Lacquer masters apply historic touch

Layering lacquer onto the surfaces of objects multiple times for better protection requires patience; each layer must dry before the next is added. The process results in a distinguished depth, which is smooth, shiny and mysterious, leaving the object in a state of stability — achieving aesthetic heights that Yang Peizhang describes as "an essential part of the Eastern cultural tradition".

This was grounded on a system of sophisticated workmanship gradually formed in practice by craftsmen throughout several millennia, he says.

At Phoenix Kingdoms, an ongoing exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing, one will feel the splendor of lacquerwork in the late stage of the Bronze Age, proceeding people's initial exploration with the material and craft in the Neolithic period.