Bronze Ware Making Skills Datong Copper Ware Making Skills

Bronze Ware Making Skills Datong Copper Ware Making Skills

Provincial batches: the second batch at the provincial level

National batches: the fourth batch at the national level

(From Shanxi Cultural Cloud)

Datong bronze ware is a traditional handicraft of the Han nationality. It has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship. As early as the Northern Wei Dynasty, it enjoyed a great reputation. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, Datong bronze ware has been sold well all over the country. So far, folk slang has been circulating about "watching Buddha scenery on Wutai Mountain and buying bronze ware in Datong City".

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a copper-cast Buddha statue in Datong. Military craftsmen in Xijing (now Datong City) of Liao Dynasty were able to make guns, crossbows and other weapons. In the early Yuan Dynasty, there were 760 copper smelters in Datong. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, bronze wares penetrated into all aspects of life at that time. Weapons, containers, production tools, daily necessities and decorations are all available. Datong Courtyard Lane is called "Bronze Craftsman Street". There are dozens of bronze craftsmen shops in the 100-meter-long street, gathering hundreds of skilled craftsmen.

Datong Copper Hotpot is a representative work of Datong Copper Wares. It consists of chassis, pot body, fire seat, copper cover, fire drum and small cover. On the chassis, pot body, pot cover and small cover, the designs of "Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang", "Magpie Dengmei", "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and "Flowers and Birds Landscape" are engraved respectively. Its production processes are shaping, casting, welding, tin plating, chips, polishing, assembly and so on. Its beautiful shape, exquisite craftsmanship, durable, with strong national and local characteristics, deeply loved by customers. When Premier Zhou Enlai accompanied French President Pompidou on his visit in 1973, he presented the bronze hotpot carved with the pattern of "Nine Dragons Fighting Moon" to President Pompidou as a gift.