East Asian Lacquerware Craft

Timeline

1. -500–200Chu region (present-day Hubei and Hunan) · ChinaWarring States Chu tombs yielded large numbers of painted lacquerwares, and by the Han the state workshops and the lacquerware systems of feudal lords' tombs were mature; the coating and painting techniques of boxes, cosmetic cases, ear cups, and other ritual and everyday wares reached an early peak.
2. 700–1200Lin'an (Hangzhou) · ZhejiangDuring the Tang and Song, carved lacquer techniques such as ti-hong and ti-xi matured; lacquerware reached Japan through imperial embassies and trade, while the Korean Peninsula also developed an independent lacquer tradition, forming an East Asian lacquer culture sphere.
3. 1321–1330Dadu (Beijing) · ChinaIn the 1320s the Yuan court and local workshops continued producing carved lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquerware, some of which was exported to Japan, Goryeo, and Southeast Asia through maritime trade and tributary channels, ranking alongside porcelain and silk as fine goods of ocean trade.
4. 1400–1900Beijing and Yangzhou · ChinaMing Yongle and Xuande carved lacquer and Qing court lacquerware represent the technical and aesthetic summit of East Asian lacquer art, while Japanese maki-e and Korean lacquerware each have their own characteristics; under the impact of modern industrialization, traditional crafts transformed and continue within contemporary intangible cultural heritage protection systems.