered that he was not the only one who wanted to use this top-notch craftsmanship to establish a jewelry factory. It turned out that the country had already been doing this.
However, it seems that they did not take full advantage of the luxurious nature of this craft!
Coupled with bad luck or being targeted, it actually disappeared after it was re-opened.
It obviously has the most top-notch craftsmanship and the most luxurious attributes, but it has not created the top-notch luxury brand. Is this a waste of top-grade craftsmanship?
Of course, the operation is not good, but the craftsmanship is truly top-notch.
In the 1950s, with the approval of the state, the replica of the crown and phoenix crown unearthed from Dingling was produced by Bo Shiyou and others from the research office of Shendu Filigree Inlay Factory.
The precision of the craftsmanship and the degree of simulation have been well received by cultural relics and archaeological experts, and the replicas are now in the National Museum.
In 1985, Shendu Jewelry Factory produced the "Golden Palace" arts and crafts inlaid with silver filigree based on the emperor's throne, platform, screen, etc. in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. By the late 1980s, Western countries imposed sanctions on our country, and the number of export orders dropped sharply.
From then on, the operating conditions of the factory were not as good as before, until the Shendu Arts and Crafts Factory in 2001 and the Shendu Filigree Inlay Factory went bankrupt successively.
Since the bankruptcy of Shendu Filigree Inlay Factory, there were originally more than 1,000 employees, but now only about 50 people are still able to work in this industry.
Artists who continue to engage in filigree inlay production mostly set up their own production workshops.
The former director of the Shendu Filigree Inlay Factory founded the Oriental Yizhen Filigree Inlay Factory.
Former deputy director of Shendu Filigree Inlay Factory, founded Runxin Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd.
Several technicians in their company are all over 50 years old, which means that there are no young people in the factory.
Nowadays, many techniques in filigree inlay have been lost.
Because the filigree inlay process is difficult to produce, the procedures are complex, and the talent training cycle is long, it is difficult to form a large-scale and systematic training model. This has resulted in problems such as a shortage of skilled craftsmen and a serious aging population.
However, in April 2007, filigree inlay craftsmanship was included in the Shendu Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Project, and it was recommended to apply for national intangible cultural heritage list.
On June 8, 2008, "Filigree Inlay Production Technique" was officially included in the national intangible cultural heritage protection project.
There are already national-level inheritors, such as the recent work "Temple of Heaven Prayer Hall", which is the work of Wang Shuwen, the inheritor of filigree inlay.
Chen Wenzhe really didn't expect that this kind of craftsmanship is actually the best modern craftsmanship.
Therefore, the word "advancing with the times" is correct at any time.
Although the filigree inlay process went through many hardships, it eventually developed and is still flourishing.
Chen Wenzhe really didn't expect that he would be able to acquire so many technologies just because he was making cloisonné and briefly studied the technology of the Qing court's manufacturing office.
Especially the eight masterpieces of Yanjing are really amazing.
Just a filigree inlay is enough for him to learn for a lifetime.
This means that he has the Pearl of Sui Hou and can directly use the ability of the pearl to use immersive experience and learn directly.
If he can't learn in his dreams, he will need to study hard if he wants to master one of the eight special skills of Yanjing.
But what about now? He can be carried by the Sui Marquis Pearl and dream for years, decades, or even a hundred years.
He can directly experience the centuries-old vicissitudes of filigree craftsmanship in his dream, so that he can directly obtain the skills and experience of many masters over the past century.
This saved him a lot of time, otherwise, just one filigree work would be enough for Chen Wenzhe to make for a lifetime.
Because there are too many works that can be made with just one filigree craft.