-- In Juancheng County, Shandong Province, pyrography — the ancient art of drawing with a heated tool, known in Chinese as laohua — is carrying on its legacy in ever more diverse forms. Rather than confining themselves to a single specialty such as gourds, Juancheng's pyrography artists pour the heat and force of their burning pens into a wide range of surfaces — wooden boards, rice paper, silk and more — using fire as their ink to burn out layered, richly toned charred textures.
Li Qiang, a Juancheng native, is one of the most representative artists in the field. A 1991 graduate of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, he began teaching himself pyrography in 2006. Building on the essence of traditional pyrography technique, Li Qiang has boldly explored new methods and new looks, blending Western painting, printmaking and decorative painting into his work. He insists on combining the freehand expressiveness of the burning stroke with realistic representation of the image, grounding his pieces in pyrography's inherent monochrome character while adding light color washes and water-blending effects — bringing out the medium's distinctive sense of texture, depth and formal design. In 2010 and 2012, his pyrography works won gold awards at two consecutive editions of the Heze Art Festival, earning broad recognition from the field.
Meanwhile, Chen Dehuai of Lijinshitang Town in Juancheng County has devoted much of his craft to gourds. Taking the gourd as his "canvas" and following the natural contours in which it grows, he composes his designs with skill — whether freehand landscapes or portraits of people, all rendered with striking lifelikeness. At Dongkou Middle School in Juancheng County, teacher Zhang Hongjie also immerses himself in pyrography in his spare time. As the classical description puts it, his works "follow the natural form of the material, each assuming its own character": birds and beasts, trees and rocks, mountains and streams, flowers and grass — all find their way into his art.
In recent years, Juancheng pyrography has been brought onto school campuses through the "Shandong Handmade · Experiencing Intangible Heritage" study-tour program. Chen Dehuai has visited Lijinshitang Complete Primary School to demonstrate the craft to students, explaining in detail everything from the preparation of materials to the burning process itself, planting the seeds of this traditional skill in a younger generation. At the "Shandong Handmade · Fine Products of Juancheng" intangible heritage shopping festival, pyrography appeared alongside Lu brocade, clay sculpture and paper cutting, drawing many residents to stop and admire.
From wooden boards to gourds, from rice paper to silk, the pyrography artists of Juancheng use fire as ink and the heated pen as their brush, writing a contemporary chapter of this ancient art on their chosen surfaces. (Liu Zhaokui)
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Organization: Foreign Media Co., Ltd.
Website: https://www.chinanews.com/sh/2025/03-10/10380869.shtml
Release ID: 89207464
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