Yuan Duanjiao
Founder / General Manager
Master's degree, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Let Chinese lacquer be seen anew by our time
Profile
Yuan Duanjiao holds a master's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University. Born into a family of lacquer merchants in Pingli, Ankang, Shaanxi, she carries on the bloodline of the Zhengdaming lacquer house, a century-old trade founded in 1925. After graduating with her master's degree in 2014 she returned home to start a business, beginning by planting lacquer trees, and turned an ancient craft into a complete industry.
For more than ten years she has worked deeply in the lacquer traditions of the Qinba mountains, establishing the Niuwang raw lacquer tree plantation base, the Pingli County Niuwang Raw Lacquer Research Institute, the Niuwang Raw Lacquer Museum and the Xi'an Lacquerware Showroom. She took part in drafting two national industry standards for lacquer trees, and her works have won awards at home and abroad including the German iF Design Award and the China Arts and Crafts Baihe Award.
What We Do
Starting from planting lacquer trees, we cover the entire natural lacquer industry chain.
Four Brands
Covering the full spectrum from materials to objects to lifestyle, with partners around the world.
Key Milestones
- 2014Graduated with a master's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University; returned home to start a business, carrying on the century-old Zhengdaming lacquer house
- 2017Established the Niuwang raw lacquer tree plantation base, covering roughly 5,000 mu
- 2019Founded the Pingli County Niuwang Raw Lacquer Research Institute and became its director; named an ICH inheritor of the Niuwang raw lacquer coating craft of Ankang City
- 2021Named a Shaanxi provincial ICH inheritor of the Niuwang raw lacquer coating craft; named a "Jinzhou Craftsman" of Ankang City
- 2022Founded Xi'an Lacquerware Hantang Cultural Industry Co., Ltd. and became its general manager
- 2023Founded the Niuwang Raw Lacquer Museum and the Xi'an Lacquerware Showroom; named Master of Arts and Crafts of Shaanxi Province; her studio was designated a "Shaanxi Provincial ICH Workshop"
- 2024Awarded the title of National Master of Rural Craftsmen
- 2025Works received the German iF Design Award; awarded the title of Shaanxi Provincial Master of Rural Craftsmen
Research and Standards
- Participated in drafting industry standards GH/T 1299-2020 Technical Regulations for Lacquer Tree Afforestation and GH/T 1300-2020 Technical Specifications for Lacquer Tree Pest and Disease Control
- Participated in the Shaanxi key R&D program Research and Demonstration of Breeding and Cultivation Technology for Improved Lacquer Tree Varieties
- Participated in the Shaanxi key R&D program Research and Demonstration of Colored Refined Modified Raw Lacquer Technology
- Participated in the Shaanxi Traditional Arts and Crafts Industry Protection Project and the Shaanxi ICH Workshop Founding and Protection Project
Representative Works and Awards
- Magic O2O Modular Eyewear — German iF Design Award
- Cloud Rising, Dragon Soaring — New Talent Award, China Arts and Crafts Baihe Award
- Han and Tang — Gold Award, the 19th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair
- "Beauty That Outshines the Moon and Flowers" series — Excellence Award, China ICH Inheritor Xinchuan Award
- Afterglow — Gold Award, Shaanxi Arts and Crafts Fine Works Exhibition
- Dreamscape — named a Shaanxi "Treasure Passed Down Through Generations"
- First Prize, "Lishan Cup" Lacquer Art Cultural-Creative Design Competition
- New Life collected by the Ankang Museum; the Morning Bell and Evening Drum tea tray series collected by the Ankang Mass Art Centre
Craft Specialty
Mineral and metal pigments are blended into raw lacquer according to the old methods, with the pigment making up more than half of the mix; the color cures together with the lacquer and grows into the lacquer itself. Raw lacquer contains lacquer acid, and the great majority of pigments darken or turn black the moment they meet it, so the usable color range is extremely narrow — every single hue is a house recipe arrived at through repeated trials. Colored lacquer is semi-transparent and has limited covering power, so one stroke is final: a mistake can be neither painted over nor washed away. Each color in a work means one more session in the curing room and one more wait for it to dry. When a piece leaves the curing room its color is quiet and settled; months later it wakes back up on its own, growing brighter with use and clearer with age. Chemical lacquer is at its brightest on the first day; true lacquer is at its heaviest — the color you see now is not yet its final color.
Contact
- 156-9197-9501
- Room 1707, Block A, Yinhe Xinzuobiao, Tangyan Road, Xi'an High-Tech Zone, Shaanxi（陕西省西安市高新区唐延路银河新坐标A座1707）
- zendamin.com